(Book 987 From 1001 books) - Robinson Crusoe = The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe

Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719.

The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person, and the book a travelogue of true incidents.

Epistolary, confessional, and didactic in form, the book is presented as an autobiography of the title character (whose birth name was Robinson Kreutznaer)—a castaway who spends twenty-eight years, on a remote tropical desert island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and mutineers, before ultimately being rescued.

The story has since been thought to be based on the life of Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish castaway, who lived for four years on a Pacific island called "Más a Tierra", now part of Chile, which was renamed Robinson Crusoe Island, in 1966.

عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «راب‍ی‍ن‍س‍ون‌ کروز‏»؛ «راب‍ی‍ن‍س‍ون‌ کروز‏و»؛ «رابینسون کروزوئه (رابینسون کروسو)»؛ «رابینسون کروزویه»؛ «رب‍ن‍س‍ن‌ ک‍روزئ‍ه‌»؛ «روبنسن کروزو»؛ «روبن سن کروزو»؛ «زندگی و ماجراهای عجیب و شگف��‌انگیز رابینسون کروزوئه»؛ «سف‍ره‍ا و م‍اج‍راه‍ای‌ راب‍ی‍ن‍س‍ون‌ ک‍روزوئ‍ه‌»؛ «ماجراهای رابینسون کروزویه»؛ «ماج‍راه‍ای‌ روب‍ن‍س‍ون‌ ک‍روزئ‍ه‌»؛ نویسنده: دانیل دفو (دوفو)؛ انتشاراتیها (جامی و بسیاری دیگر) ادبیات؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: سال 1972میلادی

عنوان: رابینسون کروزوئه؛ اثر: دانیل دفوئه، مترجم محمود مصاحب؛ مشخصات نشر تهران، گلشائی، 1343، در 404ص، فروست: گلشائی 33، موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده 19م

رابینسون کِروزوئه، یا «رابینسون کروسو»، مشهورترین رمان نویسنده ی بریتانیایی «دانیل دِفو»، نخستین بار در سال 1719میلادی، در «انگلستان» منتشر شد، کتاب خود زندگینامه ی منحصر به‌ فرد خیالی است، که لقب «پدر رمان انگلیسی» را، برای آفرینشگر آن به ارمغان آورده است؛ قهرمان داستان، که نامش بر تارک همین کتاب است، زندگی مرفه خود در «بریتانیا» را، برای مسافرت در دریاها، رها می‌کند؛ پس از آنکه از یک «کشتی شکستگی»، جان به در می‌برد، بیست و هشت سال را، در یک جزیره، به گذران زندگی می‌پردازد؛ «رابینسون» یک بومی جزیره را نجات میدهد، و نام «جمعه» بر وی می‌نهد؛ این دو، سرانجام جزیره را، به مقصد «بریتانیا» ترک می‌گویند؛ «دفو»، شاید بخشی از کتاب را، براساس تجارب واقعی یک ملوان «اسکاتلندی»، به نام «الکساندر سِلکرک» نگاشته باشند، که به سال 1704میلادی، پس از ستیز با ناخدای کشتی، وی را به درخواست خودش، در ساحل جزیره‌ ای خالی از سکنه، رها کردند؛ رمان پس از انتشار نخستین در انگلستان، و دیگر کشورهای اروپایی، با موفقیت روبرو شد، و برای همین، «دفو» رمان دیگرش «ادامه ی ماجراهای کروزوئه» را نوشتند

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 26/05/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

تعتبر رواية روبنسون كروزو هي أول رواية أدبية باللغة الإنجليزية بالمعنى المعروف لكتابة فن الرواية، وسرد الواقعية بطريقة خيالية. نشرت عام 1719 وتحكي عن الشاب كروزو والذي عُزل في جزيرة غير مأهولة لمدة 28 عامًا، وعمله على صنع عالم خاص به معتمدًا على الطبيعة، وأدوات تم جمعها من السفينة المحطمة التي كان على متنها مع آخرين ولكنهم قضوا جمعيًا وتبقى هو فقط.

"وإذا كان قد أحاط بكل شئ علمًا، فهو يعلم أنني هنا وأنني في هذه الحالة الفظيعة، وإذا كان لا شئ يحدث دون مشيئته، فهو الذي شاء أن يحدث كل هذا لي".

