Mais do que um clássico, é parte do imaginário cultural ocidental, não existindo quem não conheça a história, de tanto ser reproduzida e recontada nas mais variadas formas. É o primeiro romance realista, lançado em 1719, escrito por um jornalista que baseado em casos reais, de pessoas perdidas em ilhas do Pacífico, resolveu ficcionar uma história escrita. Apesar de toda a sua relevância, sobreviveu mal ao tempo sendo hoje um livro que, apesar de clássico, serve melhor o público infantil.

As minhas maiores reticências face a Robinson Crusoé começam pela ausência de pano psicológico, e não falo de desvelações profundas sobre o sentir do personagem, mas tão só a simples descrição do isolamento humano. Isso é algo que não existe em Robinson Crusoé, nunca ele se sente só, tem sempre algo para fazer, construir, conquistar. Apesar de ter consigo um cão e gatos, nunca estes são descritos, nem sequer servem para falar do estado de alma de Robinson. Aliás, tudo isto é por demais perturbador quando ao naufragar na ilha, o personagem não tem qualquer curiosidade em ir ver se está realmente numa ilha ou península, em ver se existem outras pessoas ali perto, passando meses sem nunca dar a volta a ilha, limitando-se a um pequeno cantinho da mesma. São 28 anos vividos na solidão que poderiam bem ter sido vividos numa qualquer encosta de montanha, a dois ou três quilómetros da civilização. Intui-se muito rapidamente que o autor está a escrever com base em relatos, e não em qualquer experiência verdadeiramente vivida e sentida.

Do mesmo modo as descrições sobre caça e comida roçam o ridículo, com Robinson a referir a necessidade de investir todos os dias 3 horas em caça, trazendo animais de grande porte, como Lamas (apesar de ter situado a ilha no Atlântico), passando a ideia que não vive ali apenas um ser humano mas uma família numerosa. É verdade que ninguém naquela altura pensava nos animais que se caçavam ou nas árvores que se cortavam, como se os recursos do planeta fossem infinitos, mas é angustiante ler os hábitos que o escritor incute no personagem, como se o ser humano fosse não apenas insaciável, mas superior a qualquer outro animal no planeta.

Todo o livro está pejado de um discurso profundamente colonialista, egocentrado, com o europeu hábil e astuto capaz de transformar o ecossistema em que vive graças à sua enorme inteligência, por oposição aos nativos que não passam de sub-humanos, canibais, sem conhecimento de Deus e por isso incapazes de ir além pela fraqueza de espírito. A tudo isto serve muito bem a presença dos portugueses que estão quase todo o livro presentes no desenvolvimento de Crusoé, espelhando historicamente aquilo que fomos durante tempo demais.

Dito tudo isto, é um pequeno livro que interessará ao público mais jovem pelo seu lado aventureiro, desde logo pela ideia romântica de se viver isolado do mundo numa ilha, mas também pelo ficcionar de vários episódios rocambolescos — com piratas, canibais, e motins. Nesse sentido o modo como o personagem de Crusoé recorre aos conhecimentos que detém para edificar as suas casas e cultivar cereais acaba sendo o que de melhor se retira. Embora, seja aconselhável uma conversa com os leitores, no sentido de providenciar um olhar crítico sobre muito do que ali se vai desenrolando.


Publicado no VI (https://virtual-illusion.blogspot.pt/...).

