Growing Up! Young David Copperfield, orphaned as a child, abandoned by a vicious stepfather, must learn to make a life for himself. In Charles Dickens' brilliant novel, we learn of David's early harsh years. . . his adoption by his eccentric aunt. . . his betrayal by a childhood friend. . . the pressures of starting a career. . . immature, young love. . . and finally career success and personal happiness. Charles Dickens' sensitive portrayal of David's early years has made David Copperfield one of the world's most beloved novels.

Like other works in the "Great Illustrated Classics" series, this version of Dickens' famous novel summarizes the plot for the sake of juvenile and young adult readers. The general goal of the book (and others in the series) is to acquaint young readers with a work of literature, not only as a cultural touchstone but to encourage them to tackle the full novel when they are old enough to appreciate it. Whether this version of "David Copperfield" succeeds in these goals is an open question.

One problem is that the profusion of characters will likely be confusing. A related issue is that the characters, understandably, cannot be made sufficiently distinct or very interesting in such an abbreviated form of Dickens' very long masterpiece. For example, even such memorable figures as Mr. Micawber and Uriah Heep (widely known even to those who have not actually read the book) are not rendered distinctly. Granted, the pen & ink illustrations are likely to be of great help -- they are abundant, and distributed on alternate pages with the text. They also are excellently rendered by a talented artist. However, I figure that if I sometimes had trouble keeping the characters straight that a 10 year old would find the challenge a difficult one.

Nevertheless, the goals of this small book are admirable, and I can only hope that it has sometimes succeeded in the half- century since it was published. For my part, if I do ever tackle the actual novel (which to my chagrin I've as yet not devoted the time and effort), I could foresee keeping this summary version available for reference, since I tend to read long works of fiction sporadically over longish time frames. ( )

Summary: Young David Copperfield, orphaned as a child, must learn to make a life for himself.

$9.95