Moll Flanders

by Daniel Defoe

Other authorsKenneth Rexroth (Afterword)
Paperback, 1986

Status

Available

Call number

823.5

Collection

Publication

Signet Classics (1986), Paperback, 320 pages

Description

Written in a time when criminal biographies enjoyed great success, Daniel Defoe's "Moll Flanders" details the life of the irresistible Moll and her struggles through poverty and sin in search of property and power. Born in Newgate Prison to a picaresque mother, Moll propels herself through marriages, periods of success and destitution, and a trip to the New World and back, only to return to the place of her birth as a popular prostitute and brilliant thief. The story of Moll Flanders vividly illustrates Defoe's themes of social mobility and predestination, sin, redemption and reward. This Modern Library Paperback Classic is set from the 1721 edition printed by Chetwood in London, the only edition approved by Defoe.

Media reviews

Saturday Review of Literature
Moll Flanders is an authentic portrait of a prostitute but it is not a neutrally objective one. Indeed, it is a relentless evaluation, a judgment. This judgment is pronounced ironically entirely in the terms of the specific kind of realism Defoe chose to employ. The story is not only based on
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facts; it consists of almost nothing else... Moll Flanders gives the overwhelming and indelible impression that it is modeled on a whore in fact. Its authenticity is not due to the accumulation of elaborately researched detail. It has none of the sensory richness of background and local color we find in Zola’s Nana, although it says essentially the same thing about the profession of whoring. Defoe’s is a classical realism.
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User reviews

LibraryThing member MissWoodhouse1816
This is traditionally considered the first English novel. Moll Flanders presents an interesting picture of a deeply flawed woman. Though the story is fictitious, the reader is encouraged to think of it and read it as one would a memoir. Defoe allows his main character to give herself a pseudonym,
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since ostensibly her reputation is so horrible as to taint those who would admit to knowing her. Indeed, the crimes and follies to which Moll stoops through the course of the narrative justify her use of an assumed name. Her life is incredibly flawed- yet she does little to improve her situations and reputation.

Through various revelations and circumstances, Moll's life falls into ruin and decay. She marries several times, but no marriage provides financial security. Any children of hers that survive she pawns off on relatives to have no added responsibility. Chiefly, she thinks nothing about stealing and the life of theft she is living. Through the narrative, she mentions her shady acquisitions with a careless offhandedness that is morally disturbing. When forced to think about the course her life is now taking, Moll denies any wrongdoing on her part. Even when her recklessness in thievery lands her in jail, Moll has no regrets for the life she is living.

Despite the lack of chapters, Moll Flanders is an interesting read for many reasons- character development, social commentary, and the maturing of a new writing style being a few.
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LibraryThing member japaul22
For a book published in 1722, this sure was smutty! It was a good reminder that the Victorian Era prudery was not in full force until Queen Victoria. This is the story of Moll Flanders, a first person account of the life of a woman who lives a life of debauchery and crime in the mid-1600s. Midway
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through the book, Moll sums up her life thus as she contemplates marrying yet another man who thinks her a good sort:

"What an abominable creature am I! and how is this innocent gentleman going to be abused by me! How little does he think, that having divorced a whore, he is throwing himself into the arms of another! that he is going to marry one that has lain with two brothers, and has had three children by her own brother! one that was born in Newgate, whose mother was a whore, and is now a transported thief! one that has lain with thirteen men, and has had a child since he saw me! Poor gentleman!"

Well, Moll does go on to hide her past successfully and marry this man, have 2 more kids, and marry another man after he dies. Oh, and she turns to stealing when she gets too old to attract more husbands.

There are some interesting themes to consider in this book, especially the limited options that a woman had in those days to earn her keep. Overall, I didn't love this book though. Because it's written in first person, we only see Moll's experiences of how she attracts and marries men and there are almost no other characters. In this respect, the book was a bit too narrow for me. There are also some threads that are lost - like the many children Moll has that seem to just be conveniently forgotten with no mention of who takes care of them.

But then again, considering the time period it was written in, that it is an early example of the novel, and the interesting fact that a man chose to write a first person woman's voice, it was kind of fun to read. And there are some great quotes.

