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Title: Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, Edward W. Dolch ISBN: 0-8116-2610-5 Publisher: Garrard Pub. Co. Pub. Date: 01 September, 1957 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.29 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.68 (96 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: "castaway" + "lord of the flies" = Robinson Crusoe
Comment: By now you know that Robinson Crusoe is a tale of a man shipwrecked on a deserted island. He lives off the land for 20-some years and develops all sorts of survival skills. With that said, here is my review:
My assignment in English class was to choose a book from the Romantic period. There was an abundance of girly stories, so I chose a book that I would feel comfortable reading--Robinson Crusoe.
The book is not terribly long, like other books in this era (Three Musketeers), though it is not a quick read. The book is enjoyable, but it took a lot of sitting down and trying to focus. It was easy to read, probably suitable for 8th graders, but I had trouble getting through the book, especially during the slow parts, and I'm a fast reader.
Robinson Crusoe is filled with religion, which put me off a bit. While I don't want to spoil anything, he allows freedom of religion on his island, but tries to make his Protestant buddy Friday convert to Christianity.
This story is definitely worth reading, especially because at some point you'll probably need to read it for school. It's a fun book, however it has dark moments, and some questionable incidents, such as selling a comrade into slavery. It is one of the better school-books I've read, having suffered through Scarlet Letter and other Puritan literature.
This book has been popular since it was published in the 1700s, an impressive feat. It is clearly a classic novel, and the sketchy scenes were normal back in the Romantic period. Slavery, racism, and no PETA means that this book was written without the limits we see today. Go ahead and read it if you like adventure or the movie Castaway. Four stars for good plot, good character development, bad slow parts, and overkill religious devotion.
Rating: 4
Summary: An Inspiration to the Common Man
Comment: Robinson Crusoe is the perfect treat for the wilderness lover. The novel takes the reader on a journey through many hardships that the main character encounters in order to display just how trying nature can be. Almost every new day, Crusoe must find and develop a new survival tactic in order to stay alive. There are several reasons why one should engulf in reading this book.
Robinson Crusoe displays strength and incredible will to survive. This can be very inspiring to someone who does not have a lot of confidence in themselves. Crusoe has faith in himself and God, believing that he will be guided in the right direction. God plays a large role in his everyday life. Crusoe never was a religious man before he was stranded on the island, but he believed God had allowed him to be the sole survivor of the shipwreck for a reason and he owed it to God to be the best man that he could be.
Another reason to read this book is that it shows that one can do whatever they put their mind to. Crusoe worked long and hard to create things that will facilitate his survival and make things more convenient for himself. He creates a protective shelter, makes his own tools, baskets, and pots, and even grows and raises his own food.
This book will also get many people to realize just how good their lives actually are. Many, not all, of us have lives that are not threatened by wondering how we will get our next meal or if someone or something is out to hunt us down, but Crusoe must face these dilemmas and find ways to secure himself. The wonderful thing about this novel is that it shows how difficult these tasks can be, yet Crusoe does not give up and he pursues his goals until they are accomplished.
This novel can instigate someone to try something new that perhaps thay were uneasy about doing before. Robinson is faced with so many new surroundings at once, yet deals with them so well. If he would have panicked, he eventually would have starved to death. Instead, Crusoe thinks logically and pursues what is needed to survive.
Robinson Crusoe is an amazing adventure novel that explores the life of a very strong-willed man. The main character tells his own story and it is as if he is speaking directly to the reader, which makes it seem even more like reality. Daniel Defoe has written a great novel.
Rating: 3
Summary: The Goods and The Bads
Comment: Description:
A middle-class Englishman rejects the comfortable lifestyle his station offers him in favor of a life of adventures. In the midst of adventuring, he is shipwrecked, alone, on a deserted island, where he lives for almost thirty years. The book is a first-hand account of his leaving England, his adventures, his years of isolation, and his return.
The Good:
Many schools of thought call Robinson Crusoe the first English novel, and it's interesting to see where the nowadays ubiquitous genre has its origin. Reading from Crusoe's perspective gives the book most of its interest, as it enables you to see the way a slightly rebellious Englishman thought (or, at least, the way Defoe assumed a slightly rebellious Englishman thought) about issues like the Spanish conquest of America, the "savages," and the bare necessities of life.
The Bad:
The text is repetitive and extremely preachy, especially when Crusoe finds religion and waxes philosophic about what being miserable really is. These phenomena are somewhat interesting the first time around, but Crusoe (Defoe?) never risks saying something only once. Many parts of it verge on the unbelievable, like when the shipwrecked sailor discovers a miraculous tree that grows quickly and sturdily wherever he puts it, which he then uses to build thick, living walls around his home. Some of the scenes that should be exciting fail to be because the language of the early 1700s doesn't lend itself well to action.
The Verdict:
It's an interesting work, but by no means a must-read. Crusoe is very self-centered throughout, which makes you wonder about whether his character is fit to function as a representative example of man left to the elements or not. Reading about how he goes about constructing a life for himself is interesting, but it lacks something because, well, it isn't true. What we're really reading is how Defoe imagines a man might build a life for himself, given the handicap of certain supplies left from his ship, etc. The book is, I think, very much a product of its time, and that's its most interesting quality. If you're looking for an interesting story of a man shipwrecked on an island, watch "Cast Away." If you want it from a slightly dry, 18th-century British perspective, you've got the right book.
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Title: Gulliver's Travels (Signet Classics (Paperback)) by Jonathan Swift ISBN: 0451527321 Publisher: Signet Book Pub. Date: 01 June, 1999 List Price(USD): $4.95 |
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Title: Treasure Island (Signet Classic) by Robert Louis Stevenson, New American Library Signet ISBN: 0451527046 Publisher: Signet Classics Pub. Date: 01 December, 1998 List Price(USD): $3.95 |
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Title: The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss ISBN: 0440415942 Publisher: Yearling Books Pub. Date: 13 April, 1999 List Price(USD): $4.99 |
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Title: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne ISBN: 0812550927 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 1995 List Price(USD): $3.99 |
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Title: Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne ISBN: 059043053X Publisher: Scholastic Pub. Date: 01 April, 1996 List Price(USD): $4.50 |
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