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cheekylaydee's review against another edition
4.0
Moll Flanders, the assumed identity of a notorious thief tells her life story in this book by Daniel Defoe author of Robinson Crusoe.
The daughter of a deported criminal, first adopted by gypsies, then taken in by a "mother" in a children's boarding house she ends up being taken in by a wealthy patron.
This is where Moll's innocence is first corrupted by the eldest son of the family and from then on it is a life of numourous liasons, marriages, copious amounts of children. What else is a poor wench to do but marry well? Apart from when one of your husbands turns out to be your brother, unbeknownst to you.
So if you find yourself penniless and without the prospect of a husband you of course have to steal to survive. Neccessity breeds these things. So what happens to one so plagued with misfortune?! How can a character such as this ever have a happy ending?! If you haven't done so I recommend you read the book to find out! :D
The daughter of a deported criminal, first adopted by gypsies, then taken in by a "mother" in a children's boarding house she ends up being taken in by a wealthy patron.
This is where Moll's innocence is first corrupted by the eldest son of the family and from then on it is a life of numourous liasons, marriages, copious amounts of children. What else is a poor wench to do but marry well? Apart from when one of your husbands turns out to be your brother, unbeknownst to you.
So if you find yourself penniless and without the prospect of a husband you of course have to steal to survive. Neccessity breeds these things. So what happens to one so plagued with misfortune?! How can a character such as this ever have a happy ending?! If you haven't done so I recommend you read the book to find out! :D
ellasm's review
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
sunnymei's review against another edition
3.25
moll walked so that anna delvy and evelyn hugo could run
ella1801's review against another edition
2.0
The melodrama turned out to be too much for me. On top of that, this was one man who really wasn't too concerned about his inability to write multi-dimensional women. Some throwbacks are better left in their pasts.
samstillreading's review against another edition
3.0
Moll Flanders was another of my cheap green Penguin Classics reads. This must have been rather a controversial story for its time, as Moll (one of the few named characters) is involved in many taboo subjects – sex before marriage, prostitution, gaol and incest to name a few. Even to myself as a modern reader, I was surprised at some of her exploits.
This book is somewhat different to what I’m used to. For starters, it has no chapters. Not that much of a problem, just difficult to find a good stopping place. The second issue is that hardly any of the characters are named – even Moll is a pseudonym. Moll’s husbands and lovers are not named – which is difficult when she has several of them! This did make it a little difficult for me to keep track of who was who, especially when Moll’s previous husbands turned up later in the story.
Those points aside, this would make a rollicking movie or mini-series as the nature of Moll’s downfall and eventual redemption are still topical today. I must seek one out. Moll is born in prison, yet grows up in a more gentle household engaged to one brother, but being paid for sex with the other. Her husbands disappear in various circumstances – on the run from the law and one turns out to be her own brother. I found Moll’s role as a thief to be the most interesting as the devious ways to steal things were rather imaginative (for example, telling someone their house is on fire!). Despite her trials, Moll has the ability to turn a situation to benefit her while remaining cheerful.
Certainly an interesting life, I just wish I could have kept better track of the husbands!
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
This book is somewhat different to what I’m used to. For starters, it has no chapters. Not that much of a problem, just difficult to find a good stopping place. The second issue is that hardly any of the characters are named – even Moll is a pseudonym. Moll’s husbands and lovers are not named – which is difficult when she has several of them! This did make it a little difficult for me to keep track of who was who, especially when Moll’s previous husbands turned up later in the story.
Those points aside, this would make a rollicking movie or mini-series as the nature of Moll’s downfall and eventual redemption are still topical today. I must seek one out. Moll is born in prison, yet grows up in a more gentle household engaged to one brother, but being paid for sex with the other. Her husbands disappear in various circumstances – on the run from the law and one turns out to be her own brother. I found Moll’s role as a thief to be the most interesting as the devious ways to steal things were rather imaginative (for example, telling someone their house is on fire!). Despite her trials, Moll has the ability to turn a situation to benefit her while remaining cheerful.
Certainly an interesting life, I just wish I could have kept better track of the husbands!
