Favorite Book Number Two: David Copperfield

"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."

I didn't set out for my first two books in this favorites list to both be by Charles Dickens but I happened to watch a David Copperfield Masterpiece Theatre this past weekend and it has put me in the mood to discuss this book. This was written when Dickens was in his 30s and is thought to be his most autobiographical. This book contains one of the most lovable Dickens characters in Mr. Micawber and arguably (not really - it's a given) the most repulsive one -- Uriah Heep. It is hard to write a summary of a Dickens book because he writes about dozens of characters so I will give you the briefest one possible.

David is a boy who, as he says, is born "a posthumous child" -- after the death of his father. He lives a happy childhood with his mother and their servant Peggotty. When he is still young, his mother remarries a Mr. Murdstone who turns out to be the prototypical evil stepfather. David is sent away to school for a brief time and while he is there, his mother dies. Murdstone recalls him home and tells him that he is now on his own and sends him to London to work in a factory. Eventually he runs away from this horrible life to try his luck with his aunt, Miss Betsey Trotwood. She decides to take guardianship of him and this time he goes to Canterbury to study and become a gentleman and a man of business. Many sad and unfortunate things happen to him and those he loves but he constantly moves forward. Through all of this and through the following years, he retains his innocence and good nature even while coming into contact with treacherous and vile people. On the other hand, he is also rewarded with true friends and true love.

That seems like a very poor summary of the book because much of the value of it is in the well-written and diverse characters: Peggotty and her father Mr. Peggotty, Em'ly and Ham (Peggotty's cousins), Steerforth (David's school friend), Betsey Trotwood and her simple-minded friend Mr. Dick, the Micawber family that David lives with while he works in the factory in London, Mr. Wickfield and his daughter Agnes who David lives with when his aunt sends him to study, and finally the repulsive Uriah Heep. Each of these characters has something to add to the story which is why David, in starting the book, uses the words that he does -- that he may or may not be the hero of his own story.

This book is often overlooked because of the simple title and the prejudice against Dickens but it is really a fantastic story. If you aren't sure about it, I suggest that you watch the fantastic miniseries. It has Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) as the young David Copperfield and other stars of British cinema including Bob Hoskins, Maggie Smith and Ian McKellen.

Worshipping at the altar of Dickens,
K


Buy David Copperfield on Amazon or find it at your local library.

Favorite Book Number One: Great Expectations

"My father's family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name being Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip."

Since I recently re-read this book, let's talk about Charles Dickens' Great Expectations.  I can't remember exactly when I first read this book but I think it was around 1994, when I was in college.

The story starts with a young boy named Pip, out for a stroll on the murky, misty marsh when he is suddenly set upon by the convict Magwitch who has escaped from a local prison boat.  In fear for his life, he gets the convict a metal file for his leg irons and some food and that is the last he hears of him.  Pip continues to grow and by-the-by meets and becomes a regular in the home of a local spinster, Miss Havisham and her ward, Estella.

When Pip comes of a certain age, he finds out that he has been financially provided for so that he can move to London and become a "gentleman".  He assumes that this gift is from Miss Havisham but has been expressly forbidden to ask about it by his lawyer.  Pip spends years in London, learning to be a gentleman and pining over Estella, whom he fell in love with in his youth.  The story continues on through Pip's maturity into adulthood and the resolution of his various relationships.

I have always liked the characters in the book, especially Pip and Miss Havisham.  They are believable and well written in their various voices.  The story never feels forced even when some parts of it are in the realm of the fantastic.  The descriptions of the various parts of England are vivid.  This book is good on so many levels that it's really worth a read.  Some people have a fear of Dickens but I think it unfounded.  He has a sense of humor and a real appreciation for all levels of society.

Do you love or hate this book?  Please join in!

Expecting greatness,
K


Buy Great Expectations on Amazon or find it at your local library.

"My father had a face that could stop a clock."

If you don't know about the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde, you need to discover it. It started with The Eyre Affair in 2001 and has included four more books: Lost in a Good Book, The Well of Lost Plots, Something Rotten and Thursday Next: First Among Sequels.

The first book introduces us to Thursday Next, a sort of government agent, who initially works in the "Literary Detectives" division of the British Special Operations force and eventually works in the books themselves. We get to meet fictional characters like Mr. Rochester (of Jane Eyre fame) and Miss Havisham (from Great Expectations) as Thursday finds that she can actually travel into books. Unfortunately, she's not the only one that can do this and not all of the others who can have good intentions. Over the next four books we follow Thursday as she hides from psychopaths and corporate miscreants in the book world, fights vampires and ghouls with her friend Spike in the real one and has a son -- a major challenge in itself.

Jasper Fforde is a fantastic writer who has a sense of humor similar to Douglas Adams -- extremely silly and hilarious. He's very big on word play and double entendres when naming characters. The book is set in a slightly alternate universe in the 1980s where people travel by airship, croquet is a national sport (and quite a violent one at that), cheese is a black market commodity and a major corporation controls most of the government. The stories move quickly and they are some of the few books that actually make me laugh out loud each time I read them -- and I have re-read them many, many times. So take a chance and read them at least once ... you won't regret it!

Enjoy a book today,
K


Buy The Thursday Next Series on Amazon or find them at your local bookstore.