تدور الأحداث في أوائل القرن السابع عشر وعصر البحار وغزو المستعمرات من قبل أوروبا، وتنافسهم في ذلك فيما بينهم من أسبان وبرتغال وإنجليز، فنرى الشاب كروزو الإنجليزي يترك بيت والديه وهو ضد رغبتهم وينطلق إلى عالم البحار والمغامرات، وكما أسلفنا القول أعلاه تتقطع به السبل على جزيرة نائية في البحر الكاريبي، وهنا نرى تشكل وتكوين عالم جديد بالنسبة له وعليه أن يعمل ويكافح من أجل البقاء بمواد ومعدات بدائية، حيث شرع في بناء مسكن له بادئ الأمر والعمل على الصيد لكي يأكل وحرث الأرض وزراعتها وصنع العديد من الأشياء لكي تعينه على حياته الجديدة المنعزلة.

يعج السرد بالروحانية ومناجاة الرب والسعي وراء رضا الله لكي ينجو ويستمر في هذه الحياة البدائية، والاستمرارية بدون سخط أو استسلام وتبيان قوة الفرد واستقلاله وتفرده؛ وهو ما كان يميز ذلك العصر وبداية النهضة الأوروبية واظهار تفوق الأوروبي على غيره.

"أشكر الله على رحمته ونعمائه الرائعة التي أسبغها علي وأنا في هذا المكان المعزول، والتي لولاها لكنت في أشقى حال".

نجد أيضًا من خلال النص تمجيد الدور الأوروبي في تنوير سكان تلك البلاد وما أسماهم في النص "الهمج"، وأنهم من آكلي لحوم البشر ووجب ترويضهم وجعلهم شعوب راقية مثل أبناء جلدته. حتى عندما اتخذ منهم مرافق له "فرايدي" كان خادمًا له وليس ندًا له. بالطبع تعتبر تلك المشاهد غير مقبولة في عصرنا الحالي وتمثيلها لتفوق العنصر الأوروبي على تلك الشعوب المتخلفة البدائية.

الرواية تغص بالمغامرات والكفاح من أجل البقاء والرجوع إلى الله والتعلم من الأخطاء والصبر والعمل والجهد وانتظار النتائج والعودة للوطن مرة أخرى. السرد ممتع ولا شعور بالضجر بتاتًا خلال القراءة. نجحت الرواية تجاريًا حتى أن ديفو كتب لها أجزاء أخرى ولكن لم تحظى بالشعبية الكبيرة كهذا الكتاب، ولكن خلقت نوع أدبي جديد في عالم الخيال الأدبي والاقتباسات العديدة من روايات وأفلام. يقال أن ديفو اعتمد على تجربة البحار الاسكتلندي ألكسندر سيلكيرك والذي عُزل في جزيرة لمدة خمس سنوات، ومن قائل أنها مستوحاة من حي بن يقظان لإبن طفيل، ولكن نجد هنا واقعية واضحة ملموسة كالأكل والنوم والمعيشة وغريزة البقاء، بينما فلسفة ابن طفيل كانت التأمل حول الوجود والموت والحياة.

هذه أول ترجمة كاملة باللغة العربية وهي ترجمة بديعة ورصينة بأسلوب سلس ومتمكن من اللغة وتشكر عليه "رنيم العامري".

"وهكذا عشت حياتي براحة عظيمة، مطمئن البال ومنشرح الصدر مسلمًا أمري إلى مشيئة الله وخاضعًا كليًا لإرادته. وقد وجدت أن حياتي على هذا النحو هي أفضل مما لو عشت حياة اجتماعية محاطًا بالبشر، وكنت كلما تاقت نفسي لتبادل الحديث مع إنسان آخر سألت نفسي: أليس التفكر والحديث مع النفس أو مناجاة الله، أفضل وأبهج حتى من أمتع رفقة مع بني البشر في العالم؟"

There can not be many classics WORSE than this book. It might be decently written. And it might be a classic. For that I'll give it 2 stars instead of 1. But it's boring! I really don't know why this is a classic.

But you won't waste much time reading it. It'll take you 3 hours to read it, tops. This isn't really a book but more of a pamphlet.

