So I read Robinson Crusoe by recommendation of my friend Kate's blog. I think that because Kate gave this book such a glowing review my expectations were very high and different from what I was actually going to get from this book. I've never really known anything about Robinson Crusoe except that he was shipwrecked on an island. I think I was also confusing his story with the Swiss Family Robinson. I kept expecting him to find people on his island and eventually start a family.
I don't really want to give a synopsis about the book, but it's basically about Robinson Crusoe who gets shipwrecked and builds up a community on his own with a goat farm and corn and all the resources he needs to survive. It was cool to read about his resourcefulness and how he learned to make clay pots and baskets. There's no way I would have survived if I were found myself in a situation like he did. He is able to build a boat and a home and furniture and everything he needs. Throughout the story he observes and eventually meets with cannibals who come to his island from the coast of South America. The whole time I kept thinking "There's no way these guys are actually cannibals!" but they totally were! Then I actually started thinking about cannibalism and I got really grossed out. But from these cannibals Robinson gets his faithful friend Friday! Friday is the first person that Robinson gets to talk to in years. From here they work together and eventually meet with pirates and eventually find a way off the island and go back to England.
Throughout his time on the island, especially his time alone, Robinson goes through a very spiritual journey and explores and strengthens his faith in and relationship with God. This was a very introspective book and made me think about a lot of things. Robinson is very aware of his sins and firmly believes that his abandonment on the island was a result of his wickedness in his youth, but he is also quick to recognize the goodness of God in allowing his life to be spared and provide him with food and a relatively comfortable existence in his solitude.
I think overall I definitely enjoyed the book, though maybe not as much as I thought I would. The writing style was something to get used to but ultimately wasn't a problem. DeFoe used a lot of run on sentences and wrote in first person which I think made the story more interesting because you really get into Robinson's head. It was a good read and I would recommend it to others! Reading the classics is always fun.
3 out of 5 stars
If I had been stranded on that island, there is no way I would ever have figured out how to make cheese. I thought that it was amazing that he could do that. I guess people in his day were less removed from cheesemaking. Like, in our culture, you just go to the store and the cheese is there and you never see anything about cheesemaking. The only time I've actually seen something about it that I can recall was on sesame street when I was like 5.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked it! Probably the reason I liked it so much was because I had such low expectations in comparison. Sorry to make yours so high!