{"id":7012,"date":"2025-11-11T08:58:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T13:58:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.laserfarm.com\/?p=7012"},"modified":"2025-11-11T09:00:02","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T14:00:02","slug":"book-review-david-copperfield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.laserfarm.com\/?p=7012","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: David Copperfield"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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David Copperfield,<\/em> by Charles Dickens\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doff your top hat! Fire up the tea kettle! Add the letter U to words! It\u2019s time for another DICKENS TUESDAY!!! And today\u2019s book is one of my favoUrites! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I picked this up a few years ago. At the time, the only other work by Dickens I read was A Christmas Carol<\/em>, which I loved. But A Christmas Carol<\/em> is a mere short story or novella or\u2026I don\u2019t know what the rules are for what is and isn\u2019t a full-blown novel. David Copperfield <\/em>is a great big book, a book without any Muppets.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I gave it a go and I\u2019m glad I did. This Charles Dickens guy? He\u2019s pretty good at writing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the surprising things about this book is how funny it is \u2013 genuinely funny. There are jokes and bits that feel just as fresh today as they were in the late 19th century. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story follows the titular Dave as he makes his way in the crazy British world. The book takes its time (perhaps because Dickens was dragging the story out in serialized format and wanted to get more money by taking his sweet time), and there are entire chapters where not a lot happens. For instance, there\u2019s a chapter in which Dave almost gets a haircut. That\u2019s it. It doesn\u2019t sound compelling, but the scene where he almost gets a haircut is great! There\u2019s a little person who cuts hair and she\u2019s among the big roster of Dickens characters who are completely nutty! She only has two or three scenes in the whole novel, but she\u2019s memorable and delightful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s what this book is: Memorable and delightful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it long? Yep. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it good? Double yep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David is a likeable character. He has a run of bad luck; his parents die (because this is a Charles Dickens character, afterall), his stepfather is cruel, he\u2019s forced to work in a factory, but even as a poor kid, he\u2019s never a sad sack. He\u2019s not happy-go-lucky, either. In the character scale of positivity he exists somewhere between Leslie Knope and Ron Swanson. He\u2019s kind, thoughtful and a little dumb \u2013 like a great dog! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to take a trip into non-Muppets Dickens, this is a good place to start. You don\u2019t need to understand the British legal system (unlike Bleak House<\/em>) or world history (unlike A Tale of Two Cities)<\/em>, so you can just jump right in. It\u2019s a big book, but it\u2019s never slow, even if not a lot happens. That\u2019s one of the magic tricks Dickens pulls off \u2013 making a boring thing somehow interesting and often funny. I loved it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m reviewing books until the end of the year to help raise money for Reading Is Fundamental. Click here to donate!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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