Robert Crews

by Thomas Berger

From the author of Little Big Man comes a modern retelling of Robinson Crusoe that is an introspective look at the human condition only Thomas Berger could deliver. “Both a survival tale and a story of the redemptive power of love and nature, the novel exudes an optimism rare in contemporary fiction.” —Library Journal On a fishing expedition with one friend he can barely tolerate and two other men he barely knows, Robert Crews is content to spend the entirety of the flight in the alcoholic haze he’s all too familiar with. But when the turbulence becomes something more, it’s clear that something is wrong. Crash landing in unfamiliar territory, Crews is the sole survivor to emerge from the wreckage. Alone, and without a drop of alcohol for the first time in his life, he must face the wild and, worse—himself. Crews salvages what’s left of his companion’s survival gear from the plane, learns to build his first fire, and fashions a makeshift shelter from the elements. Alone with his memories, Crews begins to lament the years he spent wandering aimlessly through life, unable to attach himself to a single thing, or a single person. His new lessons in self-care and human understanding pick up the pace when he suddenly encounters a woman on the run from her violent husband. Sparking new feelings of compassion, protectiveness, and genuine love in Crews, he allows Friday to join him on the search for civilization—all while avoiding the husband that seems bent on getting Friday back into his abusive grasp. Even in their return to civilization, Berger crafts a conclusion that sets this surprisingly tender retelling apart from every other tribute to Crusoe.

Genres: Contemporary, Fiction

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 1994

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Thomas Louis Berger was an American novelist, probably best known for his picaresque novel Little Big Man, which was adapted into a film by Arthur Penn. Berger explored and manipulated many genres of fiction throughout his career, including the crime novel, the hard-boiled detective story, science fiction, the utopian novel, plus re-workings of classical mythology, Arthurian legend, and the survival adventure.

Berger's use of humor and his often biting wit led many reviewers to refer to him as a satirist or "comic" novelist, though he rejected that classification.

Reviews

[Bayneeta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had some problems with some of the story. Would an alcoholic who has just survived a plane crash in which others have died not guzzle down the half gallon of vodka he saved from the plane? Would he truly use a little as an antiseptic and then never think of it again? Scared straight? Well, maybe; but it sure seemed unrealistic to me. Tough to detail other things that didn't ring true for me without spoiling this for others. Friends-- I don't suggest you read this. If you want a north woods survival story, read Paulsen's Hatchet.

[Christopher Sutch · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of a line of lackluster novels by Berger (although, frankly, even lackluster Berger is frequently better than some authors' good fiction). I'm a little ambivalent about this one: on the one hand I appreciate Berger's drive to experiment with classic texts (in this case, he riffs on _Robinson Crusoe_), but on the other hand I wish his authorial vision had stretched itself a little farther than it does (his usual thoughtful philosophical reflections on character and society are present, but break no new ground).

Aside from referentiality to Dafoe (and, appropriately, Wordsworth), this work offers little to recommend it on its own merits as a novel. Berger traditionally finds his central conflict between characters, so this work is _very_ slow for over half of its length because the central conflict arises from Robert Crews's fight against nature, the fight for survival (which contains some rather distressing reinscribing of the "survival of the fittest" misreadings of Darwinian orthodoxy).

Once "Friday" is introduced, the pace picks up a bit, but succumbs to romantic nostalgia (not Berger's best mode, and usually handled with more irony than is present here). The ending is ambiguous and only satisfying for people who likely haven't encountered Berger at his best.

It's OK to leave this one alone and go for something better by Berger (_Reinhart in Love_, _Killing Time_, or _Neighbors_ perhaps).

[Bill FromPA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Robert Crews re-imagines Robinson Crusoe as the sole survivor of a private plane crash into a lake in Canada or the northern US. During Crews’ solitary days in the wilderness Berger’s prose serves his theme admirably, telling the story directly without similes or metaphors. The telling of the tale emphasizes that recognizing things for what they are will be the key to survival. The few flashbacks contribute less to filling in character than they do to remind Crews and the reader that losing focus on the present is a potentially fatal mistake in the wild.

A Crusoe demands a Friday, and once Crews is no longer alone in the woods, about halfway through the book, the story loses some of its focus. Berger sets up some situations that have become part of the “civilized man abandoned in the wild” formula, but, as he later was to do in Suspects, he rejects formulaic resolutions to these situations. However, the book doesn’t gain the energy or power that can come from a rejection of formula, while losing the satisfactions the formulaic resolutions have been developed to provide. Rather than providing a sense of hard-headed realism or taking a wild leap into the totally unexpected, the alternatives presented seem like the author saying, “Well, rather than following the path you’re expecting, here’s another way that this can be resolved without stretching anybody’s credulity.”

Previous: Meeting Evil
Next: Suspects

[Carolyn F. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Audiobook

It's sad to say but I never completely read Robinson Crusoe, from which this book is loosely based. Maybe that book went into minute details of day to day life and this book copied that. With every event described in such detail, I found the book boring for about 9/10 of it with it finally getting better at the end. The ending was how the entire book in my opinion should have been written because then it wouldn't have been extremely boring. I bought this audiobook in a $5.00 a bag sale at the library. Thank goodness for that!

This author also wrote Neighbors which I didn't read but watched the movie. That one I enjoyed more.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I might have given this a 3 (for little action and an inconclusive ending, it seemed at first) had that very ending and inaction not been lingering in my mind still, a sure sign of a good book. Chad and I are obsessed with Berger, the unsung master of American writing, and this book cemented that version of his identity for me. I think of it as an adult _Hatchet_, strangely enough. Very subtle, but truly documents a realistic and thorough transformation of a man via this ordeal in the wilderness. Not action-packed, but GOOD.

[Aaron Martz · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable though light adventure story about an alcoholic stranded in the wilderness. The book is fun, engaging, and never boring, but Berger lets his character off the hook too easily for the scoundrel he is made out to be. He should have suffered more in the opening passages. Instead, he seems instantly to know what to do to survive. There is redemption of a sort in the closing chapters, but even then the climax seems abbreviated, as if Berger were in a rush to complete it.