What a fantastic book once again from Mr Dickens. I am amazed at how he can build such realistic characters and create such interesting situations. The storm towards the end was stunningly realistic and breathtaking. I truly loved all the characters and found the villain Uriah Heep to be one of Dicken's most enigmatic and sinister. The intrigues and the situations are so well described, you feel like you are there and the Victorian atmosphere just evaporates as you dive into the story.

This is the closest that Dickens gets to autobiography as David's journey in this book is from an inauspicious beginning towards being a recognized and internationally famous writer. It is also, besides Great Expectations, the only other novel in the first person (from David's perspective.)

The plot is very lively and keeps the reader on his/her toes from beginning to end. I felt that the passage when David walks to Dover was very well-done, I loved the descriptions of the boat house, the storm, and just so many fantastic characters. There is a certain naïveté to David that might put some readers off, but that is also his charm, I think, and I felt that he was somewhat more self-aware than, say, Emily in Bleak House.

I listened to this one while running on Audible narrated by Richard Armitrage and his voicing was truly excellent!

Finishing this long stay in London, I am tempted to read another Dickens. His good characters are so lovable. David Copperfield begins and ends with the elusive Betsy Trotwood.

Who was my favorite character? Dick, Traddles, Aunt, Mr. Micawber, Little Em’ly, Agnes, the Doctor, his wife, Mrs. Micawber (who will never leave Micawber), or David? So many kind and old friends.

And perhaps the slimiest person every written Uriah Heep!

Richard Armitage does them all justice!

So, Dickens, the most beloved English author since Shakespeare. How good is he? Is he as good as Tolstoy? No, he's not as good as Tolstoy. As good as Dumas? No. Hugo? Let's call it a tie. What about other Brits? Well, he's not even close to George Eliot. He's about as good as Thomas Hardy.

He has a better feel for what it's like to be poor than most of those authors, and that's a big plus for him; even if you don't like poor people, Dickens' willingness to dive into the alleys makes a nice change from all those Victorian parlors. His characters are often caricatures, but they're effective, memorable ones. His understanding of human nature comes with sharp sarcasm and a bottomless supply of sympathy. He loves underdogs. He doesn't love Jews. He appears to have some weird ideas about women - see Betsey Trotwood and of course Miss Havisham.

His main characters often disappear - never more than in David Copperfield, where many characters can't be bothered to remember the protagonist's name if they remember him at all. DC is variously called Trot, Daisy, and - by his own awful wife - Doadie. His supporting characters are better, and his villains are best. Uriah Heep basically walks away with David Copperfield.

His plots rely heavily on the kind of coincidence peculiar to 19th century writers, and they're usually telegraphed a mile away, which doesn't keep them from being enormously entertaining and satisfying. He has a tendency to go on about legal bullshit to a fairly eye-glazing degree.

His prose is generally unpretentious and effective, with brief spurts of incredible skill and beauty. He likes describing weather, as in the virtuoso opening of Bleak House. That and the dizzying opening of Tale of Two Cities ("It was the best of times..." and then it goes on for, like, ever) are audacious stuff.

He's badly sentimental. You've probably heard the quote from Oscar Wilde, "One would have to have a heart of stone to read the death of [character from different book] without dissolving into tears of laughter." It's best to just skim passages involving death or love; they're unsalvageably corny.

He's a very good author. David Copperfield is a very good book, but it reads as practice for Great Expectations, which deals with a similar plot and themes better and much more concisely. Great Expectations is the best Dickens I've read. This is good, and Dickens is quite good. I find myself not needing to think about him all that often.

Appendix: Dickens' influences
If you're interested: at one point David Copperfield reels off a list of his favorite literary characters. Here are the books he's referring to:
- Adventures of Roderick Random (1748), Tobias Smollett
- Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751), Tobias Smollett
- Expedition of Humphry Clinker (1771), Tobias Smollett (Chuck liked Smollett, huh? This one is supposed to be his best.)
- Tom Jones, Henry Fielding (1749)
- Vicar of Wakefield (1762), Oliver Goldsmith
- Gil Blas, Alain-René Lesage (1715 - 1735), "the last masterpiece of the picaresque genre"
- Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe (1719)

Money can't buy you love (but it can keep you out of debtor's prison)

David Copperfield is a fictional biography of the life of David Copperfield starting with his birth. David has a very unhappy childhood, subject to much torment. How will this shape and mold David? On whom can he rely? How will Mr. Copperfield turn out?

