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3.17 AVERAGE
3.17 AVERAGE
Robinson Crusoe. Think cast-way, the 18th century version. After a shipwreck, Robinson Crusoe finds himself alone on an island, an island he names the “Island of Despair.”
A few weeks ago I was at Barnes & Noble. Did you know that they print their own books now? Cheap paperback classics, currently by 2 get 1 free. So I, a shopper always looking for a great deal, stocked up on classics I’ve never read. Like Robinson Crusoe.
I knew the story and understood references. Kind of like Moby Dick, you know it’s about the whale but you haven’t actually finished the book. (Which, if you’ve actually read Moby Dick cover to cover, every word, you should win an award or something. Seriously, it’s impossible to finish. I’ve tried…multiple times.)
So I picked up Robinson Crusoe from my stack of classics.
While Daniel Defoe wrote the story of Robin Crusoe in 1719, I was surprised to relate easily to Robin and his story. The themes and ideas are timeless.
In the first pages we meet Robin Crusoe, a man worried about money, and making more of it. But, as usual, once he has it he becomes obsessed with wanting more. Robin has a nice farm, but the prospect of making more money is ultimately what gets him back out to sea, and washed up on the “Island of despair.”
From beginning to end we see Robin transform. At one point while exploring the wreckage of a ship, Robin finds chests filled with gold. But that doesn’t matter to him. All he wants is a pair of shoes:
I would have given it all for three or four pair of English shoes and stocking, which were things I greatly wanted, but had not had on my feet now for many years. (188, B&N edition).
Throughout this book, Defoe makes you question what’s important. What matters the most to you? What would you do the survive or find meaning in your life?
Robin Crusoe survives a horrible wreck, but he lives alone on the island for over 25 years, only speaking to a parrot he taught to talk. But he finds meaning in his life, breeding cattle, farming, building shelters, even finding some hope in a Bible. Not once do we hear him wish he didn’t survive the wreckage.
In fact, from the moment Robin arrives on the island, he goes into survival mode. He’s practical and plans for the future, salvaging what he can from the wreck and building a shelter.
So if you haven’t read Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, give it a try. I promise it’s better than Moby Dick.
What’s most important in your life? And what would you do if that one thing was taken?
A few weeks ago I was at Barnes & Noble. Did you know that they print their own books now? Cheap paperback classics, currently by 2 get 1 free. So I, a shopper always looking for a great deal, stocked up on classics I’ve never read. Like Robinson Crusoe.
I knew the story and understood references. Kind of like Moby Dick, you know it’s about the whale but you haven’t actually finished the book. (Which, if you’ve actually read Moby Dick cover to cover, every word, you should win an award or something. Seriously, it’s impossible to finish. I’ve tried…multiple times.)
So I picked up Robinson Crusoe from my stack of classics.
While Daniel Defoe wrote the story of Robin Crusoe in 1719, I was surprised to relate easily to Robin and his story. The themes and ideas are timeless.
In the first pages we meet Robin Crusoe, a man worried about money, and making more of it. But, as usual, once he has it he becomes obsessed with wanting more. Robin has a nice farm, but the prospect of making more money is ultimately what gets him back out to sea, and washed up on the “Island of despair.”
From beginning to end we see Robin transform. At one point while exploring the wreckage of a ship, Robin finds chests filled with gold. But that doesn’t matter to him. All he wants is a pair of shoes:
I would have given it all for three or four pair of English shoes and stocking, which were things I greatly wanted, but had not had on my feet now for many years. (188, B&N edition).
Throughout this book, Defoe makes you question what’s important. What matters the most to you? What would you do the survive or find meaning in your life?
Robin Crusoe survives a horrible wreck, but he lives alone on the island for over 25 years, only speaking to a parrot he taught to talk. But he finds meaning in his life, breeding cattle, farming, building shelters, even finding some hope in a Bible. Not once do we hear him wish he didn’t survive the wreckage.
In fact, from the moment Robin arrives on the island, he goes into survival mode. He’s practical and plans for the future, salvaging what he can from the wreck and building a shelter.
So if you haven’t read Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, give it a try. I promise it’s better than Moby Dick.
What’s most important in your life? And what would you do if that one thing was taken?
