Rating: 
Summary: Dark and realistic
Review: EXQUISITELY WRITTEN. THE BEST THING YOU CAN SAY ABOUT JACK MAGGS IS THAT IT DRIPS WITH ATMOSPHERE AND MOOD, EVOKING PERFECTLY THE DICKENSIAN WORLD, ON ALMOST EVERY PAGE. CARREY'S TAKE ON THE NINETEENTH CENTURY HOWEVER, IS MUCH DARKER AND REALISTIC THAN ANYTHING DICKENS EVER PENNED. ALTHOUGH THE PLOT TAKES A LONG AND SEEMINGLY UNEVENTFUL TIME TO GET SET UP, THE PERIODIC FLASHBACKS ARE BRILLIANTLY EXECUTED. IN FACT THE STORY TOLD WITHIN THE FLASHBACKS OF JACK MAGGS BRUTAL CHILDHOOD WERE BY FAR THE BEST PART OF THE NOVEL FOR ME. CARREY'S DESCRIPTIONS OF POVERTY, BURGLERY, AND DEPRAVITY WERE VIVIDLY RECOUNTED TO GREAT EFFECT. THE OTHER OUTSTANDING ELEMENT OF JACK MAGGS IS THE CREATIVE CHARACTER PORTRAYLS. TOBIAS OATS IN PARTICULAR WAS WELL FLESHED OUT. THE PLOT IS WELL EXECUTED AND RELATIVELY COMPLEX, BUT NOT NEARLY AS COMPELLING OR INTRICATE AS CHARLES PALISER'S THE QUINCUNX. THE STORY JUST SEEMS TO UNFOLD IN A SOMEWHAT FLAT MANNER. I NEVER FELT LIKE THERE WAS A WHOLE LOT AT STAKE FOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. OVERALL, WORTH THE READ, IF FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN TO SOAK UP THE LONG AGO LONDON WORLD CARREY HAS PAINSTAKINGLY RE-CREATED.
Rating:
Summary: A good read.
Review: I always expect the same things from Peter Carey novels: great characters, poetic language, and an imaginative premise. Jack Maggs delivers on each of these. His protagonist is a criminal with a painful past, but a good heart -- not exactly original, but Carey brings such life to his creation the reader can feel Maggs' presence on every page. His pain is a real thing, and drives the novel. It's also interesting to watch him enter the lives of a few ordinary Londoners, and change their paths, and even their personalities, simply by virtue of his presence. Tobias Oates (intended as a fictional Charles Dickens) is also very well developed, and very human. Carey has a talent for making his characters capable of both good and evil, and by the novel's end, it's difficult to pin any of his cast as either heroes or villains. While this novel is based on a character in Charles Dicken's Great Expectations, I think its unfair to compare the two books. Jack Maggs is not a Dickens rip-off: the characters, the voice, the language, the humour, are Carey's own. There has been an attempt by Carey to sketch a London similar, in spirit, to Dickens', but this is a book with its own emotional centre, and it stands on its own. After reading some of the reviews here, I was surprised to find that the novel did not drag, and that it quickly became a page-turner. The plot steadily builds, with several well-placed and effective twists to keep things interesting (and unpredictable). Carey has managed, again, to lead me into a climax I could not predict, and while the scene had incredible potential, I think it lacks. He seems to rush through it. This is not Carey's best novel (see Bliss) but it is very good indeed, and worth reading if only for Carey's incredible use of the language, which is economical, poetic, and poignant, and also for the characters, which in many cases rise above the subject matter.
Rating: 
Summary: Pointless
Review: I regret that I had heard this book compared so favorably and unfavorably to Great Expectations before I read it. This book is not a re-telling of Great Expectations or even, as one other reviewer noted, a "spin-off." This book might more accurately be termed a "jazz riff" on Great Expectations. Mr. Carey has taken some of the key elements of the story of Magwitch and Pip (a banished convict benefactor returning in search of his protege) and constructed a very different story. To compare it to Dickens's book is greatly unfair. Great Expectations is one of the most important pieces of capital-L Literature in the English Language; Jack Maggs is just a good book. But as a good book, I found it to be a rather satisfying read. My only criticism that bears noting is that the characters do not build any emotional magnetism until half-way through the book. What has always drawn me to Peter Carey's work, more so even than his original and often witty storytelling, are his keen observations about the human heart and the ways it breaks, warms, and is drawn to others. These elements exist in the novel, but you must find your way through the first half of the book, which is an interesting enough story, but emotionally sparse. Those who have a closeted (or uncloseted) love for all things Victorian, or get off on mysterious Jack-the-Ripper-like characters, will find the story itself enough to carry them through. All in all, I was pleased with the book, and it carries the distinction of being the first book I've read in a long time that was neither too long nor too short for its story.