"I began . . . to have the scandal of a whore, without the joy"
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LibraryThing member lit_chick
Moll Flanders
1996, Recorded Books LLC, Read by Virginia Leishman
Want to Read
“I am giving an account of what was, not of what ought or ought not to be.”

Having read Moll Flanders many years ago in university, in the usual panicked rush which characterized that time, I wanted to visit it again for
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a clearer sense of it. Too, it’s in [1001 Books], and I like to make some effort to read a number of these each year. I decided to listen to Defoe this time, and am happy to highly recommend Viriginia Leishman as a wonderful narrator.

What struck me about Moll’s character in the first half of the story were her contrasts: she has experienced a great deal of life and yet is naïve; she is an intelligent woman and yet a foolish woman – or at least one who makes foolish decisions. As her story unfolds and as she matures, she becomes much more weathered in the ways of her world: a seasoned con (and later convict), bold thief, wary whore. I wondered whether Moll chose her way of life, or whether having set out on that wrong path, albeit perhaps unintentionally, it was impossible to find her way back. Part of me thinks the latter, particularly as a woman living in the 17th century; and yet I believe she enjoys her wily, wicked ways. In the novel’s concluding chapters in which Moll falls into favour with the gift of a grown son and a handsomely profitable plantation in Virginia, I was amused at her humility and penitence in the face of Providence – after all, what’s a woman to do? Whatever the case, I don’t intend to spend any more time with the character.

Having read [Robinson Crusoe] and [Moll Flanders] within a few months of one another, I’ve decided that I can appreciate Defoe for his contribution to the form of the modern novel; but he really is not one I can treasure. I’m glad to have read and reread some of his work presently, but probably with leave him with this final word.
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LibraryThing member RussellBittner
“…let the Experience of one Creature compleatly Wicked, and compleatly Miserable be a storehouse of useful warning to those that read.” Daniel Defoe’s summation (at the bottom of p.250 in the 2002 Modern Library paperback edition I just read) in the mouth — or at least in the thoughts —
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of Moll Flanders is, thankfully, as close to didacticism or morality as the author ever comes. It’s also a good illustration of the non-standard spelling, capitalization, punctuation and syntax of his era (he finished the book in 1683), which may be the greatest obstacle to an otherwise clear and thorough enjoyment of the text.

To print Moll Flanders in the original was a conscious choice on the part of the publisher — and a choice I’m not entirely certain I agree with. As I had a similar difficulty with John Cleland’s Fanny Hill, let the reader beware. (Imagine trying to dig through the unedited manuscript of a contemporary writer whose writing mechanics are, to say the least, primitive, and you’ll get the picture.)

That caveat notwithstanding, Moll Flanders is a grand story — and eminently worth reading — no less than Fielding’s Tom Jones or John Cleland’s Fanny Hill. And one of the more interesting aspects of this novel is the point of view: in this case, first-person singular. In other words, a man (Defoe) tells the story through the eyes and heart — and, however obliquely, between the legs — of a woman (Moll). Moreover, he does so — in my opinion — quite convincingly.

What is perhaps most remarkable about the author of Moll Flanders (but also of the more popular if not necessarily more notable Robinson Crusoe) is that Defoe first turned his hand to fiction only at the age of fifty-nine! One has to wonder whether he was an example and an inspiration to Benjamin Franklin, who first turned his hand to the violin at fifty-three. Who says — on the basis of this evidence — you can’t teach a (smart) old dog new tricks?

