La historia y la trama es interesante. En esta obra, el tema principal es la supervivencia y es una historia de como una persona puede superar las adversidades. Es un buen ejemplo para que seamos agradecidos con lo que tenemos; porque, a pesar de que "nada sea perfecto" hay situaciones en las que podríamos sufrir realmente hambre, sueño, enfermedades y todo tipo de adversidades.
Por otra parte, el libro tiende a ser aburrido por las anotaciones, diarios, enumeración de objetos, comida o demás; y hay momentos donde queremos saltarnos partes porque no queremos conocer tantos detalles que parecen "innecesarios".

This seems to be the quintessential Idiot Ball story, where the only thing working against the protagonist is his own constant short-sightedness, if not head-slapping stupidity. This can be amusing enough, but Defoe constantly ignores promising plot-hooks in order to pursue Crusoe's thick-headedness undisturbed.

You'd think a survival scenario would provide a wealth of hardship, but, despite his constant panics, Crusoe has a rather easy time of it. Even more than this, every other character in the story rushes to Crusoe's aid, chumming up with him without a hint of interpersonal difficulty and remaining always loyal to him.

Then again, the plotting isn't elegant to begin with. We get the same stories and observations over and over, with the narrator telling us how he doesn't need to repeat what he's already told us, only to go on and do precisely that. His 'translations' of Friday's pidgin speech are likewise hilarious, proceeding along these lines:

"Many mans come from big boat", Said Friday, by which he meant that a group of men were disembarking from a ship.

Some have suggested that Crusoe's religious conversion in the book is meant to show the reader the noble truth of belief, but since Crusoe comes to his beliefs out of ignorance and fear, it's hardly a very convincing tract. It reads more like a satire of religion, following a thoughtless, superstitious man who believes chiefly because he is alone and afraid.

There are also a lot of little errors about animal behavior and tribal practices, showing that Defoe was more interested in sensational stories than in research. He even misrepresents animals that live in Europe, like bears, which he depicts as unable to outrun a man. He also portrays Friday as being familiar with bears, despite the fact that the only species of bear that lives in South America, the Spectacled Bear, lives only in the Andes, far away from coastal islands.

The book consistently reads as deliberately silly and overwrought, but good satire is often indistinguishable from poor writing. As far as prototypes for the novel are concerned, I'll take Quixote over Crusoe any day of the week, (and The Satyricon over both).

(I read this book as part of a reading project I have undertaken with some other nerdy friends in which we read The Novel: A Biography and some of the other texts referenced by Schmidt.)

If you've seen the movie Castaway with Tom Hanks, you know the story here. Except instead of a volleyball named Wilson, there's an actual guy named Friday. And a parrot. But otherwise, it's pretty much the same story.

I expected this to be a lot more snooze-worthy than it actually was. It has it's moments where things could happen a bit more quickly, but the story overall reads very fast. I mean, this guy is stuck on an island for almost 30 years. It's not like there's a lot to really talk about. He discusses the usual sorts of problems, like the fact he may run out of ink, so he needs to only write about the most important aspects, like how much he loves the Bible and raisins. So basically it's like The Martian but with raisins instead of potatoes. And also Robinson Crusoe is better just because it is.

Once Crusoe gets off the island (which isn't really a spoiler, I mean we all know the story, right?), things get a bit drab because he goes back to London, talky-talky, some other stuff, Friday sees snow for the first time, some other stuff, a bear. I mean, Defoe should just have let the story end with Crusoe sailing off into the sunset, allowing his readers to be satisfied that he survived, and forgetting all that annoying practical stuff at the end.

As someone who likes a good Pro-Con list, I loved that Crusoe actually took time (and ink) to write up a brief Pro-Con list when he first got to the island. You would think that of all the cons (and I think we all agree there would be many), the biggest pro would be "Well, I didn't fucking die." He does mention something to that effect, but still managed to come up with a bunch of other pros. Basically Crusoe is a dick who can't just be happy to be alive. Freaking malcontent.

It's an inspiring story, though, because I know if I landed on an island all by myself, I'd die within like two days because I wouldn't know how to make food of any sort. Here Crusoe does some farming, which is fine and reasonable, but then somehow also manages to turn that bounty into actual things. Like bread. That's awesome. I understand this was in the early 18th century when people had actual skills and knowledge, but I don't really think that much about it until confronted with the idea that I would be completely worthless on an island. Also Crusoe mentions how hot it was. Yeah, you could expect to see me crying in the shade in less than 30 seconds. I don't like the heat. At all.

