© Ingrid Haunold

My rating: 3 (of 5) “stars”

Last year, I read three books written by Daniel Defoe: “Robinson Crusoe,” which was first published in 1719, and “Moll Flanders” and “A Journal of the Plague Year,” which were both published in 1722. Of those three books, I liked the “Journal” best.

I bought a “Norton Critical Edition” of the book at my local bookstore in Vienna, Stöger-Leporello. The book was edited by Paula R. Backscheider, and published in 1992 by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Critical editions of books provide textual criticism, and aim to recreate an author’s intent. In other words, those editions try to peek into the minds of deceased writers. What did he or she really try to say? Critical editions contain a lot of additional materials.

My Norton Critical Edition contains the authoritative text of the novel, background materials about the Plague of 1665 and the threat of another Plague in the years 1720-1721; articles by a number of writers which reflect on “Plagues” of all kinds (e.g., AIDS) and their effects; and about half a dozen scholarly articles about the novel (literary criticism).

Those additional materials make up half the pages of the book; the novel itself is heavily annotated with footnotes. I do think those texts added value to the book, even though I stopped reading the footnotes after a few pages. They were just too distracting.

The “Journal” is a fictional account of the Plague epidemic in London in 1665. When the book was first published, it was published with the following title: “A Journal of the Plague Year: Being Observations or Memorials, Of the most Remarkable Occurrences, As well Publick as Private, Which happened in London During the last Great Visitation in 1665.”

And that’s the story, in a nutshell.

I read the book in 2025, shortly after we all lived through the COVID pandemic. The similarities between the effects of the Plague in 1665 on the people of London, and the measures taken to contain the Plague, were reminiscent of all our experiences during the COVID pandemic. It felt utterly strange to read a book that was written more than 300 years ago, yet was so timely. I do recommend that you read the book, if only to compare your own experiences during the COVID pandemic with a fictional account of the Plague in 1665.

Why did I only award the book 3 out of 5 “stars?”

Daniel Defoe’s main weakness as a writer is, in my opinion, story structure. Defoe meanders, and repeats himself several times; he describes several similar anecdotes which leads to feelings of déjà-vu in the reader. Then, all of a sudden, he starts telling a story about the experiences of a band of travellers during the Plague, and for approximately twenty pages – that’s 10% of the novel’s length – I wondered, what the f… is happening here? All of a sudden I felt like I was reading a different book. The book’s a bit of a mess, really – but totally worth reading.

© Ingrid Haunold

My rating: 5 (of 5) “stars”

I bought a copy of this book a few years ago at my local bookstore, Stöger-Leporello, in Vienna’s 19th district, but only got around to reading it last year. It’s wonderful!

The story was first published in several installments from 1881 to 1882 in a British children’s magazine under the title “The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys” by Stevenson under the pseudonym “Captain George North.” The book’s first edition was published by Cassell & Company, Limited, in 1883.

I bought a paperback edition of the “Collins Classics” series, published in 2013 by HarperCollinsPublishers. I can absolutely recommend this edition. I liked the book’s typography and cover design. The book contains a summary of the History of Collins, a short Life & Times chapter about Robert Louis Stevenson, and a fairly comprehensive Classic Literature: Words and Phrases chapter at the back of the book, adapted from the Collins English Dictionary.

Young readers will find this chapter especially useful, but even I was glad that I could look up the meaning of words like Accoucheur, bevers, or bandbox. The word’s meanings are not just explained, but sentences from the book, in which these words were used, are also listed in this chapter.

“Treasure Island” tells the story of a young boy, Jim Hawkins, who joins a ship’s crew (pirates!) to sail to the Caribbean to find buried treasure. The story takes place in the 1700s, although Stevenson does not state the exact year during which the story takes place. A mature Jim Hawkins looks back on his life, and tells this adventure of his youth. Here’s an excerpt from the online version, provided by Project Gutenberg:

“Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey, and the rest of these gentlemen having
asked me to write down the whole particulars about Treasure Island, from
the beginning to the end, keeping nothing back but the bearings of the
island, and that only because there is still treasure not yet lifted, I
take up my pen in the year of grace 17—, and go back to the time when
my father kept the Admiral Benbow inn and the brown old seaman with the
sabre cut first took up his lodging under our roof.”

Jim Hawkins is a wonderful character: likeable, ingenious, and brave; he fights pirates, for cryin’ out loud! And he wins!

I loved reading this book, even though it was written for children. If you have children, buy a copy for them; if you don’t have children, buy one anyway – you won’t regret it.

© Ingrid Haunold

My rating: 4 (of 5) “stars”

I own a Penguin Popular Classics edition, which was published in 1994. I can’t remember when or where I bought it, but only got around to reading it last year. Penguin no longer publishes the “Popular Classics” series, it was discontinued in 2013; But Penguin publishes several different editions of this book, including abridged versions for young readers. “David Copperfield” was originally published in twenty installments by Bradbury & Evans in 1849/1850.

Charles Dickens tells the story of David Copperfield, from the day of his birth to his days as a mature man. Copperfield is a wonderful character, and Charles Dickens tells a dramatic story which is still relevant today. Dickens was such an elegant writer, here is an excerpt, copied from the “Project Gutenberg” online version of the book: “Lovers had loved before, and lovers would love again; but no lover had loved, might, could, would, or should ever love, as I loved Dora.”

So why did I give the book only four out of five possible “stars?” — As much as I love his writing, Charles Dickens lingers. While reading the book, I frequently wished he had murdered some of his darlings….

The phrase “murder your darlings” means that writers should be ruthless during the editing process and cut any words or sentences that are superfluous; anything that doesn’t move the story forward; anything that an author thinks is oh-so-clever. Cut, and then cut some more!

The phrase “murder your darlings” is often attributed to the writer Scott F. Fitzgerald. But it was, in fact, Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch (1863-1944) in one of his lectures on the Art of Writing at the University of Cambridge, who first said “Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it—whole-heartedly—and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings.” (On Style, lecture delivered on January 28, 1914).

All too often, Charles Dickens lingered when he should’ve murdered his darlings. He described too many scenes in too much detail. While reading the book, too often I thought, “just get on with it!”

And that’s why I only gave the book four of five “stars.