Book+Reviews

The first novel published of the two I chose, //David Copperfield// was a good read overall. I would give it an eight out of ten. The story is told from the perspective of an adult David Copperfield recollecting the events of his youth. David is born into a fatherless home where he is cared for by his mother Clara and Peggotty, their nurse. David's father died months before he was born, so when David was about twelve, his mother remarried to a businessman named Mr. Murdstone. Murdstone and his sister are very cruel to David and punish him constantly until he is sent away to a school. After his mother dies David is sent to work in a bottle factory. From there, David flees to his aunts home and she sends him off to finish his education. David completes his education at a school operated by a man named Doctor Strong. Upon completing his education, David moves to London to become a proctor. He gets a job at a law firm under a lawyer named Mr. Spenlow. While David is working in the office, he falls in love with his employer's daughter, Dora. Although Spenlow does not approve of their marriage, they wed eventually after Dora's father dies in an accident. David also begins writing to earn money to support his aunt who lost most of her wealth from bad investments and then he publishes a novel. Unfortunately David's wife dies after a miscarriage and he, while in mourning, sets out to travel abroad. David's novel grows in popularity in England while he is abroad. Then after traveling for three years, he finally returns to England after realizing he was actually in love a very good friend of his and Dora; Agnes. It is then revealed that Dora's last wishes were that Agnes would prevent David from remarrying to anyone but her. David marries Agnes and they live happily together while he pursues his career as a writer. David Copperfield was rather tough to get through at some points. It can become quite dry to read because Charles Dickens is such a verbose author. However, that detracts from the writing very little. Dickens invests so much time into all of the characters; even those who are only featured for mere moments, that each and every character is believable. From the childishly innocent Mr. Dick to the sinister Uriah Heep, each and every character is realistic and relatable. My only quarrel with this book would be that because Dickens vests so much of the book into the characters themselves, one does not gain a full concept of the environment they live in. However, this is a very minor issue. Dickens thoroughly makes up for any weak points of the book with his rich character development and the incredible humor and satire he imbues into it. I would highly recommend this book and I think everyone should at least read an abridgement or synopsis of it, although they would certainly be missing out on all the book has to offer.

The next novel by Charles Dickens that I had the pleasure of reading was //Great Expectations//. For what it is worth, I enjoyed the novel. It is very similar to David Copperfield in quite a few ways. The main character is a boy named Pip who is an orphan and lives with his sister and her husband. One day while visiting his parents' burial sites, Pip happens upon a convict with a chain on his leg. The man tells Pip to bring him a file and food. The convict devours the food quickly and frees his leg with the file. However, the convict is captured when the police discover him fighting with another escapee. Some time after, Pip's uncle brings him along to visit a woman named Miss Havisham and her daughter Estella. Upon doing this, Miss Havisham decides to fund Pip's apprenticeship with his uncle Joe. However, he does not remain an apprentice long. One day he is visited by a lawyer named Jaggers who states that an anonymous benefactor has awarded Pip with wealth so he can become an educated gentleman. The boy moves to London to gain his education and learn to be a proper gentleman. After living in London for some time, Pip is visited by a familiar figure: the convict. The man reveals that his name is Magwitch and that he is Pip's benefactor. Apparently he moved to Australia where he saved money so he could repay Pip for being so kind as to bring him food that one day in the graveyard. They soon learn, however, that there is a warrant for Magwitch and that he will be executed, should he be found. By this time, Pip also discovers that his childhood love, Estella, has married a man named Bentley Drummle. With the help of his friends, Pip manages to devise a plan to save Magwitch's life by helping him escape England by boat. The night of his escape, Magwitch is confronted by the other convict he fought in the graveyard. After yet another battle between the two, Magwitch emerges victorious when the other man, Compeyson, falls into the water and does not resurface. Unfortunately, his victory is short lived as he is dragged off to prison where he dies of an illness. Because of Magwitch's death, Pip lost his income and is unable to pay his debts. Right before he is to be sent to debtors prison, Joe arrives in London and pays off Pip's debts. Realizing his humble roots once more, Pip returns home and visits Miss Havisham's home long after she has died. There he runs into Estella whose husband had been killed by a horse he was whipping. Estella reveals her true feelings for Pip and apologizes for mistreating him for so long. The book closes with the couple leaving Miss Havisham's garden, hand-in-hand. Unlike with //David Copperfield//, Dickens invested a decent amount of time in describing the environments although he continues to develop his characters just as well. He even goes as far as to turn Miss Havisham's home into a character in itself. Overall, Great Expectations is a fantastic book. I would give it a perfect ten out of ten score. If one does not wish to read //David Copperfield//, then one must certainly read this book. //Great Expectations// retains similar characteristics to David's story, although it most definitely feels like a lighter-hearted story with very loveable characters. In addition, it contains much more apparent humor. Pip's story is a perfect novel to acclimate readers to Dickens' writing style so they can eventually move onto his other works, such as //David Copperfield//.