Rating:
Summary: Leave your Great Expectations at the door
Review: I regret that I had heard this book compared so favorably and unfavorably to Great Expectations before I read it. This book is not a re-telling of Great Expectations or even, as one other reviewer noted, a "spin-off." This book might more accurately be termed a "jazz riff" on Great Expectations. Mr. Carey has taken some of the key elements of the story of Magwitch and Pip (a banished convict benefactor returning in search of his protege) and constructed a very different story. To compare it to Dickens's book is greatly unfair. Great Expectations is one of the most important pieces of capital-L Literature in the English Language; Jack Maggs is just a good book. But as a good book, I found it to be a rather satisfying read. My only criticism that bears noting is that the characters do not build any emotional magnetism until half-way through the book. What has always drawn me to Peter Carey's work, more so even than his original and often witty storytelling, are his keen observations about the human heart and the ways it breaks, warms, and is drawn to others. These elements exist in the novel, but you must find your way through the first half of the book, which is an interesting enough story, but emotionally sparse. Those who have a closeted (or uncloseted) love for all things Victorian, or get off on mysterious Jack-the-Ripper-like characters, will find the story itself enough to carry them through. All in all, I was pleased with the book, and it carries the distinction of being the first book I've read in a long time that was neither too long nor too short for its story.
Rating:
Summary: Finally gave up on it.
Review: I've been trying to read Jack Maggs for the past couple of weeks. I found myself always trying to find something else to do. This included catching up on magazines, playing Freecell on my PC, etc. Tonight I finally gave up at about the halfway point in the book. Unfortunately, I didn't really care about what happened to the characters and didn't find the story at all captivating or even interesting. I read quite a bit and it's pretty unusual for me to quit halfway through a novel. Obviously many readers loved the book, but I didn't.
Rating: 
Summary: Tracks of the cat
Review: Jack Maggs arrives in London carrying a dark secret in his baggage. He's escaped the ferocity of Captain Logan's Moreton Bay penal colony. Maggs also carries evidence that Logan inflicted more whippings than any other camp commandant in the colony. His back betokens applications of the "double cat". Invented in Australia, the multi-stranded lash was used to discipline the lags. If caught, Maggs'll immediately be hanged, but his quest overcomes his fear of the noose. He's seeking someone important in his life. But fate throws impediments in his way. Among them is Peter Carey's appropriation of Charles Dickens as an investigative journalist. Carey's engrossing story is his finest effort. He's created a character that only an author imbued with accounts of transportee [convicts, lags] travails could achieve. The Australian penal colony system was the antithesis of our concept of Victorian morality. Escaped prisoners were rare in Australia - there was nowhere to go. A lag returning to England was unheard of. In any case, the character of every lag underwent a change. They became two people; one the Englishman of a previous life and the other the result of the dehumanizing conditions suffered in that remote continent. Carey captures that duality with finesse and ardor. Driven by his quest, Maggs must adopt a servant's mien, even as his past experiences and cunning born of survival places him above the devious people he encounters daily. He has, after all, been sent to Australia, not for his crimes, but through an unparalleled act of self sacrifice. Maggs must mentally dodge and weave, moving between the worlds of Percy Buckle, Tobias Oates and the street urchin he was before being sent across the seas. Carey's fashioned a tormented figure set in the chaotic venue of 19th Century England. Equating Carey with Charles Dickens is misleading. Dickens was an investigative journalist turned novelist. In a later age, Theodore Roosevelt would brand such people "muckrakers". Carey's isn't reporting what he's observed, driven by championing the poor Dickens divulged to his Victorian readers. Carey's account is pure fiction, no matter how many real characters and true life conditions he imparts. His creative qualities quite set him apart from Dickens. Simply setting this story in mid-19th Century London doesn't limit it to a Dickensian framework. Dickens, his outlook confined to the British Isles, couldn't have written this book. Carey's Australian background brings subtle nuances to Jack in his characterization. It's unlikely that any Anglo-American author could impart the moods Carey achieves in his portrayal of Maggs. This book is a true prize.
Rating:
Summary: Read Great Expectations, Skip Jack Maggs
Review: Jack Maggs was a bestseller in England and Australia and has all the ingredients for wide appeal everywhere. The main character is mysterious enough to keep us guessing about his background and motives. Why is this obviously wealthy man willing to take a position as a servant in a London household? Set in Dickens's London and times, and based on Dickens' Great Expectations, there is nevertheless none of the stuffy and verbose excess of that era. Carey's writing is crisp and to the point without destroying the flavor of foggy London, circa 1800.
