Product Description

David Copperfield was Dickens's favourite child and in the book Dickens revealed a lot of himself, particularly his early life. But, the introduction to this book, offers the the argument that Dickens fashioned himself anew in what he wrote.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #227104 in Books
• Published on: 1996-11-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 912 pages

About the Author
Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on February 7, 1812 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. In 1824, his father was imprisoned for debt, so Charles was sent to work in a shoe-dye factory. He later became a clerk in a law firm, a shorthand reporter in the courts, and a parliamentary and newspaper reporter. In 1833, Dickens began to contribute short stories and essays to periodicals, heralding the start of a glittering and prolific literary career. He married Catherine Hogarth in 1836, with whom he had nine surviving children before they separated in 1858. Dickens died suddenly at home on June 9, 1870, leaving behind an internationally acclaimed canon of work, including Oliver Twist (1837), Nicholas Nickleby (1838), David Copperfield (1849-50), Bleak House (1852-53), Little Dorrit (1855-57), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Great Expectations (1860-61) and Our Mutual Friend (1864-65). He was buried in Westminster Abbey. Michael Slater is Professor of Victorian Literature at Birkbeck College in the University of London. He was editor of The Dickensian (1968-77) and President of the International Dickens Fellowship (1988-90). He has published many books and articles on Dickens.

Customer Reviews

MAGNIFICENT NOVEL
This book is amazing and touching. Normally I would not attempt to read such a big book but I felt like a challenging read and I can not put it down. It is the story of David's life and I would recommend it to anybody since it is the only novel that has ever brought a tear to my eye. For me, this is not a book that I can read and return to a library, I need a copy of the magic within. The language may be difficult to understand at first but if you are patient, you will get the hang of it and it will be many times more rewarding. When reading a book, I like to read the story and come to the end of the book so that I know how it ends but with David Copperfield, of course I want to come to the end, but I also want to make the book last. I have been reading it for a month now and I still have 1/4 of the book to read. Because it is taking to long, it feels to me as though I am following David slowly through his life and I believe that is how this novel should be read.

Excellent
This CD is an absolute must for long car journeys, over five hours of superb narration by Anton Lesser brings the characters to life and draws you into young David Copperfield's world so well that you may be tempted to fill up the car with petrol and drive repeatedly around the M25 over the weekend just to hear it again.

Easily in my top five books of all time
Possibly in my top three.

I'm a reasonable Dickens fan but this stands head and shoulders above his other works, in my opinion. If you're used to modern fiction, you'll definitely take a little time to adjust to the writing style but once you're in you'll be a hooked.

That said, I still find it the most accessible, enjoyable and frankly emotional of all Dickens' books. Genuinely funny, moving and inspiring - it's got to be a five star, two thumbs up full on recommendation.

The fact that you can get it for under two quid makes it one of the literary bargains of all time.