Product Description

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 Steerforth; his formidable aunt, Betsey Trotwood; his nemesis, the eternally humble Uriah Heep; frivolous, enchanting Dora; and the magnificently impecunious 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 his most exuberant and enduringly popular works, filled with tragedy and comedy in equal measure.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #54614 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 720 pages

About the Author
Charles Dickens was born at Portsmouth on 7 February 1812. He received little formal education, but taught himself shorthand and became a reporter of parliamentary debates for the Morning Chronicle. He began to publish sketches in various periodicals, which were subsequently republished as Sketches by Boz. The Pickwick Papers were published in 1836–7 and after a slow start became a publishing phenomenon and Dickens's characters the centre of a popular cult. He began Oliver Twist in 1837, followed by Nicholas Nickleby (1838) and The Old Curiosity Shop (1840–41).After finishing Barnaby Rudge (1841) Dickens set off for America; he went full of enthusiasm for the young republic but, in spite of a triumphant reception, he returned disillusioned. His experiences are recorded in American Notes (1842). Martin Chuzzlewit (1843–4) did not repeat its predecessors' success but this was quickly redressed by the huge popularity of the Christmas Books, of which the first, A Christmas Carol, appeared in 1843. During 1844–6 Dickens travelled abroad and he began Dombey and Son while in Switzerland. This and David Copperfield (1849–50) were more serious in theme and more carefully planned than his early novels. In later works, such as Bleak House (1853) and Little Dorrit (1857), Dickens's social criticism became more radical and his comedy more savage. Charles Dickens died on 9 June 1870.

Customer Reviews

A Masterpiece!
My curiosity about the works of Charles Dickens drew me to this title. All I can say is that if curiosity killed the cat, than it must have been an extremely pleasant way to go! Dickens is a wordsmith of unquestionable mastery and I was astounded by his ability to draw the reader completely into the lives of his characters - to such an extent that we feel each set back and each triumph as keenly as they do. This is also a novel packed with emotion - anyone who can get through it without both laughing and crying must have a heart of stone. David Copperfield is an engrossing book that is rightly viewed as a literary classic - one that everybody should read.

Utterly fantastic
For me, this may just pip "Great Expectations" as my vote for the BBC's Big Read thing.
Written in the first person, like "Great Expectations", the early part of the book is regarded as highly autobiographical. The range of styles, and the sweep of the plot, though, dazzles throughout.
True, the Little Emily stuff may be too melodramatic for today, but the characters here are Dickens at his very best. The odious Heep, the oh-so-brilliant Steerforth and the fumbling Mr Micawber.
On one level, yes they are caricatures, but I have met people just like Mr Heep, and not too far from Steerforth.
And when my boss denied me a raise in my salary the other day, claiming that were it down to her, she would certainly be looking to do it, but that her hands were tied by the senior management, I cast my mind straight back to David Copperfield trying to get a raise out of Spenlow and Jorkins. Timeless.
For a Dickens, it's a middling size of book, so it'll take time, but it won't wipe out a month, like "Little Dorrit", say.
Read this. Comic and tragic at turns, it is staggeringly brilliant writing.

Masterpiece in every sense
Although it is true that Dickens says in twenty words thing that could be expressed just as clearly in only five, there can be no arguing that he is an expert in manipulating his reader's feelings. "David Copperfield", which tells the story of this character's life, shows this skill really well. This book will make you cry in one chapter and laugh out loud in the next one. Dickens will also make his reader feel about his characters just as he wants you to feel about them. You'll never forget the cruel Murdstones, " `umble" Uriah Heep, angel-like Agnes and adorable though rather silly Dora. In addition to these memorable characters, I think all its readers will agree that "David Copperfield" is a complete work in every sense and I'm sure many of them will count it among their favourites.