HOW TO WRITE YOUR OWN ROBINSON CRUSOE:
#1 Create the start of a plot line that sounds very interesting. For instance, a man being marooned on an island and having to struggle for survival.
#2 Think of descriptive sentences. "His hair was long and coarse from a diet consisting mainly of cheese and pine nuts." Then cram a bunch of those together in an unsatisfying way: "The cheese came from the goats that he had learned over time to domesticate and keep in a small pin which was left alone except when the tiger came to prowl. He gathered the pine nuts from a tree that he had to examine to make sure wasn't poisonous first. He only did a half decent job at the inspection as he suffered from severe bloating as a reaction to the nuts. Later he found trees that would serve better as a main nutritional suplement."
#3 Let the reader keep thinking that you will develop the interesting plot line.
#4 End the book without developing a plot line at all, but keeping it sufficiently short and resolved enough that the reader won't all-together care.

Edit: Feb 21, 2025: Tabula(r) Rasa-ing the 18thC
I like to make tables.
Not the wooden kind (see? All thumbs!), but the kind you see in, you know, documents, especially of the (decidedly pseudo-) "White Paper" variety, which, whenever you come across them (or make them), always feel like they have a kind of pseudo-scientific, at least semi-faux-intellectual vibe or even heft to them, a seriousness of purpose that manages to convince you, until you think about it for 30 seconds or so, at least, that the table not only has something to say (cos heck, even lowly words can kinda do that), but that what they have to say is important somehow, real, and thus not subject to pointless debate or wussy doubts.

And if the table can be made to be amenable to some kind of quantifiable component (all tables desiring of being turned into a real spreadsheet just as all Pinocchios dream of becoming real boys), so much the "better"!

Well, that's what the form of a table sez to yours truly, anyhow.

Now, as for the content, I like it to be as ludicrous as humanly possible, of course, cos I actually think that tables, and those who make or read them with any self-seriousness (in the social "sciences" and humanities, at least), are simply laughable idiots.

Some years ago, for example, this particular idiot produced the following self-serve (and self-serving) faux-novel-title table:

(can't see it? It's at https://blog.wdclarke.org/instapot-lu... )

Now, having just re-read looked askance at Robinson Crusoe, I propose another table:

n  n    An Enquiry into Nature of Human Understanding of the Relations Betwixt Humans Who Read and Drink, and Writers Who Write and Drinkn  n

(or not, as the case may be), a table which, given sufficient time & funding (not in the USofA ca. 2025, but who knows, maybe a Canada Council Grant, if those—and we—survive the current tempest-in a-toupée?), might well become chapter headings for some earnest book or three, viz.

Writers You Would Drink With, And Who Might Conceivably Drink With A Plebe Like You

Writers You Would Drink With, But (Now Don't Delude Yourself, Buddy) Who Would Never Ever Drink With A Plebe Like You Anyhow

Writers You Would Never Even Want To Drink With, But Who Would Never Drink With A Plebe Like You Anyhow

Writers You Might Want to Drink With or Imagine Drinking With, But Whom You Would Never Actually Drink With, If You Know What's Good For You, But Who Gladly Would Drink With A Reader Like You.

That about covers it, but of course the above categories can themselves be subdivided or qualified in many, many ways—e.g.

nWriters You Can only Dream of Drinking With, Because They Are Dead Writers, But Who Wouldn't Have Drunk With You Even When Alive, Surely

Writers Who are More Professional at Drinking Than at Writing, And If You Drink With Them You Risk Potentially Lethal Alcohol Poisoning (while they will just be living la vida loca)

Writers You Are Sure You Would Want To Have a Beer With But When The Opportunity Actually Presents Itself You Are Far Too Afraid Afraid To Ask

Writers Who Let You Buy Them A Round And Then Proceed To Snub You

Writers Who Buy YOU A Round

Writers Who Come to Your Writing Class, Who Stick Around Long After the Prof Has Left, and Who Buy All Those Still on Their Feet Another Round

Writers Who Visit Your Class, Stick Around For Drinks, Then Back To Yours, Ending Up Sleeping On Your Couch

Writers Who […as above}, end up sleeping with your mother

Writers Who Draw A Hard And Fast Boundary-Line Between Art And Life (no time for people/drinks/life)