RRB
10/21/13
Brooklyn, NY
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LibraryThing member Lukerik
The quality of Defoe’s work varies wildly and if you have been stung before, fear not, for this is one of the good ones. It’s a proper page turner, but there’s far more to it than that. All the way through there’s this counterbalance between reason on the one hand and crime on the other,
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caused by either inclination or necessity. You can read it just as a series of plot less set piece scenes but what really fascinated me in Moll’ character was her treatment of her own children. It’s almost psychopathic. Seriously, she abandons all her, what, nine or ten children. I think this behaviour all ties in to being (unintentionally) abandoned by her own mother in Newgate and I think this ties to the reason / crime argument. She’s a sinner, not by inclination but because of the appalling events of her life. An argument that’s still going on today, and this novel explores the idea better than anything else I’ve read.
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LibraryThing member ffortsa
I am sometimes afraid that we will have nothing to say to each other at our reader discussion groups. Hah! We talked for over an hour and a half about this picaresque classic. How much was to be considered 'true', considering that it was supposedly a memoir of a repentant woman? How could she say
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so little about her children? Did she exploit her sexuality or just make the best of the society? She confessed to liking the thrill of theft even after she no longer needed more money, trimmed her stories to her circumstances and her audience, barely mentioned the hardships of crossing the Atlantic (I wonder if Defoe ever did?), learned to make and manage money, and in general navigated a society that was not kind to women without status and means. Was Defoe as tuned in to the hardships of women as this book suggests? Or was he more interested in writing a sly, picaresque adventure with the allure of a female protagonist? Did we believe the 'woman's voice'?

Defoe shows us the society of the time, the narrow path between servant and master class in the late 17th century in an urbanizing country as well as a new world. The book is filled with incident - in fact, when Moll has achieved, however temporarily, a quiet life, we hear nothing about it except how it ends. Moll ('not my real name') tells us at the beginning that she ends up in London, secure, married, content, mature, repentant of her sinful life. So the traditional suspense is absent - it was all about how it happened. But it was fun to read, watching her journey and learning about the times.
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LibraryThing member george1295
Daniel Defoe engages the reader in a story which exposes the plight of women in 17th century England. Moll Flanders (a name used for disguise) lives a life of one who must/chooses to do whatever it takes to survive. Throughout the tale, she is the victim of misfortunes both of her own creating and
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not of her own creating. This is an excellent book, particularly for those readers who like period pieces.
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LibraryThing member DeeDee10
What can I say about Moll Flanders? This book really makes you look at the life of women in the past. Moll does a lot of things that will make you go what!? I enjoyed it because it is a book that can be analyzed and interpreted in so many ways. Moll becomes a survivor in a world that she was made
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to fail in.
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LibraryThing member ctpress
With the novel's title you know what's going to happen:

The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders who was Twelve Year a Whore, five times a Wife (whereof once to her own Brother), Twelve Year a Thief, Eight Year a Transported Felon in Virginia, at last grew Rich, liv'd Honest, and
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died a Penitent. Written from her own Memorandums.

Sounds all very exciting, but to me it was a tedious account by a very annoying person. I didn't like her at all, and it goes on forever describing various husbands, lovers and money-worries - the latter is preeminent - the children she have we hear little or nothing about - as if they were just some play dolls.

From a historic point of view of course it's interesting to read as a precursor to the modern novel.
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LibraryThing member weikelm
Great novel about how rough it was to be a woman alone in the world. Moll is pious when she can afford to be, lawless and wicked when she can't. A great book if you enjoy dramatic irony, and I do.
LibraryThing member briannad84
I saw the movie version of this years ago when I was about 13 or 14 and never knew what it was called until several years ago when by chance I rented it and finally found the movie I was looking for. I've read Robinson Cruesoe already, and since this was on the 1,001 Books list, I took a chance and
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downloaded the Amazon free version onto my Kindle. I think I'll look for a copy in the library because I just felt like I wasn't reading the right book....I know the books are usually better than the movie versions, but this was nothing like the movie! There was nothing about her being left in an orphanage, and yeah there was lots and lots of her sleeping around, but no details about the artist husband, just man after man and qualms about money! It was so boring! But I'll give a library edition another try in he future!
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LibraryThing member dgrayson
like having a conversation with someone who never lets you get a word in
LibraryThing member john257hopper
Have given up on this about 60 pages in. While in outline the life of Moll Flanders sounds racy and exciting, I cannot get into the writing style and have found it tedious. No rating.
LibraryThing member andreablythe
Moll Flanders describes how she fell into whoring (her words) and thievery. Basically it's a long rambling tale of her life as she moves from one husband to the next, sometimes marrying one husband while still "technically" married to the last, and leaving a litany of children in her wake (whom she
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seems to have little interest in at all, despite assurances otherwise).

The point of the story is that this is supposed to be a tale of the misfortunate, as tales about thieves, murders, and other miscreants were very popular at the time period.

