Moll Flanders (French Edition)

What happened with all the other children and what kind of mother just does not care? She raises her self up so high with this one child and calls herself a caring mother when in fact she is far from that. She is a selfish heartless character and lacks common sense to see that. Don't get me wrong I like the story just she made me so angry with the me me me instead of the US US US.

The book is in excellent condition! I am disappointed as I loved the picture on website and the book is just a generic plain cover, no picture....the main reason I chose this particular book instead of others on site.

I think every woman and teen girl should read this book. There is much to be gleaned from this fictional account. U found myself identifying with many of th err circumstances Moll got into as as young woman. Life-view written from a woman's unedited perspective. Awesome

Moll Flanders is a classic by Daniel Defoe (1660-1731). He was an English trader who wrote many books and lots of political tracts, several of which got him into trouble with the government which imprisoned him. He is most famous for his book Robinson Crusoe, which is said to have gone through many translation, second only to the Bible.
He wrote Moll Flanders in 1722 when there was no standardized spelling and people could spell as they wished. It was also the practice to capitalize some words in the middle of sentences, and a time when many words had a different meaning than they have today. This may cause readers some difficulty, but I found that I got used to the “incorrect spellings,” the capital letters, and the ancient English. The Wordsworth Classics’ edition has ten pages where it defines several hundred words that Defoe uses.
Defoe tell us that the book was written by Moll Flanders, which of course is untrue, but he means it is a first person narrative. He also tells us that she was born in Newgate (where her mother was imprisoned and sentenced to death), went through many different adventures for some 60 years, had a difficult childhood, was a whore for twelve years, was married five times including once to her brother, was a thief for twelve years, was transported as a criminal to Virginia for eight years, at last grew rich and lived an honest life, and died a penitent.
The story is interesting as is Moll’s comments about all that transpires.

Though considered a defining novel, Defoe's Moll Flanders probably receives one of the lowest average reader ratings of any classic. I think it is partly due to the style of the novel, being picaresque, and the medium through which the entire story is portrayed, that of the protagonist's personal narrative journal. While I admit the novel seems to drag or repeat at times and certainly reads differently to a modern audience than it did over 300 years ago, the style of Defoe's narration is unquestionably impressive. To attempt to keep a reader engaged through an entire novel while endeavoring to make the events and characters appear historical to the reader is to attempt much. (Defoe originally published the novel with the authorship attested to Moll Flanders as though she were a real person and this her real diary.) There is much to respect in this novel.

I will add two particular exhortations to other readers. First, make sure to read Defoe's original preface to the book. Second, if you like audiobooks, Recorded Books' narration by Virginia Leishman is excellent and brings Moll Flanders to life.

Though considered a defining novel, Defoe's Moll Flanders probably receives one of the lowest average reader ratings of any classic. I think it is partly due to the style of the novel, being picaresque, and the medium through which the entire story is portrayed, that of the protagonist's personal narrative journal. While I admit the novel seems to drag or repeat at times and certainly reads differently to a modern audience than it did over 300 years ago, the style of Defoe's narration is unquestionably impressive. To attempt to keep a reader engaged through an entire novel while endeavoring to make the events and characters appear historical to the reader is to attempt much. (Defoe originally published the novel with the authorship attested to Moll Flanders as though she were a real person and this her real diary.) There is much to respect in this novel.

I will add two particular exhortations to other readers. First, make sure to read Defoe's original preface to the book. Second, if you like audiobooks, Recorded Books' narration by Virginia Leishman is excellent and brings Moll Flanders to life.

What an interesting and lively read! I enjoyed reading about Moll's adventures. The narrator, Moll, struggled so with doing the right thing when tempted to do a wrong, immoral, or illegal act. This made her character seem much more human. I enjoyed the book very much.

"...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 -- 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
Trompe-l'oeil (or, The Old In and Out. Of Love.)

Though inevitably overshadowed by his immortal Robinson Crusoe, Moll Flanders is another excellent, important, and influential Daniel Defoe novel. Anyone who has not read Crusoe should of course do so first, but its fans are encouraged to continue here, as Moll has many of the same virtues.