Writers With Whom You Do Go Ahead Drink, Ending Up In Their Beds, Novels or (worse?) Poems
(writers with no boundaries at all)

Writers Who Appear Aloof And Dispassionate And In Love With Nothing Other Than Somehow Appearing As An "Anthropologist From Mars"

Writers Who ARE Anthropologists From Mars

Wroters Who Desire Nothing More Than, But Who Never Ever Ever Will Drink With Fans, For Fear of Being Discovered To Posess Feet of Clay

Writers Who Actually Are Aloof

Writers Who May or May Not Have Invented the Novel, Yet Are Still Most Likely to Be Keen on Personally Enforcing A Prohibition Against Any Mind-Altering Substance, Including Books.

Daniel Defoe is that very last kind of writer. Stay away from him at all costs

(this from someone who has read...9 of his books...?
...and who must now, or too-goddamn-soon, succumb to reading a monstrous, monster-sized (730pp) tenth...

...all just so that he can say that he has read everything that, for whatever Godluvvin reason, is still in print from the guy?)

Jesus wept—and weeps!



Nov. 10, 2019: A Swell Five-Shilling Book
If you have read John Wyndham's religious dystopian novel [book:The Chrysalids|826845], then you know that pretty much nothing happens for the first six chapters except that religious bigotry is unveiled and detailed for pages on end. Then a girl makes a footprint in the sand, her mutated toes are spotted by a bigot, and she and the hero begin a real adventure and the novel becomes quite readable.

Well here (see rough quantification below), the religious dystopia picks up after page 50 or so when early adventures of our Homo Economicus hero come to an end, and, alone on his island (where he is Whiggishly desirous of proving that Everyman is indeed an island*), he alternates between
(i) detailing (and detailing) the quantifiable Improvements** he has made, by not merely lifting, but by heroically willing himself up by his own bootstraps to effectuate (as the only capitalist disruptor/job creator/Homme du Monde on the island) his own ever-increasing GDP, and
(ii) detailing (to the power of 10) the unquantifiable ways that Providence has intervened in his (and only his) life, Elected him in Calvinist terms, and has taught him to take pride in his humility.

(i) and (ii) tag-team you for 150 mind-numbing pages or so.

Then the adventures pick back up when RC sees a human footprint in the sand, meets his naturally selected Servant Friday, etc. etc., and he ends up a prosperous gentleman, with an annual income surpassing many a country squire of the ancien regime.

Edifying, in other words.

But let's do some of the kind of math that a Hedonic Calculator like RC might appreciate:

(2* x pages 1-50-ish)
+ (1* x pages 51-200-ish)
+ (2.5*x pages 201-268)
/268 pages
-------------------
= 1.567 stars, rounded ever-optimistically, though its tendentiousness "relishes me*** not", UP

(&Honestly, I am desirous of knowing: how is this really even a novel?)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_n...

*Note to p267: Observations upon Solitude : the opening chapter of Serious Reflections , which presents Crusoe’s island confinement as merely the intensification of a shared human condition: n  ‘Life in general is, or ought to be, but one universal Act of Solitude’n.

**In a former life, I wrote on the Culture of Improvement here

***I heartily agree with one of the book's first Criticks:

(note to pg 212) "So little do we see … Destruction": a conspicuous instance of the moralizing that fulfils Defoe’s prefatory account of Robinson Crusoe as ‘told … with Seriousness, and with a religious Application of Events to the Uses to which wise Men always apply them’ (3). Early critics rejoined that the work was ‘clog’d with Moral Reflections, as you are pleas’d to call them, every where insipid and aukward, and … put in by you to swell the Bulk of your Treatise up to a five Shilling Book’ (Gildon, Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Mr. D——De F —, 30–1).

~1⭐️~ no.❤️
This man deserved a coconut in the head from page 20.
It would've been a much more entertaining read.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If I would've been one of those savages I would've eaten this man alive, then barf him out into the ocean.
Das it, ✨tHaNk yOu✨
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Who could've thought reading about a white male stuck on an island for 25+ years would be so boring? Not the education system, I'll give you that.

This book was also filled with religious colonialism, propaganda and fanaticism and with a deep layer of racism and xenophobia.

