Book 137: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens and Book Stats.

Title: David Copperfield
Author: Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

First Published: 1849-1850 (serialized)

My Edition: Wordsworth Classic (similar to the one at right-the image on mine is different, but I can't locate it online)

Pages: 737

Other Works Include: The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiousity Shop, Barnaby Rudge, A Christmas Carol, Dombey and Son, Bleak House, Hard Times, Little Dorrit, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, Our Mutual Friend

Usually when I draft these kinds of posts, I go back to look at my other posts by the same author so I can copy in some of the information. Imagine my surprise when I realized that I hadn't done one of these stats posts for any of the Dickens I've read! I suppose I was just fortunate enough to avoid this. :)

I was supposed to get to this title last July for a readalong hosted by Adam. But, I was super busy that month and while the book was on my nightstand, I never got around to actually opening it. Oops. It seems to have all worked out, since Dickens' 200th birthday was yesterday and it seems the world has gone crazy for Charles.

I have a love/hate relationship with him, but I have become more and more intrigued by his novels. He called this one his favorite, so I am hoping I feel the same way as I dive further into it (I'm about 20 pages in right now). So many people have said they love this one, so that seems promising, right? In any case, I can't wait to be a little more knowledgeable about his work. 

If you're curious, here are the posts I've written on the other books I've read by him for this project. For kicks, I show whether they landed on the love or hate side of my Charles Dickens scale. :)

Book 10: Great Expectations (Hate)

1. My Hatred of Charles Dickens
2. Invitations and Torture
3. Charles Dickens Made Me.
4. The Bright Light of Manwich.
5. Finally Finished.

Book 65: Bleak House (Hate)

1. Early Chapters.
2. Finished.

Book 77: Oliver Twist (Love)

1. Volume 1.
2. Volume 2.
3. Volume 3.

Book 88: Hard Times (Love)

1. Classics Circuit Post (Dickens v. Austen)

A Christmas Carol (Love-not a book from my project list)




What do you think Charles Dickens' work? Love it? Hate it? How about my current choice-David Copperfield?

Bleak House Read-a-Long: FINISHED.

I have been participating in this monstrous read-a-long hosted by Amanda at The Zen Leaf of Charles Dicken's Bleak House.

If you have been following for a good amount of time, you should know one thing about my reading habits: I HATE Charles Dickens. I mean, I haven't had a positive experience with his writing ever and the only reason I have him on my list is that well, I can't say I've read a lot of classics if he's NOT on there. Many people associate Dickens with classics, so I feel this huge need to give him a try.

The read-a-long was the perfect opportunity to get this mammoth novel out of the way. My own edition was 818 pages.

I only managed to be on time with my first post, but I finished this monstrosity just in time to post my final thoughts on it.

I should say from the beginning that I was not impressed with the structure and style of the novel as a whole. Large portions are narrated by the heroine-Esther, but random chapters are told from an omniscient narrator. This left me feeling confused. Had Dickens only told the novel from one point of view or the other, I may have had an easier time reading it. Also, Dickens threw in so many sub-plots and characters that I had difficulty keeping track of who was who and what exactly was going on. Taking Amanda's lead, I began reading the Sparknotes before reading the sections to help understand just what was going on.

These were my two biggest issues. I can understand that Dickens released this serially. I can give him props for developing such a massive story that was so incredibly detailed. And, in the end, it seemed to work out. But this is where I have to wonder, how many of those sub-plots, twists and turns were really needed? Dickens was obviously paid for larger and more intricate pieces. So....how much of it was simply padding?

This was my big problem with Great Expectations last fall. The basic story was good. It was the middle part that dragged on and on and on. I liked the story with Magwitch and Pip. It was the ramblings in the middle that I thought were unnecessary.

So, those were my problems. But now you're asking: what is this story all about?

Bleak House is a complicated novel. At the core is a court case (Jarndyce v. Jarndyce) that holds the fate of all in its clutches. It has moved through the courts slowly and has been a huge expense. Obviously, Dickens was commenting on the structure of the British legal system, but much of this was so intertwined with everything else I didn't pay great attention to it. It had a lot to do with wills, inheritances, and the like.

