Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

The novel's full title is, The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery.

It was first published as a serial in 1849–50, and as a book in 1850. Many elements of the novel follow events in Dickens' own life, and it is often considered as his veiled autobiography. It was Dickens' favorite among his own novels. In the preface to the 1867 edition, Dickens wrote, "like many fond parents, I have in my heart of hearts a favourite child. And his name is David Copperfield."

I can't wait; fall is such a great time for Dicken's!!

This is the first Dickens' novel that I read as a teenager. There is a large cast of memorable characters -- including the slippery Uriah Heep. I love the names Dickens chooses for his characters.

Rosemarie wrote: "This is the first Dickens' novel that I read as a teenager. There is a large cast of memorable characters -- including the slippery Uriah Heep. I love the names Dickens chooses for his characters."

It's the second Dickens' novel I read :)

I hope that everyone is reading this book will feel free to make any comments. You don't have to read the whole book before making comments.
I read this book during my summer vacation during high school and it took me a long time, but it was worth.
I especially enjoyed David's time at school, and if I remember correctly, his aunt had a heart of gold.

I started reading this book a couple of days ago and was looking for a group discussing it because I can't just keep it to myself. Is nobody reading it yet? I looked at the group members and saw that everyone just has it marked as "to read".

Yes, the number of pages may seem daunting (700ish-900ish depending on font and page size), BUT there's a whole world in this book. One of my friends who reviewed it likened it to Netflix binge watching in book format. I'm starting to get that feeling already. I've read other books from this time period that were serialized that felt like the author was writing more words just for the the paycheck from the next newspaper or magazine edition of the story. But this one feels as if every part of it was lovingly created and inhabited by the author. Dickens said that David Copperfield is the favorite of all the characters that he created and that he felt as if he'd left some parts of himself behind in this world after he put the pen down for the last time.

So, who's in?

Amy, thank you for you enthusiastic response. The book won the poll so I am asking as well-who's in? You don't don't have to finish the book to comment. Even if you only read a few chapters at a time, we would enjoy reading your comments.

Amy, let me know if there's any "tupping" or 'serpents" in Copperfield and I may read it. I thought about it but didn't feel up for a long Dickens now. I may reconsider but...its a daunting task in this busy time for me.
I read Hardy's The Trumpet Major about 10 years ago.

Brian wrote: "Amy, let me know if there's any "tupping" or 'serpents" in Copperfield and I may read it. I thought about it but didn't feel up for a long Dickens now. I may reconsider but...its a daunting task in..."

Oh, ha. I'm guessing you're Brian from the Thomas Hardy group's Far From the Madding Crowd discussion? I'm putting The Trumpet Major on hold while Haaze catches up. It's interesting for a once-through, but I can see why it wouldn't be as exciting for a re-read as, say, Return of the Native or some of the other major works.

Yes, I guess a 700-900-paged book would be a daunting task for many during the holiday season. I have far more free time in December than any other month because I work for a school that has all of December off, and I only have to go in to work one day a week for a couple of hours. Then I end up visiting family in middle-of-nowhere Alabama for the holidays where there's nothing for entertainment after I've tired of talking and eating except for books (no internet, no movies, nothing). Soooo... yeah.

I digress. ANYHOW, this is a more effortlessly read Dickens novel than some of his others. I think that it's because much of it comes from Dickens' own life and memories that the characters and locations really spring to life. There are so many moments so far that I've found myself stopping in the middle of a passage and saying out loud that this is such a good book. I'm already fairly certain it's going to end up on my all-time favorites list and need to be re-read at some point. I feel like I'm being terribly superlative about it, but it's true.

Amy, I was in the Far From The Madding Crowd discussion back in 2014, but the tupping and reddling talk was from the Return of the Native discussion, where you balanced posts of naughty sheep pics with a discussion of the gothic nature of the heath.

I have a freebie kindle of David Copperfield and may give it a slow read over a few months. I need a Kindle read anyway for dimly lit places.

Right. Madding crowd was sheep washing and Native was tupping chalk. All these sheep blend together after a while. ;)

Pop quiz:

What did people use for drinking straws before plastics?

#thingsdickenstaughtme

grassy reeds

That's the one I knew. This is another I'd never thought of: (view spoiler)[quills (hide spoiler)].

Here's a bit of conversation for those who haven't quite gotten into the novel yet ... or those who have.