You know what baffles me every time? That books like this one not only are they never banned but also called timeless masterpieces that are taught in school.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
75% update: They shot people and our dear Crusoe said "In the name of God"☺️

Robinson Crusoe was the first book I had read by myself – I was absolutely entranced, I had no smallest idea that books could be so hypnotizing. Strange may it seem but most of all I enjoyed reading the lists of the items Robinson was salvaging from the wrecked ship.
“My next care was for some ammunition and arms. There were two very good fowling-pieces in the great cabin, and two pistols. These I secured first, with some powder-horns and a small bag of shot, and two old rusty swords. I knew there were three barrels of powder in the ship, but knew not where our gunner had stowed them; but with much search I found them, two of them dry and good, the third had taken water. Those two I got to my raft with the arms.”
I dreamt to be shipwrecked and to have all that stuff for myself and to live on some desert tropical isle where there’s no winter and coconuts just lie underfoot. And I followed Robinson step by step participating in all his adventures and misadventures.
But somehow after Robinson Crusoe had found his man Friday the charms started dissipating… His solitude and lonely existence in the wilderness were much more enchanting.
Robinson Crusoe is a book one should read in one’s childhood otherwise the greater part of its romantic charms would be lost. And although I was literally stunned by this novel I never had a desire to reread it.
Robinson Crusoe is a timeless memorial to the human willpower and invincible will to live.

Robinson Crusoe, a suicidal businessman with sociopathic tendencies, obsessively tries to recreate society when he's shipwrecked. He grows increasingly paranoid; by the time he finally reunites with another human, he's murderously insane.

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.

اولین رمانی که خوندم این رمان بود. کلاس پنجم دبستان، درست در روزهای پیش از برگزاری آزمون مدارس راهنمایی نمونه. سرِ خوندن این کتاب و کتاب دور دنیا در هشتاد روز، راهنمایی نمونه قبول نشدم. اتفاقی که بعدها در مراحل بعدی زندگیم چند بار دیگه هم تکرار شد.

Para ultimar el desastroso 2020 decidí leer a Daniel Defoe, un autor que nos enseña que si algo puede salir mal, lo más probable es que acabes viviendo una epidemia o acabes en una isla desierta durante veintiocho años comiendo huevos de tortuga, carne de cabra y pasas, con las ocasionales visitas de caníbales y algún que otro terremoto. Yo elegí la segunda opción porque me gusta probar cosas nuevas, pero se ve que no fue la opción mayoritaria.

Dejando de lado el humor, lo cierto es que Robinson Crusoe es un libro muy interesante, y no por pocas razones es una de las obras cumbre de la literatura universal. La historia personal de Crusoe personifica en mayor o menor medida a todos individuos que hemos abandonado el nido, ya sea con dieciséis como con treinta y siete años. Y es que el propio autor, como su alter-ego literario, decidió desoír los consejos de su padre; Defoe prefirió hacerse mayorista de medias y calcetero, industria emergente a finales del siglo XVII, que ser pastor. Por su parte, Crusoe decide poner en funcionamiento una plantación en Brasil porque su sangre rebelde le imposibilita vivir bajo el ala de su padre, patriarca de una familia de clase media bastante acomodada. Tanto Defoe como Crusoe pasaron fuertes penalidades por sus decisiones, pues el autor del presente relato se endeudó, acabó en la cárcel, recuperó su fortuna, trabajó para el gobierno y luego, en el ocaso de su vida, lo volvió a perder todo. Crusoe en un viaje para conseguir mano de obra para sus florecientes plantaciones acaba en una isla desierta. Ambos, tanto el autor como el alter-ego, saben lo que es pasarlas canutas y empezar desde cero. Por esa razón, Robinson Crusoe es una novela escrita desde la perspectiva de un hombre maduro y experimentado que evoca las primeras escenas de su independencia con cierta condescendencia, pero también con un tono piadoso; la novela, hija de su época, no está exenta de sus correspondientes pasajes religiosos.

En otro plano, y como bien indica el prologuista: “Robinson Crusoe ejemplifica el audaz capitalista moderno, lleno de energía y de recursos ingeniosos: sus primeros años como joven comerciante en África (así como de esclavo en Marruecos) y plantador en Brasil dan muestra de su determinación y de su espíritu impávido”.

