Customer Reviews

David Copperfield (Penguin Popular Classics)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is Dickens's best and it is on par with other great novels such as Anna Karenina, Pride and Prejudice, Madame Bovary, etc. In short, it is a masterpiece that brings together all of Dickens's writing skills with a great story.

As background information, I am in the process of reading most of Dickens 22 novels. I bought the Penguin Popular Classics version of the novel. It is very basic and comes in a simple green cover. It contains no introduction or analysis, just the text plus a very brief historical sketch of Dickens. It seems to be an excellent value for the money and I bought three Dickens novels in the series. I was a bit disappointed in that the book seemed to fall apart as I read it: the binding seemed very weak and cheaply made. After this bad experience, I bought other versions of Dickens's works - Wordsworth Classic versions, the regular Penguin Classic versions, the ones with the photo on the covers, and others.

Charles Dickens, who lived from 1812 to 1870, is the best know male English writer of the 19th century. He authored 22 novels plus numerous short pieces. Most of his writing was first written in serialized form, later published as single novels.

A young Dickens at the age of 12 had the unenviable job of attaching labels 10 hours a day at the Warren's boot blacking factory. That experience shaped much of his writing career. Still in his teens he became a law clerk, then later in his twenties a journalist. The last job as a reporter led to the serialized writing of his novels. His works were social commentaries with larger than life characters, or colorful caricatures, living in the slums of London. He was a critic of poverty, social injustice, and the slow moving court system.

All of Dickens's experiences come together in David Copperfield. The story has many biographical elements in it: a young man forced to take a job in a factory, attendance at a difficult school, working in a law firm, being a reporter, etc. The book was the author's favorite because of all of these biographical elements. The novel is twice as long as Great Expectations and has a wonderful set of characters, a good story, and it is a compelling read. It is clear from reading the novel that Dickens has put a lot of enthusiasm and creativity into writing the novel and into the creation of many memorable characters such as Edward and Jane Murdstone, Wilkins Micawber, Uriah Heep, Tommy Traddles, Mrs Trotwood, etc. Readers will not be disappointed.

Having read many of Dickens's novels I still rate David Copperfield as best as a work of literature and for entertainment value.

This book excels marvelously on two fronts - style and story. Dickens has a masterful style that uses to good effect the best elements of English. His prose is simply wonderful.

The story is also tremendous. Its wraps up a little too tidy, but that is the Dicken's style. The characters are vividly painted and the failures and triumphs feel as real as can be.

It is a masterpiece I recommend to everyone.

I have finally finished the illustrious classic, "David Copperfield." At times I really enjoyed the book, at others I was very close to banging my head against the wall. I think the last 100 pages or so were a real challenge. That being said, overall, it was a pretty interesting story. From birth to his second marriage, the tale traces the life of David Copperfield.

I found David's early life to be the most interesting part of the book. His father died before he was born, leaving his naive and young mother to raise him. She entered into a second marriage. Her husband (and his sister) were a huge trial to David, as they often mistreated him. Sent off to a boarding school, he was finally able to make friends and come into his own. Unfortunately, his mother died and his step-father made him leave the boarding school, and at the tender age of 10, David was sent to the city to work in a factory. After several months David decides to set off across the country, looking for his infamously eccentric Aunt.

Overall, not a bad read at all.

I suspect that hearing this book read to me (I think from Audible.com) made all the difference.
Dickens takes you right inside a fascinating, vivid character and surrounds you with a compelling world and cast of friends, acquaintances, and enemies. Master Copperfield is a marvelous story teller, who carries you along.
Compared with Middlemarch, Dickens has most of Eliot's psychological penetration but a more melodramatic, less realistic approach. For the most part, this was not a major weakness, although at times it was; for instance, the romantic conclusion lacked much of the persuasive reality of the the rest of the story.
I suppose Dickens wrote each chapter as a separately published magazine piece, which sometimes gives the story an uncertain rhythm.

Overall, I enjoyed almost every minute with Master Copperfield and look forward to taking the voyage with him again some day.

I have read the three reviews previously presented. They are excellent reviews of a timeless classic, indeed. I am attempting to read all the Dicken's novels - this being my second,having finished Great Expectations. I thoroughly enjoyed both books. What a great history of years gone by in Britain! What a hard life people lived through, finding happiness in the simplest of things. Oh, that this generation could toss out their electronics and once again enjoy the simple things of singing, playing instruments, and conversing for entertainment. I'm afraid that era is gone forever. I am currently reading, A Christmas Carol, and am entranced by the prosaic style of Dickens. I highly recommend future writers to take the time to read the genius of Charles Dickens.
Dawn Kurtz author of Secret of the Mexican Doll

"David Copperfield" by Charles Dickens is not a book I would recommend to everyone. I read it and it was a challenging read. I would recommend over this, if one wants to be introduced to Dickens' works, the books "Oliver Twist", "Great Expectations", "A Tale of Two Cities", and "A Christmas Carol". I have read those books. "A Tale of Two Cities" has a story that is difficult to follow, but it is not as difficult to follow for me as the story in "David Copperfield". Charles Dickens was a great author, but his novel "David Copperfield" is not a place for first timers to find out about him.