Esther is an orphan (supposedly) and when her guardian passes away, she is taken in by a proprietor, sent to school for six years, and eventually finds a place in his home with his two other wards, Ada and Richard. The three of them are close and eventually Richard and Ada fall in love. While Richard wants to push the court case through to get his hands on what is due to him, their guardian, John Jarndyce, hopes that Richard will choose a profession to support himself and Ada.

There is also the story of Esther's mother, who is not dead and does not know that Esther still lives. Another side plot involving her search for Esther's father (not her husband??) and her discovery of Esther also unfolds.

In all, I liked the idea of Bleak House, but I didn't like the product. There are certain cases where length is needed. And here, I felt that there were large portions that were just excess. I was frustrated by my own inability to follow the story between sections and chapters as the narrator changed and the plot focus constantly switched. Honestly, Dickens needed an editor to tell him to focus his novel on the story of Esther and her role. If she was the narrator he picked, then well, he needed to stick to telling her story.

Anyway, I am glad I can mark another Dickens novel off my list. It was the biggest, so I am glad its over with. I have five more Dickens novels to go. I can only hope that they are not as painful.

Bleak House Readalong: Chapters 1-7.

A couple of weeks ago I took a look at the 200ish titles left on my list and realized that if I want to keep my sanity when I get near the end, I needed to read another Charles Dickens novel. I ended up writing a post (Help Me Torture Myself) to get some advice about what horrible Dickens novel to read next.

The comments were amusing, and as it turned out, Amanda over at The Zen Leaf had already decided to host a readalong over Bleak House lasting into October. It was like the heavens open and a light shining down. Dickens would be much better to handle in a group (I think).

So, I signed up and procrastinated a bit before starting the book. The thing is, I am convinced that my hatred of Dickens is somewhat ill-founded. Truth be told, I thought the only Dickens I have read from cover to cover is Great Expectations and that was twice-once in high school and once last fall. And I truly hated it both times.

I also was "Assigned" to read Hard Times in college and it is the only assigned reading I never finished. I think i let my earlier prejudice get in the way.

But now that I think about it, I have read A Christmas Carol, and liked it...so...well, perhaps I will like more Dickens. I decided that going into Bleak House, I would simply pretend his name was not on the cover.

Alas...I think that my overwhelming prejudice is going to torment me some more. I finished the first 85 pages (7 chapters), which was my assigned reading for the week. And while it wasn't the total hell I equated with Great Expectations I still wanted to yank Dickens from his grave and yell, "GET TO THE POINT!!!!"

The fact is, he rambles. About nothing. He uses far too many adjectives and it bothers me. I get that he is trying to weave and intricate tale, but he does not need 85 pages to say what was said in the first 7 chapters. Here is my condensed version.

Esther is a poor girl who grows up unloved. When she is orphaned, a rich, unnamed benefactor sends her to a school so she can learn to be a governess. There, she befriends all of the girls and is much loved by everyone. Finally, she receives a letter from her benefactor saying that her skills are needed.

She leaves for London and meets Ada and Richard. It will be her task to be Ada's companion. They go and spend the night at a crazy lady's house who cares little for her children. While there, Esther takes care of all of the children and they all love her to pieces. Also, Ada, Esther and Richard for a walk in London. They meet a crazy lady who insists on taking them back to her place. They go and learn about the courts and something about "Jarndyce and Jarndyce" and that it may have an effect on them.

While with crazy old lady, they meet a crazy man and his cat. It is awkward and uncomfortable.

When they leave London, they go to the house of their benefactor, and everyone is much pleased with one another. Esther is loved to pieces because she is so nice and caring.

There is also some rambling that has nothing to do with the narrative and which makes no sense.

The end.

Okay, I know I am probably not being fair, but does he have to go on and on all the time? Perhaps it is too early to fit the random pieces in with the narrative, but I am finding that there are too many threads to hold in my head at once. I want more explained to me....in simple English. I think I may need to go back and skim to see if I can fit it together...or just read the next few chapters and let it sink in.

The fact is, I am frustrated because I think I am hindering myself from enjoying the novel. I have this prejudice and it is hard to fight.

Anyway, I think I best leave my tirade against Dickens here for this week. I WILL be back next week and hopefully I will have pleasant things to say, and that some pieces of the puzzle will be placed together.

Weekly Wrap-up for August 15, 2010: New Bookshelves and Organization!

It has been quite a wonderful week! Months ago I made plans with my friend Kyla to go to Michigan's sole IKEA store. When we had made plans originally, it was so she could buy some things for her new apartment-I was just going to tag along.

