Robinson Crusoe - Book Review

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** B is for a BOOK review **

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One of my '30 Before 30' challenges is to read the top 5 books of all time. "Robinson Crusoe", by Daniel Defoe, is one of these, according to The Guardian. It's a classic, and I was intrigued by the story as a wilderness lover and an avid traveler. 

I'd already seen the Tom Hanks film 'Castaway' and didn't really enjoy it, but could appreciate there's not a lot you could do with a film about a man spending that much time on his own with only a football for company. How would a book on a similar theme compare, I wondered? Books are better than the film, in most cases...

This is my review of 'Robinson Crusoe' in a chronology of thoughts as I read through the book.

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First thoughts: Small pages, big text. I should fly through this! There were also no chapter breaks. I wonder, is this a modern invention? I've never read an adult fiction novel without chapters before.

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Grr. Am annoyed the back of the book told me what the front cover depicts (not very well) - spoiler!

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Didn’t like it when Crusoe says things like “But that was 4 years from now” when I was only a small percentage through the book. Made me think this book would never end - not great when I was already stuggling!

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This book contains so much repetition! Defoe does tend to go on a bit. Point taken, Crusoe. You're not a great tailor!!! (page 171). The chronology of the text seems off too sometimes. For example:

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"After this I spent a great deal of time and pains to make me an umbrella. I was indeed in great want of one, and had a great mind to make one." (page 172)

The stranded man's pet dog seemed to appear from nowhere. Perhaps I missed something but I don't think it was sufficiently introduced, yet it had the weight of being featured on the cover. I'm assuming it came from the shipwreck? Maybe I skim read more than I realised... This book is a little like Eastenders. If you miss a few episodes, you can still follow.  Still, I feel like more could have been done to expand on the company the dog provided to Crusoe, a relationship which could bloom.

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Looking forward to this bit..... "The hanged pirate"!!!

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One thing I did like was how his being stranded on the island is referred to as "being in captivity" or "reigning" over the strange, new land. It creates a great image and concept to brood on as a reader. 

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***SPOILER*** Poor old Mr & Mrs Crusoe. Their never mentions his parents back home. No doubt they were (rightly) worried to death as to where their young son had disappeared to. And RC shows very little in regards to regret or sadness when most of his family have copped it when he does return to the UK.

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Story is 275 years old – adventure story back in the 1700’s (savage animals, wild people and lands). A thought occurred to me... what would today’s equiv be? Space Tourism? Can anyone recommend any good books based on space tourism? 

Another sign of the times was that RC talked so much about God. Highly reverent, praying and repenting constantly... It got a little old.

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I wonder how Defoe researched his novel… There was no Google or Bear Grylls to advise back in the 1700’s, and travel was the work of explorers or tradesmen – rarely work for a writer!

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Ok, give Defoe his dues. The story is very detailed, especially when it comes to describing RC's homemade accommodation on the island. What an imagination, but he could have done better in my book. No pun intended.  

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The island - somewhere off the Caribbean, it turns out

Old language – “I lay abed all day” – love it! He uses “I learned him to know…” instead of “I taught him”, and “catched” is used instead of “caught”, for example. This really reinforced the fact that the book is a real oldie when I was reading it. 

However, another reason I might have struggled with this book was it is riddled with words I’d not heard of before (e.g. ADZE – a kind of tool?). I learnt a lot, but it wasn't enjoyable learning...

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Yeah, yeah... "Oh, small mercies, thankful to be alive, but why me???" I am sick of hearing Robinson Crusoe bitching and moaning! Just get on with it! There's also a few moments when Crusoe's sharing journal extracts with us. The detail he goes into recording his adventures on the island have largely been told already in the story's text before. 

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I wonder how Crusoe would have survived had the shipwreck not been washed up on shore close to the start of his island adventure with supplies inside?

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I have to admit, if this book wasn't part of my 30 Before 30, I would have given up. DON'T READ THIS BOOK!!! I moved on rapidly. Next, a spy novel!

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Check out the rest of my '30 Before 30' list before you go anywhere! How does it compare to one you'd construct?

Lou x

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