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3.17 AVERAGE
3.17 AVERAGE
read this for a uni class. when you consider the historical and social context of this book you can sort of look past the blatant racism and colonial messages but even excluding those aspects this book just didn’t do much for me. i found it fairly boring and robinson crusoe to be a unlikeable protagonist. i just find it hard to pity a guy who was advised his whole upbringing to be content and not pursue adventures on the sea, who then gets on a boat and it immediately shipwrecks him???? also his personality just felt so flippant, one second he had a God-complex, calling himself the king of the island and thanking ‘Providence’ for rescuing him, and then the second something goes wrong he works himself up and suddenly forgets how blessed he is????
the only real thing that saved this book for me was the moments where defoe was strangely really profound and progressive???? there’s a few monologues (specifically in regards to robinson’s encounters with the cannibals) that were really interesting, e.g his recognition of his and their differing cultural perspectives and how he doesn’t have the right to murder them just because he disagrees with them
anyways i probably wouldn’t read it again it just wasn’t for me
the only real thing that saved this book for me was the moments where defoe was strangely really profound and progressive???? there’s a few monologues (specifically in regards to robinson’s encounters with the cannibals) that were really interesting, e.g his recognition of his and their differing cultural perspectives and how he doesn’t have the right to murder them just because he disagrees with them
anyways i probably wouldn’t read it again it just wasn’t for me
"I am not superstitious; I have read a heap of books in my time; I am a scholar in my own way. Though turned seventy, I possess an active memory, and legs to correspond. You are not to take it, if you please, as the saying of an ignorant man, when I express my opinion that such a book as Robinson Crusoe never was written, and never will be written again." Gabriel Betteredge in The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins.
Really interesting perspective into the way Christianity dominated thinking and literature for so long. Lots of "othering". White superiority, intense judgment of others, double standards, etc.
It was also interesting to read about how many of the same interpersonal issues (e.g. between parents and children) still exist today.
It was also interesting to read about how many of the same interpersonal issues (e.g. between parents and children) still exist today.
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Read for class and I was dreading reading this book because of how boring it seemed. Somehow it was worse than I thought. Hundreds of pages of the most mundane tasks in excruciating detail, and casual racism everywhere. (I get that this is from the 1700s and that was the general attitude of the British towards racialized people so I expected it. However, reading this literally brought nothing to me or expanded my knowledge in any way and was super unenjoyable to begin with, so it made reading about the racism/colonialism feel extra pointless.) I could literally not bring myself to care what happened to the main character and wasn’t interested in his story at all. There are much better classics, travel writing, survival stories, etc out there and I wish I could have read one of those instead of this absolute waste of time.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I think knowing the tale is enough. The actual text itself isn't that entertaining, go watch castaway instead.
In his collection of essays, published as "Why Read Classics?" Italian writer Italo Calvino explains that classics are works we re-visit and re-read again - not only they create our collective memories, they never exhaust possibilities of interpretations, although they sound familiar they might surprise with new discoveries and they have power to enchant the reader although they might have been created in completely different times. "Robinson Crusoe" neatly fits all these definitions: simultaneously ancient museum piece and exciting adventure novel, it has been translated and re-created into various media to the point that we feel as we know everything about it, but if you attempt to actually re-visit this old friend, you might be surprised how strongly it still hold the spell on the reader. It is a perfect and quite unforgettable piece of escapism literature, camouflaged as adventure novel but in fact Crusoe's journeys are inward as much as outward - superficially we might see the main character just as a young and hot-headed adventurer who falls from one danger into another, however since he is stranded alone on desert island for a lengthy period of time, its just natural that he reflects and meditates about the life, destiny, faith and providence that brought him there and saved his life.
