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3.21 AVERAGE
3.21 AVERAGE
I can't help read about this 17th century woman from a 21st century perspective, and as much as she berates herself for her wickedness, I think she'd be a pretty successful woman in our century. She has what today would be considered a healthy sex life, which of course got her condemned as a whore in those days. It's not like she's got 6 boyfriends at once and is sleeping with all of them, or is living in a brothel - she just has a succession of partners, and marries (and has children with) most of them, including a bit of unknowing incest, through no fault of her own. And only when she is driven by starvation and is in a society with no safety net and very few business opportunities for women (ok, she eventually sews a bit) does she turn to theft. She becomes somewhat addicted to that life or the excitement, and carries on way longer than she should, and I can agree with her condeming herself for that part of it - but she never would have become a thief in the first place if she hadn't been forced to by extremity.
At times she seems and professes to be a good Mother, and yet her numerous children are never named, never have real characters, and with one exception just kind of disappear. Yes, it's a story about Moll Flanders, but I find it odd that the men (and one or two women) in her life are well developed characters while her children are complete nonentities.
Moll as narrater is such a strong character that I tended to forget that it was Daniel Defoe writing the book - and apparently contributing to the invention of the novel at the same time (truly, indeed, a novel idea). It does provide an interesting look at various layers of society (averaging around upper middle class, perhaps?) in both England and the American colonies in the 17th century. This is not a quick read, but it is definitely enjoyable. 3.5 stars, rounded up.
At times she seems and professes to be a good Mother, and yet her numerous children are never named, never have real characters, and with one exception just kind of disappear. Yes, it's a story about Moll Flanders, but I find it odd that the men (and one or two women) in her life are well developed characters while her children are complete nonentities.
Moll as narrater is such a strong character that I tended to forget that it was Daniel Defoe writing the book - and apparently contributing to the invention of the novel at the same time (truly, indeed, a novel idea). It does provide an interesting look at various layers of society (averaging around upper middle class, perhaps?) in both England and the American colonies in the 17th century. This is not a quick read, but it is definitely enjoyable. 3.5 stars, rounded up.
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2nd half of the book is where it picked up and I could enjoy it, but this was still slightly boring. I had to listen to the audiobook to get through it
Published in 1721 this book follow Moll Flanders life through better and worse, and pretty much worse. I didn't have high hopes for this at all. Pretty low to be honest as I haven't heard people enjoying it but for me it's a 3.5 which isn't bad at all, especially not when I thought it would be a 2 or less. It wasn't the easiest book to read in English but I think I got the jist of it. Daniel Dafoe does like to flesh thing out, rather then being short and sweet but other then that it was pretty interesting.
I’ve never wanted to be someone’s best friend more in my entire life.
Wow! This woman had more children, more husbands, and got herself into more trouble than probably any other protagonist. Glad I read it, but not one of my favorite classics-just didn't pull me in like some of the other classics with women protagonists. However, I was impressed with Moll's ability to more than get by as a woman during a time when this was all but impossible.
Having read Roxana first (although Moll Flanders was written first), I found this too similar to Roxana. And Moll Flanders fixes herself and goes on to live a prosperous life of good behavior. I enjoyed Roxana infinitely more for being a stronger woman.
It's wild that this was written in 1722. It's oddly... progressive? Also, I love that Moll can't be bothered to mention any of her children for longer than it takes to dispose of them.
I honestly thought the character of Moll was a lot more fleshed out than most are giving her credit for, as well as more sympathetic.
Damn, Moll Flanders slaps. Daniel Defoe really knows how to keep his audience turning those pages, which is surprisingly still true almost 300 years later. After reading Robinson Crusoe in the Cambridge University Library almost three years ago, I kinda wanted to get into more of Defoe's works. I knew I was going to enjoy this book from the synopsis and I'm glad I picked it up.