“Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show. To begin my life with the beginning of my life, I record that I was born (as I have been informed and believe) on a Friday, at twelve o’clock at night. It was remarked that the clock began to strike, and I began to cry, simultaneously.”

I haven't read all of Charles Dickens' novels yet, but so far this is my favourite. I first read it when I was about 11 or 12, at a similar time to reading Great Expectations. Both made quite an impact on me, and my willingness to try 'old fashioned' books, which turned out to be more accessible and exciting than I had anticipated. Since then I have had a deep love of David Copperfield, both the novel and the character. Recently the movie The Personal History of David Copperfield reminded me of the wonderful story, and I returned to the book to experience it once more.

Anything from Dickens is amazing!

2.75 :(

What a wonderful story by the great Charles Dickens. A tale of escape and adventure. Mr Murdstone is a particularly nasty man and Uriah Heep a nefarious person indeed. Dickens was a master of describing the dour and squalid Victorian period. The draconian schools and work houses. Most all of Dickens work describes, through fantastic characterized personalities in his narrative, how the Victorian era was a terrible time to live if one was poor. The divide between the elite few and the impoverished. Most of the population were illiterate and even the ones that were able to read and write had an upward struggle to get on in life. David Copperfield is a fantastic story of a young man trying to escape the status quo and the amazing characters he encounters on his journey. Oliver Twist is, in my opinion equally positioned with A Christmas Carol, the best two stories he ever wrote. Numerous spin offs and films and TV adaptions have materialized since the books were published. My favourite Oliver Twist and Scrooge being the musicals. The BBC did a great adaption of David Copperfield.

A thoroughly charming and uplifting tale of an orphan who grew up through much hardship and travail in Victorian England. By pluck and good luck he finds the right people to support and inspire him, and to love and to protect in turn, and thereby approach his ambition to become “the hero of his own life.” It’s long, but it fulfills the quota for books you don’t mind lingering with, where each chapter in my Libravox audiobook version whetted my interest for the next. In the serialized version Dickens wrote this in, its 64 chapters must have spun people along for many months. Each chapter leaves the seeds of wanting to find another step in David’s success in bypassing or surmounting the slings and arrows that fate and the author assails him with. It’s not exactly the “Perils of Pauline.” I just came to look forward to him outsmarting the malevolent characters that get their hooks in him, foiling the schemes of exploiters of his generous spirit, and progressing toward a stable love relationship.

It’s been a long time since I read Dickens, and I was surprised that this wasn’t more “Dickensian”. By which most mean a tale full of poor people tormented and downtrodden from inequities of Victorian society. We do get a brief period after David’s sweet simpleton of a mother marries the evil Murdstone, who subjects them both to a tyrannical household with his vicious live-in sister calling a lot of the shots. A violent response on his part while getting an unjust beating gets him sent to a cruel boarding school for unruly children. That part clearly foots the bill for Dickensian. As does his fate of being consigned at about age 10 to work in the family sweatshop, a wine factory on the seedy Thames waterfront. When his one new friend, his landlord Micawber gets sent to debtor’s prison and a mother no longer on the scene (mum’s the word), he hits the bottom of despair. In a most triumphant and brave action, he decides to seek greater expectations by running away and successfully begging his great aunt Betsy of Dover to take him in.

Betsy is the first rung of people who make a ladder for young David to get on in life. He gets to go to a school where teachers inspire him, especially the headmaster Dr. Strong. Staying in the household of Betsy’s lawyer brings him the beginnings of a lifelong friendship with his daughter Agnes, whom he finds always guide him “upwards” to the right moral choices. By his late teens an apprenticeship as “proctor” doing administrative work in a law office is his ticket to autonomy, while success in selling stories for magazines in the beginning of a passage toward making a living from writing. There was no one big cloying romance on David’s journey, but a succession of partial hits and misses. First he yearned for his tender childhood playmate Emily from his lucky childhood sojourns with his nanny’s family of fisher folk in Yarmouth. As an adult he falls for simple, sweet Dora, whom he marries out of mutual devotion. It’s up to us to regret that she is not his intellectual equal. In later life, that level of match is achieved with Agnes, who has secretly pined for him for many years but came to accept his notion of her as like a sister.

