★ 本書錄音採用英式發音
★ 英語級數：Lower-Intermediate（初中級）
《孤星血淚》（又譯：遠大前程）（Great Expectations）常被歸為是「成長小說」，是維多利亞時代風行的小說形式，這類小說呈現角色在成長過程中的心理與道德發展歷程。不過，一如狄更斯（Charles Dickens）的大多數小說一樣，《孤星血淚》也無法輕易地被定義歸類，因為這是一個愛與激情的故事，也是一個懸疑故事，還是一部反應當時社會的小說。
《孤星血淚》的時空背景，設定於1800年代初期到中期，故事發生在肯特沼澤區和倫敦。主角是一位名叫皮普（Pip）的可憐孤兒，他和姊姊、姊夫住在一起。有一天，他遇上了一個富家女艾絲黛拉（Estella），還愛上了對方，但對方嘲笑他是個鄉下窮小子。此後，他開始不滿自己的生活。
幾年後，他得知自己有個神祕的贊助人，希望他能過上紳士的生活。如今他有錢了，覺得自己有機會贏得艾絲黛拉的芳心。他離開村莊，來到倫敦，在那裡結交了新朋友。他為自己的出身和家人感到羞愧。然而，在諸多歷練之後，他終於體認到自己所犯的錯誤。
這部小說的結局，狄更斯原本以悲劇收場，但由於一個朋友的建議，他決定讓結局以喜劇落幕。現在大多數的版本採用新結局，但仍有部分維持原案。
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Great Expectations is usually described as a bildungsroman, a type of novel that was popular in Victorian times. Bildungsroman is a German word used for novels that show the psychological and moral development of the main character as he or she grows up. However, Great Expectations, like most of Charles Dickens’s novels, cannot be so easily defined. It is also a story about love and passion, a mystery story, and a story that comments on the society of the time.
Great Expectations is set on the marshes of Kent and in London in the early to mid-1800s. The main character is a poor orphan boy called Pip, who lives with his older sister and her husband, Joe. One day he meets and falls in love with a rich girl called Estella. She laughs at him because he is a poor village boy and he starts to become unhappy with his life.
A few years later he learns that he has a secret benefactor, who wants him to live the life of a gentleman. Now that he is rich, he thinks that he has a chance of winning Estella’s love. He leaves his village and goes to live in London, where he makes new friends. He starts to feel ashamed of his home and his family, particularly Joe, who he treats unkindly. However, after many adventures he is finally able to recognize his mistakes.
Charles Dickens originally wrote a sad ending for Great Expectations but he decided to change it to a happier one because of a suggestion from one of his friends. Most books today contain the new ending but there are some that also include the original one