At one point, David Copperfield is sent off to boarding school by his stepfather. It's obvious that this isn't the only kind of school available in the area as evidenced by Emily going to and from school daily. There seems to be many reasons that UK families sent their children to boarding school in literature. We see parents who can't be bothered by their children (who should all be seen and not heard and who interfere with their parents' social lives) and send them off to boarding school. Others live so far in the middle of the country away from any major towns, that the only option for an education is to send their children to boarding school. And then we have the category of step-parents and relatives of orphans who have no use for the child in their care and send them off as a sort of good-riddance effort and punishment for existing. I've honestly only ever known one person who was sent to boarding school (as it's not common in the USA)--my Irish co-worker who had no schools nearby her family's home.

The only boarding school I've seen in fiction with a feast for every meal has been Hogwarts, but that barely counts since the food seems to have been procured and prepared magically. The boarding schools of fiction usually have children eating very meager rations with at least 2 meals a day of bread and butter with no fruits or vegetables (besides perhaps potatoes) to speak of. My Irish co-worker subsisted on the same diet at her boarding school.

So, is that the norm for boarding schools in the UK? Harsh punishments for failure to give the right answers, humiliations, meager rations? Or are these just the sad stories of literature and a view of the worst of the worst?

My husband seems to think that the point of the harsh punishments for wrong answers is to toughen the guys up for the inevitable wars they'll fight in. Thoughts?

In looking at possible timing of the novel Jane Eyre, and assuming this novel started at the time of Dicken's childhood (since it's partially autobiographical), it seems that Jane Eyre and David Copperfield may have been contemporaries perhaps separated by 200 miles, both living in miserable boarding schools where they start out being humiliated with notes sent to school with them about what a bad person they are. I'd like to imagine a world in which the 2 of them were somehow penpals.

Amy, I am glad you mentioned the connectio to Jane Eyre. Charlotte and her sisters went to a horrible boarding school, and one them died there because the conditons were so harsh.
I live in Canada and very few parents send their children to boarding school, but some kids do have long school bus rides.
I imagine that boarding school must have been horrible for children who like quiet and time to dream.

Rosemarie wrote: "Amy, I am glad you mentioned the connectio to Jane Eyre. Charlotte and her sisters went to a horrible boarding school, and one them died there because the conditons were so harsh. ..."

The French movie I watched about the Bronte sisters didn't seem to paint a picture of such a harsh boarding school. Do you mean Roe Head or the one in Belgium? I really need to read a proper biographical book about the siblings. I thought both Emily and Anne died of tuberculosis (the same as another older, non-writing sister Maria).

I imagine that boarding school must have been horrible for children who like quiet and time to dream.

I would have found it dreadful. My childhood was often spent in solitude in my bedroom with my books and writings. To have not had that option would have been horrible for me. Although, I suppose one can lose themselves in reading and writing even in a crowd if they're able to focus enough.

Here are some sections of David Copperfield describing the conditions at his boarding school in London:

"Half the establishment was writhing and crying, before the day's work began; and how much of it had writhed and cried before the day's work was over, I am really afraid to recollect, lest I should seem to exaggerate."

"and the morning schoolroom which was nothing but a great shivering-machine;"

"of the alternation of boiled beef with roast beef, and boiled mutton with roast mutton; of clods of bread-and-butter, dog's-eared lesson-books, cracked slates, tear-blotted copy-books, canings, rulerings, hair-cuttings, rainy Sundays, suet-puddings, and a dirty atmosphere of ink, surrounding all."

Dark Quartet: The Story of the Brontës by Lynne Reid Banks is a very readable biography of the Brontes early years.

Rosemarie wrote: "Dark Quartet: The Story of the Brontës by Lynne Reid Banks is a very readable biography of the Brontes early years."

Interesting. I'll have to look for it. Thanks!

I found it interesting that young David C. is reading Roderick Random and Peregrine Pickle, two mid-18th century novels by Tobias Smollett that I first heard of while playing in the "What Classic Author is This" thread. I remember reading that Dickens cited Smollett as an influence.

Brian wrote: "I found it interesting that young David C. is reading Roderick Ransom and Peregrine Pickle, two mid-18th century novels by Tobias Smollett that I first heard of while playing in the "What Classic A..."

It would be interesting to read one of them. I think any number of the books referenced by Dickens would work for a spot on the 2017 Bingo Challenge.

I've lately made a habit of highlighting all the references to novels and some foods while I'm reading. So far, I've found these in David Copperfield...

Book References
The Adventures of Roderick Random
The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle
The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker
The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
The Vicar of Wakefield
Don Quixote
The Adventures of Gil Blas
Robinson Crusoe
The Arabian Nights
The Tales of the Genii
Foxe's Book of Martyrs

Foods
*cake
*boiled beef
*roast beef
*boiled mutton
*roast mutton
*clods of bread and butter
*suet pudding
*alamode beef: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/10...
*egg hot: http://www.foodreference.com/html/egg...
*lamb's fry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb...
*an elegant dish of fish
*the kidney-end of a loin of veal, roasted
*fried sausage-meat
*a partridge
*pudding
*wine
*strong ale

I once went to a writing workshop about food in literature that swore all anyone ever ate in books was stew. No, it's really not. I really want to give the alamode beef recipe a try.

