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Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
4.0

Well, since spring break 2014, I've finally read another book! April was a dry month in book-reading, but rich in other ways, like making "Seniors" with Jen and doing Video Every Day in April on my YouTube channel. Nevertheless, I read Moll for Professor Navarette's Senior Seminar class on eighteenth century British Lit. And I really enjoyed it. It was difficult at times because there are no chapter breaks, and Moll goes on and on about specific side stories. But Moll Flanders was a text I could finally dig into in this class, since we've been reading a lot of poetry (Pope, Swift, Johnson), and contextual texts. I like having a novel to dig into. So, I think I enjoyed Moll because I did have all of that background reading under my belt. I'd suggest reading this version of Moll, because it's Defoe's own work (later editions are shortened and changed), and plus it has some enlightening criticisms in the back of the book. Think about how Moll moves through the story. She's quite mobile, especially for a woman. Even though she lies, steals, and cheats, I really admire her. She found her own way of survival in a difficult world.