Читать книгу David Copperfield - Charles Dickens - Страница 1

‘Of all my books,’ wrote Charles Dickens, ‘I like this the best. Like many fond parents, I have in my heart of hearts a favourite child. And his name is David Copperfield.’

Dickens himself had a difficult, unhappy childhood, and young David’s life is not at all easy. His father died before he was born, and when he is eight, his mother marries again. Her new husband, Mr Murdstone, is stern and cruel, and so is his disagreeable sister, the stony-faced Miss Murdstone. As he grows up, David meets many unpleasant people – cruel schoolmasters, wicked friends, and the evil Uriah Heep, with his oily smile.

But there are other people in David’s life too. There is Peggotty, his kind loving nurse, and slow Mr Barkis, a man of very few words. There is David’s aunt, who tries hard to be stern but who has a heart of gold. There are the unlucky Micawbers, cheerful and despairing by turns, always waiting for something to ‘turn up’. There is quiet gentle Agnes, always a true and wise friend. And then there is Dora, the loveliest girl you ever saw, with her golden hair and blue eyes – sweet, pretty, silly Dora …