Crusoe has long been called the first real Western novel, making Moll, which came out a few years later, an early entry. Like Crusoe, it can be highly enjoyed and appreciated simply as a rollicking adventure. It is nearly as entertaining, drawing us in quickly and never letting go through a remarkable series of plot twists continuing to the very end. The novel is fast-paced and intriguing, and its sheer readability is very noteworthy. It reads almost as well as ever despite archaic spellings and punctuation. Unlike nearly all classics, it need not be drastically edited, footnoted, and introduced for comprehension. This is hardly true of even many twentieth century works, much less one of such vintage. Even casual readers who have almost no experience with classics, to say nothing of ones three hundred years old, can pick it up with practically no trouble. The documentary style and clear, concise prose that made Crusoe so ground-breaking and absorbing are continued, but Moll is in many ways even more impressive because Crusoe had the easy draw of an exotic deserted island, while this is set in contemporary England and colonial America. The attractive element now comes from Defoe's focus on society's oft-overlooked underbelly, which he knew well from hard personal experience. We get a profoundly up-close look at the poor and downtrodden, including criminals, prisoners, indentured servants, and other laborers. Moll indeed focuses near-obsessively on the low and gritty, including prostitution and incest. This fascinated initial readers and continues to do so, helped by newly acquired historical value. The plot is highly improbable - far more so than Crusoe's in most ways -, but the stark realist tone and attention to everyday detail make it an invaluable record of early eighteenth century English and American life, including the dark side most never mention.

The character of Moll is also of great importance and highly lifelike despite being written by a man. Though lacking almost all conventional virtues save beauty and at times seeming to positively revel in what the era would have called deadly sin, she remains sympathetic. This is mostly because, like Crusoe, she remains resolute and optimistic in extremely adverse circumstances; the eternal values of courage, determination, and perseverance are on strong display, making her - against all odds - in some ways conventionally admirable.

More important from our perspective is Defoe's penetrating presentation of women's issues. Calling Moll a proto-feminist work would be too much, but Defoe shows a truly incredible knowledge of and sympathy for women's issues for a man born in the seventeenth century. He vividly shows the hardships women faced, many of them patently unfair, and the drastic lengths they had to go to in order to ameliorate their woes even a little. Moll may be unscrupulous from most perspectives but lived in an unjust society and did what she felt necessary to survive; there is much to look up to here, and she is arguably even noble in her way. She is in any event supremely interesting, as are the issues and themes she represents.

All told, while not one of literature's greatest works, Moll is a highly readable and important book that fans of Defoe and other early English novels will enjoy.

For a nearly 300-year-old lady, "Moll Flanders" has held up surprisingly well.

She lives her life according to her terms, doesn't define herself by any of the many men she's with, circumvents society's laws when it suits her, and goodness knows doesn't let any of her children tie her down. Reading this Daniel Defoe novel from 1722 is like opening a window across the centuries to discover someone very much like us staring back. So too, it seems, is the author, whose first-person account of Moll presents her rationalizing without pity or judgment. What a shame this novel seems to come before the invention of the chapter!

That was a big stumbling block for me in enjoying this novel, that it just runs without break for 300 pages. It's also very densely packed with incident. If you don't read through each paragraph carefully, you may miss one of Moll's marriages. The first 100 pages throw everything at us from a saucy maid's adventure with a pair of passionate brothers to a tale of incest taking place in Virginia (Southern Gothic 200 years before Faulkner!)

"As covetousness is the root of all evil, so poverty is the worst of all snares," avers Moll in the first-person narrative, yet it's never as simple as that. It's less poverty than fear of poverty that drives Moll to her extremes. She also is in the habit of throwing aside her relations for the prospect of a better deal. Finally, as she becomes a member of the underworld, her avarice exceeds her want to the point where even her own fence pleads for her to quit while she's ahead.

Yet even as we may disdain her actions, Moll retains our sympathy. The feeling of having a ringside seat to such a character makes up for a lot of flaws, and so does her no-nonsense way of telling us what's what and letting the cards fall where they will: "The moral, indeed, of all my history is left to be gathered by the senses and judgement of the reader; I am not qualified to preach to them."

The sordid nature of Moll is a bit of a hang-up, and so is the spouse-flipping monotony of the book's first half. Once she's involved in her criminal doings, however, "Moll Flanders" becomes a fascinating, full-bored examination of how criminals operated in early 18th-century London. It's worth knowing this going in, because if you find the first part too much of a drag, you might want to skip ahead and whet your appetite as Moll lifts fabrics from mercer-houses and cleverly manages to steal a heavy portmanteau full of pistoles while keeping a step ahead of the law.