Y, sin embargo, en los primeros años y cegado por la abundancia económica Crusoe descuida por completo los hermosos deberes del cuerpo, invocando el nombre de Dios solo cuando cree estar al borde de la muerte. Pero cada vez que las circunstancias favorecen su supervivencia, Crusoe olvida sus promesas con Dios y persiste en su actitud libertina. Debido a su comportamiento, Defoe envía a su alter-ego a una isla, tal y como Dios llevo a Daniel Defoe a la bancarrota; la ausencia de amor a Dios marca ambas vidas, la real y la ficticia. En la isla, Crusoe no encuentra otro modo de salvarse de la locura y la soledad reinantes que (re)descubriendo a Dios. Y es allí donde encuentra un propósito y un designio divino para su existencia; cuando Robinson Crusoe es rescatado de la isla, no solo es un hombre liberado de la muerte, sino también de la indiferencia espiritual. Así, el joven disipado y rebelde se ha convertido en un hombre activo, humanista, independiente y completamente hecho a sí mismo. La crítica moderna ha concluido con que el héroe de Defoe es: “El auténtico estereotipo colonialista británico, al igual que Viernes es el símbolo de las razas sometidas”. James Joyce veía en Crusoe el espíritu anglosajón, la independencia varonil, la crueldad inconsciente, la inteligencia lenta pero eficiente, la apatía sexual, la religiosidad practica y equilibrada, y la taciturnidad calculadora.

Y es que, aunque no deja de ser menos cierta la opinión de Joyce, la novela también es un canto a la vida sencilla y a la economía de subsistencia, una critica a la producción de excedentes y a los valores consumistas de la sociedad. En su estancia en la isla Crusoe comprende los excesos de su vida anterior, y en la segunda parte decide poner a punto su colonia, donde reina el desorden y las intrigas hasta que Crusoe decide introducir los valores del cristianismo entre su población cristiana (protestante y católica) e indígena con ayuda de un cura católico francés.

Personalmente, disfruté muchísmo la primera novela, la mundialmente conocida por todos. Y digo esto porque cuando compré la edición en digital de Penguin Clásicos no sabía que también venía la secuela, menos conocida y que casi nadie ha leído, llamada Nuevas Aventuras de Robinson Crusoe. Como decía, disfruté especialmente el tono pausado de la primera parte y cómo Crusoe va superando las pruebas que Dios le pone en aquella isla situada en el delta del Orinoco, muy cerca de Trinidad. Si la novela solo hubiera sido de supervivencia y de reflexiones sobre Dios siento que se habría convertido en una de mis novelas favoritas. Pero con el comienzo de las aventuras perdí parte del interés, ya fuera porque el cambio de tono me había sacado de la narración o bien porque me parecía increíble el realismo de la narración de supervivencia y al convertirse en una historia de aventuras me parecía solo una novelita más.

La segunda parte es bastante inferior, por no decir infumable. Podemos dividir la secuela en dos partes: Robinson Crusoe vuelve a la isla y la convierte en un lugar habitable y relatos de Robinson Crusoe por el mundo. Tanto el tono como el ritmo son inadecuados para una novela de aventuras. Defoe se pierde en los detalles, el ritmo es demasiado lento y riza el rizo. Además, mata a Viernes, mi personaje favorito, de una manera totalmente absurda. A partir de ahí leí más por inercia que por un vivo deseo de saber como concluirían las aventuras de este aventurero inglés por Madagascar, China y Rusia.

En conclusión, Robison Crusoe es una de esas novelas que destaca por su sencillez y acaba llegándonos muy profundo si sabemos dónde observar y cómo hacerlo. Pero al igual que me pasó con Aquellas mujercitas, segunda parte de Mujercitas de Louisa May Alcott, no recomiendo leer la continuación de Robinson Crusoe. Preservad la magia de la primera parte y olvidad que existe una segunda.

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.

I read it the first time in 2019 and was curious to see if it's still is a 4 stars for me. And luckily it was. For a novel written in 1717 (i think at least.) It's surprisingly readable and while it's not the most exciting classic I've ever read, I didn't find myself bored by reading this. Of course the common setback for many classic is that it's contains some questionable things in it that as a modern reader feels quite wrong to include. However it was written a long time ago and not this year.