Robinson crusoe book reviews

Author: Daniel Defoe

Number of Pages: 320

Publisher: Modern Library

Release Date: 1719

“Robinson Crusoe, set ashore on an island after a terrible storm at sea, is forced to make do with only a knife, some tobacco, and a pipe. He learns how to build a canoe, make bread, and endure endless solitude. That is, until, twenty-four years later, when he confronts another human being.”

– Goodreads.com

Let me start by saying that my initial expectations for this novel were not high. To be honest, I really didn’t think I would enjoy it at all when I first saw it listed on the syllabus of my Introduction to Literature class. All I knew about the story was that a man gets stuck on a deserted island and that the novel was him narrating his experiences there. Beyond that basic premise of the plot, I had no idea what it was about. His survival story alone didn’t appeal to me very much, mostly because I’ve read so many survival stories and seen so many movies about survival (and nothing can compare to Lost!). It might have been exciting back in the eighteenth century, but now– unless they’re done incredibly well– these types of stories tend to feel unoriginal and overused. All in all, I really was expecting to have to force myself to trudge through the boredom, monotony, and triviality I thought this novel would exude.

You can imagine my surprise, then, when I realized that I actually enjoyed reading this book! It’s certainly not my favorite book of all time, but it provided such food for thought that I couldn’t help but look forward to discussing it in class and seeing what new layers of meaning our analysis could uncover. Crusoe’s story is one of survival, but it is not about survival solely in the physical sense. The story soon transforms into a discussion about religion and whether or not God is controlling our fates or if our futures are simply the consequences of our

Title:  Robinson Crusoe
Author: Daniel Defoe
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Date: 2009 (1719)
Genre: Classics / Adventure Fiction
Summary: ‘I made him know his Name should be Friday, which was the Day I sav’d his Life…I likewise taught him to say Master’. Robinson Crusoe’s seafaring adventures are abruptly ended when he is shipwrecked, the solitary survivor on a deserted island. He gradually creates a life for himself, building a house, cultivating the land, and making a companion from the native whose life he saves.

I enjoyed Robinson Crusoe much more than I expected to. I did read it about five years ago but I couldn’t remember anything about it which is why I wanted to re-read it for the Classics Club challenge.

Robinson Crusoe is a story of one man’s survival in solitude but it also includes pirates, shipwrecks, cannibals, mutiny, and much more. It’s a very rich tale which examines isolation, loneliness and the will to survive. Crusoe, as a narrator, is a bit annoying at times but I do sympathise with him somewhat. I, too, would have ‘fled […] like one pursued’ if I saw a footprint in the sand, that wasn’t my own, after being stranded alone on an island after 20-odd years.

This particular edition of Robinson Crusoe isn’t split into chapters which means that the narrative is continuous which is something I really enjoyed but it can be difficult to find an appropriate place to stop reading if you need to. The continuous narrative almost invites you to read the story in one sitting. There are journal excerpts scattered throughout the novel which do bring some much-needed variety into the narrative. Occasionally, the narrative was repetitive, especially before Crusoe meets other people on the island, but he’s stranded on an island for a long time so that’s to be expected if Defoe was trying to be realistic.

Defoe’s writing is very clever, full of intricate detai

Title: Robinson Crusoe
Author: Daniel Defoe
Date Of Version Reviewed: 1994
Publisher: Puffin Classics
RRP: £3.99

What the book is about… Impulsive young man Robinson Crusoe takes a voyage with his crew setting sail from Brazil. Upon crashing the crew all perish except one; Crusoe himself. We following Robinson as he negotiates his inner turmoil and loss of society, his genius ways to sustain himself on a desert island and the trials and tribulations that come with it. So what happens when Crusoe finds a human footprint on the beach one day? This  tale has been captured in a variety of forms including the Tom Hanks movie ‘Castaway’.

The Positives…

Simple plain English! One of the many issues that people have with reading pre 1900s works is the language. All the pretentious sounding bullshit. This, however, really shows how literature can be accessible even those pieces written in the 1700s. The flow and pace of the novel is expertly executed however there are drawbacks which I will highlight shortly.

We get deep into the narrator’s internal world, develop an understanding of the feeling and experience of being shipwrecked on a desert island. Crusoe does gain confidence and begins to lead going forward however this is not as well defined as I would have liked (see drawbacks). We get a good picture of the island… the lay of the land with all of it’s deep valleys and high hilltops. Defoe really taps into some wonderfully inventive ways that the Crusoe survives alone in such an environment.

The relationship between Crusoe and his first friend on the island is lovely and well portrayed. It really demonstrates the attitudes toward race and slavery in the 1700s, with Friday being utterly devoted to the man that saved his life. There is a somewhat uncomfortable superiority complex that seeps through the words of the narrator though Defoe is not sparing with the compliments for his friend. Defoe shows Friday as

Robinson Crusoe is an incredibly fun novel to read. It is a fictional autobiography about the character Robinson Crusoe and his adventures while shipwrecked on an island. While the book does use some confusing language at times, the creative results it produces are greatly entertaining. The book starts slow, however, the pacing of the book almost depicts the exact development of Crusoe through his stagnant start and then a life of adventure later on. Around a third into the book, Robinson Crusoe simply states that he would focus on only the important parts of his adventure due to his lack of ink. It is at this point where the book starts to shine, and Robinson's island survival starts to mix supernaturalism and realism. The novel does not have any super deep themes and rather opts to just tell a straightforward story, unlike many modern island survival novels that attempt to be thought-provoking. Overall, the novel was a fantastic read. I would recommend this book to any person that enjoys adventure and survival.