booksinbedinthornhill 's review for:

Robinson Crusoe: 300th Anniversary Edition by Daniel Defoe

4.0

adventurous dark hopeful medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Defoe's Robinson Crusoe has been called (by no less than James Joyce) the first English novel. I had the pleasure of reading the 300th Anniversary Edition from Restless Books. It opens with Jamaica Kincaid's "Introduction" which first quotes Joyce (who calls the character Robinson Crusoe the "true symbol of British conquest") and then continues as a satiric letter from Kincaid to Crusoe himself: "Dear Mr. Crusoe. Please stay home." The book lays bare 18th century British attitudes towards colonization; race; slavery; religion; and more, but there are also some subtleties and nuances one wouldn't expect. This edition also comes with a Chronology of Defoe's life, and wonderful black ink drawings (and an artist's statement) by Eko.