A fair few years ago (7 or 8 I think) now I worked my way through the Pickwick Papers (having previously read Hard Times, Oliver Twist and bits of Great Expectations) and loved it. I know it's not seen as one of Dickens' best but I found it funny and really entertaining. I loved the serialised format and the weird and wonderful tangents it explored. I vowed that David Copperfied would be next and then, as usual, failed to meet my reading ambitions.
After a recent cull of the shelves, Copperfield called louder than ever so - despite being a hefty read - he was packed for my holiday and my promise was finally fulfilled.
I'd prepared for a return to a 'classic' by churning through a quick throwaway page turner but needn't have worried about getting back into the Dickens saddle.
Actually I think anyone daunted by taking on a 'classic' should consider, as I did throughout David Copperfield, that the best novels from the past feel no different to a book from the modern day. The reason such books enjoy their lofty status is because their tales stand the test of time. Dickens' observations are surprisingly and refreshingly modern, meaning that it's very rarely a puzzle to pick through the language.
If the Pickwick Papers was something of a jolly jape and Hard Times a political commentary, this was something different entirely with a different strain of observations on the world.
At face value it's the biography of the titular character but there's more than the face value narrative to enjoy here. In fact, for me, the real joy of the story comes from the cast of colourful personalities - the people he encounters throughout his life. From the dependable Traddles, ever-wise Agnes, crazy Aunt, malevolent Murdstones, sycophantic Heep and amusingly verbose Micawbers to the loveable Peggottys, everyone seems well sketched out and provides a pleasure. Dickens deploys a searing sarcastic wit to help to establish each of his characters, making for a merry band of memorable friends and foes along the journey. The backdrop - be it Suffolk, Yarmouth, London or Kent - is also brought to life in a vivid way.
Copperfield himself is, at times, a frustrating character. He latches himself onto the wrong friend in Steerforth and, arguably, the wrong woman in Dora - both times eventually realising the virtues in Traddles and Agnes in their place. He's also a fairly tragic figure - losing his dad, mum and wife along the way in the book's most emotional passages - and is someone who earned my respect by becoming a shorthand parliamentary reporter.
There's fun to be had in attempting to spot which events are inspired by Dickens' own life, and this personal touch must surely add to the richness of the readers' experience. Still, at its heart, this is a tale of relationships - between parent and child, friends, partners, colleagues, enemies - that rests on the people Copperfield comes across.
It was rewarding to finally tick this off my hitlist and pleasing that it didn't disappoint. The next step is to delve back into a meaty non-fiction text and dust off a history book that has been waiting to be plucked from the shelves. Hopefully that ambition won't take so long...
