Demon Copperhead

Summary: A troubled childhood recounted. (A retelling of David Copperfield)

One of my habits (sometimes bad and sometimes good) is to avoid reading about fiction books before I read them. Once I know an author, I would rather experience a book without any background. There are times when this is a great strategy. And there are times when I somewhat regret the strategy. In this case, I was utterly unaware that Demon Copperhead was a loose retelling of Charles Dickens' David Copperfield. Because I have not read David Copperfield, I don't know what would have been different had I known, but I did not know. I later read the Wikipedia summary of David Copperfield and can see the many parallels, and I think that made sense of a few threads of the story that I was confused about.

I have read most of Barbara Kingsolvers' books at least once. I enjoy her writing and appreciate its incisive social commentary. And because of my history with her work, it was unsurprising that Demon Copperfield was set in southwestern Virginia. Several of her books are set in rural Appalachia, and many of them grapple with the social realities of that area.

I read several reviews afterward, and one reviewer said the social commentary at the end of many chapters was a feature of Dickens' writing, not just Kingsolvers'. Many chapters in Demon Copperhead tell an aspect of the main character's life (his real name is Damon, but everyone calls him Demon from a very young age), but will conclude the chapter with a reflection on one social reality or another. For instance, there is a discussion about the underfunding of Child Services and how even those who want to do good by working there are often so underfunded and overworked that their efforts are largely futile. The adult Demon who is narrating, reflects on how that underfunding reflects on the values of our society.

I listened to this on audiobook from the library but carefully copied out the following quote because the social commentary is clear-eyed, even if a bit cynical. Demon is talking about the ways that we believe a false narrative about people's ability to work their way out of bad situations. So he refers to himself in the third person about why things did not go better for him.

“This kid, if he wanted a shot at the finer things, should have got himself delivered to some rich, or smart, or Christian, non-using kind of mother.”

Oh what a beautiful ride this book was.

“My people are dead of trying, or headed that way, addicted as we are to keeping ourselves alive.”

Coming of age Americana with my favorite kind of character (self-hating, down on his luck, boy with a heart of gold). Inspired by Charles Dickens' David Copperfield, it is a study on class inequality in the modern US from a point of view rarely explored, rural Appalachians. Touching and full of heart as it is of tragedy. I personally am tragedy averse so I had anxiety reading through a lot of this book, expecting the worst, but this is far from tragedy porn. It is a story of perseverance and love.

Set in the mid-to-late 90's up until the early 2000's, Demon Copperhead tells the story of the titular character's life from his unfortunate beginnings, to his turbulent and violent ejection into young adulthood, to his stumbling missteps into his approximation of adulthood. He isn't alone in this journey, he has friends who come and go, a family who equally supports and rejects him, and many people both with good intentions and bad surrounding him. The story itself, told in first person with Demon's own words and memories, is later revealed to be his recovery journal as he recounts where it all went wrong in his road to the straight and narrow.

It ends on a high and hopeful note leaving the characters' future open just how we readers of his story have always wanted for him.

Gorgeously written. Realistic and heart-wrenching characters. A distinct voice. 5 stars no notes.

It's an objective 5 stars, but a subjective 4 stars for me.

Biographies or memoirs are not my jam, and this read like a memoir. Which is actually a testament to Kingsolver's excellent writing and talent, but just made it less of my cup of tea than the synopsis made it seem. And it felt a bit too long.

If you love literary fiction and memoirs, this book might be ideal for you.

This book was so so so so so good! I loved this book, and if I could I would give it 6 out of 5 stars! Kingsolver did such a great job describing what it's like growing up in Appalachia during the opioid epidemic. Granted , she did use a lot of stereotypical language and traits in her characters. However, the store of Demon and his journey is so inspiring and so realistic and accurate in describing how hard it was to grow up in Appalachia during the opioid epidemic and what it's like trying to break the cycle of addiction in a family. Beautifully written book by an amazing author!

I've never read David Copperfield and I feel like I missed out on some of the inevitable book nerd glee recognizing character parallels between the two. Nonetheless, my stunning gap in the literary canon hardly prevented me from enjoying this modern day retelling set in Appalachia

Damon Fields, otherwise known as Demon Copperhead, is the singular voice carrying us through this tale from his en caul birth onto the gritty vinyl flooring of a Lee County, Virginia mobile home, to his pinballing through the foster care system, eventual opioid addiction and otherwise bleak, unyieldingly horrible time that can barely be considered a childhood.

It's one hell of a story told from the wry eye of Demon who is at turns funny, fiercely proud, and sharp. He knows what the world thinks of him and his ilk. How he's always been dismissed as a redneck, white trash, dumbass hillbilly. But he's here to tell you he's just a product of a system that has needed to denigrate him and his people in order to take advantage of them. To extract value from the land on the backs of its people, to bolster profits for big Pharma consequences be damned, to dismiss them all as entirely unimportant. Kingsolver's got a fierce agenda, but in the mouth of Demon it steps off its soapbox and avoids being preachy at the expense of story.

The travails Demon endures are breathtaking without devolving into maudlin trauma porn. In Kingsolver's hands Demon's life is one cliffhanger after another as she propels this Appalachian epic forward. It's a hell of a tale told well and worth telling.

I decided that I can't give this book a certain number of stars. It's quite long, amazingly detailed, tragic and comedic, moving, and gut wrenching. I didn't realize what I was getting into, and found the audiobook to be too difficult for getting through the difficult first half. Being able to skim pages of hard material was helpful. Kingsolver depicts humanity in all its forms. Nothing is simple. The book kind of reminded me of The Goldfinch, but bleaker. She loves her homeland and it's people.

I absolutely LOVED this book, and I'm sad that I'm done reading it. The way Barbara Kingsolver gave voice to Demon was amazing! I wanted to continue hearing all about his stories, with his language (somewhat vulgar, but honest and realistic for a kid who grew up the way he did), and his way of telling them. I loved whenever vs. when. If you read this, you'll get it. One of his nuances.

Barbara also did a great job of modernizing David Copperfield. Demon came up on my book club's list, and after hearing that it was based on David Copperfield, I gave that one a read first. I'm glad that I did. The result was being able to compare and contrast the two and see how she followed the original storyline but kept it present-day. This method of “twisting” books (my term) might get more people interested in reading the classics.

Kind of a spoiler, but more a trigger warning
A note though, that for people whose families are affected by addiction, and our current drug epidemic: this book might be triggering for you. One of the more modern scenarios that Barbara makes use of is the way drugs have made their way into our lives.