David Copperfield
Dickens called it his "favourite child," and it is the most autobiographical of his novels — a bildungsroman that set the template for coming-of-age stories in English.
“Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.”
Why It Matters
Dickens called it his "favourite child," and it is the most autobiographical of his novels — a bildungsroman that set the template for coming-of-age stories in English. The novel perfected the art of making you care deeply about a character's entire life arc, from childhood trauma to hard-won maturity. Its influence runs from Joyce to Salinger to every memoir that reads like a novel.
The 
Take
Personal reviewExtremely warm and positive. Best book I’ve read yet depicting such a positive view of humanity, even with its flaws. Decent plot, but more about the lovable characters
Notable Quotes
“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.”
“I am well aware that I am the 'umblest person going.”