Mister Pip by Llyod Jones

I  first heard about the book from a Scottish trainer who was then working as a consultant for the local government . I had forgotten about it though I knew it was available in the library. However when a senior professor of English left the book  on my desk with a recommendation  last week ,I took it home with me that very day. I loved the story . Mister Pip is a magical story full of romance, mystery, suspense, surprises and above all a story of love,faith and hope. Written in simple language it is a powerful story with lot of subtle nuances.

The story of Mister Pip is set in Bougainville an island in Papua New Guinea during the period when the island was rocked by civil wars . Mr Watts the only white man left in that village decides to educate the island’s small children who are left with nothing. Mr Watts or Pop Eye has a black wife Grace whom he carries around in a trolley . Nobody knows anything about him .Yet Mr Watts becomes a teacher who lovingly teaches the children to imagine a life beyond their humble surroundings . He uses the story of Pip in Dickens’ Great Expectations in his own style and inspires the kids to think and dream . The book tells the story of Matilda  who grows up to  become a scholar and an expert on Dickens. When Mr Watts is murdered and Matilda’s mother is raped and gives up her life to protect her daughter from being raped  by the rebels, Matilda  loses the will to live. It is Pip’s story that indirectly saves her and revives her faith in life .Eventually Matilda moves to Australia and is reunited with her father . She traces bits of Pop Eye’s past life which had  been kept as a secret from the islanders . ‘Mister Pip’ celebrates the wonderful emotion of love in so many ways -Pop Eye’s love for the black woman uproots him from his known white  surroundings and forces him to live a life in  exile , Matilda’s mother gives up her life to save her daughter’s honour and life , Matilda’s father plans to celebrate her birthdays with cakes for each year that he has lived away from her . The book narrates the  extreme poverty of an isolated  community in the throes of war , the savagery of rebels who can hack and chop human beings at will and the helplessness of human beings in the face of terror. ‘Mister Pip’ is a beautiful commentary on how a sincere teacher can inspire and become instrumental in transforming society and lives of its inhabitants .‘Mister Pip’ also celebrates the power of storytelling and the creative genius of a novelist like Charles Dickens.

The book figured in Man Booker’s 2007 shortlist. It won the Commonwealth Prize . Llyod Jones is a writer from New Zealand. Read the story if you can . 

Ref:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mister-Pip-Lloyd-Jones/dp/0719564565