It's a new month... time for some new bug fixes!
While Matt is still working on harnessing the book data that we all have contributed to, and making it available for searches, he's also been rather busy fixing other things, and even adding some nifty little features. Read all about it in this Announcements forum post.The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders
1 journaler for this copy...
Chosen from a box of books on "dozendag" (box day) at Moem's book palace in Arnhem. This book came from the charity Stichting Overal in Nijmegen, which regularly donates excess books to BookCrossing.
I want to read this book myself.
I want to read this book myself.
Moll Flanders is scandalous, immoral, scheming and brilliant, capable of thinking on her feet and getting herself out of the stickiest of situations. If she had been rich she would probably have had to spend her talents in malicious schemes such as the Marquise de Merteuil in 'Dangerous Liaisons'. Brought up in a genteel family, she could have lived a comfortable life as a governess or lady's companion, or a harder life as a seamstress, but she decided early on that the only way to survive was to find herself a husband who could support her. As it is, our anti-heroine is left destitute by the death of her first husband, and decides that the best way to continue is to find a replacement. Meanwhile her morals sink lower and lower and she does not shy away from debauchery, selling her body and later becoming a petty thief and pickpocket.
Some of the problems Moll encounters are of her own making, others are mistakes, unavoidable, or due to somebody else's misfortune. Her decisions are decidedly questionable, but make for a great story. I'm sure that's how Daniel Defoe intended them. 'Moll Flanders' is very much entertainment; despite protestations it is not couched in the terms of the moralistic cautionary tale. The book was written long before the purse-mouthed Victorians, after the puritanical time of Cromwell. It has more in common with the lewder parts of Shakespeare and the Canterbury Tales. It doesn't seem to be in the same vein as Dickens who was trying to change opinion and change society. Defoe seems to have written a tale which was merely designed to titillate the idle classes. It doesn't even seem to want to inspire pity for the lower classes, to preach the consequences of immoral behaviour or to make rich people feel the need for charity. I'm sure it provoked a great deal of discussion when it was published, but in spite of being a political pamphleteer, if change was his goal, Defoe doesn't seem to have hit the mark with this book. However, nearly 300 years later, Moll Flanders still speaks to us as a strong woman, a survivor, who would not be misplaced in one of the more lurid contemporary soap operas.
Some of the problems Moll encounters are of her own making, others are mistakes, unavoidable, or due to somebody else's misfortune. Her decisions are decidedly questionable, but make for a great story. I'm sure that's how Daniel Defoe intended them. 'Moll Flanders' is very much entertainment; despite protestations it is not couched in the terms of the moralistic cautionary tale. The book was written long before the purse-mouthed Victorians, after the puritanical time of Cromwell. It has more in common with the lewder parts of Shakespeare and the Canterbury Tales. It doesn't seem to be in the same vein as Dickens who was trying to change opinion and change society. Defoe seems to have written a tale which was merely designed to titillate the idle classes. It doesn't even seem to want to inspire pity for the lower classes, to preach the consequences of immoral behaviour or to make rich people feel the need for charity. I'm sure it provoked a great deal of discussion when it was published, but in spite of being a political pamphleteer, if change was his goal, Defoe doesn't seem to have hit the mark with this book. However, nearly 300 years later, Moll Flanders still speaks to us as a strong woman, a survivor, who would not be misplaced in one of the more lurid contemporary soap operas.
Journal Entry 3 by bookguide at OBCZ 't Hof: Lunch & High Tea in Oss, Noord-Brabant Netherlands on Sunday, March 15, 2015
Released 9 yrs ago (3/15/2015 UTC) at OBCZ 't Hof: Lunch & High Tea in Oss, Noord-Brabant Netherlands
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Dit boek is losgelaten voor de volgende BookCrossing challenges:
- The Ultimate Challenge - boeken lezen en loslaten, met bonuspunten voor een maandelijkse thema.
- Reduce Mount TBR (To Be Read) - lezen en loslaten van TBR boeken die al voor eind 2013 op de plank stonden. Mijn leesdoel is 36 boeken.
- Pages Read Challenge - een zelfgekozen aantal bladzijden lezen in 2013. Mijn doel is 15.000 blz.
- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die Challenge. Doel 2014: 24 boeken.
**********************************************************************
This book has been released as part of the following BookCrossing challenges:
- The Ultimate Challenge - read and release books, with extra points for a monthly theme
- Reduce Mount TBR (To Be Read) - read and release books on the TBR list since before the end of 2013. My reading goal is 36 books.
- Pages Read Challenge - read a self-set target number of pages in 2013. My goal is 15,000.
- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die Challenge. 2014 goal: 24.
- The Ultimate Challenge - boeken lezen en loslaten, met bonuspunten voor een maandelijkse thema.
- Reduce Mount TBR (To Be Read) - lezen en loslaten van TBR boeken die al voor eind 2013 op de plank stonden. Mijn leesdoel is 36 boeken.
- Pages Read Challenge - een zelfgekozen aantal bladzijden lezen in 2013. Mijn doel is 15.000 blz.
- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die Challenge. Doel 2014: 24 boeken.
This book has been released as part of the following BookCrossing challenges:
- The Ultimate Challenge - read and release books, with extra points for a monthly theme
- Reduce Mount TBR (To Be Read) - read and release books on the TBR list since before the end of 2013. My reading goal is 36 books.
- Pages Read Challenge - read a self-set target number of pages in 2013. My goal is 15,000.
- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die Challenge. 2014 goal: 24.
Nobody took this from the meeting and the bookshelf was full so I brought it back home again with me, to be released at a future date.
Journal Entry 5 by bookguide at OBCZ 't Hof: Lunch & High Tea in Oss, Noord-Brabant Netherlands on Sunday, March 18, 2018
Released 6 yrs ago (3/18/2018 UTC) at OBCZ 't Hof: Lunch & High Tea in Oss, Noord-Brabant Netherlands
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
If you love Dickens, you'll love this.
Taken to the Dutch Book Week meeting in Oss.
This book has been released as part of the following BookCrossing challenges:
- The Ultimate Challenge - read and release books, with extra points for a monthly theme
- Reduce Mount TBR (To Be Read) - read and release books on the TBR list since before the end of 2017. My reading goal for older books is 12 books.
- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die Challenge. 2018 goal: 12.
Taken to the Dutch Book Week meeting in Oss.
This book has been released as part of the following BookCrossing challenges:
- The Ultimate Challenge - read and release books, with extra points for a monthly theme
- Reduce Mount TBR (To Be Read) - read and release books on the TBR list since before the end of 2017. My reading goal for older books is 12 books.
- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die Challenge. 2018 goal: 12.
Alas, poor book! This is the second time I've taken you on a little outing to Oss and nobody has taken you home with them. Come back home with me and I will give you a warm place on my bookshelf. Perhaps you are destined to become part of my permanent collection.
