David Copperfield by Charles DickensMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
David Copperfield is the story of a young man's adventures on his journey from an unhappy and impoverished childhood to the discovery of his vocation as a successful novelist. Among the gloriously vivid cast of characters he encounters are his tyrannical stepfather, Mr Murdstone; his brilliant, but ultimately unworthy school-friend James Steerforth; his formidable aunt, Betsey Trotwood; the eternally humble, yet treacherous Uriah Heep; frivolous, enchanting Dora Spenlow; and the magnificently impecunious Wilkins Micawber, one of literature's great comic creations. In David Copperfield - the novel he described as his 'favourite child' - Dickens drew revealingly on his own experiences to create one of the most exuberant and enduringly popular works, filled with tragedy and comedy in equal measure. This edition uses the text of the first volume publication of 1850, and includes updated suggestions for further reading, original illustrations by 'Phiz', a revised chronology and expanded notes. In his new introduction, Jeremy Tambling discusses the novel's autobiographical elements, and its central themes of memory and identity.
The only other book I've read by Dickens is A Christmas Carol. Which feels like a walk in the park compared to David Coppperfield. It's a tome of nearly 900 pages. I chose it because it's on the BBC 100 books list I've (very) gradually been working my way through but it also worked for one of the prompts for the 52 books 2024 challenge I'm trying to do this year.
There's no doubt that Dickens was a great writer of his time and I definitely want to have read some classics during my lifetime. My bookshelves are full of crime fiction and chick lit but there are a few classics on there, although not all have been read.
I did enjoy reading Copperfield but Dickens' writing is so flowery, especially during some of the speeches given and the letters written in the book that I did find myself skim reading a little at times. It was interesting to get a view of how the world was at the time and I enjoyed seeing how the story unfolded and then what became of the various characters. Soooo many characters to keep track of. I did start making notes of what happened in each chapter in an effort to keep things clear in my head but gave up halfway through as I was falling behind on my reading schedule - I had given myself a month to read the book and it took me that length of time.
Will I read more books by Dickens? Probably, but not just yet!
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There's no doubt that Dickens was a great writer of his time and I definitely want to have read some classics during my lifetime. My bookshelves are full of crime fiction and chick lit but there are a few classics on there, although not all have been read.
I did enjoy reading Copperfield but Dickens' writing is so flowery, especially during some of the speeches given and the letters written in the book that I did find myself skim reading a little at times. It was interesting to get a view of how the world was at the time and I enjoyed seeing how the story unfolded and then what became of the various characters. Soooo many characters to keep track of. I did start making notes of what happened in each chapter in an effort to keep things clear in my head but gave up halfway through as I was falling behind on my reading schedule - I had given myself a month to read the book and it took me that length of time.
Will I read more books by Dickens? Probably, but not just yet!
View all my reviews
Congrats on working through Copperfield! It is not a book I would even try to tackle. I just can't do the wordy and flowery books. No patience. Thanks for the review and congratulations again!
ReplyDeleteThanks Terri. You know how I love a challenge :)
DeleteI've tried to read Dickens before and I agree - hard to get through. I do love "A Christmas Carol" but other attempts have failed. But this is great literature and so I'll eventually try again.
ReplyDelete