What is the best part of going on vacation? Certainly not the one week of the vacation but the year in advance thinking about vacation. When the day is drizzling and the sun hasn't made an appearance for several weeks, when my heart is downcast and downtrodden, I think about the rays of sunlight filtering through the air, the warmth upon my skin, and my burden is a little bit lightened. David Copperfield was truly put through a challenging childhood. However, instead of focusing on all of the horrible experiences, he relays the kindnesses and happier periods of his life. It really speaks to how a small kindness can go a long way.

This book had me laughing and crying. The character development was really first rate. Although there are many characters, Dickens writes them in such a manner that they are memorable enough to be remembered and recalled throughout the book. David Copperfield was such a moving piece of literature, and it stirs my soul. It had some very serious themes without being preachy.

Overall, I am already looking forward to reading this book again! Excellent read!

Tips:
1) Just FYI, this book is LONG.
2) I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend the audiobook version of this. If you are a Premium Audible member, it is FREE!!!!! Who doesn't like FREE stuff?! The narrator did all of the voices and accents which really brought the book to life. Also, with a book this long, it really helped me make sure that I was progressing at a steady pace and charting my progress.
3) This book was one of the 100 Books to Read Before You Die According to the BBC (I will be reading all 100, currently at 61):
https://www.listchallenges.com/bbcs-t...

2025 Reading Schedule
JantA Town Like Alice
FebtBirdsong
MartCaptain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Berniere
AprtWar and Peace
MaytThe Woman in White
JuntAtonement
JultThe Shadow of the Wind
AugtJude the Obscure
SeptUlysses
OcttVanity Fair
NovtA Fine Balance
DectGerminal

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Nisam, priznajem, planirala da čitam celog Davida (sic!) Koperfilda u ovoj turi, samo da još jednom pročitam početak i da se podsetim nekih omiljenih delova (detinjstvo! TETKA!). Onda se to proširilo i na delove koje sam zapamtila kao problematične (čitaj sve u najdaljoj vezi sa seksom ahahaha) da vidim da li se nešto promenilo (...onako) a onda sam u nekom trenutku uzela da čitam i sve što je preostalo i da kao bonus poredim original s prevodom koji sam čitala kao mala i koji su dobri ljudi piratizovali bez popravki tj. bez "popravki" kakvim naše stare prevode danas neodgovorno podvrgavaju. (Prevod Mihajla i Jugoslava Đorđevića je i dalje tako lep i tako dobar i tako... predobar prosto, ima npr. trenutak kad "active figure" koju David izdaleka opaža na brodu u oluji oni prevode sa "prilika onog preduzimljivog vrednog čoveka", i ma koliko da znam da bi današnji prevodioci anatemisali takvo rešenje, stoput mi je primerenije kontekstu od khm "aktivne figure" kako bi garant prevelo pola danas AKTIVNIH prevodilaca.)

Ne mnogo iznenađujući zaključak: ovo je stvarno Dikens u naponu snage i svi oni pozniji realistični mlohavci što su se zgražavali nad njegovim konstruisanim zapletima i karikiranim likovima mogu samo da mu pljunu pod prozor. Ceo početak s onim najranijim sećanjima iz detinjstva, neverovatno čulno upečatljivim, sa snažnim i samo naizgled nelogičnim asocijativnim vezama između raznih slika i pojmova, gotovo opipljiva evokacija određenog trenutka u vremenu i prostoru... tek su ruski realisti (ok: Tolstoj) ponovo dostigli tu snagu i istančanost potrebne da se prikaže svet iz ugla deteta. I duga sekvenca o brodolomu može se čitati kao pravi mali priručnik o tome kako se gradi atmosfera, osećaj neodređene teskobe, kako se lagano gomilaju nagoveštaji i pre same scene oluje i brodoloma i kako se dostiže kulminacija a potom i naknadno katarzično razrešenje. (Da. Mnogo je patetično. Ali RADI.)

