Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Robinson Crusoe (Longman Classics, Stage 3) by Daniel Defoe, D. K. Swan, Michael West ISBN: 0-582-54156-5 Publisher: Addison Wesley Publishing Company Pub. Date: 01 April, 1988 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $9.53 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.68 (95 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: It takes at least 28 years to learn life's lessons
Comment: One of the best works of fiction I've read. I listened to this work unabridged and the narrator's tone and cadence were excellent. The narrative in the novel was very easy to follow as the majority of the book involves thoughts of Crusoe and very little dialogue. This is where its similarity with the movie "Cast Away" ends. It's an enduring story not for its Swiss Family Robinson detail but for its character development. Defoe does an excellent job of writing the impetuous, self-reproaching, humbling, ambitious and regretful thoughts of Crusoe.
The reflections and insights Crusoe contemplates while on and then later off the island provide an insightful template on how experience turns from foolish trial and error to wisdom. For example:
How frequently in the course of our lives, the evil which in itself we seek most to shun, and which when we are fallen into it is the most dreadful to us, is often times the very means or door of our deliverance by which alone we can be raised again from the affliction we are fallen into.
We are rarely cast into any condition of life so low or any misery so great but we may see something or other to be thankful for and may see others in worse circumstances than our own.
A few reviewers have criticized the book for its approbation of Robinson Crusoe's irresponsible behavior: he disobeyed his parents, pursued deplorable occupations (by today's standards), held racist attitudes and was cruel to animals. Yet it is just this behavior which is the strength of Crusoe as a character-he is the quintessential human---irresponsible, fallible, cowardly but not incorrigible.
Rating: 4
Summary: Not As Good As Other Classics But Still Worth One Read
Comment: Robinson Crusoe lives an unsettled life, until Fate settles it for him by leaving him shipwrecked on a tropical island. The island has an abundance of resources, and Crusoe is a resourceful survivor-type, so survival is never really an issue. Sanity is more an issue, although Dafoe writes Crusoe as a bit too adaptable to be credible. The beginning of the book, and the very end, are well-paced and well-written, but the large middle is slow and overly detailed. An undercooked loaf of bread might be good around the edges, but disappointingly doughy inside; this description fits this book as well. Nonetheless, it is a classic, and one of the earliest adventures written. There are many issues in the book that now seem archaic, but they did fit their historical time-period.
Rating: 5
Summary: Creative, pioneering adventure tale
Comment: Not only is Robinson Crusoe an extremely well written, entertaining novel, but it was the first of its kind. Defoe's novel is fresh and intriguing today just as it was when written.
Defoe's language reveals classic appreciation of the English language that really appealed to me as a reader. His narrative accounts of adventure, shipwrecks and survival are precise and captivating. this book is made up of many short stories tied together in following the main character. The character grows and matures through his trials and becomes a man worthy of emulation.
Defoe shows brilliant insight into humanity through his writing as his main character challenges nature, savages, and his inner darkness. I enjoyed the spiritual aspects of the book. Any close look at a character such as Crusoe would be lacking if it did not follow his spiritual transformation as well as his physical changes.
There are some brief slow parts interspersed in the book that are more like speedbumps in a great tale that many have tried to imitate but failed.
 |
Title: Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, Leo Damrosch ISBN: 0451527321 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: June, 1999 List Price(USD): $4.95 |
 |
Title: Treasure Island (Signet Classic) by Robert Louis Stevenson, New American Library Signet ISBN: 0451527046 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: December, 1998 List Price(USD): $3.95 |
 |
Title: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne ISBN: 0812550927 Publisher: Tor Classics Pub. Date: 15 October, 1995 List Price(USD): $3.99 |
 |
Title: The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss ISBN: 0440415942 Publisher: Yearling Books Pub. Date: 13 April, 1999 List Price(USD): $4.99 |
 |
Title: Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne ISBN: 059043053X Publisher: Scholastic Pub. Date: April, 1996 List Price(USD): $4.50 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