‎دوستانِ گرانقدر، نویسنده با نبوغ و استعدادِ بسیار، در قالبِ داستان، نشان داده است که زندگیِ دستجمعی و اجتماعِ انسانی، تا چه اندازه میتواند برایِ ما مفید و بایسته باشد... انسانها باید به طورِ جمعی زندگی کنند تا بتوانند به زندگیِ خویش ادامه دهند
‎عزیزانم، این داستانِ مشهور، در موردِ مردیست به نامِ <رابینسون کروزوئه> که اخلاقِ تندی دارد و انسانِ نا آرامی است... این مردِ خشن به دلیل همین رفتاری که دارد، شغلِ دریانوردی را برگزیده است
‎کردار و گفتارِ بد و ایجادِ شورش و اغتشاش در کشتی سبب میشود تا ناخدا او را به جزیره ای دور افتاده ببرد که هیچکس در آن زندگی نمیکند، و همانجا رهایش کند
‎رابینسون در آن جزیره تنها و بی کس مانده و برایِ نجاتِ جانش تلاش میکند تا احتیاجاتش را برطرف سازد، ولی در این جزیره به او بسیار سخت میگذرد
‎رابینسون مردِ ناآرامی بود، در جامعه اغتشاش ایجاد میکرد، ولی زندگی در تمدن و اجتماع، سبب شده بود که او بداند چگونه از طبیعت در جهتِ تولیدِ لوازم موردِ نیازش استفاده کند... از چوب و سنگ، ابزارِ گوناگون جهتِ شکار و کشاورزی و غیره میسازد و به هر روشی که میتواند، روز به روز بیشتر خودش را با شرایطِ حاکم بر جزیره و دشواری هایِ آن، سازگار میکند... درست است که رابینسون، جامعه را ترک کرده بود، ولی تجربیاتِ اجتماعی و جامعه، او را ترک نکرده و برایِ نجات جانش به کمکش آمده است.. بنابراین رابینسون، این مردِ تنها و سرکش، دیگر در جزیره تنها نیست، بلکه تجربیاتِ میلیون ها انسانِ دیگر، همراه او میباشد
‎سالهایِ سال میگذرد و دوری از انسانها و تنهایی سبب میشود تا رابینسون، تبدیل به جانوری وحشی و درنده گردد
‎دوستانِ خردگرا، جامعه تنها یک مجموعه ای از انسانها نیست، بلکه در هرکجا که مردم دسته جمعی زندگی میکنند، روابطی بینِ آنها برقرار میشود که آن روابط است که جامعه را به وجود می آورد و ما دقیقاً به عنوانِ انسان، به همان روابطِ اجتماعی نیازمندیم و باید با آن روابط و اعضایِ آن هم راستا و هم سو باشیم، چراکه بدونِ آنها به سرنوشتِ <رابینسون کروزوئه> دچار میشویم
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‎امیدوارم این ریویو در جهتِ آشنایی با این کتاب مفید بوده باشه و از خواندنِ این داستان لذت ببرید
‎<پیروز باشید و ایرانی>

This is one of those books that really serves to remind a modern audience of why we should kill [censored to protect sensitive Republican ears]. Robinson Crusoe is the story of a young man with atrociously bad luck who, unfortunately for any shipmates he ever has, suffers from an extreme case of wanderlust. Every ship he gets onto sinks, but he just keeps getting onto them. Even after he's got a nice, successful plantation of his own, he decides he's just GOT to get on ANOTHER ship to -- get this -- procure himself some slaves. It crashes of course, and he gets stranded alone on an island.

Not to worry, though -- he's got a bible, and he successfully becomes a religious zealot while alone with nothing better to do. It's too bad that his only book couldn't have been a copy of Don Quixote or something because maybe then he'd have become a more interesting storyteller. But no, like so many people who have terrible luck, he turns to "god" and starts counting his "blessings," more-or-less out of a lack of anything better to do.

