David Copperfield Charles Dickens Classic Edition

Author : Charles Dickens
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781545380208
Total Pages : 402 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (82 download)

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Download or read book David Copperfield written by Charles Dickens and published by . This book was released on 2017-04-16 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.It's important, when reading this, to remember that "David Copperfield" was originally published in 20 monthly installments, rather than as a single work of fiction. Each installment was only 3 to 4 chapters long, and the final two installments were released together as a double-volume. This was kind of like 19th-century Netflix; you got to watch the two-part series finale all at once rather than have to wait another week to see how it all turned out.When read as a single novel, there's a fair bit of repetition involved (and Dickens famously was paid by the word, which led to the invention of such loquacious characters as Mr. Micawber, who never uses five words when 50 would suffice). I read it basically a chapter a day, with most chapters taking up about 30 minutes of my time. In this method I still got through the book faster than the 19th-century target audience would have done, but still got to live with the story for more than two months of my life. I felt somewhat bereft when it was all over.While "David Copperfield" is deemed highly literary today, it was also the cutting edge of popular entertainment when it was written and released. The book follows David Copperfield (whose life, in many respects, followed the broad contours of Dickens' own life) from birth through adulthood. There are many self-contained episodes throughout the book, but there's also a fairly regular cast of characters who show up in every installment. Each of these characters are vividly portrayed, and quite memorable: David's childhood nurse, Peggotty, and her extended family; David's two school classmates, Steerforth and Traddles, whose lives go off in quite different directions; Agnes, Dora, and Emily, the three women in David's life; Aunt Betsey and Mr. Dick, who serve both as comic relief and as David's moral compasses; and the Murdstones and Uriah Heep, because every story needs despicable villains. You won't forget many of these people in a hurry.