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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
Loved the prose, the heartache and the humor of this masterpiece. Richard Armitage’s performance on Audible was outstanding.
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Wow! I'm so glad I've met the Pegottys, the Micawbers, Betsey Trotwood, Mr. Dick... There are so many great characters. I have always had the misconception that David Copperfield was going to be a dry read. Not so at all! I absolutely love this book.
Wonderfully written and highly engaging, Charles Dickens surprised me yet again with his ability to create emotional attachment and a compelling story. I felt like I actually knew the characters from my childhood and had grown up with them. While I do like to read interesting stories, I rarely feel compelled to action or emotionally involved. At each moment of darkness and despair, I truly sympathized with David Copperfield and when his fortunes changed for the better, I wanted to celebrate with him. Few are the novels which are able to so firmly pull me in and place me in the middle of the narrative. Dickens is a master of his craft and rightly deserves his status as one of the greatest authors to ever grace the page with his pen.
I'm conflicted. About 1/4 of this book warrants a 1 star, the other 3/4 warrant a 4.5 to 5 star, so I guess I'll round it out with three.
The parts that were good were phenomenal, and will stay with me long after now that I've finished. Some of my favorite characters of British lit (Aunt Betsey, Traddles, Agnes, Peggoty) and exceptionally written villains (Uriah Heep and Miss Murdstone). However, Dickens was obviously getting paid by the word here, and I can't count the times I slogged through pages of random asides that never got brought up again or served no relevance.
I'll read this again, and maybe my rating will go up a bit--but God it was was stuffed to the brim with filler.
The parts that were good were phenomenal, and will stay with me long after now that I've finished. Some of my favorite characters of British lit (Aunt Betsey, Traddles, Agnes, Peggoty) and exceptionally written villains (Uriah Heep and Miss Murdstone). However, Dickens was obviously getting paid by the word here, and I can't count the times I slogged through pages of random asides that never got brought up again or served no relevance.
I'll read this again, and maybe my rating will go up a bit--but God it was was stuffed to the brim with filler.
https://clavie.co/2020/02/05/book-review-david-copperfield/
This novel reads like a soap opera. However, even though I don’t watch many soap operas I can say that many that I have glanced at always seem to involve upper middle class and upper class people. Australian soap operas tend to only deal with the upper middle class (see Neighbours and Home & Away) where as the US ones tend to deal with the uber-rich (Dynasty). What sets Dickens apart is that he deals with the poor and poverty-stricken.
Despite my dislike of Dickens’ work, as I have suggested before, they are actually quite helpful and insightful because we see a side of 19th Century England that we do not see in a lot of the other novels. Say for instance Jane Eyre, or the writings of Jane Austin. In these romances, we are always dealing with the landed aristocracy. In Dickens we are not. We are dealing with the poverty-stricken masses of England. It is especially important because Dickens is writing from experience. While it is very much an ‘oh woah is me’ type experience, if we can step away from that we can see and experience a part of England that we very rarely get to experience. Moreso, we tend to see it in all is dark and dirty unpleasantness.
This novel reads like a soap opera. However, even though I don’t watch many soap operas I can say that many that I have glanced at always seem to involve upper middle class and upper class people. Australian soap operas tend to only deal with the upper middle class (see Neighbours and Home & Away) where as the US ones tend to deal with the uber-rich (Dynasty). What sets Dickens apart is that he deals with the poor and poverty-stricken.
Despite my dislike of Dickens’ work, as I have suggested before, they are actually quite helpful and insightful because we see a side of 19th Century England that we do not see in a lot of the other novels. Say for instance Jane Eyre, or the writings of Jane Austin. In these romances, we are always dealing with the landed aristocracy. In Dickens we are not. We are dealing with the poverty-stricken masses of England. It is especially important because Dickens is writing from experience. While it is very much an ‘oh woah is me’ type experience, if we can step away from that we can see and experience a part of England that we very rarely get to experience. Moreso, we tend to see it in all is dark and dirty unpleasantness.
An epic journey filled with fantastically memorable characters...some you love, some you hate, and some you can’t help but roll your eyes at. This was a long listen but well worth it. Wonderful narration by Richard Armitage.
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/10331625
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/10331625