David Copperfield

I felt it to be such a daunting task to read this book! I'm not one to give up on a book once I begin reading, but I certainly came close with this one. It was by no means a poorly written story; actually, it was some of the best writing I have read in quite a while. I was sad for David Copperfield as he experienced so much loss in his life. I enjoyed the ending, which seemed a happy one, comparatively speaking.

This strong autobiographical novel by Dickens is plainly and straightforwardly spoken not more and not less than an absolute masterwork!!
To attempt an appropriate review at such a literary work as this one, I needed to be kind of an apt scholar..
Although I'm a simple layman, I have in my heart an unquenchable burning love and passion for books!!
David Copperfield was for me a buddy reading with my good friend Tracey..
So, thanks so much Tracey for letting me share with you my thoughts and comments and being so patient with me, also for being together with me in this adventure..
Well, let gets started..

David Copperfield is Dickens at his very best!!
Brimming with dramatic and funny characters, wicked villains, and insidious foes so full of vitality and life, that they feel totally like real persons..
The story itself is very complex and has many unexpected turns!!
A drama, a love story, a coming of age tale, a thriller, and a family saga!!

David Copperfields mother, a young widow get married to the inhuman and cruel Mr. Murdstone..
After the death of his mother,David must face an environment full of hostility and also must go trough dire and painful straits until he finds shelter with his aunt..

We have here unforgettable characters like Uriah Heep, the Micawbers, Agnes Wickfield, Steerforth and many many others!!!
Dickens endeavors and is successful in breathing life to every single one of them!!
I was hook from the first page on!!
Not only the characters, but also the story itself is full of drama and magic..
Let me put it in this way, Dickens with his words has achieve to create not a world, but much more a universe of feelings and emotions which will relentlessly increase the pressure on your literary throat!!!

And let me point out that although my paperback had more than 900 pages, it never was a dull or insipid meal for me..
I could speak for hours about Dickens and his David Copperfield..
But I want you to read it for yourself, so you can taste and savor the unique magic in Dickens world!!!

Happy reading to all my goodreads friends
Dean;)

Readers have been saying that my review of David Copperfield is hard to find, because the edition I have is in two volumes. One helpful friend suggested that I link it to this edition, so here it is:

LINK HERE for Jean's review.

Thanks, Thomas :)

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!

Bravo, Dickens!

I have to say that, copying Thackaray for the millionth time, probably. What a difference to read the original, compared to the watered-down versions I was familiar with from my childhood. It took me quite a lot of time to get into the rich flow of words, the beautiful allusions, and the dry humour, but then I was hooked. My family will always remember the Christmas vacation when I was in a rage against Uriah Heep, not able to contain my anger, sharing my frustration loudly!

But it wasn't only annoyance with the blatant hypocrisy, vulgarity and opportunism, of course. I fell in love with the minor characters, as I usually do when reading Dickens. And just following their paths, walking through 19th century London, is a delight!

Update:

My eldest son finished it as well now, and interestingly he was more annoyed with David's naivety than with Uriah's hypocrisy and criminal activities.

By now fully acquainted with the Copperfield universe, he read a comment in The Economist, and burst out laughing at the notoriously self-promoting, self-indulgent, deceptive politician of our days, who claimed to be "very humble indeed - people wouldn't believe really how humble I am!"

"Is 'e as 'umble as Uriah?" my son asked, laughing tears. Well, Uriah ended up playing his tricks in prison... The 'umble scoundrel cited in The Economist later moved into the Bleak House, eh ... sorry, 'umble mistake, Black House it is. Wrong again? Well, in a world turned upside down, it is a pure pleasure to read Dickens and to know that his characters get the fate they deserve, and that poetical justice will come, after a long nail-biting adventure, originally delivered in the newspapers just like global day-to-day politics!

So, Uriah! I would appreciate if you could just 'umbly stay a fictional character!

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:

Almost hate to leave these characters.

"I never thought when I used to read books what work it is was to write them."
"Its work enough to read them, sometimes," I returned.

How perfect these lines seemed when they appeared in the last few pages of this tome of a classic. Yes, it did seem like work at times but mostly the delights in the writing carried me though. It wasn't the story so much as the telling of it. This was my second try to get beyond halfway and with the print and the audio read by the exceptional narrator Simon Vance, I did not find it as difficult as I remembered.

I won't go into the plot, it did remind me of Great Expectations and is purported to be based largely on the author's life. It begins with David's birth and follows his many hardships. follies and successes into middle age. Along with David there are a most interested group of side characters both evil and funny who lighten up the pages (I was surprised to see that W.C. Fields actually played the part of Micawber in the 1935 film adaptation).

Even with 882 pages I do feel it was an enjoyable read. It gave me a taste for some more Dickens, so Bleak House maybe next but first for next years long classic I plan to read The Count of Monte Cristo whose pages count is even greater. Wish me luck for that one.