Dickens dodges excess sentimentality in his wholesome plot through the surprises and comic touches of a bevy of eccentric characters, among them David’s most sustained friends. Long before Freud and personality theory was developed, Dickens was masterful in capturing all the ways that people adopt odd and even paradoxical behavior on the stage of life. For example, with the character Mr. Dick we get a certifiable nut obsessed with King Charles I, writing his own memorial, and kite-flying, but who is also admirable, loyal, and wise with advice to David and Betsy, who provides him haven as a boarder. His former landlord Micawber continues to be a steadfast friend to David, despite often being a basket case of anxiety over his financial straits. The bad guys in the tale are beset by odd quirks that humanize them beyond serving as nemeses for our hero. Finally, I got to experience the infamous Uriah Heep in action, a fawning sycophant whose pretension to humbleness barely obscures his passive-aggressive egotism, greed and manipulative scheming against Agnes’ father. While David is subject to murderous internal thoughts over Heep, Micawber can’t keep his anger from taking stuttering flight aloud:

“I'll put my hand in no man's hand,' said Mr. Micawber, gasping, puffing, and sobbing, to that degree that he was like a man fighting with cold water, 'until I have—blown to fragments—the—a—detestable—serpent—HEEP! I'll partake of no one's hospitality, until I have—a—moved Mount Vesuvius—to eruption—on—a—the abandoned rascal—HEEP! … I—a—I'll know nobody—and—a—say nothing—and—a—live nowhere—until I have crushed—to—a—undiscoverable atoms—the—transcendent and immortal hypocrite and perjurer—HEEP!”

Somehow, such a playful lens here and there on the odd ducks of the world made the somewhat melodramatic elements of the story have more emotional impact on me--the unjust perfidy of some characters and the tragedies that befell the ones we love. And as a jaded reader of violent thrillers, war stories, and tales of sexual obsession, I was surprised to be touched so deeply by Dickens periodic recourse to simple and tender scenes that reflected the basic goodness of David and the people special to him. Such rewards are worth considering by all those who have long put off reading this classic.

Me ha encantado y va directo a favoritos. ❤
Escrito de una forma magistral y con unos personajes fabulosos. Desde luego, una lectura de las que alimentan. Y, por varias razones, inolvidable para mí ✨

I find it impossible to review such a classic or even to give it a star rating. I’ve been reading it for two months now, a chapter a day as a ‘buddy read’ with a small group, all of whom made valuable contributions that enhanced my reading experience greatly. I can’t thank them all enough.

David Copperfield was Dickens’ favourite and most autobiographical work. As I haven’t read a biography of him, I was much less well informed about his life than the rest of the group. It didn’t matter as we had notes from a previous buddy read to follow as well as our own.

Characters I will never forget are Aunt Betsey, Wilkins Micawber, Uriah Heep and Traddles. All gems! There are also many memorable scenes, some of which are beautifully written. The ending is a bit of an anticlimax after such an eventful tale but I struggle to think how else he would have finished other than he did, with a recap of the characters we had met and their present circumstances.

A thoroughly enjoyable read for which 5 stars is surely the only rating.

Oh, how I love Charles Dickens’ writing; what a genius! There is no doubt why David Copperfield is a classic. Every thought is so clever, serene, and humorous. I was transported into another place and time and felt a warmth and comfort like sinking deep into a down-filled bed every time I picked up this book to read a chapter or two. You talk about escapism -- this was it for me completely. Charles Dickens has entertained with his many stories for centuries and will continue for many more to come. "A Christmas Carol”, “Oliver Twist”, and “David Copperfield” are just a few of my favorites! I read David Copperfield when I was young and loved it, but reading it again as an adult, I can appreciate all the nuances so much more. There are innuendoes that make you laugh throughout; very subtle jabs that if you blink you could miss them. Dickens creates scenes with his words where you feel every step that David takes. The cold air blowing and the smell of wet leaves in the fall. Oh, he puts you right there with David traversing through Canterbury, London and Blunderstone.

In the two prefaces (an original and an updated version) of my edition, Charles Dickens states how much he loved writing this novel; how much he did not want to put down his pen – “It would concern the reader little, perhaps, to know how sorrowfully the pen is laid down at the close of a two years’ imaginative task.”

He also writes, “Of all my books, I like this the best. It will be easily believed that I am a fond parent to every child of my fancy, and that no one can ever love that family as dearly as I love them. But, like many fond parents, I have in my heart of hearts a favourite child. And his name is David Copperfield.”

These sentiments made me fall in love with the book even before I started rereading it. Now, after finishing this masterpiece, I understand exactly why he said it was hard to put his pen down. It is sad to finish this novel because you never want it to end. Charles Dickens’ writing is so smooth, so easy to read, so romantic, and yes, very funny. All the great characters he introduces to us throughout are perfectly depicted. You feel the limp, sweaty palms of Uriah Heep; you see the beautiful eyes and hear the beautiful voice of Dora; and, the wonderfully callused, hard-worked hands of Peggotty – oh, what characters there are in this epic; these characters become family to you too.

David Copperfield goes through so much in his young life and this story gives you all kinds of starts and surprises where you’ll gasp; there is romance and you sigh; there is sadness and you cry. I had tears roll down my cheeks a few times while I was reading this beautiful story. There are stories that intertwine and come around again and again with many interesting twists and turns. Dickens has such a way with descriptions of people; you either become much attached or despise the not so wonderful.

