Arrgh! I hated this book! I had always assumed two things about it:1) It was short
2) It was interesting
Turns out I was dramatically wrong on both counts! It's pointlessly long, and very, very little happens! If this is a recounting of true events, it could be forgiven -- but it isn't! It's fiction! There is no real character development, and very few surprises. I'll admit, I learned a little about how to catch goats, and I have a very clear mental image of the place, but Lord, it was boring. I cannot understand why it has endured all these years. I can't find anyone else who has read it -- I suspect it is one of those books where the idea is powerful, but not the execution, so it is remembered, but not read. It is the polar opposite of a book like Moby Dick, which manages to be interesting, entertaining, and meaningful. And if I had to hear "In a word" one more time, I was ready to smash the CDs to pieces!
So, fooey on you, Daniel Defoe, for wasting my time! You and your 300 year old book are not welcome in the Hall of Greatness! I banish thee to the dungeon, to rot with Emily Bronte and her fetid Wuthering Heights!
Agreed. And it appears that NBC has decided to adapt the story into a television series.
ReplyDeleteGiven how TV adaptations tend to drift pretty far from the course charted by their source material, perhaps it will be good.
But probably not.