Reading 1001 discussion

I notice that almost all of the reviews are five star raves and I just cannot get there. Immediately before reading this book I read Ivanhoe (Scott) and Kidnapped (Stevenson). I was new to all of these books and read them for a personal challenge to read more classics. I did not like Robinson Crusoe as much as either of the other two I mentioned. I do have a few observations:

1. I had a hard time getting beyond the racism contained in this book. I recognize that it is a reflection of the times and is not inappropriate when that is considered, but I just couldn't deal with the continual referrals to "savages".

2. I do not like the moralizing found in so many books written in these days. I do not enjoy the religious dogma or the idea that only Christianity is acceptable. The second half of this book was rife with it and I had a hard time finishing.

3. This book felt a lot like a journal at some points. It was filled with descriptions of what the character did to build his life -- but they were presented more like a list than a picture painted with words. I expected to love this part of the book and I think I could have... it just didn't get there.

I enjoyed Simon Vance's narration. I found him quite believable as Robinson Crusoe.

Read in 2013
A fictional autobiography of Robinson Kreutznaer, or Crusoe as he is better known, tells the story of a young man who wouldn't listen to his father and left home for the life of adventure. He was forewarned by his father and others that he should not go to sea or it would be his peril. Robinson doesn't listen and ends up a castaway on a remote island near Trinidad. The first part is Robinson's efforts to create his castle. The second part involves fear of others, cannibals and gathering of slaves and subjects. I enjoyed the first part of the book, the mastery of survival on an island where he finds himself completely alone. Crusoe starts out feeling sorry that he didn't listen to his father, then he begins to see God's providence in his survival and the mastery of the environment lead Crusoe to have a better attitude. The second part of the novel, where Crusoe begins to be fearful of cannibals deprives him of the peaceful life he had created. He has thoughts of killing the others and then of capturing others to be his slave. In the second part there is fear and there is the unfair mastery over other people. It certainly is a look at the imperialism and colonization by the British. There is a strong theme of repentence. The moral is that it is not enough to give God credit for the miracles or even to pray but Crusoe must repent of his wretched state and acknowledge his dependence on God.
Some thoughts of the book include the exactness of measuring and counting. The focus on eating or being eaten. When Crusoe finds the footprint he immediately becomes negative again. He is fearful and no longer trusts God. One could make a point of racism in this book written in 1719 but also I think it reflects the time and I think books should be judged by when they were written not by our superiority in the present. In fact I think this superiority that is often taken on isn't much better than racism of the past. It's still a value judgment. I actually think Defoe might have been making a political statement against imperialism, colonization and unfair treatment of others.
I enjoyed this adventure tale but liked the first part better than the second. I listened to an audio read by Simon Vance who did a good job of narration. The strong Christian theme reflected Defoe's Puritan beliefs.

Robinson Crusoe runs away to sea despite the warnings of his father, and is shipwrecked and later captured by pirates. Finding safety in South America, he builds up a successful plantation but the lure of adventure takes him off to sea again, where a second shipwreck leaves him on an island for almost thirty years.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book, it was full of action and built up a good picture of how life in the era would be for young men seeking their fortunes in faraway lands. The descriptions of how Crusoe built his life on the deserted island was fascinating, occasionally there were too many lists and repetition, but overall I was amazed at his resourcefulness and resilience.

The second part wasn’t quite as successful for me - the moralising homilies about God’s Providence were rather dull (though another aspect that illuminated the ideas of the age) and the coming and going of the cannibal ‘savages’, coupled with the patronising attitude towards Friday, highlighted some of the more negative aspects of the time. There was also an unpleasant episode of animal cruelty towards the end of the book that jarred.

Overall, though, I can see why this book is seen as so important to the development of the novel, and has endured as a classic. The writing is clever, often humorous, and full of imagination.