Carey also wrote Oscar and Lucinda, which won Britain's Booker Prize, so don't think Jack Maggs was written by just any mystery hack.
Rating:
Summary: Ambitious and satisfying
Review: One of the most ambitious novels I have read recently, Peter Carey's "Jack Maggs" is a rewriting of quite possibly the most famous text in English Literature- Great Expectations-. For those familiar with Great Expectations, the narrative chronicles the development of Phillip Pirrip on a path of self-discovery, his rise to gentleman financed by the forbidding Australian convict Abel Magwitch. In writing "Jack Maggs" , Peter Carey has shifted the narrative focus from Pip to the convict, and in doing so deconstructs norms present in 19th century English literature. In this rewriting, the Australian writer Peter Carey provides the marginalized, convict character of Magwitch to rebel against his portrayal and define his true identity.
The plot is concerned with the return of Jack Maggs (Magwitch's fictional counterpart) to England, -under the threat of discovery and certain death- to meet the orphan 'son' whose rise to gentleman he has financed for the past twenty years. Once arriving in London, however, Henry Phipps has disappeared. The ensuing chapters detail Jack Maggs's continued attempts to seek out his 'son.' On another level, this develops into a series of confrontations that result in the resolution of Jack Maggs's crises of identity. After discovering that the orphan he has financed from birth into a gentleman has vanished, Jack Maggs poses as a footman in the employ of Percy Buckle, Henry Phipps's neighbor. In his quest to find his "son" not only must Jack Maggs reconcile himself with his identity as a transported convict, but he must also search the streets of London and the surrounding countryside under the threat of certain death. Adventure, suspense and fine characterization ensure that Peter Carey's ambitious rewriting of Great Expectations is both a rollicking sojourn into the seedy streets of 19th century London and an ultimately satisfying read.
Rating:
Summary: Ambitious and satisfying
Review: One of the most ambitious novels I have read recently, Peter Carey's "Jack Maggs" is a rewriting of quite possibly the most famous text in English Literature- Great Expectations-. For those familiar with Great Expectations, the narrative chronicles the development of Phillip Pirrip on a path of self-discovery, his rise to gentleman financed by the forbidding Australian convict Abel Magwitch. In writing "Jack Maggs" , Peter Carey has shifted the narrative focus from Pip to the convict, and in doing so deconstructs norms present in 19th century English literature. In this rewriting, the Australian writer Peter Carey provides the marginalized, convict character of Magwitch to rebel against his portrayal and define his true identity.
The plot is concerned with the return of Jack Maggs (Magwitch's fictional counterpart) to England, -under the threat of discovery and certain death- to meet the orphan 'son' whose rise to gentleman he has financed for the past twenty years. Once arriving in London, however, Henry Phipps has disappeared. The ensuing chapters detail Jack Maggs's continued attempts to seek out his 'son.' On another level, this develops into a series of confrontations that result in the resolution of Jack Maggs's crises of identity. After discovering that the orphan he has financed from birth into a gentleman has vanished, Jack Maggs poses as a footman in the employ of Percy Buckle, Henry Phipps's neighbor. In his quest to find his "son" not only must Jack Maggs reconcile himself with his identity as a transported convict, but he must also search the streets of London and the surrounding countryside under the threat of certain death. Adventure, suspense and fine characterization ensure that Peter Carey's ambitious rewriting of Great Expectations is both a rollicking sojourn into the seedy streets of 19th century London and an ultimately satisfying read.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Solid Read
Review: The best thing you can say about Jack Maggs is that Peter Carrey has fashioned a darker, more realistic, more interesting Dickensian London for the reader to inhabit. Although the plot takes a long, uneventful time to get set up, the periodic flashbacks are brilliantly executed. The story told within the flashbacks of Jack Magg's brutal childhood were by far the best part of the novel for me. Carrey's descriptions of poverty, burglary, and depravity were vividly recounted to great effect. The other outstanding element is the creative portrayals for the secondary characters. Tobias Oats in particular was well fleshed out and had a life of his own. The plot is well executed and relatively complex, but not as compelling or intricate as Dicken's best or Paliser's 'The Quincunx'. The story unfolds in a somewhat flat manner and lacks the urgency one would expect. Overall, worth the read, if for no other reason than to soak up the long ago London world Carrey has painstakingly re-created.
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