Let's just hope if I am ever confined to an island, my man Friday comes equipped with some cooking gear and skills (and a fan). Because let's be honest, I would also suck at hunting. I could do it, I'm sure, but I like animals so much I would just want to prance around the island like Cinderella with my menagerie of new animal-friends, and hope one of them knows how to sew me some clothes like a good Disney animal does.

I'm glad to have read this. I'm sure I've read some version of this story as a child, but this is the real deal, complete with the annoying capitalization of Nouns that Defoe liked to rock. I remember that from Moll Flanders when I read that around college-time. Good ol' Moll will be coming up shortly, by the way. It deserves a re-read by me now as a less-jerky reader.

Why I chose to listen to this audiobook:
1. I read an abridged version as a kid many years ago. I wanted to refresh my memory, this time with an unabridged audio version;
2. I wanted to compare it to The Swiss Family Robinson (SFR), which I read a year ago;
3. it's available as a free loan through Hoopla; and,
4. February 2024 is my "Classics" Month.

Praises:
1. unlike SFR, Robinson Crusoe's time alone on a deserted island was much more believable! Although Crusoe managed to salvage some items from the shipwreck and found some food sources on the island, I appreciated that for over two decades, he struggled without various essential tools, and those that he managed to construct didn't always perform perfectly. Trial and error were also constant as he tried to create palatable food stuffs. He would frequently admit that his creations were ugly, inedible, etc.;
2. Crusoe also had difficulty surviving the elements, especially during natural disasters such as earthquakes. He was also afflicted by serious injuries and severe illnesses;
3. I liked his acceptance of his fate which eventually brought a sense of peace to his well-being; and,
4. narrator Gordon Griffin made this an easy listen!

Niggles:
1. Crusoe seems to forget his ruminations about the evils of colonialism as soon as someone of color comes on the island. I really wish that author Daniel Defoe had Crusoe treat "his man, Friday" like a companionable human being, rather than a servant/slave. Too bad Defoe didn't think to have Crusoe learn from "Friday" the ways of this unfamiliar territory, his culture, or even to ask the man what his true name was!
2. how Crusoe killed some animals was cringeworthy; and,
3. I also wish Defoe ended the story with Crusoe's eventual rescue. The extra chapters were unnecessary, bordering on boring and even highly exaggerated.

Overall Thoughts:
Published in 1719, Defoe wrote this book during the height of exploration and the Atlantic slave trade, so although at times, against my 21st-century sensibilities, one must remember that this story is historically accurate and reflects the times.
Although I found it to be more realistic than SFR (which was published about a hundred years later), I was more entertained by the portions of the story when Crusoe is alone on the island - his character really becomes unlikable once he began meeting other people. Also, for interest's sake, I would have preferred reading an abridged version.

Un uomo del suo tempo.


The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, fu pubblicato nel 1719.
Pare che Defoe lo scrisse per bisogno di soldi, dovendo pagare i conti per le nozze della figlia.
Sicuramente ci vide giusto dato che da subito divenne un libro di grande successo.

Lo spunto lo prese dalle vicende realmente accadute ad un pirata inglese che fu abbandonato su un’isola deserta dove visse per quattro anni:
Alexander Selkirk

Daniel Defoe dilatò tempi e luoghi di questa storia dando vita ad un personaggio che è rimasto indelebile nel mondo della letteratura e non solo.

"Robinson Crusoe", è il tipico classico che si crede di conoscere perché si è visto uno, o più, tra i tanti film.
Il nome stesso è diventato sinonimo della condizione, più o meno metaforica, del naufrago e della vita solitaria.
La sua storia divide, poi, il pubblico tra:
coloro che lo indicano come testo colonialista e razzista;
coloro che lo eleggono a capostipite del genere avventura e coloro, invece, che lo reputano un testo di riflessione sui grandi temi dell'umanità.
Solo leggendo, tuttavia, mi sono resa conto che quanto tutti questi elementi coesistano.

Il romanzo comincia con il racconto dello spirito ribelle su cui il giovane Robinson s'impunta al momento di dover scegliere la sua professione.
Mentre è destinato a fare un lavoro d’ufficio sente il richiamo del mondo ed, in particolare, un bisogno irrefrenabile di avventurarsi per mare.
L’elogio paterno per la vita moderata, la sua esaltazione del ceto medio come unico ad essere preservato dai problemi e preoccupazioni della vita, non fanno altro che allontanare sempre più il giovane figlio che, alla prima occasione s’imbarca, nonostante i funesti presagi paterni.

