David Copperfield

by Nigel Grimshaw (Adapter), Charles Dickens

[Penguin Readers Level 3]

David Copperfield's happy life suddenly changes when his mother marries again. Her new husband, Mr Murdstone, does not like David at all. He is cruel to him and then sends him away to school. Here David makes friends, but he is unhappy. When David is ten, his mother dies and Mr Murdstone sends him to work in London. David hates his job so he decides to run away to his father's aunt. He starts his journey with no money for the coach or for food. But his life of adventure, love and friendship has begun.

Genres: Classics, Fiction

103 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Namiko]

A lot of people died until David found true happiness.

[Alessia Vrinceanu · Rating 2 out of 5]

no hate to the original novel but this retelling tried to cram 800 something pages of a story into 80. the story itself was good but the way it was told sucked, it sounded so stupid and very hard to keep up with. now i want to read the actual book, this is just prep for the cambridge exam

[Masato Kato · Rating 3 out of 5]

1: Penguin Readers Level 3

2: 6/5=75 minutes 6/6=60 minutes 6/8=70 minutes

3:new father, London, lawyer, Streetforth, Agnes, Dora, happiness

4: a) Agnes said "But I can't marry him because he doesn't love me. I love him as a child and now I love him as a woman."

b) David met Agnes when they were ten-year-old. David was poor and he didn't have enough money to live. He also didn't have parents. So he went to his aunt house and started to study to became a lawyer. Then he met Agnes in lawyer teacher's house at first. They became good friends and they looked like family. Several years passed, David met Dora in London and they fell in love. Finally they married but Dora was not good wife. She couldn't manage their house. Moreover, Dora died because she became sick. David was very sad. He escaped London to forget Dora. Several months passed, David remembered about Agnes. He thought he loved Agnes. He came back London and met Agnes again. Agnes didn't marry. David asked her why she didn't marry. Then she said this passage. Actually, she has loved Davis since they met. I was very impressed with this passage.

5: Recently, i try to read level 3 books in Penguin Readers. "David Copperfield" is also level 3. But this story is very long. There are about 100 pages in this book. So it took long time to read this book. David had a life full of ups and downs. His new father didn't like him and stop supporting him. Then he went London and met many people. He also faced many difficulty in London but he never give up. This book is very long story but I enjoyed reading it.

[Rikko215 · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were so many characters in the story and it was hard to keep up with who is who. Apparently Charles Dickens was a prominent author, and his writing told me a sense of England in old times. (prodigal son’s story was one of them ) I wanted, however, to know more about how they managed to step up, to recover from sadness, but those feeling expressions were missing. Maybe it’s because the book is intended for English learners, but I found it to be empty.

[Thomas Hettich · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the first book of a decent length and what might be called a classic that I have read to Leona, now 6 year old, as a bed-time story. The long-form works well for her, although the many unusual names became rather confusing for both Leona and myself. Also, the very simple language and the shortened form seemed to leave out a lot of nuance and humour. I'd like to try another classic story, preferably try an original text.

[Chinniah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book

[Geshna Ballgobin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short-read. English literature.

Great for weekend reads.

[Mârïå · Rating 5 out of 5]

Penso che presto lo leggerò per intero in italiano.

[Sofía · Rating 2 out of 5]

He had an angry red face and small eyes deep in his head. He spoke very softly, which made him sound even angrier. I was afraid of his soft voice and I was afraid of him.
Sencillo, un relato sencillo que narra lo peor de las personas, el egocentrismo, la crueldad, la avaricia, cómo se pierde uno en los vicios, etc. pero que en el fondo hace que el protagonista nunca ceda en su intento de ser una buena persona o, al menos, de intentarlo, incluso en los peores momentos de pobreza, soledad y luto. Hasta que, finalmente, parece que todo da la vuelta y ese esfuerzo da sus frutos en una vida mejor.

[Goncalo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Como a maioria dos seus leitores, li David Copperfield por obrigação curricular. Teimoso como sou, acabo sempre por não apreciar os livros quando mos obrigam a ler. Reli-o uns anos mais tarde, quando já estava cansado de ler sempre os mesmo dois ou três livros e fiquei agradavelmente surpreendido com o enredo.

Mesmo sendo mais um ensaio do que realmente um livro, consegue dar uma boa ideia das relações familiares, da amizade, da juventude e do que é crescer.

Este fica para quando tiver de obrigar o meu filho a ler alguma coisa em inglês, até porque já a minha mãe o havia guardado para o mesmo efeito. :)

[D. Lowdermilk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am currently working thorugh this. It teaches so much about gullability, faithfullness to others and serving to others. Its a great way to develop your own growth while doing some leisure reading at the same time.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a wonderful novel... I'll read it again and again and again tirelessly.