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A review by louiza_read2live
A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe
4.0
Daniel Defoe uses a fictional character to narrate the devastation caused by the Plague 60 years before, in 1665 in London, where about 100,000 people lost their lives. The book reads like nonfiction and there are many facts that Defoe has written from the extensive research he had done. I would say that historical facts and true stories coalesce with some fictional stories and characters, but even that is probably not the best characterization of this book. Either way, it is easy to forget that this is a work of fiction.
The narrator is known only by his initials that according to the book's notes presumably stand for the initials of the name of Defoe's uncle, Henry Foe, from whom Defoe seems to probably have drawn certain aspects of his narrator's life; moreover, Henry Foe lived through the plague, and Daniel Defoe, besides his own studies and research, he would have known many of the facts he is recounting from his uncle's personal experience.
This is a fascinating book, albeit very sad as so many lives suffered and were lost. Although the language can get a little difficult and the writing style wearisome, I recommend it.
The main weakness I found in this book is that by the end sounds repetitive, especially when he seems to be going back and forth trying to defend the shutting of the houses, while at the same time he claims that the shutting of the houses did little to prevent the spread of the plague or that it made it worse by forcing healthy people to be shut in with the sick, and therefore more were infected and died. I think by this contradiction, Defoe could have been trying to show the fear and hopelessness people felt in front of the futility of trying to prevent the spread of such a potent disease and at the same time the desperate need to do something about, which made it difficult to find the right balance, and also shows the severity and unpredictability of the illness. I appreciated that; nevertheless, I found the repetitions very tiring and the reading became dull at some point.
The other issue is that there are no chapters or breaks anywhere in the book. The story is narrated in one long piece, and for me that made it more difficult to get through the last part as the style caused me to start losing interest.
Other than that, I liked the book, and I think it is a valuable resource in our understanding of that period of time that cost the lives of so many people in such a short time! Historians estimate that the plague decimated over 100,000 people from 1665 to 1666. London's population at the time was 460,000! Near or over 20% of the population was gone in just a year!
The narrator is known only by his initials that according to the book's notes presumably stand for the initials of the name of Defoe's uncle, Henry Foe, from whom Defoe seems to probably have drawn certain aspects of his narrator's life; moreover, Henry Foe lived through the plague, and Daniel Defoe, besides his own studies and research, he would have known many of the facts he is recounting from his uncle's personal experience.
This is a fascinating book, albeit very sad as so many lives suffered and were lost. Although the language can get a little difficult and the writing style wearisome, I recommend it.
The main weakness I found in this book is that by the end sounds repetitive, especially when he seems to be going back and forth trying to defend the shutting of the houses, while at the same time he claims that the shutting of the houses did little to prevent the spread of the plague or that it made it worse by forcing healthy people to be shut in with the sick, and therefore more were infected and died. I think by this contradiction, Defoe could have been trying to show the fear and hopelessness people felt in front of the futility of trying to prevent the spread of such a potent disease and at the same time the desperate need to do something about, which made it difficult to find the right balance, and also shows the severity and unpredictability of the illness. I appreciated that; nevertheless, I found the repetitions very tiring and the reading became dull at some point.
The other issue is that there are no chapters or breaks anywhere in the book. The story is narrated in one long piece, and for me that made it more difficult to get through the last part as the style caused me to start losing interest.
Other than that, I liked the book, and I think it is a valuable resource in our understanding of that period of time that cost the lives of so many people in such a short time! Historians estimate that the plague decimated over 100,000 people from 1665 to 1666. London's population at the time was 460,000! Near or over 20% of the population was gone in just a year!