However, when my birthday came around last month, Matt didn't know what to get me. I was kind of at a loss, since I didn't know what I really wanted...until I realized that the perfect gift would be a new bookcase to match my existing one that we bought back in January (it is from the "Billy" line).

When I lived at home, I did not have bookshelves in my room. Instead, my mom let me use the linen closet outside my bedroom. That closet was STUFFED with books. Books we stacked in every which way and went back three layers, and sometimes four! It eventually got too full so I started putting my books in my brother's old closet (he had moved out by then) to help with the weight in the other closet. It was madness.

Moving into the apartment was difficult at first. All my books (in 26 different boxes) have been sitting in a closet in our second bedroom. When we went to IKEA back in January, it was to get shelves for our DVD collection (also pretty big-probably 500+ movies) and to get me one shelf to store my classics. Since then, I have wanted another shelf. All of my classics barely fit in the case I have (It is 32 inches wide and 80 inches tall, with 8 shelves-I bought two extra to fit more).

So, I wandered into IKEA on Thursday with Kyla with the mission of bringing home another bookshelf along with some other fun items. Well....I got to the bookshelf area and saw that in addition to what I wanted, they had another that was narrower-only 15 or so inches. And I thought to myself, "Gee, Allie, it would be swell to put that smaller one in the corner on an angle." I called Matt and he said yes, so not only did I come home with one more BIG bookcase, but I also grabbed the skinner one, and two more shelves for my new big case.

I was gloriously happy.

They fit in our bedroom, which is now way too cluttered with furniture (but who cares if my books are there!). I tackled opening the closet to bring books to my new shelves, but got overwhelmed pretty quickly. I made sure to pull out some of my favorites, but it was hard to decide which books to put back in their boxes. I ended up giving up after pulling 13 or 14 boxes from the closet and picking my favorites from there, but I know there are some old friends who are still packed away.

*side note-My husband just brought me a sandwich and some coleslaw with some tea and said, "I know you are busy blogging, so here is some food." Isn't that sweet? *end side note*

Anyway, I was wondering how everyone else organizes their bookcases? One of my larger cases has all of my classics, which is pretty much everything I am reading for my challenge and then some. I used the smaller bookcase to place some of my hardcovers on since the shelves are taller (I didn't buy extra shelves for it), and the new case has a lot of YA, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and a few contemporary lit things on it, all alphabetized. I'm not sure if I like it the way it is. I love having a case devoted to my classics, but I obviously don't have the room to have a shelf for science-fiction, one for fantasy, etc. But how do you all organize your books? I would love to know!



In reading news, I finished The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper. I absolutely hated the first Cooper novel I read back in college, but I really enjoyed this one. I'm looking forward to when my posts go up!

I also read the first two acts of The Tempest in anticipation for the read-along tomorrow. It is the first new Shakespeare play I am reading for my challenge, but it is not as rough-going as I thought it was going to be.

Tonight I am going to try to knock out the first 80 pages of Charles Dicken's Bleak House for Amanda's ReadAlong, but we'll see how that goes.

Does anyone have any suggestions for the next big novel I read? I'm not sure what I want to dive into!

Happy Reading!

Weekly Wrap-up for August 8, 2010: A Day Late.

I really logged in some hours working this weekend. I worked a nine hour day Friday, 14 and a half on Saturday, and another nine hours yesterday. Needless to say when I got home and discovered my husband had a movie rented ("The Road") I caved in and watched it with him.

I read the book by Cormac McCarthy last summer and thoroughly loved it. The movie was just as dreary as the book, but I felt it was a great interpretation. Viggo Mortenson did an excellent job and I was moved by his performance. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it, but read the book first.

After finished our movie, we crashed in bed, so here is my update for the week.

I finally managed to finish the last half of An American Tragedy, which I have been toting around with me for the better part of a month. I have a lot to say about the book and I am looking forward to writing about all 860 pages.

I also took the time this week to sign up for Amanda's read-along of Bleak House by Charles Dickens. It coincided with my need to get another of his novels off my list perfectly. And since it is the longest of the ones of my list, I can't wait to be done with it.

I'm not really sure what I will be reading next this week. I was leaning towards Brave New World, but I think I might just stare at the bookshelf for a bit and see what jumps out at me.

Happy Reading!