So, what else can one say about a masterpiece as this? There isn’t enough space to print all the kudos here in Goodreads. Not enough. This was a five-star when I read it the first time and a ten-star after my re-read (if there could be such a rating). I recommend everyone put this in a “top ten to read soon”, you will not regret it.

I found this book in a junk pile in a nearby neighborhood shop. I've been burnt by Dickens before (Tale of two Cities). I swore up and down I would never suffer through a another Dickens book ever again. When I spotted this beautiful mint condition vintage copy of David Copperfield, I just couldn't resist. It was free and it seemed like such a shame to just leave it there. It was snowy and damp and I knew if someone didn't rescue it it would become sinfully ruined. I knew if I took it home I was going to force myself to read it sooner or later, one way or another. So picking it up and actually taking it home was an inevitable commitment. The book is 881 pages long.. Once I start reading I go all the way. I have a no abandonment rule, but this one almost pushed me to change that rule. It started off great, at first I couldn't believe that this was the same writer who wrote A Tale of Two Cities. To me reading a Tale of Two Cities was like trying to read Sanskrit. I was initially glad to have given Dickens a second try because I would have otherwise missed his literary diversity...that's what I first thought...Then like 250 pages in I realized I was suckered into it AGAIN!! Gorgeously written but incredibly and painfully dull. David Copperfield annoyed me so much. There was nothing romantic or noteworthy about his entire story. It was like being forced to watch someone else's boring home-videos. It lacked maturity. It seemed like he never grew up to be a man, and remained a rosy-cheeked, self-back-patting little ass-kisser. Then you gotta love how Dickens conveniently kills off his wife Dora so he can have the opportunity to marry his REAL true love, Agnes, whom he never even knew he loved. How romantic. Just what every woman dreams of being.. sloppy seconds. It's not even worth getting into the rest of the reasons why I didn't enjoy the story, so I'll wrap it up by saying:
If I'm ever rummaging through another junk pile of books, and I run across another Dickens, I don't care if the light of God is shining it's golden rays on it, and inside is a map that leads me to a treasure of flawless fist-full chunks of diamonds, I will never ever take another Dickens home ever again.



To all the people who gave this 5 stars..

you lie.

A re-read with the Dickensians group, a chapter a day. Such an enjoyable way to read Dickens and this is mostly a lighter book, although I must admit that I found Mr Micawber particularly annoying and found myself skimming his long speeches or letters! One of Dickens best female characters in Aunt Betsy and one of his worst, David’s first love Dora are a big contrast. And of course it is the characters that stand out here, Uriah Heep, little Em’ly and the Peggottys, Traddles, Steerforth and the wonderful Mr Dick! I’m glad I revisited this book.

I reread this so I could join a friend who was reading Dickens for the first time (she thinks).

Page 424 in my copy is the perfect mixture of what Dickens achieves throughout the whole novel. I noted three instances of chuckle-out-loud humor on that one page alone — David's desire to pitch Uriah over the banister; the character he has dubbed Hamlet’s aunt as having “the family failing of indulging in soliloquy”; and the talk of Blood at a particular dinner table causing him to liken the snobby diners to “a party of ogres” — and of course it is all a relief from previous tragedy, and tragedy to come.

This is also the perfect novel to show Dickens’ not wasting a single one of his numerous characters, and that includes Mr. Mell, someone we do not see or hear of between page 116 and page 992.

Because this was a reread, I noted the foreshadowing especially, which of course didn't mean I remembered all that happened. I'd even forgotten the context of my favorite sentence, coming upon it as if for the first time, which granted me the same thrill I felt upon reading it within its paragraph the very first time.

What can be said of David Copperfield that hasn't been said before? David Copperfield is the Sgt Pepper of Charles Dickens, some might say of English literature. I've been told that the book is funny. But I think the book is as funny as Superman. If stand up comedians based their material on David Copperfield, they wouldn't make a living.

For it's bulk, the book does fast forward a lot. When David is stricken with grief as an adult he goes away writes a lot and becomes famous. How, I don't know. I think the author wanted to refer to himself.

I have read entire chapters (okay, chapter 35) without understanding a lick of what was being said. I dread what would happen if this book figured in my B.A. English class. Maybe I should have appealed to the expertise of the group that's very passionate about Dickens. You know who you are...


And, in the end, details of some happenings are already beginning to fade. I must say, that the deaths in this book are different from that in Nicholas Nicklesby, and also from those in Martin Chuzzlewit. I'd compare Mr Pecksniff with Uriah Heep, but there is little similitude between them, really. Am I so brave as to read more of Dickens, or braver still to reread David Copperfield? Time will tell. My rating of this book is based on my enjoyment of it, believe it or not. See you later, Mr. Dickens.

PS - It has come to my attention that I didn't praise the book a lot. I think it's marvellous. Only I got caught up in saying why I didn't rate it 5 stars. The book is great. Read it at your own leisure.

If you want to read a much better review than mine, click on the link below :

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...