Book: Robinson Crusoe

Author: Daniel Defoe

Rating: 3/5

Summary: The novel is a fictional autobiography of a young man named Robinson Crusoe, who dreams of going on sea voyages. Defying his father, Crusoe sets out on an adventure that was to change his life. On the journey, misfortune strikes and the ship is attacked by Turkish pirates and Crusoe is taken as a slave. After two years of slavery, he dramatically escapes and lands on an uninhabited island. The rest of the book tells us how Crusoe learns to live his life on an island for 27 seven years. While on the island, he finds a human foot print which is not his, and suspects to be that of cannibal barbarians. Crusoe even witnesses a human sacrifice where one of the men escapes from the barbaric act. Robinson rescues him, and names him ‘Friday’, in remembrance of the day he saved him. Friday is taught to speak English and becomes a great help and companion to Crusoe in his otherwise lonely life. Robinson finally escapes when a ship that has been a victim of mutiny arrives on the island. He helps the captain and the prisoners to retrieve the ship and eventually sets off back to London. Get this e-book now at a very low price.

Social/Historical context: The novel is set in the mid seventeenth century. The rise of capitalism during the period has its influence on the book. Certain themes in the book can be seen as Biblical and there are also references to God, for at the island Robinson cries out “Lord, be my help, for I am in great distress.”

Writing Style: The novel is mainly written from a first-person point of view with casual narrative style. There are excerpts also from an incomplete diary, which is integrated into the novel. . Defoe’s storytelling capability is truly outstanding with an eye for attention even to the minute details relevant to the story.

My Thoughts: Robinson Crusoe is an adventure novel that is enormously popular particularly among young readers. The parts of the story dealing with ship wreckage, mutiny, pirates and cannibals will surely fascinate the young and old alike. The book tells you a great deal of loneliness and how a man survives on an island with no human inhabitants. The major part of the book shows us how Robinson copes with hardship and overcomes his shortcomings thereby leaning to appreciate his strange life. The original book is a little difficult to read with its weird sentence structure; other than that it is a pleasant novel.

Book Reviewed By Hala Hassan

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