My Signet edition includes an afterward by Kenneth Roxroth that suggests Defoe was using "Moll" to satirize the emerging middle class, with its desire for material gain. Defoe was a prominent Whig of his day, but I don't think it fair to reduce his novel that way. This feels more like an attempt by a brilliant and sensitive writer to take life the way he found it.

While not without a moral dimension, sometimes most present in its apparent absence, there's no feeling here of being spoon-fed a moral, the way so many authors of the time did. Defoe takes pains not to point fingers or create villains. The men who have at Moll, and even the woman who nurses her into her life of crime, are not written as lacking for good points, just following their impulses where they may. At one point, Moll tells us it is a good thing we can't read what is inside each other's hearts, or we'd never learn to trust people. Insights like these are another way "Moll" has held up rather well.

It is difficult to believe that this audacious novel was written by the same author as Robinson Crusoe, that classic among all that is definitely traditional and even somewhat staid!

Here, a very independent minded woman pretends to tell us her life story marked with bigamy, theft, incest, embezzlements, etc.

Since the overall plot is described from the start, the whole suspense lies in how what is announced will actually fit in (it does).

The novel may be read at multiple levels since the degree of truthfulness on the narrator's part is of course questionable given that she tells the reader about her life based on deceiving others.

She certainly seems completely amoral and her single motivation appears to be money. Thus, in very modern fashion, her loyalties vary according to her own interest. For much of the work, she complains that she has no friend but has no qualms time and again to abandon her own children. She does develop a very close relationship with another woman, although it seems to be somewhat unidirectional in her favour. If it was as intimate as one may deduce, it certainly would have been completely scandalous in her days. Although the author does not shy away from providing precise details in many instances, he remains elusive on this account.

This enthralling work written three centuries ago is very pertinent today and warmly recommended to all (adult) readers.

Moll Flanders , written in 1722, is a remarkable example of crime literature and may be the earliest example in English. The language is archaic and for the first 50-60 pages I felt myself struggling a bit but then the story and the character of Moll herself compensates for the struggle and the reward is a fascinating tale of a woman's fight to survive poverty by any means she can in 17th century England. Defoe created a character that is so grounded in flesh and blood that it seems to me that it must be based on someone he knew during his own time in prison. This is truly a remarkable achievement for it's time and it holds up very well once the language hurdle is overcome. The plot has many twists and turns as Moll Flanders relates her life story and describes her inner thoughts regarding her circumstances and the people she encounters over a period of almost 60 years in terms that truly result in a tense page turner of a novel despite the span of centuries.
I could see the influence of this book on the yet to be written novels of Dickens and Thomas Hardy with their tragic feminine protagonists. This is really unmissable for any reader interested in the development of the novel in the English language. Excellent.

Moll Flanders was written by Daniel Defoe, the same author of Robinson Crusoe. Although the settings are different, we can see many similarities between the stories, like the implicit criticism of british society of the XVII/XVIII centuries and the importance that society gave to exterior looks.
Moll Flanders can be divided in two parts. In the first one, Moll, being poor, is raised in a foster home, and, being pretty, catches the attention of the elder son of the family whose house she lives in. It is when her misfortunes begin. Misled and deceived by this elder son, she has to leave the house and be on her own. When she was a child, she wanted to be a "dame of society", and that's what she desperately tries to become, looking for a rich man who will support her financialy. To catch the eyes of such men, she has to pretend she is very rich herself, and then all she manages to have are false "gentlemen", trying themselves to marry a rich woman. Even then, she is able to find a man she loves (more than one, in fact), but through a series of bad luck she always looses everything.
The second part of the book is where Moll Flanders transforms herself in a successfull thieve. This is a fun part, where she describes her struggle to accomplish the thefts without being caught and thrown to infamous prison Newgate. And then, the ending seemed a little too sudden to me.
Defoe's book is a stinging critic to his society, and that's why he chose to write in a female first-person, self centered (there are almost no other names in the course of the story) and desperate to get to the high level of society, showing that everybody could be affected by hypocrite puritanism and moralism.
Grade 8.5/10

Moll Flanders / 0-451-52633-3

Defoe's novel, Moll Flanders, one of the first English novels follows the "true" story of a lower-class woman who eventually turns to a life of petty thievery and prostitution - partly as a means to survive, and partly in the hopes of reaching a middle-class life of relative riches and ease.