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
alexisrt's review against another edition
Moll Flanders (Signet Classics) by Daniel Defoe (1996)
jason_pym's review against another edition
2.0
Interesting as one of the first ever novels, but too hard going as entertainment.
bookysue's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked it. It’d been a while since I’d read a classic, and the reading was breezy and interesting, with enough conflict to keep it lively, but not so much as to stress me out.
One of the main problems I had with it was the fact that it was a man writing a woman’s autobiography. Which, in and of itself might be okay, except for the fact that he consistently criticized women (under the guise of it being “our sex”) for not asserting themselves more, and for allowing men to put them in their place in society. Now, on the one hand, it’s good that a man had these feelings toward the way things were back in the 18th century. But on the other, at least in my mind, he was essentially blaming women for their lot in life, telling them it is their weakness and lack of motivation for change that keeps them stuck marrying in order to have a life, rather than making a life on their own. So, a bit hypocritical there, to me. But that was a minor point.
I also didn’t care too much for the ending – things slowed down a lot about 40 pages from the end, and I thought more action would arise, but essentially the last 40 pages were just “isn’t everything wonderful?! everything miraculously worked out perfectly!” Almost like the conflict resolution in a children’s story or fairy tale. A little over the top, I thought. I also found it difficult that there were no chapter separations or breaks in the story of any kind. I mean, this was also a love/hate thing for me: I liked that it seemed like one long oral history, due to the lack of chapter breaks, but it also made it difficult to find a good stopping point, which is hard when you read on the bus and in restaurants and between classes and in bed, as I do.
Finally, I found it strange that she discarded her children with such ease most of the time, only once making any fuss about it. And then later calling the son she had by her brother her one and only child, when she had really had like 10 by then.
I was also totally confused when I started reading it because I remember seeing the movie years and years ago, and it was NOTHING like this. They must have taken every liberty possible when adapting it into a screenplay for that film. In the movie, Robin Wright Penn was an actual whore, like men paid her for sex, and I remember Stockard Channing was her madam and kept giving her nasty customers on purpose. And she had a daughter who she desperately wanted to see but couldn't for some reason. And she stole someone else's life and became a rich woman who everyone thought was someone else...Anyway, this was NOTHING like the book. So, thanks, Hollywood. This is why I'm afraid to see the film adaptation of The Road.
One of the main problems I had with it was the fact that it was a man writing a woman’s autobiography. Which, in and of itself might be okay, except for the fact that he consistently criticized women (under the guise of it being “our sex”) for not asserting themselves more, and for allowing men to put them in their place in society. Now, on the one hand, it’s good that a man had these feelings toward the way things were back in the 18th century. But on the other, at least in my mind, he was essentially blaming women for their lot in life, telling them it is their weakness and lack of motivation for change that keeps them stuck marrying in order to have a life, rather than making a life on their own. So, a bit hypocritical there, to me. But that was a minor point.
I also didn’t care too much for the ending – things slowed down a lot about 40 pages from the end, and I thought more action would arise, but essentially the last 40 pages were just “isn’t everything wonderful?! everything miraculously worked out perfectly!” Almost like the conflict resolution in a children’s story or fairy tale. A little over the top, I thought. I also found it difficult that there were no chapter separations or breaks in the story of any kind. I mean, this was also a love/hate thing for me: I liked that it seemed like one long oral history, due to the lack of chapter breaks, but it also made it difficult to find a good stopping point, which is hard when you read on the bus and in restaurants and between classes and in bed, as I do.
Finally, I found it strange that she discarded her children with such ease most of the time, only once making any fuss about it. And then later calling the son she had by her brother her one and only child, when she had really had like 10 by then.
I was also totally confused when I started reading it because I remember seeing the movie years and years ago, and it was NOTHING like this. They must have taken every liberty possible when adapting it into a screenplay for that film. In the movie, Robin Wright Penn was an actual whore, like men paid her for sex, and I remember Stockard Channing was her madam and kept giving her nasty customers on purpose. And she had a daughter who she desperately wanted to see but couldn't for some reason. And she stole someone else's life and became a rich woman who everyone thought was someone else...Anyway, this was NOTHING like the book. So, thanks, Hollywood. This is why I'm afraid to see the film adaptation of The Road.
tlctbr's review against another edition
3.0
Not my favorite, but I’m glad I checked this classic off my bucket list. I do keep wondering what in the world happened to all those babies Moll left hither and thither.