Robinson Crusoe

by Daniel Defoe, Paul Theroux (Introduction), Robert Mayer (Afterword)

Overview

Daniel Defoe’s classic tale of a solitary castaway’s survival and triumph, widely considered to be the first English novel.

“I, poor miserable Robinson Crusoe, being shipwrecked, came on shore on this dismal unfortunate island, all the rest of the ship’s company being drowned. In despair of any relief, I saw nothing but death before me…”
 
Thus Crusoe begins his journal in Daniel Defoe’s classic novel: the vividly realistic account of a solitary castaway’s triumph over nature—and over the fears, self-doubt and loneliness that are parts of human nature.
 
For almost three centuries, Robinson Crusoe has remained one of the best known and most read tales in modern literature, a popularity owing as much to the enduring freshness and immediacy of its style as to its widely acknowledged status as the very first English novel. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780451530776
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/06/2008
Series:	Signet Classics Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	4.25(w) x 6.75(h) x 0.81(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) is the author of Robinson Crusoe, Moll Flanders, and A Journal of the Plague Year.
 
Paul Theroux is the award-winning author of such novels as Picture Palace and The Mosquito Coast as well as numerous bestselling travel books, including The Great Railway Bazaar.
 
Robert Thayer is Professor of British Literature and Director of the Screen Studies Program at Oklahoma State University and the author of History and the Early English Novel: Matters of Fact from Bacon to Defoe.

Read an Excerpt

I was born in the Year 1632, in the City of York, of a good Family, tho not of that Country, my Father being a Foreigner of Bremen, who settled first at Hull: He got a good Estate by Merchandise, and leaving off his Trade, lived afterward at York, from whence he had married my Mother, whose Relations were named Robinson, a very good Family in that Country, and from whom I was called Robinson Kreutznaer; but by the usual Corruption of Words in England, we are now called, nay we call our selves, and write our Name Crusoe, and so my Companions always call’d me.
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Robinson Crusoe"
by .
Copyright © 2008 Daniel Defoe.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

1.	The Family Left Behind	7
2.	First Adventures at Sea	11
3.	In and Out of Slavery	17
4.	From Brazil to a Shipwreck	23
5.	Looting the Wrecked Ship	31
6.	Making a Home	39
7.	Getting Organized	43
8.	Diary of a Castaway	47
9.	A Turning Point	57
10.	Finding Comfort	63
11.	Exploring the Island	75
12.	A New Pet	79
13.	Baking Bread	85
14.	Great Improvements	91
15.	Ocean Danger	99
16.	A Dairy Farm	105
17.	The Footprint	111
18.	Cannibals	117
19.	A Secret Cave	121
20.	Another Shipwreck	125
21.	Wonderful Dream	129
22.	Finding Friday	137
23.	Friendship	145
24.	Arrival of Savages	151
25.	Rescuing Captives	157
26.	The Mutineers	167
27.	Heading Home	177

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"There is nothing archaic about Vance's miraculous reading of this classic tale.... This stellar audiobook brings out all the elements of this original castaway tale." —-Booklist Starred Audio Review

Reading Group Guide

1. Robinson Crusoe is regarded as one of the first English novels. What were the qualities that defined the English novel? How has the meaning of the word "novel" changed? Do we use the term more loosely now or has it evolved into something entirely different?

2. Defoe's novel is also thought to be one of the earliest examples of the use of psychological realism. Defoe posits himself as "editor" and Crusoe as the author. How does his use of voice and point of view differ from that of his contemporaries? How much of his fiction might be influenced by his background in journalism and nonfiction?

3. How much of Robinson Crusoe is supposed to be "real" and journalistic and how much is intended to be allegorical? How does Defoe use Crusoe to espouse certain values? In what sense is the book a morality story?

4. Examine Crusoe's relationships with Xury and Friday. Critics have seen Robinson Crusoe as representative of British colonialism and imperialism, glorifying the subjugation of other cultures. How does Defoe seem to comment on the institution of slavery and issues of race?

5. How do Robinson Crusoe's experiences on the island comment on the society from which he has been separated?

6. How does what we now call the Protestant work ethic pervade Defoe's novel? Robinson seems to channel all of his energy into the pursuit of manual labor; the story is a series of daily routines and a tribute to work. To what end? Is his newfound work ethic accompanied by a spiritual awakening?

7. How is value established on Crusoe's island? How does the language of economics inform the text?

8. What is the nature of RobinsonCrusoe's relationship with his environment? Does he regard his surroundings as hostile? Does he seek to re-create the landscape?