This thin little novel is a fairly quick read and the story pacing moves at a quick clip as we read through the salacious and scandalous life of this matron. Moll Flanders is not particularly clever nor particularly beautiful, but she is persistent, dogged, and increasingly amoral enough to make a life for herself above and beyond desperate poverty. Through the course of her life, Moll takes several husbands, bears multiple children, and chooses to view her life with pride and detachment, rather than with the shame she 'ought' to feel. In this regard, Moll is perhaps the most modern of historical novel characters, because she views with a jaundiced eye the societal norms which would compel her to pious poverty, and because she recognizes that the 'shameful' things she does to survive, the gentry do on a much wider (if more socially acceptable) scale.

~ Ana Mardoll

As many other reviewers have noted, it takes some effort to deal with this books old english style of prose. But, what do you expect? The book was written several hundred years ago! Once you get used to it, this novel is really very interesting and just gets progressively better as it goes on. By the end you cant put it down, you just have to know what happens to Moll. I thought Defoe offered very perceptive insights into human nature in sometimes very amusing passages. The novel has this curious aspect in that throughout the novel Moll displays a deep degree of moral self-awareness but then she has this ability to essentially ignore the impact of her often outrageous behavior. I guess this was Defoe's point. We all have to rationalize our actions to some degree to make our way in an imperfect and often cruel world. You will cheer and abhor her at the same time but at least she wont bore you!

This book helped me to understand the perils of being a poor woman in Seventeenth Century London. The character Moll Flanders was born poor and she had no family to support her, therefore her only ways of survival was to get married, sell her body, become a servant at very low wages. She chose to become a thief, and to always to appear to be something that she was not.

It is almost like a travel book because Moll is always moving from town to town, and from life episode to next episode, across the ocean trying to find a place to be herself and not a fake representation of a good woman.

Sometimes the narrator is too detailed and tells more than I needed to know, but it does seem like a woman is speaking, or writing in a journal, even though the book was actually written by a man. I enjoyed reading the book and felt some sympathy for Moll Flanders because of her struggles, weaknesses, and her ability to endure.

Considered to be - by contemporary scholars - the first NOVEL written in the English language, it is also, technically, the only picaresque novel in English, with a female (anti-) heroine as "role" model. The perfect woman; born in jail, seduced and abandoned by wealthy cutsy boy, 18th century (though narrative taking place in 17th century) pretty poor girl has options aplenty; master whore and thief supreme she is - but always a romantic: ladies beware. Norton Edition a briliant one, with text folowed by over a hundred pages of criticism, from the date the book was published (DeFoe's name did not appear on cover at the time)to 21st century reviews: the best & the worst, not for me to judge.

This human portrait of a woman is also an excellent sketch of the living conditions and the social stratification in England in the 18th century: 'the Age is so wicked and the Sex so Debauch'd'.
It shows the immense chasm between a small class of wealthy people and the rest (Swift: 'a thousand to one'). The latter were struggling for sheer survival and praying 'Give me not Poverty, lest I steal' ... to be hanged: 'If I swing by the String, I shall hear the Bell ring, and then there's an End of poor Jenny.'

But both classes intermingled.
As E.J. Burford quotes in his masterful book 'The Synfulle Citie':
Those who were riche were hangid by the Pursse
Those who were poore were hangid by the Necke

Moll Flanders: 'the passive Jade thinks of no Pleasure but the Money; and when he is as it were drunk in the Extasies of his wicked Pleasure, her Hands are in his Pockets.'

The poor's religion was fatalism. Moll Flanders is all the time reproaching herself her Course of Life, 'a horrid Complication of Wickedness, Whoredom, Adultery, Incest, Lying, Theft...', but in the face of death at the gallows: 'I had now neither Remorse or Repentance ... no Thought of Heaven or Hell ... I neither had a Heart to ask God's Mercy.'

Defoe's work is eminently modern with his psychological insight: 'What a Felicity is it to Mankind that they cannot see into the Hearts of one another, and 'Modest men are better Hypocrites';
or, the ravage of alcoholism: 'the Drunk are the Men of whom Solomon says , they go like an Ox to the slaughter, till a Dart strikes through their Liver';
and his feminism: 'the Disadvantage of the Women is a terrible Scandal upon Men', and 'Money only made a Woman agreeable'.

Defoe's appeal to the reader 'every Branch of my Story may be useful to honest People', seems to be a smokescreen in order to circumvent censorship, because ultimately Moll Flanders prospers. This book is a perfect illustration of Bernard Mandeville's 'Triumph of Private Vices' in his 'Fable of the Bees'.

