My struggle with David Copperfield
After I finished Demon Copperhead, I had to check out the book it’s based on. I mean, what is a Word Nerd if not a glutton for literary classics? Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver, is a modern re-write of the Charles Dickens autobiographical novel David Copperfield. The English major in me couldn’t help it! I yearned to compare and contrast. Can anyone else out there relate?
Besides, while I found Dickens’ Great Expectations quite the slog, I loved listening to A Tale of Two Cities last summer after my visit to Paris. So, I queued up the (free!) audio book of David Copperfield, narrated by Richard Armitage (aka Thorin Oakenshield from The Hobbit movies), and prepared to listen to my second Dickens novel in less than 12 months. All 36 hours of it.
I made it to hour 27.
Compare and contrast
David Copperfield is, according to Goodreads, “the story of a young man’s adventures on his journey from an unhappy and impoverished childhood to the discovery of his vocation as a successful novelist.” Although David comes from poor beginnings, he is much luckier than Demon in lots of ways. He has lots of friends who care for him and a wealthy aunt who funds his schooling and training. Goodreads describes David Copperfield as “exuberant and popular” filled with equal measures of humor and tragedy. I would substitute the adjectives “dense,” and “trying.” Copperfield reads more like Great Expectations than Two Cities.
Yes, Dickens demonstrates wry humor throughout his novel, and he developed many interesting characters. I especially like David’s aunt, Betsey Trotwood, a formidable woman who gets more page time and punch lines than her counterpart in Demon Copperhead. But she wasn’t enough to get me to finish the book.
Demon Copperhead follows the plot and characters of David Copperfield pretty closely, especially for the first half of the book. It’s fun to discover how Kingsolver modified names and events to fit modern Appalachia. For example, David’s untrustworthy friend James Steerforth from the classic becomes “Fast Forward” in Kingsolver’s novel. While Dora Spenlow enchants young Mr. Copperfield, it’s Dory, also enchanting and unfortunately an addict, who steals Demon’s heart.
By the time I got to chapter 46- yes, that’s forty six- I gave up. I’m a firm believer that life is short and there are too many books to read to drag myself through one I don’t like. So, while I’m glad I explored David Copperfield, I’m done with him.
A better follow up to Demon Copperhead: In the Wild Light
If you enjoyed Demon Copperhead and would like to read more about the people of modern Appalachia, I recommend In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner. It’s a young adult novel about a boy of modest means from Tennessee who learns how to manage grief and find love. Like Demon, Cash has lost his mom to opioid addiction. Like Demon (and David Copperfield), Cash wrestles with memory and identity.
In the Wild Light explores the theme of family, found and given. In a lot of ways, Cash has better luck than Demon or David. He lives with his grandparents and has a strong relationship with his Papaw, or grandfather. Unfortunately, Pawpa is dying from emphysema. When Cash gets the opportunity to leave Tennessee to study at a prep school in New England, he’s torn between staying close to his Papaw and following his chosen family, his best friend Delaney, to a brighter future.
Compare and contrast
In the Wild Light is a YA, less brutal but still bittersweet, version of Demon Copperhead. I love three things about both of these novels. First, the main characters in each book find solace in nature. Appalachia may be poor and fraught with problems, but its rolling mountains and peaceful waterways offer the perfect space for reflection and restoration. Zentner and Kingsolver, who both live in Appalachia, capture that well. Also, in both novels, the main characters use art to process their emotions and work through their struggles. For Cash, that means learning to write poetry. For Demon, that means drawing comics.
Finally, both novels show the importance of friendship and mentorship. Cash and Demon have just a few teachers and or friends who inspire their talent and encourage their efforts. The novels highlight the importance of making time to help teens feel seen, valued, and understood. As someone who parents, coaches, and writes for teens, I could not agree more.
So, even if you are an English major, skip Copperfield, and check out In the Wild Light instead. Zentner is an award winning YA author, and his next book will be a novel in verse. I can’t wait. In the meantime, I’m going to read The Serpent King, the story of Dill, the only son of a Pentacostal minister.
Have you read David Copperfield? What did you think? Are you familiar with Jeff Zentner’s work? Zentner is also fun to follow on Instagram. I saw him speak at a writer’s conference in October 2022, and he was amazing. He spoke about persistence in pursuing creativity. This man wrote his first book ON HIS PHONE while commuting to and from work on a bus. So, no excuses.
Thanks for getting nerdy with me!
Thank you so much for your reply. I’ve never read David Joy. I’m going to check him out. Looks like lots of great storytelling. Thank you for the recommendation!
What I loved so much about Demon Copperhead was Kinsolver’s cynical, matter-of-fact, innocent, precise voice of a boy, barely educated, living in poverty, wholly extraordinary without realizing it, without ever explicitly preaching any judgement to the reader. I read the text first, then decided to check out the audiobook. The voice actor who reads DC could not be more spot-on. He flawlessly embodies Demon with the accent, the deadpan, tragic observations, and the innocent misperceptions. I keep looking for another book quite as well-written and simultaneously enjoyable, hopeful, dark, and bleak. I have not found one so far.
This is an excellent review, Meredith, and I agree on all counts. Demon’s voice made the novel for me, and I listened to the audio as well and loved the narrator. Since posting this review, I’ve read two of David Joy’s books. One that also deals with the opioid epidemic is called When These Mountains Burn. It’s set in the mountains of western North Carolina, so a similar setting, but a slightly different style. Much grittier. Also faster. Also bleak and hopeful. See what you think, and thanks for commenting.