The book is narrated by David Copperfield. When the novel starts out he is a boy. His father died before he was born leaving his mother to raise him by herself. She marries another man who rules over him with tyranny. He is sent by his stepfather to a boarding school and then given a job. David Copperfield hates the job so he runs away to his aunt's house. Since his mother is dead, his aunt raises him. He gets another job as a proctor. I don't know what a proctor is. He then falls in love with a girl named Dora.

The novel has a number of characters. It had so many characters that I couldn't keep track of them. The two most memorable of the characters are Mr. Micawber and Uriah Heep. Mr. Micawber is always in debt to his creditors and ends up in prison repeatedly because of this. Uriah Heep is a disgusting character and he is so disgusting that I felt like washing my hands everytime I read about him.

While I admit that there is a lot of artistry in "David Copperfield", I would not recommend it for those looking for a book to introduce themselves to Dickens' works.

This book never became quite as popular as "Oliver Twist," "A Christmas Carol," or "A Tale of Two Cities." Nevertheless, it is easy to see why Charles Dickens felt that this was his best creation. David Copperfield is born. His widowed mother is nice enough, but she becomes involved with the cruel Murderstone. (Murderstone feels that beatings are acceptable if David does not learn his lessons well enough.) David's mother dies, and Murderstone sends David off to work where he encounters the eccentric but benevolent Mr. Micawber. (Mr. Micawber is somewhat of a combination of Mr. Pickwick and Mr. Brownlow. And he is largely based on Charles Dickens's father.) David and Mr. Micawber become fast friends, but Mr. Micawber is arrested for debt. David (for obvious reasons) does not want to return to his wicked stepfather Mr. Murderstone. So he runs away to his Aunt Betsey. The eccentric but kind Aunt Betsey takes David in, and he soon meets Mr. Wickfield, his daughter Agnes, and the diabolical Uriah Heep. It is not long before we realize that as kind as Mr. Wickfield is, he is an alcoholic. And the evil Uriah Heep will use that to his advantage. Up until now, David Copperfield has been kind of an Oliver Twist. But David Copperfield (unlike Oliver) reaches adult hood in the story. We then come to the matter of marriage. Even before David meets his eventual wife Dora, he is preoccupied with Agnes. Interestingly, Aunt Betsey loses her property and David must take her in as she took him in some time ago. Well, Dora and David get married, but the relationship is more of a father-daughter relationship. If we wish to partially excuse Dora, we can argue that her father and aunts kind of sheltered her too much. (While Dora's father was not so happy about the thought of them getting married, we may argue that it is not going to be a good marriage.) Moving on, Mr. Micawber starts to work for Uriah Heep. He speaks well of Uriah, but of course, Dickens is preparing a big reversal. Uriah Heep continues to increase his power as he manipulates Agnes's father worse and worse. However, Uriah crosses the line when he expresses a desire for Agnes, and both Agnes's father and David fly into a rage. In a comical (but somewhat disturbing scene), Dora shows herself incapable of even preparing a dinner. While David knows he should not have married Dora, he stays with her, even though Dora is getting ill. In a dramtic, but really comical scene, Mr. Micawber exposes HEEP and Agnes's father is freed from the corrupt hold Uriah Heep has over him. Sadly, Dora dies leaving David a widower. But all is not lost. Agnes's father overcomes his alcoholism, and David and Agnes marry. Overall, this is a great book that shows the world through the eyes of a child and then a man. If you like this book, be sure to see the excellent 1935 movie where Frank Lawton does the grown up David, Edna May Oliver does Aunt Betsey, and W.C. Fields does Mr. Micawber.

I am a fairly well-read individual who (in my opinion) really enjoys a well written work. I had never read David Copperfield and decided to read it because I was looking to gain a better understanding of England's culture of the day - and the praise it receives made it hard to resist. I suppose I did get a well-rounded picture of the time period through this and Oliver Twist combined, but I would have preferred to do so through a much thinner book. The story was simply the ups and downs of David Copperfield's "ordinary" life. In my opinion, it was not exceptionally written.