Although some developments in this story are rather improbable, this superbly ironic and lively text constitutes an immortal portrait of the 'horrid Complication' to be a woman, here personified in Moll Flanders.
Not to be missed.

This human portrait of a woman is also an excellent sketch of the living conditions and the social stratification in England in the 18th century: 'the Age is so wicked and the Sex so Debauch'd'.
It shows the immense chasm between a small class of wealthy people and the rest (Swift: 'a thousand to one'). The latter were struggling for sheer survival and praying 'Give me not Poverty, lest I steal' ... to be hanged: 'If I swing by the String, I shall hear the Bell ring, and then there's an End of poor Jenny.'

But both classes intermingled.
As E.J. Burford quotes in his masterful book 'The Synfulle Citie':
Those who were riche were hangid by the Pursse
Those who were poore were hangid by the Necke

Moll Flanders: 'the passive Jade thinks of no Pleasure but the Money; and when he is as it were drunk in the Extasies of his wicked Pleasure, her Hands are in his Pockets.'

The poor's religion was fatalism. Moll Flanders is all the time reproaching herself her Course of Life, 'a horrid Complication of Wickedness, Whoredom, Adultery, Incest, Lying, Theft...', but in the face of death at the gallows: 'I had now neither Remorse or Repentance ... no Thought of Heaven or Hell ... I neither had a Heart to ask God's Mercy.'

Defoe's work is eminently modern with his psychological insight: 'What a Felicity is it to Mankind that they cannot see into the Hearts of one another, and 'Modest men are better Hypocrites';
or, the ravage of alcoholism: 'the Drunk are the Men of whom Solomon says , they go like an Ox to the slaughter, till a Dart strikes through their Liver';
and his feminism: 'the Disadvantage of the Women is a terrible Scandal upon Men', and 'Money only made a Woman agreeable'.

Defoe's appeal to the reader 'every Branch of my Story may be useful to honest People', seems to be a smokescreen in order to circumvent censorship, because ultimately Moll Flanders prospers. This book is a perfect illustration of Bernard Mandeville's 'Triumph of Private Vices' in his 'Fable of the Bees'.

Although some developments in this story are rather improbable, this superbly ironic and lively text constitutes an immortal portrait of the 'horrid Complication' to be a woman, here personified in Moll Flanders.
Not to be missed.

Daniel Defoe's 1722 novel, "Moll Flanders," remains a fascinating imaginative work, and is in many ways more interesting than his famous first effort, "Robinson Crusoe." Having seen bits of two recent film adaptations in the last couple of months on television, and being a budding 18th century scholar, I decided it was time I picked up my own copy of "Moll Flanders" and see the actual product on its own terms. A story no less about a castaway and delinquent than "Crusoe," in "Moll Flanders," Defoe attempts to set down the history of a woman with a wild and often desperate life. A character of infinitely more interiority and reflection than Crusoe, Moll gives us through a first person narrative, a look into various stations of life in 18th century England and America.
The novel begins with a tip of the hat to that fine progenitor of the novel, "Don Quixote," a Gines-like acknowledgment that Moll, as the author of her own story, cannot complete that story within the text of the novel, unless people can write when they are deceased. Amusements aside, Moll begins her story as Crusoe begins his, with an immediate acknowledgment of the instability of the modern self - the corruption of her own name. Born in Newgate prison, and having never known her mother, Moll finds herself among gypsies and landed gentry before settling in Colchester for the term of her youth. Here, she founds her sense of social ambition, unusual even for Jane Eyre in the 19th century, as one in which she figures to be a gentlewoman by earning her own living. Various mishaps and misadventures lead her through marriages, whoredom, and thievery as Moll attempts to find her place in the world as a woman of common birth. Early on she learns the lessons that will aid her on her journey, viz., the value of money, quick wit, and a sense of her own sexuality.
While Defoe certainly does not sugar-coat the wrongs of woman in the early 18th century - delving deeply into issues of feminine helplessness before the law, the difficulties of procuring stable employment, and various reproductive issues such as adoption, abortion, and infant mortality - yet he maintains a consistent character of Moll as an extremely strong, adaptive, and resilient female character. The most riveting facet of Moll throughout is her own sense of self-worth and importance, especially in her own history. For instance, while chronicling an encounter with a former lover, Moll tells us that while his adventures are worth their own narrative, this is "my story, not his." Moll's strength in the midst of doubt, desperation, and general loneliness keeps the reader's constant interest and admiration.
Defoe's exploration of inter-gender relationships are worthy of note themselves for the sheer variety of social, economic, and personal situations he includes in the novel. The economic theme stands out among these, and provides a link back to the preoccupations of "Robinson Crusoe." Like Crusoe, Moll is always aware of the value of her personal possessions, and conscious of how to exploit and husband her resources to best advantage. Also like Crusoe, "Moll Flanders" is keenly aware of the possibilities and drawbacks of English colonial ventures in America. Defoe's efforts to link all these themes to the lot of the English prison population, the family unit, and indentured servants and African slaves, are all managed extremely well within the text of the novel. For all this, "Moll Flanders" remains an entertaining, satisfying, relevant novel, and stands for me above "Crusoe" as a work of high literary value.

