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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
I've lived the life of David Copperfield. It was worth it! There were times of both joy and pain. Made some new fictional friends too!
Love Richard Armitage’s narration, and the book is fine- but having seen the film version with Dev Patel, I feel I Get It 😆
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
funny
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I've read A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist, and Great Expectations, as well as David Copperfield. I can not express enough that you (as a reader) should choose any other Dickens novel over this one. Though Dicken's world-building is masterful and his descriptive language fantastic, I believe he should have used his talents to describe a plot that is actually worth reading. David Copperfield has many autobiographical elements, and if your purpose in reading this book is to actually learn more about the author himself, by all means this is the book for you.
David Copperfield follows a boy throughout his whole life, from infancy to old age, and uses almost 750 pages to describe the turns of events of this man's life. I spent all 750 pages waiting for something particularly shocking to happen to David, something that would justify using so many pages to describe someone's life in excruciating detail, but it never happens. He grows up, he moves around, he is mistreated by various authority figures, he is used by Dickens as a tool to display the grittier sides of London, and he is taken in by a benefactor that happens to be a relative. For Dickens, this is a pretty standard turn of events. I just don't happen to be of the opinion that David's life events are worth reading.
Overall, the characters are interesting, but the plot is drawn out, with significant events of David's life confined to a few pages at a time and the rest inhabited with detail that is fairly insignificant to the plot. There are always benefits to reading the"classics" and Dickens is no exception! However, I believe those benefits can be more enjoyably gleaned from some of his other works. Happy reading!
David Copperfield follows a boy throughout his whole life, from infancy to old age, and uses almost 750 pages to describe the turns of events of this man's life. I spent all 750 pages waiting for something particularly shocking to happen to David, something that would justify using so many pages to describe someone's life in excruciating detail, but it never happens. He grows up, he moves around, he is mistreated by various authority figures, he is used by Dickens as a tool to display the grittier sides of London, and he is taken in by a benefactor that happens to be a relative. For Dickens, this is a pretty standard turn of events. I just don't happen to be of the opinion that David's life events are worth reading.
Overall, the characters are interesting, but the plot is drawn out, with significant events of David's life confined to a few pages at a time and the rest inhabited with detail that is fairly insignificant to the plot. There are always benefits to reading the"classics" and Dickens is no exception! However, I believe those benefits can be more enjoyably gleaned from some of his other works. Happy reading!
Officially the most boring book I've read in my life so far 😓
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
One of the most satisfying endings to a novel I’ve read
Absolutely fantastic. Wish I'd read this in high school instead of "Great Expectations."
"No creo que sea posible, ni aun a aquellos que tienen familias numerosas, conseguir el éxito si no unen a su talento natural cualidades sencillas, sólidas, laboriosas y sobre todo, una legÃtima confianza en sà mismos. No hay nada en el mundo como 'querer'. Facultades excepcionales y ocasiones propicias forman, por decirlo asÃ, los dos escalones de la escala que hay que subir; pero, ante todo, es necesario que los barrotes sean de una madera dura resistente; nada podrá reemplazar, para conseguir el éxito, a una voluntad seria y sincera". (753).
"Hay en un afecto verdadero, aunque sea por pare de un animal, un instinto sublime y delicado que supera a la inteligencia más elevada". (773).
"Pertenezco a los doce taquÃgrafos que recogen los debates del Parlamento para un periódico de la mañana. Todas las noches tomo nota de predicciones que no se cumplirán nunca; de profesiones de fe a las que nadie es fiel; de explicaciones que no tienen otro objeto que engañar al público". (777).
MagnÃfico. Una historia de crecimiento a modo de Bildungsroman poblada de personajes entrañables y especiales cada uno a su manera. Unas descripciones de sentimientos y de estados del alma preciosas y precisas, deslumbrantes y exactas. Un compendio de experiencias de alguien, que como su mismo autor, consagra su vida a la Literatura, arte que en muchos sentidos, salva esa misma vida. Una novela sublime.
"Hay en un afecto verdadero, aunque sea por pare de un animal, un instinto sublime y delicado que supera a la inteligencia más elevada". (773).
"Pertenezco a los doce taquÃgrafos que recogen los debates del Parlamento para un periódico de la mañana. Todas las noches tomo nota de predicciones que no se cumplirán nunca; de profesiones de fe a las que nadie es fiel; de explicaciones que no tienen otro objeto que engañar al público". (777).
MagnÃfico. Una historia de crecimiento a modo de Bildungsroman poblada de personajes entrañables y especiales cada uno a su manera. Unas descripciones de sentimientos y de estados del alma preciosas y precisas, deslumbrantes y exactas. Un compendio de experiencias de alguien, que como su mismo autor, consagra su vida a la Literatura, arte que en muchos sentidos, salva esa misma vida. Una novela sublime.
Not only is this Dickens' most autobiographical, but I feel this is the most well-rounded work in his canon and the peak of his career. Falling roughly in the middle of his bibliography, David Copperfield functions, in my opinion, as the transition from the young feel-good, satirical writer of comedic scenes and characters to the more mature, darker settings and is eager to become the potentially scathing critical writer of social commentary. David Copperfield exhibits Dickens' most intensive qualities at a large-scale here for perhaps the first time, but unlike Bleak House, Great Expectations or Our Mutual Friend to come, he retains the same light-hearted tone was known for. In essence, this is the most "Dickensian" of his novels, the quintessential Dickens, if you will. At least, that's the way I think of it.