David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Another version of this note and thoughts on other books are available at:

It is an excellent idea to read again a very good book.

Especially if decades have passed since the last encounter.

And if, as in the case of David Copperfield, the last read was in adolescence or near it, the new meeting with the characters can be a surprise.

I wrote a more recent note on the subject, but it was more of a grudge I had against a guest that seemed to me to be a replica of Copperfield.

And it was wrong on two counts.

First, the rebel view that I promoted was just anger without management.

Second, I was confusing Copperfield with Oliver Twist.

Indeed, they both had unhappy childhoods and suffered at the hand of evil men.

But to just place them together as two poor orphans was unfortunate, maybe even unpardonable.

David Copperfield is tortured by his step father and his sister, but there is much more happening to the adult, than to the boy.

He seems to be the perfect Romantic hero.

Generous, brave, loyal, talented, loving, compassionate and endearing to mention just a few of his many skills and abilities.

Trying to see a spot on this Ubermensch, I would say that he picked a good friend with very poor judgment.

And he seemed loyal even when the man proved to be a little Mephistopheles.

For a while I thought that he is too distant and superior towards Uriah Heep.

It looked like arrogance and a coldness, pretentiousness specific to those who belonged to a superior station.

I thought he looks down on Uriah Heep because the latter belongs to the lower classes.

But I was again wrong and Heep is just a name that I love and the character is loathsome.

The note refers to an adaptation for the BBC.

And it was an unusual format, with ten episodes.

With ten hours, I was thinking that this is how long it takes to read the whole book.

So it was lucky to be a dramatization that followed the complexity of the plot.

Ataraxia