I started reading Robinson Crusoe mainly because I saw it on my mother’s bookshelf and thought to myself “I haven’t read that before”. Turns out it was a good idea. Since reading the book I’ve discovered that Robinson Crusoe (which I think was written in 1716) is sometimes considered to be the first ever English novel. Quite a claim to fame.
I don’t what I expected when I read it. I knew it was a story about someone stranded on a deserted island and that’s where my knowledge ended. I didn’t realise that it had been written so long ago, and the language was a bit of a barrier for me. It was necessarily difficult to understand, but it did manage to make what otherwise could have been an exciting story a somewhat dry one.
The story was bigger than I expected. I thought it would be about Robinson on the island, but its actually his entire journey from first leaving England on a boat, to his island home, then to Brazil and some final adventures through Europe. I suppose this was useful to give Robinson’s entire story some context, and I liked the adventures leading up to his ending up on the island, but I have to admit I became a bit bored and confused with his post-island adventures if I can call them that.
Robinson Crusoe is stranded on the island for 28 years, but I found the story didn’t seem to reflect this. It’s hard to believe from what you are reading that you are passing through such large chunks of time. Maybe it was done deliberately to reflect the type of person Robinson was and how his time actually passed on the island, but I found it somehow disturbing that all this time was passing and yet I didn’t have a sense of it from reading the book.
For me the most interesting parts of the story were when he was stranded on the island by himself. I didn’t realise this until Friday and the Spaniard etc all started progressively turning up. Somehow it seemed to me to be more likely that someone would end up stranded on a desert island than someone finding themselves in the same position and then having company join them. Maybe that’s just me.
I think it had a lot of interesting themes that are worth essays in themselves (which I don’t propose to do). Examples include coping with hardship, race and religion. I don’t really want to talk about the race issue – I think that a lot of what happens between Robinson, Friday and the other ‘savages’ reflects the time in which the book was written. What struck me most about the story was that it was a story about someone coming to terms with their own reality – whatever befalls Robinson; he does what he can to cope with the reality that he is. Perhaps that’s why he is saved when all the other sailors are lost at sea – Robinson has the power and ability to adapt.
Robinson turns to religion to help him come to terms with his reality; probably not a hard thing to do given the only thing he has to read is the bible. Robinson talks about having learnt his position in God’s creation, and knowing that he is man, not an angel. He then makes the conscious decision to stop producing more than he has to produce to care for himself – sort of an old-fashioned anti-consumerist comment I think. On the other hand, when he has guests on his island, he then seems to enjoy being considered the King of the island, and being referred to as Governor. When he returns to the island at the conclusion of the book, it has become his colony. I like the contrast between his religious and ‘anti-consumerist’ (if you will) ideals on the one hand and his sense of self-importance and need to be in absolute control on the other. He enjoys having people owe their life to him because of this benefit this brings to him. He’s a complicated character.
Re-reading this you would think that I didn’t enjoy the book. I enjoyed the book and I would recommend it, but don’t read it thinking it will thrill you.
Originally posted 23 June 2009 Page Turners
I don’t what I expected when I read it. I knew it was a story about someone stranded on a deserted island and that’s where my knowledge ended. I didn’t realise that it had been written so long ago, and the language was a bit of a barrier for me. It was necessarily difficult to understand, but it did manage to make what otherwise could have been an exciting story a somewhat dry one.
The story was bigger than I expected. I thought it would be about Robinson on the island, but its actually his entire journey from first leaving England on a boat, to his island home, then to Brazil and some final adventures through Europe. I suppose this was useful to give Robinson’s entire story some context, and I liked the adventures leading up to his ending up on the island, but I have to admit I became a bit bored and confused with his post-island adventures if I can call them that.
Robinson Crusoe is stranded on the island for 28 years, but I found the story didn’t seem to reflect this. It’s hard to believe from what you are reading that you are passing through such large chunks of time. Maybe it was done deliberately to reflect the type of person Robinson was and how his time actually passed on the island, but I found it somehow disturbing that all this time was passing and yet I didn’t have a sense of it from reading the book.
For me the most interesting parts of the story were when he was stranded on the island by himself. I didn’t realise this until Friday and the Spaniard etc all started progressively turning up. Somehow it seemed to me to be more likely that someone would end up stranded on a desert island than someone finding themselves in the same position and then having company join them. Maybe that’s just me.
I think it had a lot of interesting themes that are worth essays in themselves (which I don’t propose to do). Examples include coping with hardship, race and religion. I don’t really want to talk about the race issue – I think that a lot of what happens between Robinson, Friday and the other ‘savages’ reflects the time in which the book was written. What struck me most about the story was that it was a story about someone coming to terms with their own reality – whatever befalls Robinson; he does what he can to cope with the reality that he is. Perhaps that’s why he is saved when all the other sailors are lost at sea – Robinson has the power and ability to adapt.
Robinson turns to religion to help him come to terms with his reality; probably not a hard thing to do given the only thing he has to read is the bible. Robinson talks about having learnt his position in God’s creation, and knowing that he is man, not an angel. He then makes the conscious decision to stop producing more than he has to produce to care for himself – sort of an old-fashioned anti-consumerist comment I think. On the other hand, when he has guests on his island, he then seems to enjoy being considered the King of the island, and being referred to as Governor. When he returns to the island at the conclusion of the book, it has become his colony. I like the contrast between his religious and ‘anti-consumerist’ (if you will) ideals on the one hand and his sense of self-importance and need to be in absolute control on the other. He enjoys having people owe their life to him because of this benefit this brings to him. He’s a complicated character.
Re-reading this you would think that I didn’t enjoy the book. I enjoyed the book and I would recommend it, but don’t read it thinking it will thrill you.
Originally posted 23 June 2009 Page Turners
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