#abridged version

[joepickett]

Superstore 6.07

[boykingscourt]

I go on spnblr. I say what are you people talking about in my head approximately 500 times a day. I go to bed.

[thanosthedadtitan]

Hellsing Ultimate Abridged - Team Four Star (TFS)

Hellsing Ultimate Abridged - Team Four Star (TFS)

This Hellsing Ultimate Parody chronicles the tale of the Vampire Alucard in his quest to eliminate rogue undead, go on enthusiastic walks, t

Just passing this along to anyone who hasn't enjoyed the craziness that is Hellsing Abridged.

[alexsfictionaddiction]

Review: Great Expectations by A. L. Kennedy

Despite having a degree in English Literature and a special interest in the Victorian era, I haven't read much Dickens. I would like to try to change that but unfortunately, I haven't really got on well with much of the Dickens I have read (Hard Times and A Christmas Carol). I think I only really understood what was going on in A Christmas Carol because well, it's A Christmas Carol. So, an abridged children's version of Great Expectations was probably exactly what I needed in order to digest one of his best loved works.

Great Expectations follows a young orphan named Pip, who is raised by his tyrannical older sister and her kind blacksmith husband. One Christmas, he meets and helps an escaped convict. Soon after, Pip is invited to play at the strange, dusty house of Miss Havisham where her ward Estella teases him for looking so poor. Despite this, Pip falls in love with Estella and takes up an apprenticeship with his brother-in-law before learning that he has an anonymous benefactor, who wants Pip to grow up to be a gentleman. He assumes his luck is turning thanks to Miss Havisham but that soon becomes apparent that it isn't. Will Pip ever manage to gain Estella's affections and who is looking out for him?

This version has some gorgeous illustrations to help the story along and they are perfect for this young reader's edition. Although much of it is simple and all of it is colourless, my mind could paint in the colour easily myself and bring the settings to life more vividly.

The opening chapters are what I think could be considered quintessentially Dickens. It's a family Christmas dinner setting and everyone has whimsical names and manners. Although Pip is treated terribly by his sister, even at Christmas, the scene itself all felt quite familiar to me as a typical English Christmas family get-together. I love that Kennedy managed to still capture that ambiance throughout the abridgement process.

Although I didn't expect it to happen, I was willing Joe to leave his cruel wife. I would have loved this to be a story about a hard working man raising his young brother-in-law as his own son, having taken him away from the vicious treatment at the hands of Mrs Gargery. Pip adores Joe and I was really happy that at least, he had an adult friend who could protect him to some extent.

This one sentence that describes Pip's feelings about Miss Havisham's house on his first visit is truly haunting. From what I knew previously about Miss Havisham's character, this dark, cold, decaying house is exactly how I always pictured it and that stopped clock image fits it perfectly. For Miss Havisham, her wedding day was when time stopped and never restarted, so I found it really chilling to walk around her frozen house and indeed, her life.

As he gets older, Pip becomes a respectable, considerate young man and his sense of justice becomes apparent. He cares about people and respects women, which was perhaps not exactly the norm in Dickens' London. He's very easy to root for and I was excited to see him get his happy ending.

Occasionally, the story does speak directly to us, the reader. A lot of books for very young children do this and I like that this version of a classic does it. It allows readers to directly engage with the story and its themes. By asking the reader to think about their choices and what they mean for the future, we're being encouraged to reflect on our actions and think about whether we're happy with them. If we're not, this gives us a chance to change how we react in the future. I thought this was really clever and it keeps the core message of the book at the forefront of the reader's mind.

Great Expectations is a really thoughtful story with an important lesson for us all. I'm really glad I found this really accessible version of it, as I'm pretty sure I would struggle to get through the original. If, like me, you face barriers when you try to read certain classical authors, I recommend looking for some abridged or children's versions of them. Chances are, the story is something you enjoy but if things like language or writing style are preventing you from accessing the story, it doesn't have to be this way.

[eternalkirito]

[jessaerys]

im shy so im sending this on anon but. you honestly did inspire me to be more of a freak so when you followed me back i was gobsmacked and a little honored ngl. literally read twins by bari wood bc of you <3

LITERALLY they were twisted on the floor their shirts and their pants were open their shoes were off and they were moving in perfect time like one animal half the shape on the floor was her husband but if someone had put a gun to her head and told her to pick which she couldn't have done it. btw

[choppedcowboydinosaur]

I’m looking forward to people doing abridged versions of High Guardian Spice. It’d be funny to watch like the Ghost Stories dub.

[ss-wingman]

Hey, I know I usually don't post about too much life stuff on here but my physical health has been not so bueno for the past several months. Lately it has tanked quite severely and I don't have much energy. That coupled with a heavy hit to my finances has left me with little energy to spare so I'm going to be taking a little break from writing for the next week or so. Just until I get myself sorted out.

You can still send asks but I won't be getting to anything anytime soon