It had enough to it that I was able to keep trudging through it, as she fell into one misfortune after another (kind of like watching a train wreck). But I have to admit that I was severely disappointed in the book, because I so loved the movie. True, the movie had been Hollywood-zed big time, but in my opinion this is one of the very rare cases where this was a good thing. Moll was more naive in the movie, not so much trying to con her way through live but falling into the necessity so as to survive, which is part of what appealed to me. The book's Moll lacked that innocence, and was openly deceptive and conned many men (from fear of poverty, true), and there was very little to redeem her.

Tar and feather me, if you like, but in my opinion the movie was more enjoyable than the book.
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LibraryThing member a1stitcher
Riotous! This book was written in the early 18th century, and I can understand why it would have been a bit of a sensation. Its tale is now pretty tame for our current time and place.
Spaced throughout the novel there are several pages regarding the condition of women at the time, and how they were
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at the mercy of a male dominated world in everything from their virtue, marriage, childbirth, and employment. While for me, it sometimes became tiring to read such moralizing, it did also make me grateful I live in THIS century.
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LibraryThing member xicanti
I first read MOLL FLANDERS in 2001, in the midst of an “I’ll Read Classic Lit So's I Can Be Cultured And Stuff” phase. So far as I was concerned, classic novels were Good For You, but they weren’t necessarily enjoyable. I read them to give myself a sense of the wider literary tradition, not
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for entertainment.

Imagine my surprise when I devoured MOLL FLANDERS in three sittings, one of which took me through nearly a hundred and fifty pages.

The book is almost indecently fun. Moll schemes her way through the England of the 1600s, rising and falling at irregular intervals as her illegal undertakings bear fruit or go awry. She marries often, bears a multitude of children, turns to robbery whenever the need arises (or the opportunity presents itself), and deceives very nearly everyone she encounters. Her wild life must have seemed the height of debauchery to eighteenth century readers, many of whom I'm sure gloried in it anyway.

I suppose it’s possible to read MOLL FLANDERS as the chronicle of a woman forced into an indecent life of which she repents most ardently, but I find that a terribly boring take on the situation. I much prefer to view Moll as someone who’s ever in charge of her own destiny. She’s born into fairly low circumstances which she contrives to improve upon by any means necessary. Whether she's talking her way into a rich man’s bed or persuading an elderly fence to help her become London’s most successful pickpocket, she’s always in charge. She caters her lies to each individual, playing on their peculiar vanities in such a way that they can’t help but give in to her whims. Poor luck may set her back a step or two, but she never lets it keep her down for long. As soon as one scheme grows stale, she turns her hand to another. No matter what life throws at her, she finds a way to turn it to her advantage and come out on top.

The narrative conventions of the time dictate that she must deny receiving any satisfaction from her actions, but it’s obvious she enjoys herself immensely. The novel is full of moments where she vows to lead a somber and discreet life... right after she’s finished committing such-and-such a sin, and maybe one more for good measure. And hey, she’s never been involved in that line of illegal work, so she might as well give it a go before she throws in the towel. If it leads to another opportunity of a similar nature... well, so much the better.

Oh, Moll. I frickin’ love you.

Of course, I’m not an eighteenth century reader. It’s entirely possible that the original target audience would’ve been so scandalized by Moll’s doings that they took her cautions and lamentations at face value. Hell, maybe Defoe even intends them that way.

Me, I remain unconvinced of her penitence. She's an adept liar, after all; it's difficult to believe she'd restrain herself from practicing this skill upon the reader. I like to hope she keeps on scheming after the novel’s end, albeit in a wealthier sphere than was previously possible and with a willing partner in her final (or maybe just latest?) husband.

Godspeed to you, Moll, and good luck.

