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3.17 AVERAGE
3.17 AVERAGE
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.
A wonderful book for the detail of Robinson's survival on the island. Good to read the original having the children's versions in my head. Although, it does go on a bit and could have done with some editing. The ending fell a little flat as he went about tidying up his affairs. There was no real commentary on the struggle to readapt to life off his solitary island and how the times had changed. That would almost be another book in itself.
Wow I really did not enjoy this at all. I normally love classics but this was unbearable. The sermonizing about God was boring, the pacing was very uneven, and the racism was blatant even for back then. It's a shame too, because the set-up is such a striking and intriguing one: a man on a deserted island survives many years and one day finds a stranger's footprint on the beach. There are so many different, better ways the story could have gone other than "he converts and pretty much enslaves a cannibal and then kills a bunch more cannibals and then a bunch of random people show up on the island all at once and he becomes their king, and eventually he goes back to Europe and there's a weird thing with a bear, and then he goes back to his island to visit." I'm glad I didn't have to read this for school, I'd have thrown a fit.
I really enjoyed my first adult reading of Robinson Crusoe. It brought back fond memories of my father reading this to me in my youth and I have always enjoyed stranded on a desert island scenarios and Crusoe is the grandfather of them all. The language and structure can be difficult but I enjoyed the spiritual aspects and found the actual survival sections of particular interest.
adventurous
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Questo è stato per me uno di quei libri che si conoscono da sempre ma che non si sono letti. Alla mia veneranda età ho quindi deciso di colmare la lacuna ed ecco che, già dopo poche righe, scopro che Robinson Crusoe non si chiama così ma Robinson Kreutzaner! Sto ancora riprendendomi dal colpo. Sciocchezze a parte devo dire che il romanzo porta bene i suoi trecento e passa anni e si fa leggere tutto d'un fiato regalando al lettore una bella storia di avventure. Certo Defoe, che, tra parentesi, nell'introduzione scopro si chiamava Foe e ha cambiato il proprio cognome all'apice del successo!, è figlio del suo tempo e come tale non riesce a fare a meno di infarcire tutto il romanzo di conversioni e massime edificanti che se da una parte a volte risultano un poco ripetitive dall'altra non guastano comunque lo scorrere della narrazione. Molto più irritante la disinvoltura con cui il nostro eroe distribuisce morte e sofferenza e schiavitù a tutti gli animali che incontra, ad eccezione di alcuni fortunati che decide di accogliere nella sua vita per alleviare la sua solitudine. Ma, ripeto, ogni epoca ha la sua sensibilità e d'altra parte non è che la nostra si dimostri molto migliore da questo punto di vista.
In ogni caso, Robinson è protagonista di un percorso personale che lo porta a diventare, dal giovane benestante e perennemente insoddisfatto che era, un uomo maturo, consapevole delle sue capacità, in grado di sopravvivere grazie alla sua inventiva e alla sua audacia, e capace anche di arrivare dopo lunghi anni di sonno interiore ad una profonda Fede in Dio e nella Provvidenza. Polemiche a parte, giudizio positivo sul romanzo ! Quindi buon divertimento a chi decide di avventurarsi nella sua lettura.
In ogni caso, Robinson è protagonista di un percorso personale che lo porta a diventare, dal giovane benestante e perennemente insoddisfatto che era, un uomo maturo, consapevole delle sue capacità, in grado di sopravvivere grazie alla sua inventiva e alla sua audacia, e capace anche di arrivare dopo lunghi anni di sonno interiore ad una profonda Fede in Dio e nella Provvidenza. Polemiche a parte, giudizio positivo sul romanzo ! Quindi buon divertimento a chi decide di avventurarsi nella sua lettura.
slow-paced
i have never once in my life enjoyed a book less
This was good, but I can see why it would be tempting to read an abridged version. It got somewhat repetitive with him telling about events that happened and the beginning and ending weren't that exciting. Him being on the island was the most interesting part. I feel that my survival skills are now greatly benefited from reading this story! (Of course I do hope I never need to use this new knowledge.)