David Copperfield

[Carmilla]

I finished reading 'David Copperfield'. I absolutely loved it. Reading it I felt joy, happiness, sadness, etc., with its different stories and characters. It made me laugh and cry many times. For example, I laughed a lot with Miss Trotwood when she shouted: 'Donkeys!' Hahaha. Tell me if you liked it.

[Jackson Richardson]

Apparently it was Dickens' own favourite. I had an uncle who was named "David" as his father loved the book.

I've just thought how similar David's mother and Dora are - they say men marry their mothers and I suspect David did the same. (Miss Trotwood is a far more interesting mother figure though, through being so far from maternal. And so more genuinely caring for David without a trace of sentimentality.)

[Jackson Richardson]

I'm glad you liked David Copperfield, Carmilla. Of Dickens' mature novels it is sunniest with the least dark side to it. It has made me think about the different ways Dickens presents childhood trauma.

He reckoned his childhood was unhappy and David's time in the bottling factory was similar to a very bitter experience of his own.

But he didn't have to put up with any parents as cruel as Mr Murdstone. His problem was that both his parents were weak. Interestingly he is supposed to have based Mr Micawber on his own father. In so far as David has a positive father figure, it is Micawber.

[Pompey Bum]

Interestingly he is supposed to have based Mr Micawber on his own father. In so far as David has a positive father figure, it is Micawber.

Micawber is a delightful character, but one wonders he didn't represent some anger of Dickens toward his father, whose own pecuniary embarrassment was the reason Dickens had to labor as a child--something he seems to have been deeply embarrassed about. With Dickens, there's always bitter with the sweet.

[Carmilla]

Thank you for your answers Jackson Richardson, and for being glad for me!! I enjoyed the book very much. I find what you tell me about Dickens very interesting. I agree with you about the cruelty of Mr Murdstone, he was horrible!! And yes, I think Micawber could be a father figure to David.

[Carmilla]

Thank you for your answer Pompey Bum!! It's true, what you say about 'the bitter with the sweet.'

[Danik 2016]

Apparently it was Dickens' own favourite. I had an uncle who was named "David" as his father loved the book.

I've just thought how similar David's mother and Dora are - they say men marry their mothers and I suspect David did the same. (Miss Trotwood is a far more interesting mother figure though, through being so far from maternal. And so more genuinely caring for David without a trace of sentimentality.)

I agree with you.But both of them die still young. If they had survived would they´ve grown into... Flora (Little Dorrit) or perhaps Mrs. Nickleby? Foolish, goodhearted and funny?

Another interesting aspect in Dickens fiction is the high quantity of orphans or of children, whose parents aren´t unable to take care of them because they are in prison, because they are ill or because they are poor and who have to fend for themselves.
Dickens certainly didn´t feel so safe about the parental instituition.