I think MOLL FLANDERS is my favorite novel of all time. The novel form was in its infancy at the time MOLL FLANDERS was written. In fact, Defoe is often called "the father of the English novel." Actually, as a novel it's very primitive. Defoe's fiction is usually a first person narrative told by an ambitious person, recounting how he got where he is today. In Moll Flanders, Defoe presents the autobiography of a woman who rises from an ignominious birth in Newgate Prison, and a childhood as a servant. Early on, Moll learns that she is beautiful and that she is attractive to the opposite sex. What's great about the book is its delicious irony. Oh there are times when she gets caught in her own traps, she's a sly one, that Moll. It's very difficult at times to think of Moll as a fictional character. But she is, in fact, the first great female character in English prose. I never cease to be amazed that the book was written by a man. There are moments in the book that I find very moving, like when she realizes that she's no longer pretty enough to attract men without resorting to makeup. "I never had to paint my face before." And of course there's that unsettling surprise she receives toward the end of the novel. This is a great and important book and hardly anyone has read it. I don't know why. I have recommended this book to probably a hundred people. To the best of my knowledge, not a single one of them has taken my advice. It's their loss. I LOVE Moll Flanders.

I had read Robinson Crusoe earlier, and enjoyed it. So I looked forward to reading another great classic when I picked up Moll Flanders, also by Daniel Defoe. Unfortunately, it was not as good as I had hoped.

Written in the eighteenth century, Moll Flanders is the story of a woman who is born in England, lives a lamentable life filled with many husbands, relationships outside of marriage with bastard children, a decade or so of shoplifting, a bit of prison time, all with success and happiness only in the last few years.

As with Robinson Crusoe, the book's best feature can be found in its attention to detail. When describing her thieving experiences, for instance, Moll Flanders illustrates exactly how each encounter happened with such exactness that one could easily picture the event.

Unlike Robinson Crusoe, however, this book dragged a bit more and was more difficult to follow. When reading RC, I had previously thought that Defoe's omission of any character's name was a deliberate attempt to characterize Robinson Crusoe's detachment as a character (The ship's captain was always referred to as "The ship's captain," and nobody ever was referred to by their name). I was surprised to find that Defoe does this here, and unfortunately it made it much more confusing. When Moll Flanders refers to a man as "her husband," I always wondered which husband it was, since she had been married many times. Because of this, the men seemed to run together and blend into a generic depiction of a man. Perhaps this was deliberate, too, but it got to me after awhile.

The other problem is that this narrative is much less exciting than with RC, a man who is shipwrecked on a tropical island. Although the bits about the life of crime are more interesting, the beginning portion of her life unwinds at a slow pace.

If people really like Robinson Crusoe, I think they will appreciate Moll Flanders. I think readers should go for Crusoe first and see what they think of it.

This version was unreadable. It was said this is an abridged version, taking a large amount of the original text away in order to make it digestible. The book reads like a report or a list of facts. Absolutely no feeling, wit, connection to the character. Nothing that makes one feel. Have not read the original Version and could not find it. Possibly all the things that differ a list of occurrences from a novel were taken out. But I am surprised at the raving reviews. I found myself hurrying through hoping to find human emotion in it.

I really liked the way the story unfolded, its voice, and how real it all seemed. Its like a very well written window opening into a different time and allowing you to see things from a different perspective. Defoe allows you to become Moll and feel what she's feeling- something you really can't get from movies.

I'm surprised this book isn't more widely read. I mean with nice writing, plenty of sex, and daring characters you'd think this book would have more reviews. :)

I recommend this book not only for those of you who enjoy fine writing for its own sake, but also to those who like an intriguing tale about adulteresses. A+ Defoe.

