Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe

Frankenstein‘s Monster, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dracula, Tarzan, Robinson Crusoe et al have left the confines of the book covers and become icons of our cultural heritage. Robinson Crusoe is the most successful of the lot, I‘ve read that the novel is more widespread than the bible, it has been translated into 110 (!) languages. I know that you know the basic facts of the story and that there isn‘t the danger of my spoiling the plot for you - after all the novel is told in the first person and only a survivor can tell it - but have you actually read the original? The nearest I ever got was an abridged and simplified (language-wise) version for pupils, I‘ve ...  Read the complete review

Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, depicts an 18th century trader gripped by a wanderlust who finds himself shipwrecked on a tropical island where he is forced to cultivate hidden survival skills, re-evaluating his own values in the process. The story is told retrospectively by Crusoe and written in a style which is extremely dry and thorough, and much of it is very tedious to read through. Crusoe busies himself not just with the business of survival but with technological and economic advancement and the pursuit of luxury, all of which is documented exhaustively. The reader is subjected to endless painstaking descriptions of Crusoe's trial and error attempts to ...  Read the complete review

OK time for another review of one of the books that I have to study for my English degree. This time the book is Robinson Crusoe and despite the opinions of many other students I really enjoyed reading the book. Robinson Crusoe was written by Daniel Defoe and published in 1719. The book despite being written in his sixtieth year was Defoe's first novel and is quite often seen as the first English novel. Robinson Crusoe is a trader. His father is also a trader and he believes strongly in the middle-life and tries to impose this way of living on his son. Robinson however rejects this way of life viewing it as the boring road and chooses for himself a ...  Read the complete review

In recent times, this classic children's text has been reconsidered in some surprising ways. I first read Robinson Crusoe when I was about ten (Understanding not all of it.)and re read it several years ago as part of my English literature degree. From my childhood, I remember a fairly harmles story about a bloks stuck on an island rearing goats, growing corn and trying to make pots. Oh, and there was man Friday. These days, Robinson Crusoe is regarded by academics as being a book about colonialism. After all, we have one English man becoming King of an island (which is clearly home to some other people.) Crusoe's treatment of Man Friday is ...  Read the complete review

Robinson Crusoe is a beautiful novel that was written by Daniel Defoe, it was first published in 1719. It was arguably the first novel to ever be published which is no suprise given the date! The book really is superbly written throughout and I found it a real pleasure to read. The novel is about 270 pages and contains an epilogue. Daniel Defoe is seen by many to be one of the most famous writers in English Literature and after reading this novel it is easy to see why; I would really recommend it. The novel is actually a fiction autobiography about the man named Robinson Crusoe. He is a man who is the sole survivor of a shipwreck just off Venesuila and he ...  Read the complete review