Mister Pip
Encyclopedia
Mister Pip is a novel by Lloyd Jones
, a New Zealand
author. It is named after a character in, and shaped by the plot of, Charles Dickens
's novel Great Expectations
.
Lloyd Jones wrote 11 versions of the novel originally setting it on an unnamed Pacific island
. The novel was ultimately set against the backdrop of the civil war on Bougainville Island
during the early 1990s.
all of the teachers, along with most of the other residents fled while one white man, Mr. Watts, stays on the island and becomes the teacher for many of the remaining native children of the island. Mr. Watts reads to the children from Charles Dickens
's novel Great Expectations
. The children of the island, including the main character, Matilda, are fascinated by the young orphan boy, Pip, and his travels through London.
in 2007; the novel won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize
for best book in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific, and also won the Montana Medal for Fiction or Poetry http://www.booksellers.co.nz/awards/new-zealand-post-book-awards/previous%20years/winners-1968-2008 in 2007.
Lloyd Jones (New Zealand author)
Lloyd Jones is a New Zealand author who currently resides in Wellington. His novel Mister Pip won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker.-Early life and education:...
, a New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
author. It is named after a character in, and shaped by the plot of, Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
's novel Great Expectations
Great Expectations
Great Expectations is a novel by Charles Dickens. It was first published in serial form in the publication All the Year Round from 1 December 1860 to August 1861. It has been adapted for stage and screen over 250 times....
.
Lloyd Jones wrote 11 versions of the novel originally setting it on an unnamed Pacific island
Pacific Islands
The Pacific Islands comprise 20,000 to 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands are also sometimes collectively called Oceania, although Oceania is sometimes defined as also including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago....
. The novel was ultimately set against the backdrop of the civil war on Bougainville Island
Bougainville Island
Bougainville Island is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville of Papua New Guinea. This region is also known as Bougainville Province or the North Solomons. The population of the province is 175,160 , which includes the adjacent island of Buka and assorted outlying islands...
during the early 1990s.
Plot summary
On the small copper mining island of BougainvilleBougainville Island
Bougainville Island is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville of Papua New Guinea. This region is also known as Bougainville Province or the North Solomons. The population of the province is 175,160 , which includes the adjacent island of Buka and assorted outlying islands...
all of the teachers, along with most of the other residents fled while one white man, Mr. Watts, stays on the island and becomes the teacher for many of the remaining native children of the island. Mr. Watts reads to the children from Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
's novel Great Expectations
Great Expectations
Great Expectations is a novel by Charles Dickens. It was first published in serial form in the publication All the Year Round from 1 December 1860 to August 1861. It has been adapted for stage and screen over 250 times....
. The children of the island, including the main character, Matilda, are fascinated by the young orphan boy, Pip, and his travels through London.
Main characters
- Matilda is the main character in the novel. She was in her early teens and was still attending classes, which were taught by Mr. Watts. Matilda has lived on the island her whole life, where she lives with only her mother, Dolores. Her character is quite reliable given that the book is written with the first person narrative and so when the character talks about him or herself, we know it's the truth.
- Mr. Watts (Pop Eye) is the only white man left on the island after most of the citizens left. He has a mysterious history, that many of the islanders long to know about with one of the many mysteries being the marriage to his wife Grace. He taught the children of the island and read to them, each day reading a chapter of Great Expectations.
- Dolores is the mother of Matilda and a strong believer in an unknown Christian denomination. She has many different view points on issues with Mr. Watts.
- Grace (Sheba) is the second wife of Mr. Watts. She was born on Bougainville Island, but moved to Wellington, New ZealandWellingtonWellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
to study in the field of dentistry, where she fell in love with Mr. Watts. Grace returned to Bougainville Island with Mr. Watts where she lived in an old European mission building.
Awards
Mister Pip was shortlisted for the Man Booker PrizeMan Booker Prize
The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. The winner of the Man Booker Prize is generally assured of international renown and...
in 2007; the novel won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Commonwealth Writers is an initiative by the Commonwealth Foundation to unearth, develop and promote the best new fiction from across the Commonwealth. It's flagship are two literary awards and a website...
for best book in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific, and also won the Montana Medal for Fiction or Poetry http://www.booksellers.co.nz/awards/new-zealand-post-book-awards/previous%20years/winners-1968-2008 in 2007.
Film Adaptations
- Andrew AdamsonAndrew AdamsonAndrew Ralph Adamson, MNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer and screenwriter based mainly in Los Angeles, where he made the blockbuster animation films, Shrek and Shrek 2 for which he received an Academy Award nomination. He was director, executive producer, and scriptwriter for C. S....
has written a movie adaption to Mister Pip, which he will also direct. Hugh LaurieHugh LaurieJames Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director...
has signed on to play Mr Watts. He has filmed in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea and has filmed in various locations in and around New Zealand. On July 29 and 30th 2011 he was filming at Glendowie College, and at a flight training centre at Albert Street, Newmarket, Auckland.
See also
- Charles DickensCharles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
- Great ExpectationsGreat ExpectationsGreat Expectations is a novel by Charles Dickens. It was first published in serial form in the publication All the Year Round from 1 December 1860 to August 1861. It has been adapted for stage and screen over 250 times....
- Bougainville IslandBougainville IslandBougainville Island is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville of Papua New Guinea. This region is also known as Bougainville Province or the North Solomons. The population of the province is 175,160 , which includes the adjacent island of Buka and assorted outlying islands...
- History of BougainvilleHistory of BougainvilleBougainville is a province of Papua New Guinea. It was named after the French navigator Louis Antoine de Bougainville.-Prehistory:Bougainville has been inhabited for at least 33,000 years...