Then, after he's been alone for 24 years, he sees a footprint in the sand, and he totally freaks, and he becomes convinced it must belong to the devil. Ummm, ok. So I'm sitting there thinking, "Maybe it's your own footprint." But it takes this genius a whole day of scaring himself before he comes up with that explanation. Anyway, it turns out not to be his footprint at all, it actually belongs to the "savages" (Carribean Indians) who apparently visit the island sometimes in order to cook and eat their prisoners, which, for the record, was not actually a common practice among Indians in the Americas. And here's the part where you really hate white people. He then saves one of the prisoners from being eaten and makes him into his slave, who he renames "Friday," teaches English, and converts to Christianity. Friday, instead of kicking this pompous jerk's posterior from here to next Friday after repaying whatever debt he owed Robinson for saving his life, is a faithful slave in every way for the remainder of the book. Friday speaks in a pidgin English, which is probably realistic enough for a man who learned English late in life from one solitary individual, but Robinson has an offensive habit of translating easy-enough-to-understand things that Friday says to us, the idiot readers ("At which he smiled, and said - 'Yes, yes, we always fight the better;' that is, he meant always get the better in fight"). Also, during Friday's religious education, he asks Robinson why god doesn't just kill the devil and end evil, and because there is actually no good answer to such a question for a religious person, Robinson simply pretends not to hear him and wanders away. What a jack*ss! Luckily, Robinson Crusoe's religious conversion doesn't last forever. As soon as he's back in civilization and making money hand over fist, he pretty much gives it up.

Speaking of which, what was with the end of this book? He gets rescued, he goes home, but there's no emotional payoff, and instead he goes on about his European adventures with Friday. We don't care about the wolves and dancing bear! We want to know, did you learn anything from your years away? Do you feel like you missed out? Was anyone happy to see you? Did they have a funeral for you while you were missing? What did your mother do when she saw you again? Robinson Crusoe is a man without any of the human characteristics that make people interesting to read about when they get into difficult situations. He has no regrets, no personal longings, and he never reflects on his life before he was on the island during his decades on the island. I understand that this is just an "adventure novel" but people actually still read this tripe and consider it a classic!

This book seems to be a protonovel, a progenitor to the idea of a today's modern novel. It is an adventure story meant to excite the imagination and satisfy the need for a suspenseful plot denouement. But you can't expect a novel written almost 3 centuries ago to follow the genre conventions established today. Stick with it.

This novel, an adventure of a type only possible in the 1600s and 1700s, reflects a real historical period of human development. For a book which was exploring the possibilities of how to write about an adventure as much as describing a story, this is a damn good ripping story. I don't care what anybody says, I loved it. And it's not just about a shipwreck on an island - there's cannibals, Spaniards, mutineers, pieces of eight, and 300 wolves in the Alps surrounding our hero armed only with single shot pistols and swords.

'Robinson Crusoe' is a snapshot of England during a time when the most of the world was a blank area on maps, which didn't stop these brave ruffians from going exploring and death literally was a minute away whenever travel was undertaken. It was fascinating to read those parts about how business paperwork and legal instruments of property transfer occurred, and how the various European aristocrat powers were crumbling under the rising power of the individual merchants and plantation entrepreneurs. Class and politics mattered, but brave ordinary men seeking adventure AND wealth were taking charge of their own particular destinies, which was not an option a few centuries earlier in feudal Europe. Business was becoming an energy force of society. Members of the lower classes could actually bump up the scale of society if they were prepared to risk everything by taking ship to Africa, South America and the United States.

This stage of novel exposition was cool, far superior to the century's previous poetry, religious instruction, and romantic adventure writing of what then was passing as an exciting book. Try to pay more attention to the details of Crusoe's Europe, the one Jack Sparrow would have really lived in, and not the book's deficiencies as a modern novel. It increases the value of reading this historic game changer in writing novels.

It's really sad that people judge books from the 17th century from their 21st century politically-correct perspective. You don't have to agree with Defoe's worldview and religious beliefs to like the book. I'm repulsed by Homer's beliefs but I know his works deserve to be classics.

People who think this book is boring probably think hikes through majestic mountains or quiet afternoons in a beautiful garden are boring. This book is slow at times. But the slowest parts are the best. Defoe is a master of detail. And the action is much more exciting when it comes after the calm. A book with only action would be boring to me (not to mention corny, e.g. Treasure Island).

This is, hands down, my favorite novel of all time. Rich detail, gripping plot, profound character development, insightful meditations, and the meeting of two radically different worlds in Robinson and the cannibals. I never stop reading this book. When I finish I start again. I love Robinson and Friday as if they were a real life father and brother.

