A Journal of the Plague Year 352506 219884448 2008-06-17T08:44:43Z E-Kartoffel 886257 /* Popular culture */ <!-- FAIR USE of A Journal of the Plague Year.JPG: see image description page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:A Journal of the Plague Year.JPG for rationale --> {{infobox Book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books --> | name = A Journal of the Plague Year | title_orig = | translator = | image = [[Image:Defoe Journal of the Plague Year.jpg|200px]] | image_caption = Title page of the original edition in 1722 | author = [[Daniel Defoe]] | cover_artist = | country = [[United Kingdom]] | language = [[English (language)|English]] | series = | genre = [[Historical novel]] | publisher = E. Nutt | release_date = [[1722 in literature|1722]] | media_type = | pages = | isbn = NA <!-- First released before ISBN system implemented --> | preceded_by = | followed_by = }} '''''A Journal of the Plague Year''''' is a [[novel]] by [[Daniel Defoe]], first published in March [[1722 in literature|1722]]. The novel is a [[fiction]]alised account of one man's experiences of the year [[1665]], in which the [[Great Plague of London|Great Plague]] struck the city of [[London]]. The book is told roughly [[chronological]]ly, though without sections or chapter headings. Although it purports to have been written several years after the event, it actually was written in the years just prior to the book's first publication in March 1722. Defoe was only five years old in 1665, and the book itself was published under the initials ''H. F.'' The novel probably was based on the journals of Defoe's uncle, Henry Foe. In the book, Defoe goes to great pains to achieve an effect of [[verisimilitude]], identifying specific neighborhoods, streets, and even houses in which events took place. Additionally, it provides tables of casualty figures and discusses the credibility of various accounts and anecdotes received by the narrator. The novel often is compared to the actual, contemporary accounts of the plague in the diary of [[Samuel Pepys]]. Defoe's account, although fictionalized, is far more systematic and detailed than Pepys's first-person account. ==Popular culture== * In the [[Daria]] [[telemovie]] ''[[Is It Fall Yet?]]'', ''A Journal of the Plague Year'' is on Daria's bed when Helen, surprised, overhears Daria consoling Quinn. When she is discovered, Helen makes the excuse that she came to Daria's room to borrow a book from Daria, unknowingly grabbing ''A Journal of the Plague Year'' off the bed and shuddering in disgust when she figures out which book she took. * The movie ''[[Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]'' incorporates several elements from the novel, including the phrase "Bring out your dead" and the idea of carting off a man who is still alive to be buried. * During the [[1966]] [[Fahrenheit 451 (1966 film)|film]] ''[[Fahrenheit 451]]'', directed by [[Francois Truffaut]], a copy of ''A Journal of the Plague Year'' can be seen being burnt during the book burning scene at [[Guy Montag|Montag's]] house. *''[[A Journal of the Plague Year (album)|A Journal of the Plague Year]]'' is the title of an album by [[Tom Rapp]]. ==External links== *{{gutenberg|no=376}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Journal of the Plague Year, A}} [[Category:1722 novels]] [[Category:Novels by Daniel Defoe]] {{18thC-novel-stub}} [[de:Die Pest zu London]]