Majority of these probably went over my head when I first read the novel as a precocious little reader and back than I was too excited about adventure aspects of desert island survivor and his daily fights with elements - aspects which are still a thrill to read, mind you - Daniel Defoe had deservedly earned everlasting fame with painstaking description of every little detail his Crusoe had to go trough in order to survive, until it actually hypnotises reader into breathless excitement about mundane survivor techniques. After years of solitude and main focus on food, grain, goats and such, the discovery of another human footprint in the sand comes as the most thrilling moment in the novel - and this is just a start of completely new turn in the story already full of surprises. Reading it again, several decades and a whole lifetime of experience later, these adventures are still thrilling but they take a second place when compared to Crusoe's inner life and journey that his lonely spirit travels between desperation and hope. Separated from any kind of human contact, he is left absolutely alone to either busy himself with basic survival or (on occasion of rainy days and illness) meditate about destiny, God and chain of accidents that brought him here - naturally he gets in low spirits and succumbs to depression from time to time, though eventually the pride in "his kingdom" takes over and at certain point he actually feels affectionately towards the place that at the beginning seemed dangerous and unfriendly. When current of the Sea takes him almost away from security of the island, Crusoe actually feels horrified - on one hand, he wants to escape from this place, on the other, this is only security he knows so he desperately finds his way back. Once Friday comes along, the story picks up though I actually loved everything that led to this moment, years of solitude and hard work. As expected the language and writing style are extremely old fashioned and flowery, which in my opinion gives the whole work even better quality, since its clearly written centuries ago and we are constantly aware this kind of prose serves almost as time capsule - from my middle-aged perspective, this gives the whole novel completely different aspect and I honestly loved it because of the way it was written.
Majority of these probably went over my head when I first read the novel as a precocious little reader and back than I was too excited about adventure aspects of desert island survivor and his daily fights with elements - aspects which are still a thrill to read, mind you - Daniel Defoe had deservedly earned everlasting fame with painstaking description of every little detail his Crusoe had to go trough in order to survive, until it actually hypnotises reader into breathless excitement about mundane survivor techniques. After years of solitude and main focus on food, grain, goats and such, the discovery of another human footprint in the sand comes as the most thrilling moment in the novel - and this is just a start of completely new turn in the story already full of surprises. Reading it again, several decades and a whole lifetime of experience later, these adventures are still thrilling but they take a second place when compared to Crusoe's inner life and journey that his lonely spirit travels between desperation and hope. Separated from any kind of human contact, he is left absolutely alone to either busy himself with basic survival or (on occasion of rainy days and illness) meditate about destiny, God and chain of accidents that brought him here - naturally he gets in low spirits and succumbs to depression from time to time, though eventually the pride in "his kingdom" takes over and at certain point he actually feels affectionately towards the place that at the beginning seemed dangerous and unfriendly. When current of the Sea takes him almost away from security of the island, Crusoe actually feels horrified - on one hand, he wants to escape from this place, on the other, this is only security he knows so he desperately finds his way back. Once Friday comes along, the story picks up though I actually loved everything that led to this moment, years of solitude and hard work. As expected the language and writing style are extremely old fashioned and flowery, which in my opinion gives the whole work even better quality, since its clearly written centuries ago and we are constantly aware this kind of prose serves almost as time capsule - from my middle-aged perspective, this gives the whole novel completely different aspect and I honestly loved it because of the way it was written.
Gæinn er á eyjunni í 28 ár. Á þeim tíma var hann mikið að velta fyrir sér ýmsum pælingum um trú, sjálfsþurft, siðferði og samfélag. Mér finnst það áhugaverðustu og besta partarnir af bókinni.
Minna áhugavert og skemmtilegt eru langar lýsingar á því þegar hann er að reyna búa til pott, rækta bygg eða sjá um geitur. Fyrri hluti bókarinnar samanstendur eiginlega að mestu af þannig pörtum.
Það er eitt brilliant móment í síðari hluta bókarinnar sem situr í mér. En á heildina litið var bara of mikið af leiðinlegum pörtum (sem er nú kannski eðlilegt þegar þú ert fastur á eyðieyju í 28 ár en það þarf ekki að segja frá öllu). Það hefði líklega verið öðruvísi að lesa hana árið 1719 þegar hún kom út en það er víst orðið of seint.
2 stjörnur af 5. Ekki alslæm en mæli ekkert sérstaklega með henni.
Minna áhugavert og skemmtilegt eru langar lýsingar á því þegar hann er að reyna búa til pott, rækta bygg eða sjá um geitur. Fyrri hluti bókarinnar samanstendur eiginlega að mestu af þannig pörtum.
Það er eitt brilliant móment í síðari hluta bókarinnar sem situr í mér. En á heildina litið var bara of mikið af leiðinlegum pörtum (sem er nú kannski eðlilegt þegar þú ert fastur á eyðieyju í 28 ár en það þarf ekki að segja frá öllu). Það hefði líklega verið öðruvísi að lesa hana árið 1719 þegar hún kom út en það er víst orðið of seint.
2 stjörnur af 5. Ekki alslæm en mæli ekkert sérstaklega með henni.