Amy that is brilliant!
I would have never thought of either of those notations while reading!
I will have to look up the links you have for the food too!
Egg hot sounds interesting.

Alamode beef actually looks quite appetizing -delighted it doesn't involve ice cream and beef.

I feel like I've been reading a lot yet I'm only 25% finished so I won't finish by the December 14th deadline. May I have an extension to the end of the month?
While I agree with Amy that it is a fairly effortless read, it feels really long. It may be that I'm not finding the story that compelling...yet. In its defense, I have to remember that there is extra padding since it was serialized for 19 monthly installments.

I am still working my way through the Garcia Marquez book!
A lot of our discussions continue after we start the new books, so no worries if you take longer to read it. If I remember correctly, the book is slow moving at times, but worthwhile.

It was more compelling to me in the beginning, but it has little pockets here and there and is still pleasant to read. I'm at 35%. In a way, I'm glad I'm not even half finished... because then I'd be too close to the end ... if that makes any sense. I'm worried about what's going to happen to Emily since we got the big hint something was early on. I want her to be young and well forever.

When you get to 32%, let me know what you think of Agnes and Annie (at least I think it's Annie. I'm starting to get people mixed up in this section even though I keep going back and trying to figure out who is who). I'm trying to read between the lines, but I think perhaps Copperfield is trying to say that the two are (view spoiler)[lesbians. Yes? Mr. Wickfield always acts strange around them, and that's the only thing I can think of that would explain it unless there's another hidden story we find out about later. Here's the section in question:

They were taking leave of each other, and Agnes was going to embrace her and kiss her, when Mr. Wickfield stepped between them, as if by accident, and drew Agnes quickly away.

(hide spoiler)]

One more thing. Concerning the death of David Copperfield's mom ... (view spoiler)[I have this theory that she poisoned herself. Why else did nobody know that she was sick but she was sure that she and her baby would die? If she poisoned herself and was breastfeeding, this would explain why the baby also died. The only thing that might refute this is that both David and Peggotty were "nursing" the child which could either be construed to be that they were bottle feeding it or just holding it. I know that a oft-used phrase in rural USA for holding and comforting a child (without suckling) is "nussing" which I assume comes from "nursing". (hide spoiler)]

Finally finished it New Year's Eve. Some thoughts:
SPOILERS
1. I often disliked David. His choices of friendship with Steerforth and marriage with Dora showed a tendency to choose, as my Tax Professor always said, "form over substance." David saw what Steerforth did to Mr. Mell and still worshiped him. And he allowed Rosa Dartle to continue to verbally abuse Emily merely because he thought it was more proper to allow Peggotty to save her and then exclaimed "I don't know how much more I could bear." What he could bear? What about her?
2. I agree with critic Claire Tomalin that with Dickens, "foolish little women are more often presented as sexually desirable in his writing than clever, competent ones." That explains Dora over Agnes.
3. I also agree with Laura Miller that "many of the older women in Dickens novels have the breath of life in them, which is more than can be said for his almost universally sweet, helpless heroines." Betsy Trotwood is the most interesting heroine in the book.
4. The death of Dora reminded me of the finale of the TV show How I Met Your Mother where the first wife graciously dies to make room for the appropriate true soul mate. The male heroes in both works are nice guys who don't think they are self-centered, but are very much so.
5. While I am glad I read it and it was a fluid easy read, I thought it felt really long and boring in many parts. Dickens rates it as the favorite of his novels, but that must be because he was writing a thinly veiled autobiography.

Amy, I don't think Dickens intended to suggest either a sapphic attraction or a self-poisoning, but both ideas are intriguing and not unreasonable considering Dickens more libertine personal life or his portrayal of life with the Murdstones. I did wonder about the Agnes event when I read it because it seemed a little off track.

I'm at 60%, so I'm going to have to avoid all those spoilers for now.

Greetings from the Archives.
SPOILERS again, Amy.

When I first read about Steelforth and Emily, I immediately thought "I wish Darcy was here; he'd come to the rescue."
When I read about David expressing his love to Agnes, I thought "Austen would write this better."

I was surprised my thoughts twice turned to Austen. While I've read her six novels, I'm not a Janeite. I presume I just recognized that romantic escapades are more an Austen than a Dickens forte.