Robinson Crusoe: Daniel Defoe (Novel, Adventure, Romance, Historical) [Annotated]

by Daniel Defoe

Daniel Defoe relates the tale of an English sailor marooned on a desert island for nearly three decades. An ordinary man struggling to survive in extraordinary circumstances, Robinson Crusoe wrestles with fate and the nature of God.

Kindle Edition

Published August 26, 2021

About the author

Daniel Defoe was an English novelist, journalist, merchant, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translations. He has been seen as one of the earliest proponents of the English novel, and helped to popularise the form in Britain with others such as Aphra Behn and Samuel Richardson. Defoe wrote many political tracts, was often in trouble with the authorities, and spent a period in prison. Intellectuals and political leaders paid attention to his fresh ideas and sometimes consulted him.
Defoe was a prolific and versatile writer, producing more than three hundred works—books, pamphlets, and journals—on diverse topics, including politics, crime, religion, marriage, psychology and the supernatural. He was also a pioneer of business journalism and economic journalism.

Reviews

[Zdeňka Urbanová · Rating 4 out of 5]

Až povinná četba mé dcery mě přivedla k nahlédnutí do této klasiky. Četly jsme ji na střídačku, ale spíše jsem byla v roli posluchače. Že je příběh starý přes 300 let mě stále fascinuje! Četly jsme nezkrácené vydání z roku 1932, takže to byl i vhled do vyvoje českého jazyka. A ano, jsou tam na mě příliš dlouhé a popisné pasáže, ale nemůžu říct, že by kniha byla nudná či mě zklamala. I díky současné show Survivor, který inspirovala, byl příběh pro dceru lépe představitelný a lákavější. Jsem ráda, že ji mohu přidat na svou pomyslnou poličku přečtených knížek.

[Santiago · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bastante entretenido, si te gustan los juegos de supervivencia esta novela es para vos.

[Joseph Carrabis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robinson Crusoe is one of those books most people of my generation say they read and don't remember exactly when. Was it high school? College? Ask them if they enjoyed it and they mumble something.
Like my generational peers, I think I read it and decided to do so again. The writing is superb and agonizing. It's a tough read due to stylistic differences from Defoe's time to today.
Was it enjoyable? As a study, yes, definitely. Defoe's descriptive, expositional, and narrative skills are amazing.
They're also boring because the book is ~90% description, exposition, and narration, and you can't expect much else when all you have is one person on a deserted island with no one to share his life with except animals and plants.
Think of Tom Hanks Cast Away but without Nelson and lots less dramatic tension and you have it.

[SRB · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been reading a lot of classics lately, and I enjoyed this one quite a bit more than many others. I thought he showed some interesting character growth, and it was a solid story, though slow in parts. There were some encounters with humans and animals that were gross and mentions of slavery - he pretty much wants to turn everyone he meets into his "servant" - but it's an old book, so this is no surprise. Overall, I think it's worth a read.

[Michele Virtue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was intrigued by this story and, as it is a classic, was looking forward to reading it. the language was a bit challenging at first, like reading Shakespeare for the first time, but once I got into a rhythm, that got easier. In my opinion, the repetition makes thus poorly written, however...it could be less than half the length without the constant telling, retelling, and telling again of the same events.

[Paloma Coffy · Rating 5 out of 5]

🤩🤩🤩

[Abdalmajeed Abdalazeez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good

[Jakob halsonissen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Banger

On life and the soul and the indomitable spririt
Nature
Cannibalism etc

Lots of UCW uncommonplace words

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daniel Defoe wrote this novel in 1719. It is the fictional story of a young man who despite his parents advice leaves home in 1632 to become a sailor. After many adventures, including becoming a plantation and slave owner in Brazil, he is shipwrecked alone on an island off the coast of South America and lives there for 28 years. There are highly detailed descriptions of his ingenuity and hard work as he builds a lodging for himself, hunts, fishes and develops agriculture and animal husbandry over the years. Towards the end of his stay, he rescues a native who he calls his Man Friday a term that is used to this day for a right-hand man. He is kind to Friday but the book is very racist. And his tales of adventures with wild animals are laughably far-fetched. The book is priceless as a foundational work of English literature. But I think his novel "A Journal of the Plague Year" is a better work of fiction

[Lisaa · Rating 3 out of 5]

not my type of books