Što se konstruisanog zapleta tiče: pa jeste. Mnogo ima momenata kad se baš slučajno potrefe dve osobe jedna na drugu kad ustreba. Još je više scena koje David sasvim slučajno i nehotice vidi i čuje kroz prozorče ili iza vrata samo zato što bismo inače mi čitaoci ostali uskraćeni za neko sočno (i patetično! patetika zauvek!) razjašnjenje. Ali ako se posmatra kao muzička kompozicija - kao velika struktura sa mnogo manjih motiva i tokova koji se ukrštaju i preklapaju, nestaju i opet se javljaju da bi se sve završilo finalom u kome takoreći još jednom čujemo svaku muzičku frazu i svaki instrument - ovo je 5+ po tome kako pisac drži sve konce u rukama i ne ispusti nijedan.

O likovima kod Dikensa rekao je već ko je šta mogao i hteo :) ali moram da se izjasnim: tetka Betsi je car, kralj, i reli vozač zauvek, ultimativni dokaz da je Dikens mogao da piše odlične ženske likove samo jelte da ne budu... mlade, lepe i pune vrlina... Nikakva količina pristrasnosti mi (avaj) neće pomoći da Agnes ikad vidim kao išta više osim kartonske siluete na kojoj piše IDEALNA DEVOJKA. U poređenju s njom čak je i gospođa Strong (koja je u suštini takođe mlada, lepa i pozitivna, ergo bezbojna do bola) osoba sa naznačenim duhovnim životom i teškom borbom koju vodi. Gospođa Strong takođe ima retko jezivu sudbinu za koju Dikens valjda očekuje da je dočekamo sa smeškom odobravanja... e pa iskreno, bolje su prošle obe upropašćeneTM devojke u ovom romanu, a bogami je i Dora svoj kratki život provela daleko veselije. Mnogo je grozno kad vidite šta sve ljudi mogu da podrazumevaju kad kažu "dobar brak". I e da. Sasvim sam zaboravila da se u romanu pojavljuje patuljasta žena i da je prikazana s neočekivanim razumevanjem i toplinom, kao živ, složen i protivrečan čovek.

Sve u svemu, pet plus od prvog dečjeg čitanja do danas, svaki put iz drugačijih razloga - takve su stvarno samo najbolje knjige.

PS predivno širok i raznovrstan spektar negativaca, nemam ovde mesta ni da okrznem taj aspekat ali pogledajte ih samo :srećno zamahuje rukom prema nizu Merdston, Krikl, Litimer, Hip, Stirford:

It's taken me years to finally finish a second Charles Dickens novel. Since I was preparing to read Barbara Kingsolver's "Demon Copperhead" I felt it appropriate to read the source material. It's solid bildungsroman- a rags to riches story that is both charming and harrowing.

I write harrowing because Dickens is always excellent at crafting atmosphere- especially dark, dreary ones that depict child neglect and abuse, poverty, gloomy factories, and the darkness of the London fog that permeates. I tend to think of the musicals "Oliver!" and "Sweeney Todd" when I read Dickens- and this was the sensibility I picked up on upon reading "Great Expectations" years ago; or when I've seen film variations on "A Christmas Carol".

David Copperfield's mother Clara dies, and he is at the mercy of his awful stepfather Mr. Murdstone and step-aunt Mrs. Murdstone. David comes of age- from a schoolboy, to a factory worker. He marries twice to the immature Dora, and later marries the faithful Agnes. His childhood surrogate mother Peggoty is part of his coming of age, as well as his aunt, Betsey Trotwood- the dowager who changes his life forever. She's the polar opposite of the cruel Miss Havisham from "Great Expectations" and I see how Mrs. Trotwood and Miss Havisham are parallel cousins in the Dickens universe.

Overall, it's an enjoyable yarn, of dark streets, selfish cads like James Steerforth; selfless lads like Tommy Traddles, and Mr. Micabwer, and little innocent girls like Emily, who can be seen as a lamb to the slaughter. I felt it slogged a bit in the beginning, and during the midst of its exposition. I am certainly glad I finally read this classic.

reading dickens to pretend i'm a grownup

Read the majority of this over the course of 4 days snowed in under 2 or so feet of blizzard and its dimming snowlight day's circular repetition, in a new house, often in near silence only punctuated by winter robins chirping outside, in between making pots of coffee and organizing my books and music and furniture. I can think of few more delightful states in which to absorb this classic Bildungsroman, which appears to be one of that genre of book called Perfect Novel. Shall I read more Dickens? I shall read them all.