(This review originally appeared on my blog, Stella Matutina.)
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LibraryThing member jgoodwll
One of the first novels in English and division into chapters had obviously not been introduced, which is a little off-putting. But the story flows naturally on and on. Along the way it gives a fascinating insight into life and marriage circa 1700 in the English provinces, in London and in
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Virginia, among gentlemen and thieves, confidence-tricksters and planters, unwanted children and sailors.
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LibraryThing member lisalouhoo
Moll Flanders first and formost challenges ones conception of right and wrong. Do the ends (survival) justify the means (whatever deception or crime it takes to secure it). In the past, I have always been one to argue, emphatically, that no, there is no such thing as situational ethics. Yet, as I
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read this book, i realized that my thoughts on this came from a life of ease, in a society of justice and equal oportunity. I am left thanking God that I was not a woman, especially one fallen on hard times, in the time and place that this book was written. Time after time Moll is faced with the dilema: a life of misery and starvation, or a dishonest act that will pull her through a little while longer. I find it hard to cast judgement on any of the choices she made under these circumstances; and impossible to swear that I would not be brought to the same decisions. The only thing that I cannot justify in her behavior is the total disregard for her children that is displayed. Not enough mention of her children was made for me to even remember how many she bore. Part of this I am going to attribute the the fact that the book was written by a man. If her strivings were for herself and her children, I would cast no blame on a single choice she made, yet she even, essentially abandoned one of her infants in order to care for herself.

Overall, a very engaging read, giving insight into the life of women in 18th century England; So believable that I find I almost think of it as a memoir.
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LibraryThing member DieFledermaus
This book seemed a lot longer than it actually was. It's not exactly boring - a lot happens. However, Defoe tends to simply list events so it's a little like reading someone's flat and colorless diary. The novel follows Moll Flanders as she moves from poor orphan to wife, mistress, thief, convict
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and penitent. She's involved in multiple melodramas but generally extracts herself and is on to the next adventure. Moll marries several times, but a lot of her husbands don't even rate a name. In one case, she appears to care about one of her children, then forgets it a few pages later and it is never mentioned again. When Defoe does choose to focus on a subject, however, the book is quite interesting.

He spends a lot of time describing Moll's initial fall from grace, why women should be choosy in picking a partner and Moll's exploits as a thief. Throughout all of Moll's adventures, her main goal is simply to make a living. While married, she was generally a good wife but her husbands keep dying or going on the run. Desperation drives her to steal or become someone's mistress. Wouldn't say it wasn't worth reading, but you have to pick through a lot of all-plot-no-development to get to the good parts.
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LibraryThing member Davidgnp
I continued my current re-reading of the classics with this one, first read 40 years ago, and I was pleased to have my fond memories of it refreshed. One of the earliest British novels, this masquerades as a memoir, with Defoe handling the female perspective of the eponymous heroine just as well as
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he did Robinson Crusoe. I call her 'heroine' though Moll's adventures as sometime prostitute and recidivist thief would seem to disqualify her from such a status but for her late redemption and reform. In any case, we never think of her as a real villain, rather one who is forced by circumstances to make her way in life the best she can. She does admit to being an easy prey to temptation, and she is her own best apologist. As Moll says herself, her 'wicked' life is a lot more interesting to read than her return to virtue and prosperity. We learn a good deal along the way about the harsh conditions of living in late 17th Century England, and of the brutal treatment wrong-doers might expect, both from the courts and, if they catch you, from the mob. Humour and romance help to alleviate the gloom which, along with Moll's winning narrative, always keep us on her side even while she commits her more outrageous sins.
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LibraryThing member karl.steel
Better than John Bunyan's Grace abounding to the Chief of Sinners; more detailed a portrait than the Wife of Bath, who also, remember, had 5 wives (EDIT: by which of course I mean five HUSBANDS); hell, it's probably the best book of its kind. But how in god's name am I going to teach it?

This
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edition interesting for its Virginia Woolf introduction, which is mainly about Robinson Crusoe, about which she has more interesting things to say than she does Moll Flanders. The Woolf is also a nice record of a particular kind of criticism that discovered the value of a work of art in its tranhistorical truths about Human Nature. I can see easily how this same period--Woolf's that is--produced The Waste Land and Finnegans Wake, all of which also make the same profoundly ahistorical, profoundly appropriative, profoundly unethical mistake.
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LibraryThing member tvordj
I'm not sure what i can say about this classic book that hasn't already been said. It is the fictional story of Moll Flanders, a pseudonym because of the scandalous life she'd led. She is a 17th century woman who was born in Newgate prison where her mother was incarcerated. Raised in orphanages,
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she made a life for herself as best she could by latching on to various families and men, marrying several times, not always legally. With one of her husbands, she sailed to Virginia where she had two children and then discovered that her mother-in-law was in fact her mother and her husband was her brother. Later in her life she became a notorious thief, escaping capture many times aside from once.