DNF at Chapter 8. I'm bored. There is better literature from this time period. Just because a book is a classic, it does not make it a good or engaging read. Also, I know you can't read this novel without pushing aside a modern mindset, but god do I hate Crusoe.
adventurous
informative
reflective
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:
No
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Hard to know how to rate this one. Robinson Crusoe is a fkd up story about colonization and white supremacy. Written 300 years ago, although a fictional novel, Robinson Crusoe is also a piece of history that represents life and beliefs at the time of booming colonialism. Defoe wrote Robinson Crusoe because it was what people wanted to hear: a glamorous “colonialism success story”. As a reader who does not condone these beliefs, it is incredibly frustrating reading this novel. Crusoe’s character does not develop over time and he continues to take over land that’s not his, control others, push his own beliefs, and view other cultures as lesser. He recreates civilization as he knows it despite having the opportunity to start fresh or learn from others. When he captures a prisoner and takes him as a servant, he continues to call him a savage and view him as a creature despite developing friendship/brotherhood/partnership with him for decades. Defoe wants readers to feel bad for Crusoe as he encounters struggles but the whole reason Crusoe got himself into a shipwreck was because he was on his way to pick up slaves, goddammit! The novel re-affirms what English people thought at the time re: superiority, cultural imperialism. Not to mention Crusoe is the typical “Christian” who only turns to God when he needs something. The story perpetuates the “self-made man” as the American Dream, which I find horrendous. Overall, not a good story. However, I find value in reading it as a piece to reflect upon as colonialism continues to this day. Many of the author’s beliefs & protagonist’s behaviours continue today in the same & new forms.
Edit: every character in this book is a man.
Edit: every character in this book is a man.
This is another children's adaptation of Robinson Crusoe published around the same time as James Baldwin's better-known [b:Robinson Crusoe Written Anew for Children|285840|Robinson Crusoe Written Anew for Children|James Baldwin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347621067l/285840._SX50_.jpg|277328] (1905). Both were composed by professional (and American) educators, but this one is aimed at a younger audience. McMurry and Husted specify grades two and three, whereas Baldwin's seems targeted more at ages 10-12. Though both leave out Crusoe's adventures before and after the island (such as his period of enslavement by the Moors and trek with Friday across the Pyrenees), this version does include the rescue of Friday's father and the Spaniard, which Baldwin's does not. There is also a sentence at the end that depicts Friday making the conscious choice to leave with Crusoe rather than return home, as opposed to expecting the reader to just take it for granted that of course he would abandon his family and people for more "civilized" lands.
The cannibalism and language referring to "savages" and whatnot remain, however. I know I keep reiterating this in all my Crusoe reviews, but the Carib Indians (Friday's identified nation in the original text) were not cannibals. There has no been archaeological evidence found anywhere in the Caribbean and the surviving Caribs on Dominica state they have no oral history of such practices. The whole thing is a lie propagated by Columbus after the Spanish Crown specified only natives who were cannibals could be enslaved and exploited. Encountering this portrayal time and again in both the 1720 original and adaptations made over the subsequent two hundred years really puts into perspective how long the global regime of white supremacist imperialism lasted.
A third version called [b:An American Robinson Crusoe|1396888|An American Robinson Crusoe|Samuel Buell Allison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348463262l/1396888._SX50_.jpg|1387059] was published in 1918 by a Chicago school superintendent.
The cannibalism and language referring to "savages" and whatnot remain, however. I know I keep reiterating this in all my Crusoe reviews, but the Carib Indians (Friday's identified nation in the original text) were not cannibals. There has no been archaeological evidence found anywhere in the Caribbean and the surviving Caribs on Dominica state they have no oral history of such practices. The whole thing is a lie propagated by Columbus after the Spanish Crown specified only natives who were cannibals could be enslaved and exploited. Encountering this portrayal time and again in both the 1720 original and adaptations made over the subsequent two hundred years really puts into perspective how long the global regime of white supremacist imperialism lasted.
A third version called [b:An American Robinson Crusoe|1396888|An American Robinson Crusoe|Samuel Buell Allison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348463262l/1396888._SX50_.jpg|1387059] was published in 1918 by a Chicago school superintendent.
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Not what I initially imagined the story to be, but very interesting nonetheless.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I picked up this book because I remembered loving the NBC show "Crusoe." Unfortunately, this was one of those rare cases when the TV adaption was better than the original.
adventurous
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No