Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Dec. 1st, 2007 07:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
The sole survivor of a shipwreck, Robinson Crusoe is washed up on a desert island. In his journal he chronicles his daily battle to stay alive, as he conquers isolation, fashions shelter and clothes, first encounters another human being and fights off cannibals and mutineers. With Robinson Crusoe, Defoe wrote what is regarded as the first English novel, and created one of the most popular and enduring myths of literature. Written in an age of exploration and enterprise, it has been variously interpreted as an embodiment of British imperialist values, as a portrayal of "natural man" or as a moral fable. But above all it is a brilliant narrative, depicting Crusoe's transformation from terrified survivor to self-sufficient master of his island.
I always thought that I knew the story of Robinson Crusoe, given that it's one of those tales that most children grow up with. I was wrong. The version given to children is highly santised, glossing over Crusoe's casual attitude towards slavery and some of the gorier elements of the book (most of which relate to the cannibal feasts). I was therefore glad to read this because it corrected most of my misconceptions, but I have to admit that it was one hell of a trek to get through it.
The best way to categorise the story is that it's Ray Mears Bushcraft meets Songs of Praise. I should point out that there's quite a lot of story that takes place before he gets stuck on an island (where we learn about his relationship with his parents, his wanderlust and how he gets almost shipwrecked on his very first voyage and is captured on a subsequent voyage and sold into slavery for a number of years before he's able to make his escape). It's the desert island segment that takes up most of the book though and for most of it, we get an awful lot of detail of Crusoe's day-to-day survival, from capturing and rearing goats, to growing grain, to making his own equipment and for me, it got v. boring, v. quickly. In fact, I don't think it livens up until the cannibals are introduced and I was particularly shocked when we get to the key footprint scene because I'd always understood that the footprint was left by Friday, when in fact it's left by cannibals who have been using the island. We don't meet Friday until afterwards, when Crusoe saves him from the cooking pot.
The action scenes are actually quite exciting, with Defoe maintaining tension. However, I think he overeggs it slightly by having the mutineers arrive so soon after the cannibals. There's also a disappointing segment that occurs after Crusoe gets off the island, where we follow him on an overland trip that bizarrely includes him fighting off wolves.
Crusoe's casual attitude towards slavery made me deeply uncomfortable (even though he's expressing views that were common to his time). This is a man who has been a slave himself, and yet he mentions several times how he wishes he had slaves on the island to do his day-to-day chores for him and indeed he treats Friday as a slave, making it even more unpalatable to modern sensibiliites by having Friday be glad to do everything for Crusoe because he saved his life. The religious discussions between Friday and Crusoe, like Crusoe's own soliloquoys on religion, are a little dull and I was glad to move past them.
I should mention that I read the Penguin Classics version, which has a foreword by John Richetti and which I found to be a thoughtful and interesting introduction to the text and the themes that it explores. This version also comes with a glossary at the back, which is useful for checking up on words within the text.
The Verdict:
It is a book of its time, which means you have to take it as you find it (complete with uneven pacing, constant musing about God and unacceptable attitudes towards people who aren't white). I also think that it should be read simply so that you can see what the childrens' versions take out. However, it is a difficult read and can be tedious at times - although you'll learn a lot about making pots and capturing goats.
The sole survivor of a shipwreck, Robinson Crusoe is washed up on a desert island. In his journal he chronicles his daily battle to stay alive, as he conquers isolation, fashions shelter and clothes, first encounters another human being and fights off cannibals and mutineers. With Robinson Crusoe, Defoe wrote what is regarded as the first English novel, and created one of the most popular and enduring myths of literature. Written in an age of exploration and enterprise, it has been variously interpreted as an embodiment of British imperialist values, as a portrayal of "natural man" or as a moral fable. But above all it is a brilliant narrative, depicting Crusoe's transformation from terrified survivor to self-sufficient master of his island.
I always thought that I knew the story of Robinson Crusoe, given that it's one of those tales that most children grow up with. I was wrong. The version given to children is highly santised, glossing over Crusoe's casual attitude towards slavery and some of the gorier elements of the book (most of which relate to the cannibal feasts). I was therefore glad to read this because it corrected most of my misconceptions, but I have to admit that it was one hell of a trek to get through it.
The best way to categorise the story is that it's Ray Mears Bushcraft meets Songs of Praise. I should point out that there's quite a lot of story that takes place before he gets stuck on an island (where we learn about his relationship with his parents, his wanderlust and how he gets almost shipwrecked on his very first voyage and is captured on a subsequent voyage and sold into slavery for a number of years before he's able to make his escape). It's the desert island segment that takes up most of the book though and for most of it, we get an awful lot of detail of Crusoe's day-to-day survival, from capturing and rearing goats, to growing grain, to making his own equipment and for me, it got v. boring, v. quickly. In fact, I don't think it livens up until the cannibals are introduced and I was particularly shocked when we get to the key footprint scene because I'd always understood that the footprint was left by Friday, when in fact it's left by cannibals who have been using the island. We don't meet Friday until afterwards, when Crusoe saves him from the cooking pot.
The action scenes are actually quite exciting, with Defoe maintaining tension. However, I think he overeggs it slightly by having the mutineers arrive so soon after the cannibals. There's also a disappointing segment that occurs after Crusoe gets off the island, where we follow him on an overland trip that bizarrely includes him fighting off wolves.
Crusoe's casual attitude towards slavery made me deeply uncomfortable (even though he's expressing views that were common to his time). This is a man who has been a slave himself, and yet he mentions several times how he wishes he had slaves on the island to do his day-to-day chores for him and indeed he treats Friday as a slave, making it even more unpalatable to modern sensibiliites by having Friday be glad to do everything for Crusoe because he saved his life. The religious discussions between Friday and Crusoe, like Crusoe's own soliloquoys on religion, are a little dull and I was glad to move past them.
I should mention that I read the Penguin Classics version, which has a foreword by John Richetti and which I found to be a thoughtful and interesting introduction to the text and the themes that it explores. This version also comes with a glossary at the back, which is useful for checking up on words within the text.
The Verdict:
It is a book of its time, which means you have to take it as you find it (complete with uneven pacing, constant musing about God and unacceptable attitudes towards people who aren't white). I also think that it should be read simply so that you can see what the childrens' versions take out. However, it is a difficult read and can be tedious at times - although you'll learn a lot about making pots and capturing goats.
