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Summary: Charles Dicken's fictional autobiography David Copperfield
Review: This book was well written by one of the greatest author's of all time. In writing of the life of David Copperfield, Dickens incorporates events that happened in his own life. Because it was written in the Victorian era, it may seem to flowery at times, and somewhat unbelievable because of all the coincidences that happen, but it was fun to read if you have time to pour over the 800+ pages.
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Summary: Throughly engaging.
Review: David Copperfield is the story of an endearing, innocent child who grows up to be the most warm and vulnerable of adults.
The lucidity and humane aspects of love, life and sadness are so well elaborated by Charles Dickens through this orphan boy that one cannot help but give him their heart.
Pegotty, the nurse and Agnes, David's childhood companion and friend are portrayed very well.
Their characters are human in their fragility and at the same time have a certain angelic quality.
All in all, a great read!!
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Summary: Timeless
Review: As "classic" authors go, Dickens is one of the few who is continually readable and entertaining. His character development is excellent, even in secondary characters. His portrayals of Uriah Heep & Mr. Micawber are especially good.
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Summary: One of the best books I've ever read.
Review: I consider "David Copperfield" my first introduction to great literature. The plot is engaging and the dialogue sharp, but the reason I so enjoy "David Copperfield" is the characters. Each person in the book has a distinct and believable personality, and it David's diverse group of friends that makes this account of his life so lively and interesting. I would say "David Copperfield" is a must in anyone's library
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Summary: Timeless Classic
Review: What better time to curl up with a good book than Fall, and what better book to curl up with than David Copperfield. This timeless classic is a world apart and yet peopled by characters you either want to send on a long walk off a short pier of invite over to dinner. If you haven't read this masterpiece yet, what are you waiting for?! If you have, then maybe it's time to revisit the Victorian era! Get it now
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Summary: High marks for this one
Review: Should I admit that I came to this book late in life? We had to read GREAT EXPECTATIONS in high school, while I understand that others had to read this book. So, these many years later I picked it up and was pleasantly surprised. Quite a bit longer than EXPECTATIONS, this one nevertheless is every bit as good. Written as an autobiography, the book narrates the life of a fatherless child who becomes an orphan at the early age of about eight or nine years. The story continues throughout David Copperfield's life and the plot is as rich as the characters he meets during the book. One of Charles Dickens most notable qualities is how well he creates and describes the characters in his books. And David Copperfield presents plenty of them, some of the most famous: the strong-minded Betsey Trotwood, the lovely Peggotty family, the persuasive Steerforth, the wise Agnes, the ugly Uriah Heep and of course the micawberish Mr Micawber. If you're looking for a book by Dicken's that is his most autobiographical, this is it. Would also recommend "Of Mice and Men," "Bark of the Dogwood" and "To Kill a Mockingbird."
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Summary: Charles Dickens Own Tale
Review: David Copperfield has ever remained a Best Read and it reflects Charles Dicken's own Life. It's a simply great story, romantic but also realistic and believable. It excites all emotions, from rib tickling laughter to tears of pity. Most of the qualities like modesty, frankness, trustworthiness, honesty, goodwill are the ones we admire and his frailties are understandable and endearing.
If Charles Dickens was alive, he would be pleased to know that a story which shows, "the principle of Good surviving through adverse circumstance" has remained so popular. Charles Dickens Books are great Picks especially to gift to kids in February as Charles Dickens Birthday falls on 7th Feb.
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Summary: Long and Meandering
Review: I have recently been in a Dickens/Victorian mood and thus I decided to pick up one of the most famous books of this Author/Era. I found this book too long and, more disappointingly, bloated and meandering. Length is not a problem if it is necessary to tell a story. Here, it is not. I have recently finished Dickens' Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, and Oliver Twist; and Collins' The Woman in White, and was expecting a story, like these, that you can get caught up in. This is not a book to read for such a experience. Rather, several different plots shoot off in different directions and the novel continues to jump back and forth from these various storylines. The last 50 pages are deticated to tying them all up. Thus there is no real single tension or climax to the book. I suppose that this is partly due to the fact that the novel is struture as an autobiography, and its release as a serialized story. All of our lives are made up of multiple "stories", but I'm not sure that it makes great reading.
There is no question that there are rewarding and engaging moments in the novel. Mr. Micawber, Miss Trotwood, Uriah Heep, Mr. and Mrs. Pegotty, and The Blunderstones were memorable and affecting characters. I was often surprised how, at times when I was pretty tired of the novel and ready to move on, the story (or one of the stories) would quickly become engaging again. But, unless you are interested in watching characters, rather than following the plot, "David Copperfield" is not for you.
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Summary: The Greatest
Review: Charles Dickens: humanist, brilliant writer of prose, creator of astonishingly endurng characters and creator of David Copperfield.
Copperfield is Dickens' masterpiece and it is his semi-autobiographical approach which makes the work doubly fascinating. The similarities between Copperfield and the historical Dickens- which are numerous- add a potency and extra interest to the narrative.
Still, it is the wonderful likeability and absurdity of so many of the characters in DC which really make the story. Barkiss, Peggotty, Ham and Agnes are wonderfully virtuous and kind- if uncomplicated in their different ways.
Heap and Steerforth- who share in common their eventual villainy- are, by no coinicidence, contrastingly complex, unfathomable throughout and misguided.
However, the problems of simplicity are evident in Dora: Dickens acknowledges limits to the virtuosity of simplicity. Her downfall is nevertheless tragic, but we know it is in the interests of David's long term happiness to marry Agnes.
Dickens' achievement in the book is his profound sympathy for the human condition: there is virtue in every rank, but virtue takes many forms. Moreover, Dickens shows how inextricably he perceives one's life as constructed around the lives and fortunes of those one encounters in youth. It is striking that Copperfield's life is essentially determined by those he encounters in his formative years. The most important and complex role and character is that of his Aunt, almost an eccentric fairytale godmother character, whose contibution almost suggests her metaphysical condition as a kind of guiding light. She rescues David and looks after him when noone else will. The tenuous conditions upon which humans succeed and fail are clear because of her role.
The book is memorable, complicated and profound: it immortalised Dickens himself as well as his characters.
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Summary: Ever Lasting
Review: I'll admit, the book gets off to a slow start - like the first 400 pages are slow.
But, if you can make it that far, the novel will prove to be one you will love. For the rest of my life, I will never forget the relationship between Dora and David. Dickens' descriptions of David's infatuation with Dora contain some of the most beautiful lines I have ever read: "I loved Dora to distraction."
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