Read as part of The Infinite Variety Reading Challenge, based on the BBC's Big Read Poll of 2003.

Charles Dickens can do no wrong, except perhaps keep around 100 pages of rather irrelevant tangents in this book.

It was such a powerhouse of characterisation and world-building that I barely know where to begin. All of the characters were utterly divine, even the detestable Uriah Heep and the unbelievably pathetic Dora, and most especially the wonderful early Feminist icon that is Betsy Trotwood. I often have my doubts on first-person narrative, but Dickens is one of the few who can do it so well without losing many of the great advantages of reading with an omnipotent narrator. David Copperfield is unreliable in many fields-mostly his blind-spot for falling in love-but he is in-tune with his surroundings and can express what he feels other characters around him are feeling so suitably that it matters not that we are seeing the world through his young eyes only.

The world was fantastic: I am always immediately transported to these places when I read 19th Century fiction and this was no exception. The strife of the poor and the decadence of the indifferent rich is interwoven here like smoke billowing in to pure oxygen. There were so many nooks and crannies to be explored that it took me a while to get through this nigh-on 900 page book, but it was worth it.

Aside from one or two tangents which meant the story-line stalled ever so slightly, it flowed magnificently and I don't remember laughing so much at a book that wasn't a straight humour novel. Dickens has a way of writing with such endearment about his characters and society, but also tearing them apart at the same time. It was a beautiful ride through the English countryside and a nice run through the heavy streets of London and I don't think Thackeray was wrong when he said, "Bravo Dickens."

"De todos los libros este es el que más me gusta... como muchos padres, tengo un hijo predilecto, un hijo que es mi debilidad; este hijo se llama David Copperfield." Charles Dickens