Una partenza, dunque, controvento e non tanto per opposizione generazionale ma per la caparbietà di seguire la propria indole saltando lo steccato del proprio ceto sociale.
Quindi, lezione numero Uno: segui te stesso e ciò ti porterà a rovina.

Tra la partenza ed il naufragio che lo porterà sull’isola ci sono di mezzo altre avventure dove gliene succedono di tutti i colori.

Da Londra al Marocco.
Dal Marocco al Brasile.
Robinson disgusta il lettore di oggi: il colonialismo, il razzismo (poi di mio ci aggiungerei anche la questione della caccia che non sempre è fatta ai soli fini del nutrimento...) sono assi portanti della struttura di questo romanzo.

Leggendo un classico, tuttavia, sappiamo che il rischio dei bocconi amari è sempre in agguato.
Robinson è semplicemente un uomo del suo tempo.
Non mette mai in dubbio la legittimità della tratta anzi la considera una cosa così naturale da essere considerata come uno dei tanti affari che affioravano nel nascente mondo capitalista.
Il nero è:
schiavo,
sottomesso,
selvaggio,
cannibale.
Scambiarlo con del denaro è un atto naturale perché lo si considera un oggetto.
D’altro canto, i neri che incontra sono felici della loro condizione ..

Dal Brasile Robinson parte per andare in Africa e lucrare sul corpo di altri esseri viventi.
L’impresa finisce col naufragio e sinceramente gongolavo per la sua sofferenza (ma allora esiste la punizione divina??)
Il punto, tuttavia, è che questa lettura non si può ridurre alla condanna, seppur legittima.

La vita sull’isola è il centro del romanzo non solo nella struttura ma nel significato stesso che l’opera può avere ancora oggi.

Pagine e pagine ci descrivono nei minimi dettagli la costruzione di oggetti, fortificazioni, vestiti e così via.
Ma anche le condizioni psicologiche della vicenda.

Queste sono le pagine migliori di tutto il romanzo e, soprattutto, se viste nel loro insieme.
Essere catapultati in un mondo nuovo dove il denaro non conta più nulla ma gli oggetti e il saper fare sono il tesoro da preservare.
Robinson, di fatti, fa una prima grande scoperta che gli salverà la vita, ossia quella reagire usando il cervello e le mani.

Una seconda rivelazione è di tipo psicologico e lo fa passare dalla condizione di colui che è nato per la rovina ad essere, piuttosto, un prescelto.
Sarà il risveglio della Fede, ossia la zattera su cui quest’uomo gettato nel mare impetuoso della vita, si aggrapperà, mano a mano, sempre con più forza.

La lettura che Robinson fa del suo destino è quella di un uomo del settecento, di ceto medio e con un’educazione puritana.
In quest’ottica, il naufragio è la punizione predetta dal padre e l’isola è semplicemente il luogo dove espiare la presedente vita di peccato.

L’Isola, che chiamò della Disperazione, diventa così il luogo dove l’Uomo è costretto a fermarsi e, con i propri strumenti culturali, rileggere la propria vita:


"In tutte le circostanze della mia vita, sono sempre stato un ammonimento vivente per tutte le persone affette dalla malattia comune a tutto il genere umano, dalla quale procede, per quanto io sappia, la metà dei nostri mali; voglio dire, quella di non essere soddisfatti della situazione in cui Dio e la natura li hanno posti"

Un classico che continua a parlarci poiché, seppur costretto in un'ottica di cieco razzismo, ci parla di quegli spazi interiori che solo l'essere umano può scegliere se vivere come prigione o luogo dove liberarsi.
Solo con questa luce possiamo leggere la storia di Robinson Crusoe e renderlo un uomo di ogni tempo. .

Robinson Crusoe was a required reading at English literature seminar. While I understand its literary merits, it was not an enjoyable read for me.

It is hard to estimate the literary (and cultural) impact of Robinson Crusoe.

First published in 1719, this is certainly the benchmark upon which most all castaway stories have been judged since. Though I had to consider that Shakespeare’s The Tempest was published in 1610. No magicians or witches here, and no Calaban lurking in the shadows, this is all about everyman Robin taking care of business on an island that may have been present day Tobago.

Having never read the novel before, I still felt like I knew the story, simply because of all the references to it that exist in various media. What is not generally known is the quality and style of writing and the very illuminating before and after chapters, particularly his dangerous travails in seventeenth century France, that had more than its share of wild trails and snarling beasts.