The style of writing is of course 17th century so does not flow as easily as modern fiction and i found the second part of the book where she became a thief more interesting than the first. There was apparently a movie made of it but for the most part is bears little resemblence to the book. It could be a good romp if made into a short series.
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LibraryThing member spounds
Moll Flanders led a scandalous life back when that was a bad thing. In this book she relates her life from her inauspicious birth in the Newgate prison, to her industrious rise in society as a young woman, and through her years as a thief and whore. Her words, not mine. OK, maybe mine, too.

I found
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the first part of the book entertaining as Moll always seems to find herself associated with the wrong type of men. About halfway through the book she is forced into thievery and at that point I thought the book really slowed. There seemed to be a non-stop catalog of all the things she stole and how.

The final part of the book, which Moll herself will be less interesting to the reader, was indeed less interesting, but Defoe does a nice job of tying up all the loose ends before the end. There are better classics, but I'm glad I read this one.

Used Whispersync to both read and listen to this book via Audible. The technology worked better for me this time than last, but there were still a view glitches.
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LibraryThing member spounds
Moll Flanders led a scandalous life back when that was a bad thing. In this book she relates her life from her inauspicious birth in the Newgate prison, to her industrious rise in society as a young woman, and through her years as a thief and whore. Her words, not mine. OK, maybe mine, too.

I found
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the first part of the book entertaining as Moll always seems to find herself associated with the wrong type of men. About halfway through the book she is forced into thievery and at that point I thought the book really slowed. There seemed to be a non-stop catalog of all the things she stole and how.

The final part of the book, which Moll herself says will be less interesting to the reader, was indeed less interesting, but Defoe does a nice job of tying up all the loose ends before the end. There are better classics, but I'm glad I read this one.

Used Whispersync to both read and listen to this book via Audible. The technology worked better for me this time than last, but there were still a view glitches. Davinia Porter's narration was great as always, but the audio quality of this recording seemed to be lacking. Porter's voice seemed to get quieter and the end of many sentences and I wouldn't be able to hear exactly what she said. That being said, it was a free book, so for that it was definitely worth it.
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LibraryThing member AlCracka
I was certainly not happy to hear Defoe insist at length, in the preface, that he'd taken all the dirty parts out.

Defoe was many things as a writer, but "fun" isn't high up the list.

Also, check out this sentence: "She asked him if he thought she was so at her last shift that she could or ought to
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bear such treatment, and if he did not see that she did not want those who thought it worth their while to come farther to her than he did, meaning the gentleman she had brought to visit her by way of sham." I actually can't figure out if that sentence means anything or not. Is she saying she doesn't want the dude who was willing to travel to hit on her? Why not? Sure, he's actually like her cousin or whatever, but the dude she's talking to isn't supposed to know that...

Dude writes some over complicated sentences, is what I'm saying. I don't remember Crusoe being this convoluted.

Ah! I've been trying to figure out how Defoe writes a book with no women in it, and then a book from a woman's point of view; the similarity is that they both work from desperate places. Places of necessity.

I still need a while to process this book. Around halfway through I thought that not only did I not like it, but it made me like Robinson Crusoe less too. Now having finished it, I feel like it's a five-star book. I might bump it down to four. Defoe is sortof a humorless bastard, and he doesn't particularly get inside his characters' heads. But Moll Flanders, particularly, feels like a very subversive book to me. Moll insists on taking control of her life. Men certainly come off as insignificant at best.

I didn't love the Signet Classic edition I read; it was sorta...little. I like my books to be weightier and more important looking. (And, incidentally, the used copy I ordered came with random passages underlined, which drives me nuts.) Did have a fairly good afterword, though. Although it threatened to spoil like six other 18-century books I'm about to read, so I had to skip whole paragraphs.
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Language

Original publication date

1722

Physical description

320 p.; 6.8 inches

ISBN

0451524594 / 9780451524591

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