"David Copperfield" era una de las novelas predilectas de Franz Kafka. De hecho su propia novela "El desaparecido", llamada "América" por Max Brod, Kafka define el personaje de Karl Rossmann en forma secular al de Dickens.
Las novelas de formación o "Bildungsroman" como comúnmente son llamadas nos cuentan la vida de un personaje, a veces en primera persona, a veces en tercera, desde que es niño o muy joven hasta su edad madura e incluso vejez.
Casos como este abundan en la literatura y podemos recordar otras de Dickens como "Oliver Twist" y "Nicholas Nickleby" pero también encontramos novelas de otros autores, tal es el caso de "Rojo y negro" de Stendhal, "Jane Eyre" de Charlotte Brontë, Agnes Grey de su hermana Anne Brontë e incluso novelas como "Retrato del artista adolescente" de James Joyce, "El Adolescente" de Fiódor Dostoievski y también, por qué no, "Israel Potter" Herman Melville. En fin, ejemplos los hay y muchos.
En mi caso, vaya a ser por qué prurito o prejuicio, no quería leer a Dickens y es a partir de libros como este cuando me doy cuenta de lo equivocado que estuve, ya que como buen cultor de novelas y autores del siglo XIX, debería haberlo intentado antes. Pero, como nunca es tarde para comenzar, me pareció buena idea iniciar la lectura dickensiana con este libro. Seguramente vendrán más.
Dickens es un novelista total de la talla de otros inolvidables autores, famosos por su prolífica obra y sus extensísimas novelas, como lo pueden ser Fiódor Dostoievski, Honoré de Balzac, Víctor Hugo y Lev Tolstói. Adentrarse en estas novelas es saber que por una buena porción de tiempo, uno estará abocado a la lectura de cientos de páginas, que a veces, sobrepasan las mil.
El autor escribió este libro durante dos años enteros y los fue publicando por entregas semanales hasta completar la historia y publicarla en forma de libro y se nota: mi edición, que aunque es de bolsillo es íntegra y consta de mil cuarenta y nueve páginas.
Son muchos los especialistas que coinciden en que esta es la novela más autobiográfica de Dickens, ya que lo que le sucede desde niño a Copperfield prácticamente se asemeja casi en forma idéntica a la vida que Dickens atravesó especialmente en su infancia y los distintos personajes que rodean a Copperfield están tomados de la vida real de Dickens con nombres cambiados, aunque existe también en esta novela un gran conglomerado de hechos y personajes que no están sacados de su propia vida.
Los inicios de David Copperfield son duros, crueles y despiadados. Sufre todo tipo de atropellos y castigos. Por momentos me recordó a los de Jane Eyre.
Es vapuleado por su cruel padrastro, el señor Edward Murdstone y su hermana, la señorita que eleva su categoría de ser humano a bruja. La muerte, el hambre y la pobreza son moneda corriente en su infancia y de no ser por su eterna niñera Peggotty, corre continuamente riesgo de no llegar a adulto.
Su vida transcurre entre los ignotos pueblos de Suffolk y Yarmouth y por momentos en la Londres de fines del siglo XIX, en plena Revolución Industrial, donde la diferencia de clases sociales es tan marcada como injusta.
Otro aspecto destacable, es el total sometimiento de la mujer y los niños por parte de los hombres: machismo, misoginia y patriarcado son algo común en Inglaterra y estos sufren el desprecio y la violencia innecesaria de una sociedad que lo reduce a la mínima expresión. Muchas de las situaciones que Copperfield, los alumnos de escuela o las señoritas de su época tienen que vivir son realmente terribles.
La brutalidad de la enseñanza primaria, a base de golpes que se utilizaba en ese país llegó a extenderse a hasta bien adentrado el siglo XX. Inglaterra siempre fue un claro ejemplo de excesos a cargo de profesores y maestros, algo que recuerdo mucho cada vez que escucho "Another brick in the Wall" de Pink Floyd en el que Roger Waters grafica claramente cómo hasta la década del 40 era normal castigar a los alumnos también a partir de su propia experiencia empírica.
Le llevará años a Copperfield quitarse de encima este karma y será recién entrado en su adultez cuando pueda ponerse realmente de pie.
Naturalmente, una novela de este calibre está construida sobre la base de personajes sustanciales e inolvidables. Además de los ya nombrados, la historia girará alrededor de David Copperfield, su amigo y protector de la infancia James Steerforth, su otro amigo Traddles que lo acompañará hasta el final, el entrañable señor Wilkins Micawber, siempre al borde del colapso y la cárcel, la tía de David, Betsey Trotwood, pieza fundamental en su vida, el señor Dick, amigo inseparable de la tía, el profesor Creakle durante sus días de infancia, el señor Peggotty, hermano de su niñera, Ham, la pequeña Emily, quien tendrá varios capítulos dedicados para ella, y ya a partir de la mitad de la novela, la aparición de la bellísima Dora Spenlow quien robará el corazón de David, y muy especialmente para recordar es la aparición de Agnes Wickfield cuya injerencia tendrá importancia suprema para el desarrollo de la segunda mitad del libro.
Por último, dejo a Uriah Heep, uno de los villanos mejor construidos de la literatura a cargo de Dickens, amo y señor de las bajezas más impensadas que tendrá a todos bajo su malvada influencia.
Uriah Heep cuyo nombre fue incluso utilizado por una banda de hard rock de los setenta, se asemeja a los grandes villanos que nos hemos encontrado en otros libros famosos y su poder de atracción en el lector es hipnótico, ya que constantemente uno quiere saber cuál será la siguiente movida de Heep y cómo afectará al resto de los personajes.
Dentro de la novela, nos encontraremos con un sinfín de situaciones y giros en la trama, y todos ellos estarán conectados entre sí, atravesando en algunos casos, varios años.
Claramente se ve lo que puede surgir de la pluma magistral de este autor enorme que se llamó Charles Dickens y a quien le debo una sincera disculpa y un gran respeto y agradecimiento por tantas novelas inolvidables como esta que iré leyendo con el correr del tiempo.

I acquired this book from my father's bookshelf. It was bought by my father in 1964 (oh how I love old books!). This book by Charles Dickens is definitely a masterpiece! Although the author has died long ago, but I believe that his books and novels still live within us because of their marvelous concept and breathtaking events. And David Copperfield is certainly not an exception. It is said that this book is a reflection of the author’s life and that makes it more meaningful I feel.

The story traces the life history of David from his childhood to his adulthood. Dickens tells the quintessential tale of growing up. He brought the most colourful cast of characters that have their own personalities, motives, interests and sense of humour. Through the story, David grows up. He learns about the world, love, and human nature. He witnesses the miracles of life, and the tragedies of death. In turn, I feel the readers learn about such things as well. We see the world clearly through David's eyes.