This is also an introspective work, with a loner of more than twenty years having plenty of time on his hands to consider social, economic, political, philosophical and theological mysteries.

A book everyone should read.

على الرغم من أنني قرأت النسخة العربية المختصرة من هذه الرواية. وشاهدت العديد من الأفلام التي اقتبست من القصة، إلا أن الرواية مازالت مشوقة للغاية ولم أشعر بالملل حتى صفحتها الأخيرة .. كان رائعا إستعادة أحداث رحلة روبنسون كروزو التي استغرقت 28 عاما على جزيرة غير مأهولة ومغامراته مع أكلة لحوم البشر وصداقته مع فرايدي ..لمن يحب قصص المغامرات لن يجد أجمل هذه الرواية الخالدة.

Finally, I got around to reading this and it was worth the wait..

However, I read it on Kindle with many far from obvious typos. These, and the wordy eighteenth century text (first published in 1719), made for a more challenging read.

R. C. is something of a prodigal son who leaves his settled Yorkshire home to go to sea and adventure. Plenty of the latter to be found within the pages here. But a hefty chunk of the book is taken up with his largely solitary life on the island where he is shipwrecked. I enjoyed this part very much as it felt so personal and I tried to imagine how I would have coped in his shoes/bare feet. Could I have developed his necessary practical skills?

I wonder if the book was a major inspiration behind Roy Plomley’s concept of Desert Island Discs, the long-running radio programme?

I kept looking for (Man) Friday but it was some time before he made his appearance.

One to re-read and reflect upon.

Robinson Crusoé (1719)
Daniel Defoe (1660-1731)

I have read this novel at least three times in my life, and now it is like meeting an old friend.

In every man, there is a boy, and in every boy, there is Robinson Crusoe.
Handy work around the house needs improvising tools and working methods of your own, and that is when you remember Robinson.

I remember when he was shipwrecked near this island, when giant waves, half drowned him and violently washed him onto the beach. When he slept in a tree being scared of roaming wild beasts,
And how the storm had overnight brought the wrecked ship closer to the shore so that Robinson could climb onto it and find food, clothing and tools and all he needed for survival.

And how he explored the island and how he found it completely deserted.

How he built himself a shelter, and how he had to learn every handy work from the beginning, that is for his protection, for hunting and for making fire and cook food, and make a table and a chair, and wicker baskets and pottery for storage and much more.

How he discovered wild goats, which eventually he could catch and tame, that would provide him with meat and milk and cheese for permanent food, without having to use his gun and limited gunpowder.

And how he discovered agriculture, with sowing a few seeds and increase the harvest with every season and how to clean barley and rice and how to make the flour and eventually bread.
It took him many weeks and month and years to overcome his seemingly hopeless situation.
But he made the best of it.

He had discovered a bible in the shipwreck and in a period of depression he started reading the book, and finding salvation for his soul, he converted himself to the Christian faith and became a true believer.
About halfway through the book, the part of religious philosophy becomes exceedingly long.

And then comes the event of how he saved the life and met Friday, the savage who had been brought to the island's shore by cannibals to be devoured by them.

Educating the good savage Friday and converting him to the Christian belief is another long chapter.

After more than twenty-eight years, Robin Crusoe is witness to an attempt of mutiny on an English ship near his island, but he succeeds in interfering and saving the lawful captain from his rebellious crew, and restore him to his position and saving the ship.

This event, in short, is the free return fare to England for Robinson and his servant Friday.

The following chapter of Robinson's return to England and several voyages and experiences is reading like another book altogether.

The adventure should have ended with Robinson’s departure from the island.

No doubt, this novel has had an essential influence on adventure literature in the years and centuries after that.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this classic story on Audible. To be able to keep me interested in a man stuck on an island for six hours in my mind shows Defoe to be a master storyteller.

Full review to come

Tengo en cuenta el valor histórico y literario de esta novela de aventuras, considerada la primera novela inglesa, pero, sencillamente, no es para mí. No conecté con la historia ni con el protagonista. No me entretuvo ni me conmovió sino en el inicio del libro y en algún momento puntual (como, por ejemplo, cuando Crusoe se queda horrorizado después de haber visto una huella en la arena que cree que pertenece al diablo). En todas sus páginas fui consciente del artefacto y del artificio. Ojalá Defoe hubiera ahondado más en la psicología de su náufrago y menos en sus tareas de supervivencia. Qué aburrimiento. ¡Qué decepción!