Beginning in 1854 up through to his death in 1870, Charles Dickens abridged and adapted many of his more popular works and performed them as staged readings. This version, each page illustrated with lovely watercolor paintings, is a beautiful example of one of these adaptations.

Because it is quite seriously abridged, the story concentrates primarily on the extended family of Mr. Peggotty: his orphaned nephew, Ham; his adopted niece, Little Emily; and Mrs. Gummidge, self-described as "a lone lorn creetur and everythink went contrairy with her." When Little Emily runs away with Copperfield's former schoolmate, leaving Mr. Peggotty completely brokenhearted, the whole family is thrown into turmoil. But Dickens weaves some comic relief throughout the story with the introduction of Mr. and Mrs. Micawber, and David's love for his pretty, silly "child-wife," Dora. Dark nights, mysterious locations, and the final destructive storm provide classic Dickensian drama. Although this is not David Copperfield in its entirety, it is a great introduction to the world and the language of Charles Dickens.

From AudioFile
Like a visit with old friends, this production of David Copperfield assumes that the listener is familiar with the Dickens milieu. The emphasis is on Dickens's colorful characters, who appear one after another in performances consistently deft and sure. Even the grotesque are played with a restraint that retains their humanity. Music and sound effects are used well, but sparingly, never distracting from the voices. J.N. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Gr. 8^-12. This is not the great classic novel but a few little-known episodes that Dickens excerpted from the book for his dramatic public readings. His performances were for adults who knew the book, and it's only readers familiar with the novel who will understand what's going on. This large-size volume is for teens interested in book illustration and dramatic performance. Marks (who illustrated Over the Hills and Far Away: A Book of Nursery Rhymes [1993]) captures the romance and the comedy of the excerpts with watercolor paintings on every page. But generally this is theatrical Dickens for nostalgic adults. Hazel Rochman

Review
"The most perfect of all the Dickens novels."
--Virginia Woolf


From the Trade Paperback edition.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

David Copperfield is the story of a young man's adventures on his journey from anunhappy and impoverished childhood to the discovery of his vocation as a successful novelist. Among the gloriously vivid cast of characters he encounters are his tyrannical stepfather, Mr. Murdstone; his formidable aunt, Betsey Trotwood; the eternally humble yet treacherous Uriah Heep; frivolous, enchanting Dora; and the magnificently impecunious Micawber, one of literature's great comic creations. In David Copperfield—the novel he described as his ￯﾿ﾽfavorite child￯﾿ﾽ—Dickens drew revealingly on his own experiences to create one of his most exuberant and enduringly popular works, filled with tragedy and comedy in equal measure.