Interviews

full-color graphic novels classic literature enhanced Common Core State Standards support written by a Common Core expert discussion and writing prompts expanded introduction bolded glossary words Daniel Defoe

Editorial Reviews

Beyond the end of Robinson Crusoe is a new world of fiction. Even though it did not know itself to be a ‘novel,’ and even though there were books that we might now call ‘novels’ published before it, Robinson Crusoe has made itself into a prototype . . . Perhaps because of all the novels that we have read . . . the novelty of Defoe’s fiction is the more striking when we return to it. Here it is, at the beginning of things, with its final word reaching out into the future.” –from the Introduction by John Mullan

From the Publisher

Three hundred years later, does Robinson Crusoe hold up as a classic? A classic is a book that generations have found worth returning to and arguing with. Vividly written, replete with paradoxes and troubling cultural attitudes, revealing a deep strain of supernaturalism beneath its realist surface, Robinson Crusoe is just such a classic and far more than a simple adventure story for kids.”

Washington Post

There is nothing archaic about Vance's miraculous reading of this classic tale.... This stellar audiobook brings out all the elements of this original castaway tale.

Booklist Starred Audio Review

Simon Vance’s truly ‘golden voice’ further enhances this seminal story of action and adventure. His rendering of a young man in search of fame and fortune is perfection in performance. Listeners will feel the sand between their toes as Vance describes Crusoe building a life on the island he believes to be uninhabited. His battle with cannibals and rescue of his man ‘Friday’ are as thrilling as the plot of any modern novel. While literary style has changed over the decades since Crusoe was first shipwrecked, Vance makes this account both palatable and potent.”

AudioFile

The footprint scene in Crusoe [is] one of the four greatest in English literature and most unforgettable.”

Scottish novelist and travel writer Robert Louis Stevenson

Robinson Crusoe is read as eagerly today as when it was first published. . . . The book has attained a high place in the literature of the world, and justly so.

Masterplots

"This edition greatly enriches the reader's appreciation of Robinson Crusoe both as a classic that transcends its historical origins and as a text that reflects a specific historical context. In each role, the novel can be viewed from many perspectives, ranging from those embodied in other writings by Defoe and his contemporaries to later ideas about psychology, economics, religion, and post-colonialism, and the introduction and appendices give the reader access to an extraordinarily copious array of these perspectives. The introduction, moreover, goes well beyond compiling viewpoints: while elegantly marshaling information, Evan R. Davis also contests received opinion and offers fresh insights. This is an extremely useful edition for students, general readers, and even those already well-acquainted with Defoe."

Oscar Kenshur Indiana University

"Evan Davis has done an excellent job of bringing together many of the strands of thought that Defoe put into The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe—his interests in travel, economics, religion, and the experience of solitude—and putting them into an attractive format. Professor Davis supplies examples of texts on related topics such as solitude, cannibalism, and castaway narratives, along with a group of wonderful illustrations, including a large number of Crusoe and Friday, showing everything from the sympathetic and helpful Crusoe to Crusoe the colonialist and exploiter. These are well chosen to make points about the ways in which Crusoe fits into the interests of post-colonial criticism. Professor Davis is also very good in his introduction on the ambiguity with which Crusoe treats Friday. Is he a friend, a servant, or a slave? Or all three? This will be a useful and indeed an exciting text for students at all levels."

Maximillian E. Novak University of California

Many scholars consider ROBINSON CRUSOE to be the first English novel. While this popular and oft-imitated tale still works on its own after all these years, Simon Vance’s truly "golden voice" further enhances this seminal story of action and adventure. His rendering of a young man in search of fame and fortune is perfection in performance. Listeners will feel the sand between their toes as Vance describes Crusoe building a life on the island he believes to be uninhabited. His battle with cannibals and rescue of his man "Friday" are as thrilling as the plot of any modern novel. While literary style has changed over the decades since Crusoe was first shipwrecked, Vance makes this account both palatable and potent. R.O. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2008 - AudioFile

A labored retelling of the classic survival tale in graphic format, heavily glossed and capped with multiple value-added mini-essays.

Along with capturing neither the original's melodrama nor the stranded Crusoe's MacGyver-esque ingenuity in making do, Graham's version quickly waxes tedious thanks to forced inclusion of minor details and paraphrased rather than directly quoted dialogue in an artificially antiquated style ("You Friday. Me Master"). Frequent superscript numbers lead to often-superfluous footnotes: "Crusoe, a European, assumes that he is superior to other races. This attitude was usual at the time when the story was written." Shoehorned into monotonous rows of small panels, the art battles for real estate with both dialogue balloons and boxed present-tense descriptions of what's going on (the pictures themselves being rarely self-explanatory). Seven pages of closing matter cover topics from Defoe's checkered career to stage and film versions of his masterpiece—and even feature an index for the convenience of assignment-driven readers.

At best, a poor substitute for Cliffs Notes and like slacker fare.(Graphic novel. 11-14)

Kirkus Reviews