David Copperfield: Intermediate Level. 8. - 9. Klasse / 1.600 Wörter

by Elizabeth Walker (Adapter), Charles Dickens

David Copperfield is the story of a young man's adventures on his journey from an unhappy and impoverished childhood to the discovery of his vocation as a successful novelist. Among the gloriously vivid cast of characters he encounters are his tyrannical stepfather, Mr Murdstone; his brilliant, but ultimately unworthy school-friend James Steerforth; his formidable aunt, Betsey Trotwood; the eternally humble, yet treacherous Uriah Heep; frivolous, enchanting Dora Spenlow; and the magnificently impecunious Wilkins Micawber, one of literature's great comic creations. In David Copperfield - the novel he described as his 'favourite child' - Dickens drew revealingly on his own experiences to create one of the most exuberant and enduringly popular works, filled with tragedy and comedy in equal measure. This edition uses the text of the first volume publication of 1850, and includes updated suggestions for further reading, original illustrations by 'Phiz', a revised chronology and expanded notes. In his new introduction, Jeremy Tambling discusses the novel's autobiographical elements, and its central themes of memory and identity.

Genres: Classics, Fiction

110 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2008

Reviews

[Karlyflower *The Vampire Ninja, Luminescent Monster & Wendigo Nerd Goddess of Canada (according to The Hulk)* · Rating 3 out of 5]

D, is for Dickens.

Truth be told this would be a 4 if I didn't know it was an abridgment of the original (mine is 204 pages long).... the sheer egotism of hacking and splicing Dickens words galls me to no end!!

Review Time:

I have been putting off writing this review for what feels like ages, in actuality it’s only a little over a week, because I had to come to terms with my own failings and find a way to review this without all the tar and feathers I feel like ANY abridged Dickens deserves.

It is my own damn fault that I didn’t do my homework before reading this book... I’m sorry, Mr. Dickens, I have failed you *sobs*. Okay, that’s enough melodrama, I think.



It was a long and gloomy night that gathered on me, haunted by the ghosts of many hopes, of many dear remembrances, many errors, many unavailing sorrows and regrets.

Can I speak of this as though it is the true David Copperfield? I think not! I shall refer, within this review, to this hacked and spliced abridgement as "Davy" and leave it at that. Not because I feel close enough to this poor, harassed fellow as that nickname would imply BUT rather because it implies a shortness and lack of completion to me.

Honestly, I have to admit that I enjoyed this story. It’s bleak and horrifying in an entirely beautiful way. I genuinely LOVE the way that Dickens strings a sentence together, which is likely why I am in such an uproar about the abridgement! I loved the way we toured from childhood into adulthood here, and the way characters weaved and flowed through the story. My primary complaint, and I HAVEN’T read the full words of David Copperfield, is that this reads a little more like Austen than I believe it should have. I think the abridger took out more of the bleak and shadowed prose then should EVER be done, which left the story very transparent for me. BUT who am I to know?!

I should end this here, without delving further into my imaginings, by saying that I intend to read the UNABRIDGED version of this novel in the near future because I feel as though "Davy" is a half-finished piece of pie, and THAT just cannot be allowed!

"You are a young man," she said, nodding. "Take a word of advice, even from three foot nothing. Try not to associate bodily defects with mental, my good friend, except for a solid reason."

[Tasneem · Rating 3 out of 5]

أنا قرأتها من زمان جدا مترجمة
و إن كنت مش فاكرة تفاصيل أوي.. بس أعتقد إن شخصيات تشارلز ديكنز تشبه بعضها لأنها جزء من الواقع اللي عاشه

[Francine · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I read a simplified version, from the Young Blackbirds series, published by Wolters-Noordhoff in 1998.)

This is basically a soap opera. I liked that all the connections David makes throughout the years with different people all tell their own little stories, with beginnings, middles and ends. I didn't really care much for the first couple of chapters, because I've recently read Roald Dahl's Boy and I've had quite enough of "poor young boy gets tortured at school" for a while, thank you very much. I liked the grownup parts much more, because it wasn't so much "woe is me, I'm six and I have no agency over my own life". But, I understand why the youngboy chapters exist, because that way we as readers meet the people in David's life at the same time that he meets them, and I started to feel my connection to these characters grow as their lives started to intertwine with David's more and more.

Other than that, hot damn, Dora was such a spoiled brat? She kept whining that she didn't want to manage the house or learn to cook but at least she had a pretty face AMIRITE GUYS? I didn't hate her, because at least she and David loved each other (even though he was constantly complaining about her, "I had to take over managing the house because she couldn't do it and it doubled my workload woe is me, but at least she's pretty!"), but on the other hand, it was so convenient for David when she died because that way they didn't have to actually work on their relationship or anything, and he could just conveniently marry his childhood friend. This seemed like some weird backhanded jab by Dickens at his own wife at the time, or at least if I were his wife I would've definitely read it that way haha!

Overall, not really my genre, and a confusing mess of characters at first, but I got more into it as I started to recognize recurring characters and their respective story arcs.

I KIND OF wish I'd had to read this book for a class when I studied English Literature at uni, because I think I'd probably like it a lot more with a bit of context. (And I loved those classes.)

[Ted Magnuson]

A novel, a Masterpiece Movie, an incredible insight into human nature. David Copperfield's step father is one of the most despicable characters in literature, his Aunt Betsy one of the noblest.

[Damar hening Sunyiaji · Rating 4 out of 5]

awal-awal baca judulnya saya pikir ini kisah pesulap david copperfield itu, eh ada kan pesulap itu? ternyata bukan. Cerita-ceritanya mirip Oliver twist. Setipikallah.

[Andre · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un clásico, ha sido lectura obligatoria en el colegio y sinceramente me ha parecido bastante interesante, no iba con muchas expectativas y ha sido una historia rápida de leer y ligera.