Even though the story is being narrated by an older and wiser David, the readers still experience events how David had experienced them the first time. The chapters where we observe David's childhood precisely allow us to see the environment through a child's trusting eyes. David is susceptible to making mistakes in life and being naive. He is a good and honorable person with a moral conscience, but he is just as susceptible to the vices of this world as everybody else. But this is part of growing up too, isn't it?

Overall, I liked it very much. I felt the atmosphere it was giving and there were deep characters, which really helped in the story. Definitely a must-read classic!

In a Nutshell: Still remains my favourite Dickens work, though middle-aged-me found more flaws in it than teen-me did. If you are a classics lover, this ought to be on your read list at least for its impeccable character development.


In many ways, this was a reread for me, but strictly speaking, this is my first read of the complete and unabridged work.

During my childhood years, the classics were an inevitable part of my life, primarily because of my school who added a variety of classics to our agenda. No full-length tomes were forced upon us. Rather, we were given abridged versions of works by classic giants ranging from Mark Twain to Anthony Hope, George Eliot (whom I had assumed to be a man!!) to Johann David Wyss. Because of these relatively thinner, illustrated volumes, I never felt overwhelmed by the writing style and enjoyed the large-than-life stories.

A few years ago, I decided to read the unabridged versions of my favourite old titles. Of all the abridged classics I read in my tween years, David Copperfield had the top spot on my list of favourites (sharing the #1 rank with Jules Verne’s “Around the World in Eighty Days.”) So you can guess why I am so happy today. After all these years, I have finally read the unabridged version of this lovely story!

What I hadn’t realised before that this is an example of character-driven fiction. But today, I see how impressive the character sketching is in this novel. Right from the major game-changers to the minor fleeting appearances, every single character is given enough flesh and bone so as to make us know them in and out the minute they make their appearance on the page.

It was so wonderful to take a relook at my favourite characters after nearly three decades. I had loved and continue to love Peggotty, Betsey Trotwood, Mr. Dick, Mr. Micawber, Tommy Traddles, Mr. Peggotty, and the dearest-of-all Agnes Wickfield. My opinion about all of these remains the same even after knowing them in greater detail. My opinion of the ‘umble Uriah Heep also stays unchanged – I continue to abhor him, probably at an enhanced level.

On the contrary, my feelings for James Steerforth, Little Emily, and Dora Spenlow are altered, but not due to Dickens’ fault. I hadn’t known that my abridged school-time copy had provided a picture-perfect depiction of these characters, chopping out whatever cast grey shades on their personality or took a negative turn in their story. Seeing their actual portrayal was heartbreaking, especially when it came to Steerforth because I just didn’t expect that strong a villainous angle to come up in his arc.

You might be wondering why the eponymous character is missing from the above names. That’s simply because I have now seen David in a myriad new ways, and am hence undecided about whether to like him or not. As this is his coming-of-age story, it is a treat to see him grow from the shy lad to a confident man who knows what he wants only when others . But as I have the advantage of now being older than David, I see just how many times he is quick to jump to conclusions, how blind he is to the flaws of those he loves, and how he follows his heart without taking advice from his head. He is quite judgemental and more than a little snooty. All these factors make him an exceptional titular character, but not necessarily a likeable one.

Honestly, I value my abridged copy even more now because it expertly cut out whatever was extraneous and outdated without altering the core story. In other words, it retained the best of Dickens’ characters and chucked out the worst. My old copy had eliminated not just certain sad incidents but also all offensive elements such as the portrayal of the dwarf character, the silly tendency to equate looks with virtue, and the outdated, misogynistic comments. That said, I am not going to hold these shortcomings against the full-length version because this book was first published in 1850. That’s the social mentality Dickens lived with, and that’s the readership Dickens wrote for, not for modern-day “woke” mortals who believe that they know more than the author himself about how he should have written this work almost 175 years ago.

If you haven’t yet read this book and are fond of classics, I would definitely recommend this tome to you. After all, you would know how to read classics in the right spirit – without getting all twenty-first century-judgemental about it.

I'm not going to claim that this is the best Charles Dickens work, because there are still many I've not read, but of the ones I've read, this was the dearest to my heart, and will continue to be so. I appreciate the number of strong female characters Dickens managed to insert into this epic despite the story being so male-dominated - such a rarity for a book by a male author and published in the 1800s.

Not changing my original rating because… you know… nostalgia.

4.5 stars.