Reviews

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, Guy Pocock

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jlabrie337's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

A good classic book that describes a fun setting on a deserted island. It really makes you think about what you would do in certain scenarios if put in that situation. I personally didn't like how much it seemed to drag on towards the end, with lots on repetitive talk about daily activities that we've already learned about. Otherwise, it was a fun read

sohxpie's review against another edition

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challenging slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Firstly it would be rather ignorant to judge a book published in 1719 with my 2024 mindset, society obviously has vastly different values now. With that in mind, how crazy is it that this book was written over 300 years ago?! Anyway I only read it because it was on my 'Top 100 Books' poster but unfortunately I didn't really enjoy it. I found it incredibly difficult to read with the lack of chapters, I really struggled to know when was a good point to pause reading and then when I went to continue reading, I couldn't make sense of where I was. It was rather frustrating. I will say that Defoe did a fantastic job at writing the time jumps and covering such a long time period in a relatively short novel. It was all so natural, the narrator mentions something he did and casually drops how long he's been on the island. There are no sudden jarring time jumps or drawn out passages, it's simple and effective. I really enjoyed that aspect of the novel. Story wise, I felt that the latter part of the novel when other characters such as Friday were introduced, was more entertaining. Personally I enjoy more action and character interaction so the first part of the novel was fairly boring for me. I guess I can see why this novel is still fairly important today but on the other hand, I feel like there are several other books and authors who should have been included in my Top 100 list instead. I wouldn't say I'm glad I read this novel but at least I can now say I have read it.