David Copperfield

By: Charles Dickens

Narrated by: Richard Armitage

Between his work on the 2014 Audible Audiobook of the Year, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel, and his performance of Classic Love Poems, narrator Richard Armitage (The Hobbit, Hannibal) has quickly become a listener favorite. Now, in this defining performance of Charles Dickens' classic David Copperfield, Armitage lends his unique voice and interpretation, truly inhabiting each character and bringing real energy to the life of one of Dickens' most famous characters.

This epic, exuberant novel is one of the greatest coming-of-age stories in literature, chronicling David Copperfield's extraordinary journey through life as he encounters villains, saviors, eccentrics, and grotesques - including the wicked Mr. Murdstone, stouthearted Peggotty, formidable Betsey Trotwood, impecunious Micawber, and the odious Uriah Heep. Dickens' great novel (based, in part, on his own boyhood and which he described as a "favorite child") is a work filled with life, both comic and tragic.

Listen to Richard Armitage bring Dickens' words to life, and you'll understand why Virginia Woolf called David Copperfield "the most perfect of all the Dickens novels".

Public Domain (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Procrastination is the thief of time...

“I know enough of the world now to have almost lost the capacity of being much surprised by anything”
― Charles Dickens, David Copperfield

'David Copperfield' contains more saints per capita than any beatified book by Butler. Dickens is amazing in his ability to be both grand and personal. David Copperfield is sprawling, with dozens of threads that weave around David Copperfield's youth and adulthood. IT is amazing not only how he can transform a character through time, but also show that our perceptions of those same characters are drawn often from imperfect information and overly simple assumptions. Yes, there are parts of 'David Copperfield' that float between the melodramatic and the grotesque, but one doesn't read Dickens for the unmoving, normal or embellished. There are a handful of novels that I would consider to be the literary equivalent of scripture: 'Les Miserables', 'the Idiot', 'Anna Karenina', and for sure 'David Copperfield'.

There are several moments in 'David Copperfield' when, as a reader, you recognize you will never be half the writer Dickens was (on deadline). He might just be second to Shakespeare in my book, or at least be among a small cadre of writers that belong on the silver pedestal below the Bard.

This isn't as technically perfect as 'Great Expectations', but it is top tier Dickens for sure. A massive novel that floats with the weight of a beach read half its size. If you are going to read a Dickens, this might not be your first stop, but it shouldn't be far from your second.

Pure Bliss!

I could not have imagined enjoying this book as much as I did when I first started to read it 12 years ago. Life got in the way and I never did finish it until tonight. Mr. Armitage should receive some award for his performances in the reading of this book. I look forward to listening to it over and over again for many years to come.

Incredible

This is a rare treat, not to be missed. This audio enactment is to be applauded. You will never be the same again after this story ends.

Wonderful Narration of an Equally Wonderful Story

Charles Dickens is unsurpassed as a writer, in my view, and this reading of David Copperfield is particularly wonderful. If they gave an Oscar for audio book narration, Armitage would sweep the category!

A Great Read of a Challenging Book

What made the experience of listening to David Copperfield [Audible] the most enjoyable?

I have struggled to get any real pleasure from Dicken's convoluted sentence structure in the past. The narrator made each sentence so clear and meaningful that for the first time listening to a Dicken's novel I found myself actually enjoying the story.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Uriah Heep. So cringeworthy and shuddery.

Have you listened to any of Richard Armitage’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I listened to Romeo and Juliet as well. Both were very well done and I think that he is an excellent narrator in general but the length, complexity, and number of characters in David Copperfield made it a much more impressive feat of narration than Romeo and Juliet.