The Slow, Tedious Life and Workings of Robinson Crusoe

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	• Robinson Crusoe (Penguin Classics) Daniel Defoe Penguin Classics, 2003 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 6 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The Slow, Tedious Life and Workings of Robinson Crusoe

This might not be the wisest thing to do, but here goes.

Is "Robinson Crusoe" a classic? Yes. Iconic? Yes. Adventurous and well-placed? No.

We usually allow liberties for older novels. Common writing and language changes over time. However, Defoe's literary novel about a man stranded on a deserted island for 28 years seems to have problems beyond those liberties. Every section must be tediously described with every possible adjective that could fit the situation. The events of the book go far too slowly for this to be called an adventure, and while Defoe makes the time-transition seem natural for the most part (a difficult thing to do with stories that take place over years,) it doesn't make it any more interesting.

The character of Robinson is a personality, in that he has characteristics the reader can identify (though not necessarily identify with): he has goals that he doesn't know how to pursue, he's a bit oblivious to the workings of the world yet manages to make use of them while on his own, he's a whiner, a worker, a person who blames and takes blame, etc.

Unfortunately, while Robinson describes all his emotions to the reader, the words itself are very unemotional. I suppose this works if you look at the book as a re-writing of his account, but as a moving story... well, it fails to move you.

"Robinson Crusoe" is an important story. Not only is it one of the earlier novels in Europe's history, but the idea of being stranded on an island and having to make due for yourself without society or civilized luxuries is an important one that has made a wave throughout our culture, and has been regurgitated by various re-inventors plenty of times as well. However, as a story for itself, it isn't very engaging, and if it were up to me, I'd say Defoe could have used a stricter editor, to get his ideas and events across to the reader more smoothly without pushing them away from the book.

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The novel as parable

It is said of Robinson Crusoe that he in managing to survive for twenty - eight years on an isolated island in which he was for the most part alone provided a metaphor for Mankind itself in its solitary struggle to survive in this vast sea of a Universe. And that by his ingenuity and his resourcefulness he gave to all of us a demonstration of how we in living must learn to adapt and reconstruct our own world and lives as we go on.
And that thus in reading this work we are not reading the story of some strange shipwrecked figure from a few hundred years ago but rather reading the story of ourselves and our own struggle for survival.
In this it is not surprising that the sequel to the novel is considered far less compelling. And Crusoe's return after the death of his wife to the island he left is seen as somewhat of a failed adventure, especially as his faithful servant Friday was killed by savages in the process.
One is young and alone and can go far into distant worlds and survive. But when one is old and returns to those worlds seeking to find one's youth there one only finds those worlds have aged also- and the mirror they hold up to your face is not a flattering one.
I wonder now what it would be like to as a child set out in the world again to a distant land of adventure.
'Robinson Crusoe' lives in all of us, but perhaps most especially an really only to those who are young.

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You all know the story...

but the key point here is that you will get an authoritative text, an interesting introduction, and a well-bound book for under ten bucks. Amazon can get it used for you for even less.

I teach an English literature course and I know how much my students are fleeced on certain "Anthologies". Instead, I have them buy individual paperbacks like this one. And they appreciate the savings. This edition of "Robinson Crusoe" will be appreciated by casual readers and students alike.

Rocco Dormarunno
The College of New Rochelle

Unhurriedly Pragmatic Adventure Story

In the literary world it is perhaps blasphemy to say a bad word against Daniel Defoe's most acclaimed novel. So here goes. The fact that the book was originally titled The Life And Strange Surprising Adventures Of Robinson Crusoe illustrates the major flaw in Defoe's literary form. Put simply, this would be a far more interesting and gripping story were it not so superfluously lengthy. The author makes a habit of repeating himself, especially when it comes to the act of dispatching kittens, which seems to be more of an obsession here than octogenarian ladies are to MatronsApron. It is difficult, you may think, to keep the subject matter fresh when describing the daily tribulations of a fellow stranded on an island for thirty years, without occasionally repeating yourself. True, but perhaps a straightforward solution to this diminutive quandary would be to simply truncate the duration of the story. There are some wonderfully intriguing and suspenseful moments, and some juicy action to boot, but sadly these are gratuitously diluted by lengthy descriptions of the unremarkable everyday goings on in Crusoe's life, and rather than serving to build up the suspense, they merely obstruct the reader's relationship with the more exciting parts of the story.
However, those with more patience than my ignorant self will find in Robinson Crusoe a delightful tale, which as well as being a fictional documentary of the most unusual thirty years of Mr. Crusoe's life, also has time to ponder upon philosophical and theological ideas, in a style that makes the reader feel as if they are involved in the conflicts between the functionalist and cynical thoughts going on in Crusoe's mind. It may not be a gripping white-knuckle adventure, being rather more leisurely and acquiescent, but it is still rather easy to see why Robinson Crusoe is regarded by some as one of the greatest novels of all time.

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Have you ever lived a shipwrecked life?

Robinson Crusoe is a classic book about a shipwrecked man. The book recounts a man's experiences from young adulthood to late middle age - but even leaves room for a sequel. I found the book became more interesting as the story progressed.

Crusoe's life was filled with twists and turns, and perhaps a bit of luck that he survived so much. A great amount of details are given for how Crusoe tamed his land. Although the narrative was slightly repetitive at times and almost as if some details were added after-the-fact, the book does create the semblance of a real narrative - perhaps because of the repetitiveness and tacked-on details.

I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it. If the book seems a bit boring, keep going, it gets more interesting as it goes on.

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reviews: page 1, 2

Introduction by John Richetti

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