Dickory Cronke

by Daniel Defoe

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, 18th Century

34 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1719

About the author

Daniel Defoe was an English novelist, journalist, merchant, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translations. He has been seen as one of the earliest proponents of the English novel, and helped to popularise the form in Britain with others such as Aphra Behn and Samuel Richardson. Defoe wrote many political tracts, was often in trouble with the authorities, and spent a period in prison. Intellectuals and political leaders paid attention to his fresh ideas and sometimes consulted him.
Defoe was a prolific and versatile writer, producing more than three hundred works—books, pamphlets, and journals—on diverse topics, including politics, crime, religion, marriage, psychology and the supernatural. He was also a pioneer of business journalism and economic journalism.

Reviews

[Zadignose]

Will I be required to read this again for the simple fact that I remember literally nothing about it?

[T.M. Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

What was I thinking?

I like to think that I can enjoy books of all genres. I thought, following some of my recent choices that I might enjoy a classic book by a classic author. I love watching period dramas, and the way in which they speak, so what could possibly go wrong? Daniel Defoe interested me as he once owned land near to where I grew up, and his influence is still around that area. I didn’t want to do the obvious and dive into Robinson Crusoe so I opted for this, the slightly humorously titled Dickory Cronke. Admittedly, the title should have been a giveaway that this book was clearly written before the ‘Misuse of Drugs Act’ came into power and that Mr Defoe must have imbibed more than his fair share to write this. I hate to give spoilers away in a review but I can sum up the ‘actual’ story of Dickory Cronke in 4 sentences:
Man lives life unable to speak.
Man has a stroke.
Man discovers he can speak after all.
Man dies.

But…..that’s only the half of it. Literally, the whole story is told hastily and finishes halfway through the book. And then it descends into what can only be described as another three parts, consisting of:
1. A pompous unintelligible stab at creating the next version of Æsops Fables.
2. An incredibly poor attempt at becoming the next Nostradamus with topics that are nothing to do with the story of Dickory Cronke. And….
3. A couple of rhyming poems thrown in for good measure.

On the plus side, it’s not the longest story in the world and is over rather quickly.

[India · Rating 1 out of 5]

oh my god this straight up sucked

[Sem · Rating 2 out of 5]

"The principal business of human life is run through within the short compass of twenty-four hours; and when you have taken a deliberate view of the present age, you have seen as much as if you had begun with the world, the rest being nothing else but an endless round of the same thing over and over again."

Very true, Dickory, very true.