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Robinson Crusoe

Daniel Defoe

Start date: April 1, 2022

Finish date: April 30, 2022

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What Members Thought

Oct 27, 2019 Antonomasia rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: british, 1001-books, guardian-1000, 2019, adventure, divine-comedy-booklovers, 18th-century

Oxford World's Classics edition ed. by Thomas Keymer.
I'd always wanted to *have read* the originals of stories like this, that are most famous in children's fairytale abridgements. But apart from Swift's Gulliver's Travels, which I read as a teenager because there was a yellowed old paperback in the house, I'd never bothered. I wanted to *have read* them, but didn't think I'd enjoy the reading process. (Gulliver's Travels only confirmed this.)

Robinson Crusoe did have its longueurs, and even most ...more

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Mar 17, 2019 Shirley (stampartiste) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: challenge-bingo-2019, read-classics

I loved this book. Just when I think it's time to read a contemporary novel, I read a classic like this one, and I think "it just can't get any better than this!" This book read more like an autobiography than a novel. Crusoe's adventures leading up to his shipwreck on the desert island, and the years he spent building a life for himself there were just enthralling. Defoe did such a masterful job of making this story come to life. Defoe published this novel in 1719, but it reads with contemporar ...more

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Sep 18, 2020 Tim Callicutt rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020-books, 100-essential-novels

Robinson Crusoe is definitely a product of its time. And while that is true for any novel, there are some books that transcend that time better than others. I believe that this novel is best understood as a historical artifact. For most modern readers, it fails to offer any substantive amount of edification or opportunities for personal reflection.

I don't buy into the idea that this is purely an (at best) outdated or (at worst) evil novel. It is simply a product of its time and is begging to be Robinson Crusoe is definitely a product of its time. And while that is true for any novel, there are some books that transcend that time better than others. I believe that this novel is best understood as a historical artifact. For most modern readers, it fails to offer any substantive amount of edification or opportunities for personal reflection.

I don't buy into the idea that this is purely an (at best) outdated or (at worst) evil novel. It is simply a product of its time and is begging to be deconstructed. It could easily lead to powerful discussions about the legacy of colonialism and Christianity's role in Western Civ.

Approaching this as a casual reader, though, made it a slog to get through. I feel that Defoe didn't have a clear view of what kind of book he wanted to produce. There are elements of adventure here, but never as thrilling as Treasure Island. There are elements of theological and psychological reflection here, but never as deep as Job or Augustine's Confessions. There are elements of reflective description, but never as detailed as Walden. Instead, we have a smorgasbord of styles packed into a package that fails to fully deliver any one of them.

At times, I had hope. Being a devout Christian myself, it always piqued my interest when Crusoe's meanderings turned towards the theological - especially in considering the sovereignty of God. But he never really explored those feelings or questions. He settled for pat summations where he praised God for being sovereign and moved on. There were occasional hints of wrestling, but they passed too quickly.

And this may point to the larger disappointment I had with the book. I ended feeling as if I understood the character of Crusoe no better than I would have from reading the Wikipedia summary. He remained a flat, uninteresting character with no psychological depth. While I don't judge all books by this standard, I would expect a first-person account to offer something. One grace of the book is that Defoe writes in a plain style and that it is not the epic length of some other classics. ...more

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Nov 22, 2020 Aaron Schmidt rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Many people read Robinson Crusoe as a survival story or adventure story, which I think, can be justified. I read Robinson Crusoe as story of survival, a story of faith, and story dealing with history. Many of the reviews I read are critical of Crusoe's (or Defoe's) opinions, beliefs, and actions throughout the novel, and of course a book written in the 18th century is going to differ from one written in the 21st century. The ideologies, government, opinions, beliefs, are all vastly different tha Many people read Robinson Crusoe as a survival story or adventure story, which I think, can be justified. I read Robinson Crusoe as story of survival, a story of faith, and story dealing with history. Many of the reviews I read are critical of Crusoe's (or Defoe's) opinions, beliefs, and actions throughout the novel, and of course a book written in the 18th century is going to differ from one written in the 21st century. The ideologies, government, opinions, beliefs, are all vastly different than they are today, to an extent. It's not only a story of survival by means of ingenuity and resourcefulness, it's a story of survival by means of faith. I appreciated this novel immensely. I appreciate its influence on modern survival stories and adventures. I appreciate the details, though lengthy at times, it paints a picture. I see people say the book is boring, in which I disagree. There are boring parts, but that makes the exciting parts that much more exciting. It also lays the groundwork. So what if we get 20 pages on the farming techniques on the island...it's important to Crusoe's well being and that is what this story is about. At times I felt like his survival was easy, but then again you have to not only look at this from the resources angle. It is apparent that Crusoe has a lot of resources, but it always goes back to faith as his primary source of survival. Overall I think you have to appreciate Defoe's craft, and his influence on literature and story telling. You cannot read this book as a story of "white dominance" because you will miss the point. Although one could argue the colonialism aspect of this novel, and it is for sure there, we cannot exclusively rate this book based on those feelings. It was written in the 1719 and learn something from this book, about faith, about history, about survival, about isolation, etc. This novel has a lot to offer, and it's sad that people have to diminish it's importance due to 21st century ideals that honestly weren't around in 1719. ...more

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