BTW - There is an audio recording by Ron Keith that is spectacular. The publisher is Recorded Books.

L'arcinota storia del naufrago Robinson fornisce al lettore molta materia di riflessione. In primo luogo pone più volte l'accento sulla personale responsabilità delle proprie scelte, a fronte di un destino sempre sconosciuto che, nel suo misto di sorte e provvidenza, solo un attenta valutazione può consentir di vagliare e solo un atteggiamento improntato alla giusta misura, affrontare. In secondo luogo consente di gettar uno sguardo sull'uomo ricondotto allo stato di natura e alla quotidiana lotta per la sopravvivenza e consente di ragionare su quali siano le reali necessità della vita e quali quelle puramente futili o accessorie. Una storia, insomma, che pone ognuno di noi a riconsiderar il senso della propria esistenza e il suo rapporto con un eventuale creatore e con la Provvidenza che ne diviene la più limpida manifestazione.

THE survival epic of all times.

Robinson Crusoe is a young English man trying to escape the unbearable pressure of his loving but over demanding parents. On board on a sailing expedition, due to a terrible storm the vessel crashes and sinks somewhere near the Venezuelan coast. Crusoe the only remaining survivor, stranded on a nearby deserted island where he remained marooned for the next twenty-eight years.

The epic of one solitary man trying to survive despite overwhelming odds against nature. A fantastic adventure of survival and personal development. What he accomplished, his ideas, the constructions and improvements he made, were beyond admirable. So amazing. I mean, I think I would’ve barely managed to build a pitiful hut made of palm leaves, that wouldn’t have lasted a second against a whisper of a wind!

I specially loved the arrival of Friday and everything he brought to the story  the slowly process of bonding from initial distrust and misunderstanding to unbreakable friendship was one of the most touching things I’ve ever read, and the most precious memory I hold from this book.  In a way reminded me of Karana and Rontu from  Island of the Blue Dolphins. My heart always melts from a good enemy to friends trope. . Utterly unforgettable.

An all-time classic worthy of its fame, that spanned countless imitations and adaptations through time, and even dawned a new literary genre, the Robinsonade. Recommendable.

I wasn’t even aware there was a sequel until today, that I’m writing the review, more than a decade later. Great. More homework. I mean. Great! More homework!

It’s public domain, you can find it HERE.

*** Robinson Crusoe (1997) is a lovely movie, yet you can barely call it an adaptation, or at the least, not a very faithful one. The film seriously deviates from the original work and adds many, way too many, important changes which as a movie I enjoyed very much, but as an adaptation did not. Pierce Brosnan made a good Crusoe, and so did William Takaku as Friday; and they are, like the book, what I enjoyed most. Very nice artistic scenery and filmography. Great movie, with a lot of heart. But questionable adaptation.



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n  PERSONAL NOTEn:
[1719] [320p] [Classics] [Recommendable]
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LA épica de supervivencia de todos los tiempos.

Robinson Crusoe es un joven inglés tratando de escapar de la insoportable presión de sus afectuosos pero sobre demandantes padres. A bordo de una expedición naval, debido a una terrible tormenta la nave choca y se hunde en algún lugar cerca de las costas de Venezuela. Crusoe el único sobreviviente, varado en una cercana isla desierta donde permaneció abandonado por los siguientes veintiocho años.

La épica de un hombre solitario tratando de sobrevivir en la naturaleza a pesar de extraordinarias chances en su contra. Una fantástica aventura de supervivencia y desarrollo personal. Lo que logró, sus ideas, sus construcciones y las mejoras que hizo, fueron más allá de admirables. Tan asombroso. O sea, yo creo que apenas si hubiera logrado construir una lamentable choza hecha de hojas de palmera, ¡que no hubiera soportado un segundo contra un susurro del viento!

