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natashalg's review against another edition
I found the events of the book boring, and I couldn't bring myself to care about the main character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Slavery, and Colonisation
friendofmarlowe's review against another edition
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
sadly just nothing about this interested me at all. which is disappointing for one of the first english novels ever. i wanted to give it more credit for the fact that class discussions have at least been interesting, but i think should give that to my professor and peers and not the book. just so… eh whatever.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Colonisation
Moderate: Cannibalism
m4rtt4's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
i know the context, but no book has ever made me this uncomfortable with its blatant racism and white supremacism. Even if that was excusable due to the circumstances, I don't understand the status of this book as a classic, as it's so slow and boring and repetitive — the narration is basically just a list of "this year I did that and the next year I did that".
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Death, Slavery, and Violence
wuzzbookz's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Wow, this book was a struggle. Many others have reviewed it better than I but in short it is a book which is hard work because of its pacing and style. Being an 18th century work I fully expected some rambling but the most annoying features were that the narrative is all over the place with the character constantly repeating himself in the first half of the book. Thus potentially interesting bits of the story are missed out and other duller pieces over elaborated upon. There were moments when I was more absorbed such as how he builds his shelter and as soon as Friday turned up at least it was more of a narrative (although he's only in the last quarter of the book).
There are also the problematic attitudes of the time as you'd expect which mean it has quite a different impact now than it would have done. After all he's wrecked on a voyage where he's headed to enslave people so I had no sympathy for him. I have to confess I also cheered when HR got food poisoning from bludgeoning a turtle.
Also once he's rescued the book just won't stop and I skim read the bits with wolves which added nothing to the story at all and simply highlighted the views of the time towards wild animals (see Friday tormenting a bear when it was minding its own business).
All in all a slog and not a rewarding one
There are also the problematic attitudes of the time as you'd expect which mean it has quite a different impact now than it would have done. After all he's wrecked on a voyage where he's headed to enslave people so I had no sympathy for him. I have to confess I also cheered when HR got food poisoning from bludgeoning a turtle.
Also once he's rescued the book just won't stop and I skim read the bits with wolves which added nothing to the story at all and simply highlighted the views of the time towards wild animals (see Friday tormenting a bear when it was minding its own business).
All in all a slog and not a rewarding one
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Racism, and Xenophobia
eli2k's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Racism, Slavery, and Religious bigotry
shaanzeh1_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism
Moderate: Racism and Slavery
franksreads's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Boring and racist, not worth anyone's time
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Colonisation
talviuni's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Slavery
franchenstein's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
It's interesting rereading a book after somewhat 20 years, noticing that I have forgotten most of it. I had no recollection of Crusoe falling into slavery in Morocco, or of the last adventure by land in the Pyrenees. Most surprisingly, as a Brazilian, I forgot that the main character had land and slaves in my country, when he still called it the Brazils. I read it in Portuguese as a child and now I got the chance to read it in the original.
Frankly, it can be as exciting as it can be boring. Knowing that it's fictional and not a real journal, makes the ending kind of jarring. He keeps on adding adventures, way past their welcome. I could not care about his battle against wolves, or about Friday playing with a bear for five pages. It all sounded like too much of a tall tale after a very long tall tale. Also, the early modern obsession with listing and inventory often become a slog. Defoe's prose is not very elegant nor elaborate, but its simplicity is not that impactful either. He's often repetitive in a way that just makes the text drag.
It is an interesting window to the beliefs of Defoe's times. How unchallenged the notion of slavery goes, how women seem to be treated as merchandise, how one can go for 30 years on an island without a single sexual thought crossing his mind, how he reproduced unconfirmed claims about cannibalism as if they were the most obvious facts about the new world. How Crusoe is indeed, as Joyce says, the prototype of the English colonizer.
And still, there is a sense of wonder and tragedy in the unlucky story of someone who insists on his mistakes, in his unrelenting desire to explore frontiers even when his whole history shows that this is a bad idea. Boldness and curiosity beats security in forging a narrative.
Frankly, it can be as exciting as it can be boring. Knowing that it's fictional and not a real journal, makes the ending kind of jarring. He keeps on adding adventures, way past their welcome. I could not care about his battle against wolves, or about Friday playing with a bear for five pages. It all sounded like too much of a tall tale after a very long tall tale. Also, the early modern obsession with listing and inventory often become a slog. Defoe's prose is not very elegant nor elaborate, but its simplicity is not that impactful either. He's often repetitive in a way that just makes the text drag.
It is an interesting window to the beliefs of Defoe's times. How unchallenged the notion of slavery goes, how women seem to be treated as merchandise, how one can go for 30 years on an island without a single sexual thought crossing his mind, how he reproduced unconfirmed claims about cannibalism as if they were the most obvious facts about the new world. How Crusoe is indeed, as Joyce says, the prototype of the English colonizer.
And still, there is a sense of wonder and tragedy in the unlucky story of someone who insists on his mistakes, in his unrelenting desire to explore frontiers even when his whole history shows that this is a bad idea. Boldness and curiosity beats security in forging a narrative.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Slavery, and Cannibalism
not_nosferatu's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Racism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Violence and Cannibalism