Charles Dickens Books

I had several teachers throughout life that had an unparalleled ability to make knowledge seem arcane, obscure and utterly boring. Every two or three years, however, I had the privilege of being taught by a passionate teacher that had a real knack at making any subject sound enthralling.

I am sure David Lodge would be one of the latter. His essays are clear, witty, funny and knowledgeable. There wasn't a single essay that did not make me want to jump to the computer, connect to Amazon.com and buy a book from the author he was writing about. And all that with plain style devoid of the ubiquitous self conscious or ranting style of most contemporary critics.

A great read for literature lovers!

So why did I begin David Copperfield? Well I didn't want to do homework and I thought it would be nice to say that I had read a great work of literature. Why did I finish David Copperfield? Because it was one of most intrigueing books I have ever read (and by this point I really NEEDED to do that homework too!) Each character was deep and complex, not a flat one in the book! I enjoyed the way an event here or there would remind me of my own life (being close to the same age of Mr. Copperfield) and how I felt as if I actually knew all of the people he delt with. I will admit that the going is slow plot wise, but the characters! ohhh the characters! If you have enjoyed Jane Eyre or Cider House Rules, I would strongly recomend this as well. I would recomend this anyway, but if you liked those!

Cranford started out not as a novel, but as a series of related stories published in Household Words, a magazine published by Charles Dickens.

Cranford is unusual because it focuses on a world where there is no room for men, and where marriage is considered more of a nuisance than a blessing. The few male characters appearing in this novel are generally regarded either with suspicion or scorn. The bulk of the novel focuses on the life of Miss Matty Jenkyns, an aging spinster who takes in a frequent guest from a nearby town: unmarried Mary, who narrates the story. Miss Matty lives in the small town of Cranford, which is full of unmarried or widowed women. If a man moves into town, he somehow disappears. These women live quite happily in each other's society and are genteel despite their uncertain finances. The novel is full of gossip and intrigues - ways for the Cranford women to spend their time since it isn't occupied by other things.

Of course, in this remarkable little world of the Cranford ladies, something eventually must happen to one of their own. Miss Matty's bank goes under, and she finds herself bankrupt, deprived of the 127 pounds per annum that she had to live on. She takes it all in stride, but the other ladies of Cranford get together to help her in a very touching way that allows Miss Matty to maintain her lifestyle.

Marriage eventually finds a place in Cranford. Miss Matty's servant marries a charming young man, and the couple is very happy. The local surgeon marries one of the ladies in town who is above his station, a scandal that is endlessly discussed among the women; but despite the couple becoming outcasts, they seem very content.

Suchoff bases his far-ranging analysis of three major novelists of modernity - Dickens, Melville, and Kafka - on the stimulating intellectual frame inspired by the now classic Frankfurt School theorists - Adorno, Horkheimer, and Benjamin - and by their interpretation of history, which goes back to the first half of the twentieth century. Against the anti-historical reading of culture, the Frankfurt School claimed that artefacts contained the traces of their dialectical links with their times and that art worked against the grain of hegemonic representations, thus carrying out an essentially redemptive role in the domain of culture. According to Suchoff, this approach can still offer innovative and meaningful interpretations of the modern novel, capable of highlighting the oppositional role played by mass culture in and through texts, in the face of what he regards as reductive and conservative readings of modernism. Starting with Victorianism, Suchoff then discusses how the commodification of the novelist does not suppress Dickens's subversive rewriting of Victorian stereotypes. He concentrates on "Little Dorrit" to retrace in the subtext of this emblematic and most decent novel a repressed narrative of sexual abuse and unspeakable violence against women, a narrative that is nevertheless voiced by eloquent textual clues. Melville's work is interpreted as a powerful and devastating revision of American myths of power, destined to shipwreck like Ahab's ship, the Pequod. Finally, Kafka is analysed as a writer who thoughtfully comes to terms with Jewish identity, Zionism and political action, against the interpretative cliché that would deny his involvement with the challenges of his times. Suchoff's analysis manages to combine both sound theoretical knowledge and clever textual analysis, capturing the making and remaking of ideology in the discursive layers of the literary artefact. Doubtless, his convincing interpretation of these three major writers, who are so diversely engaged with history, makes his book not just an interesting contribution to the large corpus of criticism on Dickens, Melville and Kafka in the widening field of cultural studies, but a stimulus to apply such critical tools to other texts.

G.K.Chesterton is the best critic of Dickens, and these introductions to his novels his best work. If you are seeking an answer to why Dickens is so enduring, these short essays will answer you. If you are already a Dickensian, these essays are a delightful condensed expression of everything you already know. A pity that it is out of print. It is THE book I try to give to friends who want an introduction to Dickens.

David Copperfield is by far the best novel Dicken's ever wrote. The plot line is very fast-paced and starts with David being born and goes to him being a middle aged man. If you haven't read this book, you need to soon!

The book is very deep and interesting. It is very well written as well as expressed. It encouraged me to become active in the field of reading. It has helped to change the way that I view literature, and provided me with a safe and fun way of occupation.

This takes a couple of months to get through, but it's worth it. I enjoyed the careful way all the various plots come together at regular intervals, fugue-like. I like the way some characters are warped early on and remain so, despite improved circumstances (ex. Uriah Heep), and how others blithely ignore their own internal contradictions (ex. Mr. Micawber, the cheerful bankrupt). I thought the danger of early unguided marriage is amusingly portrayed, and as always in Dickens, the law courts and its denizens are good for a laugh or two. Copperfield's early wanderings are touching as well. His aunt is one of the most subtle and complicated characters I would ever expect to come across: smart, eccentric, iconoclastic, repentant but also active in trying to make amends. The book makes clear that kindness and charity are what's needed, then and now. I also like that young Copperfield is not preternaturally wise; it's believable that he makes mistakes in his youth.

Read with aplomb by Paul Scofield, this classic Dickens novel is a great audio tape to take along with you when you are walking or exercising. David Copperfield seems somewhat of a pitiful fellow, which makes you like him all the more, and the villainous character of Mr. Uriah Heep is brought out quite nicely. What struck me was how people in this book fell in love so quickly, as though looking at one another and sensing an attraction was enough for a proposal of marriage. Young Mr. Copperfield loses his father at a very early age, but is quite content with his housemaid and his mother, who love him dearly. Then he is sent for a two week visit to the home of his housemaid, where he has a marvelous time, only to return and learn that his mother has re-married a dreadful man, who beats David and sends him away to the worst of schools, where, if he is not careful, he will be beaten daily. When his mother passes away, young David begins to become a man, and it is this that you will admire, his strength and perseverance in growing up under such adverse circumstances. The cassette version is only two cassettes long, but it is long enough for you to understand precisely what Mr. Dickens means for you to understand. And yes, David Copperfield suffers many trials and tribulations as an adult as well, which keeps it interesting. What he becomes in the end will not surprise you, but it will delight you.

Anything read by Patrick Tull will be wonderful, and Dickens is a perfect match for him. Like Jim Dale, he can do all the voices. Excellent!