Classic Review: DAVID COPPERFIELD

My own copy of the classic book purchased in 7th grade through Scholastic Books.

Title: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Book Beginnings quote: 

Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.

Friday56 quote: 

Miss Murdstone was good enough to take me out to the cart, and to say on the way that she hoped I would repent before I came to a bad end; and then I got into the cart, and the lazy horse walked off with it.

Summary: 

A semi-autobiographical novel, thought to be Dickens' favorite, David Copperfield is a bildungsroman (a novel tracing a character's growth) that follows David's life from childhood into adulthood, exploring themes of family, friendship, the class system, child labor, and self-discovery. David experiences hardships like the loss of his father and a difficult relationship with his stepfather, Mr. Murdstone, but also finds kindness and support in his aunt and other figures, including Peggotty and Agnes Wickfield. His journey includes schooling, work in a warehouse as a child, a marriage to Dora Spenlow, eventually finding his calling as a writer.

Review: Back in 1970 I was in 7th grade. Every month or two the Language Arts teacher would pass out the Scholastic Books order forms. If we wanted we could order books from them for a very low cost. Each time the forms were passed out I would spend hours going over them, figuring how I could spend my measly allowance (25 cents a week) to get the most amount of books. Maybe they were the cheapest or maybe because I had heard of them before, I often ordered classics -- Jane Eyre, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, David Copperfield, to name a few. I still own these books. My copy of David Copperfield cost me 60 cents and I don't think I noticed it was an abridged copy of the original.  When I decided to read it this past month, I surprised to see my first book review written inside the front cover in my childish handwriting: "A great book ⚘⚘⚘" Yes, the flowers were part of the review. (I come by my book blogging impulses honestly!)

I decided to read the same abridged version of David Copperfield that I read as a pre-teen. Heck, why not? I've lugged it around with me for fifty years and I paid good money for it! Usually I think of abridgments as what is done to big novels so that children can read and understand the main themes of a book. This abridgment, done by Edmund Fuller, is not that type. It is truly just a paring down of the book from 800+ pages to 500+ pages. No doubt I missed some of the nuances of the stories, maybe even some of the characters, but I barely noticed anything as I happily read along.

In the forward Gladys Schmitt writes that David Copperfield shouldn't have survived as a novel. It is too long. It is ununified -- telling a life-span of stories, many unrelated, "forced into relationship only by melodrama and coincidence." It doesn't seem to have a central theme. There are too many characters. In a lot of ways it is a brooding, sad book. So why, Schmitt asks, does the book survive? "David Copperfield breaks almost every precept, yet manages to live beyond the century mark because it is a deeply human book. Readers agree with Dickens and his affectionate avowal: 'I have in my heart of hearts a favorite child. And his name is David Copperfield.'"

While I was at the beginning stages of starting David Copperfield I ran across a Book Youtuber who encourages his followers to read classic books and he encourages them to slow down and read only 12-pages a day. That way one can savor what they read. I decided to try it on Copperfield. The chapters in the book are very short so I could usually finish a chapter by the time my 12 pages for the day were up. As I slowly made my way through the book I found the Youtuber was right. I never felt anxious or frustrated by my reading. 12 pages was just about perfect. It kept me moving with the story and I could fill up my reading time with other books. I recommend it as a practice now to you. I calculated it out. If, from the time I started with Copperfield until the end of the year, I read 12 pages a day, I will have read over 3100 pages of classic books. That will mean I can finish all the classics I have sitting around my house unread: Sherlock Holmes, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Silas Marner, Catch-22, Dracula, Go Tell It On the Mountain, and Grimms Fairy Tales. I won't have to buy another classic book until sometime in 2026. Pretty cool, huh?

My rating: 4 stars.

-Anne