The'plot structure of Moll Flanders is conventional: it's the usual plot about a deviant who, in the end, regenerates oneself and kowtows before conventional morals - Moll's ultimate fate being no different from that of the late Sex and the City foursome. However, what a different between Defoe's ironical ending - when Moll and her "Lancashire husband" settle down in Maryland to enjoy a comfortable old age out of her looting as a street criminal - and the dull Victorian-like endings of so many of our popular culture fictions - which by the way, lack entirely in genuine conviction about the values they intend to upheld!Moll Flanders is a healthy beast - someone who accepts her world as it's and makes the best out of it.It's this matter-of-fact attitude which makes most of the novel's charms, and makes today's readers refreshed! Read, and enjoy!

Moll Flanders: Who was Born in Newgate, and during a Life of continu'd Variety for threescore years, besides her childhood, 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 died a Penitent by Daniel Defoe has been an interesting read. This is a true story taken from Moll Flander's own memoirs. This book is a story of wickedness until the last fifty of three hundred pages when 'Moll' finally becomes penitent. It then becomes a story of forgiveness and God's mercy no matter what a person's past life or background has been. Moll is a clever woman who, although wants to be honest and pure, cannot become so because of the society she lives in and what it has reduced her too. This, however, does not exempt her from responsibility for her actions, it just serves as a catalyst and partial cause of her circumstances. The bulk of the book serves as a warning that once a sin is set in motion it is very difficult, if not impossible, to stop. It is a lesson for those who are willing to read the book. I give it a lower rating because the story, although quite thought-provoking, became dull at times and was a little too graphic. Another note worth mentioning is that there are no chapters or separations in the book. It is written without any quotation marks so that dialouge is written as 'he said' 'she said.'

Defoe has written of a wonderful woman with his "Moll Flanders", and he has also created a book that is entirely enjoyable while outlining her exploits and her life. Moll was quite a remarkable woman in her time. He covers her earlier life of crime and the punishment that ensued from that right up to her later days where she reformed. She made quite a few marriages, and learned and grew from these. Although most of her marriages and her intrigues were undertaken in the pursuit of money, she was actually not without passion or generosity. There is quite a bit of moralizing throughout the book, but it is totally enjoyable nonetheless because Moll was so human and Defoe has created a living, breathing heroine that is as realistic as they come (especially during this era). Quite an accomplishment, especially for a male author.

Daniel Defoe, hot on the heels of "Robinson Crusoe" came under considerable fire when "Moll Flanders" was published. She was called immoral, when, in fact, she is amoral. Churches and universities could not understand why Defoe was fascinated with characters considered "low". The fact is, the public adored her and the novel. And it continues to do so to this day.

But, as I've repeated in other reviews, the Dover Thrift edition makes it even more of an attractive purchase. Well-bound and sturdy, it's the best thing you can do with the $5.00 you can spare in your pocket. And, if you're like me, and you have to teach this book, it takes a great financial burden on your already overburdened students.

This book is absolutely hilarious! Moll Flanders is a woman who loved money a bit too much and in turn was loved by many a man with money. The comedy in this book stands the test of time (at least for me) and in my opinion, the language is not as archaic and difficult to follow as one previous reviewer stated. There are some words that aren't in use today, but their meanings are pretty self-explanatory. If you love scandal, you'll love this book. This chick has baby after baby, sleeps with almost any man with money, and even marries her own brother! If Moll were around nowadays, she'd probably be on Springer! Highly recommended.

'Tho the plot, being interesting in the extream, must be confess'd to be well-done, and alike the characters, being well-develop'd, plausible, and even sympathetic ('tho they be theives, felons, bigamists, and worse), must be similarly confess'd, still the writing style, being as it is extreamly archaic as well in spelling, grammar, and syntax, as in punctuation, the modern reader must be foarwarn'd: if he had difficulty with the parsing of this, the principle paragraph of this review, or finds the prospect of reading a story consisting of eight and forty more than two hundreds of pages in a like style daunting, he should give the project up as impracticable.
If, on the other hand, you had no trouble with that paragraph, I daresay that you'll enjoy this book, even if, as the father of the English novel, Defoe had yet to engender the chapter break.
Also it should be pointed out this may well be the first novel in which a male author attempts to write a story in which the lead character is female, and Defoe does a surprisingly good job of it.