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A review by wrenreads2025
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
4.0
One of my books clubs was reading Demon Copperhead, and I had never read David Copperfield, and I felt as though I must in order to better understand what Kingsolver was doing. I have seen movie adaptations of this Dickens' novel, but I had never read it.
Boy, is Dickens wordy. I understand that the book was first published as a serial and that he got paid by the word. I also understand that this is semi-autobiographical, so he had a big investment in setting up scenes, establishing characters, and exploring interaction among a cast of characters. I even wonder if he made Mr. Macawber chatty in part to help him hit a higher word count.
Anyway, I was thrilled to meet these larger-than-life characters (such as Uriah Heep) who have a life beyond the book because they are so cartoonish while also commenting on realistic personality traits that we might observe in others. Oh, that Heep makes a great villian. He is so oily. GAH!
Anyway, it was very difficult for me to read the last quarter of the book. I felt as though things were being dragged out more than necessary. (Yes, the last 5 chapters so are good, but about 10 chapter before that got a little tedious.)
I am glad that I got to observe some of the concerns of Victorian London, particularly the exploitation of children and those of the lower classes. I am very glad that there are child labor laws in place now! (I say that, but a US janitorial company was just -- March 2024 -- found to be employing children to clean slaughterhouses. GAH!)
I think if Dickens were to publish this today, it wouldn't sell well, but he established a tradition (of socially aware writing and of Bildungsroman among the underclass) that deserves a read.
Boy, is Dickens wordy. I understand that the book was first published as a serial and that he got paid by the word. I also understand that this is semi-autobiographical, so he had a big investment in setting up scenes, establishing characters, and exploring interaction among a cast of characters. I even wonder if he made Mr. Macawber chatty in part to help him hit a higher word count.
Anyway, I was thrilled to meet these larger-than-life characters (such as Uriah Heep) who have a life beyond the book because they are so cartoonish while also commenting on realistic personality traits that we might observe in others. Oh, that Heep makes a great villian. He is so oily. GAH!
Anyway, it was very difficult for me to read the last quarter of the book. I felt as though things were being dragged out more than necessary. (Yes, the last 5 chapters so are good, but about 10 chapter before that got a little tedious.)
I am glad that I got to observe some of the concerns of Victorian London, particularly the exploitation of children and those of the lower classes. I am very glad that there are child labor laws in place now! (I say that, but a US janitorial company was just -- March 2024 -- found to be employing children to clean slaughterhouses. GAH!)
I think if Dickens were to publish this today, it wouldn't sell well, but he established a tradition (of socially aware writing and of Bildungsroman among the underclass) that deserves a read.