When I was a child, I owned a cartoon called David Copperfield on VHS. It was voiced by Julian Lennon, Sheena Easton and Howie Mandel and was marketed as a Christmas musical. It featured singing anthropomorphic animals, a cheese factory, slave labour and monsters that were essentially cheese-zombies. Looking back, it was really bizarre and had almost nothing to do with Dickens' classic, but as a kid I loved it.
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| Image source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1116596-david_copperfield/ |
It's what made me pick up the book when I was probably only around ten years old. It was a difficult read for me at the time, but I made it through and it sparked in me a lifelong love of Dickens.
A semi-autobiography, David Copperfield tells the the tale of the eponymous David from birth through adulthood. It is an incredibly human story about a child losing everything and slowly reclaiming his life through hard work and perseverance. And of course with some help from a loveable and complex cast of characters.
If there's one thing I love about Dickens, it's his characters. Always a little bit eccentric - Mrs. Macawber's announcements of spousal loyalty, Uriah Heath's "humbleness", not to mention Betsy Trotwood's hatred of the male gender, her protection of Mr. Dick, and obsession with her lawn. Each character so detailed and believable, their tragedies and triumphs can't help but fill the reader with grief, excitement, pity, admiration, fear and hope.
Even Dickens said of this work: " ...like many fond parents, I have in my heart of hearts a favourite child. And his name is David Copperfield."
And if you aren't a fan of reading classic literature, I highly recommend BBC's television adaptation starring most of the cast of Harry Potter, including Daniel Radcliffe as a young David. Oh, and Gandalf too.
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| Image Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/quiz/ian-mckellen/ A very grumpy Gandalf... |
24 days until Christmas!
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