Especialmente amé la llegada de Viernes y todo lo que él trajo a la historia  el lento proceso de vinculación desde una inicial incomprensión y desconfianza hacia una inquebrantable amistad fue una de las cosas más conmovedoras que alguna vez leí, y el más preciado recuerdo que guardo del libro.  En cierta forma me hizo recordar a Karana y Rontu de La Isla del Delfines Azules.  Mi corazón siempre se derrite con buena trama de enemigos a amigos. . Completamente inolvidable.

Un clásico de todos los tiempos que hace honor a su fama, que dio lugar a incontables imitaciones y adaptaciones a lo largo del tiempo, y que incluso dio nacimiento a un nuevo género literario, la Robinsonada. Recomendable.

Ni siquiera estaba al tanto de que existía una secuela hasta hoy, que escribo esta reseña, más de una década después. Genial. Más tarea. Quiero decir. ¡Genial! ¡Más tarea!

Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar ACA.

*** Robinson Crusoe (1997) es una hermosa película, pero apenas si puede llamarse una adaptación, o al menos, no una muy fiel. El filme se desvía seriamente de la obra original y añade muchísimos, demasiados, importantes cambios que como una película aprecié mucho, pero no como adaptación. Pierce Brosnan hace un muy buen Crusoe, al igual que William Takaku como Viernes; y son, como el libro, lo que más disfrute. Una escenografía y filmografía artística muy bonita. Excelente película, con mucho corazón. Pero cuestionable adaptación.



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n  NOTA PERSONALn:
[1719] [320p] [Clásicos] [Recomendable] ["Cuantas veces, el mal que más evitamos llega a ser, si caemos en él, la puerta de nuestra liberación"]
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I just had to get in a classic this month and since I already had lined up a Lycanthropic version of this particular classic, I thought, "Hey! This is gonna be great!"

Cast away on a desert island... me and Mr. Friday sharing the same fate...

Yeah, well, it was certainly a fast and fun read, sharing all the usual things I have enjoyed from Tom Hanks, short stories of Stephen King, or any number of coolness from Lost.

Only, this is blunderbusses and goats. Cannibals and grateful captains. And such a pace of three decades in the space of a short novel. :)

Well! It sure is a popular idea! And redone about a million times, alas. Still, I'm glad to learn the origin of My Man Friday. :)

And for Halloween, seeing raven's corpses on poles. Muahahahaha

A beautiful classic book, far ahead of its writing time. Alert, enthusiastic, innovative and, first of all, very human-like (you have to be very stupid in order to ask for politically correctness in the seventeenth century!) it's a joy to reread it, once or twice in your lifetime.

لقد نجا..و لكن يا لها من نجاة مخيفة..فبعد ان ثار الأزرق الغدار..و ألقى بسفينته محطمة فوق الرمال
يغرق الجميع. .عداه..
ليبقى روبينسون كروزو وحيدا..ليس لديه ما يأكله او يشربه..بلا سلاح..بلا مهارات..ضعيفا ابله..لن يفيده حديثه الفاتن..و لا ذكاؤه الاجتماعي
.هكذا القى دانيال ديفو ببطله بدون شفقة او رحمة..لتبدأ أشهر مغامرة فرديه أدبية ..و لكن هل كان روبينسون او "سكليريك"البطل الأصلي يستحق الرحمة؟
في رأيي. .لا! بل كان يستحق أكثر من 28عام من الوحدة القاسية..
فهو كان من هؤلاء ممن ينثرون الألم و وجع القلب في طريق كل من قابله

لا امانع الوحدة على الاطلاق ..⚪
فهي المرسى و هي المآل لكل منا جزيرته التي يحيا في محيطها مهما كان محاطا بالاهل و الرفاق..و لكنها وحدة مريحة عصرية نتدلل خلالها كثيرا☆☆☆.و سنتاكد من هذا
من خلال الرواية الوصفية المفصلة
..حيث تستغرق المنضدة أسابيع ليكملها كروزو..وتستغرق معنا صفحات.. و قطع الشجرة لصنع