Product Description

'I made him know his Name should be Friday, which was the Day I sav'd his Life...I likewise taught him to say Master' Robinson Crusoe's seafaring adventures are abruptly ended when he is shipwrecked, the solitary survivor on a deserted island. He gradually creates a life for himself, building a house, cultivating the land, and making a companion from the native whose life he saves. Daniel Defoe's enthralling story-telling and imaginatively detailed descriptions have ensured that his fiction masquerading as fact remains one of the most famous stories in English literature. On one level a simple adventure story, the novel also raises profound questions about moral and spiritual values, society, and man's abiding acquisitiveness. This new edition includes a scintillating Introduction and notes that illuminate the historical context.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18128 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Review
Thomas Keymer provides a splendid introduction and richly explanatory endnotes (co-written with James Kelly (Adam Potkay, Recent Studies in the Restoration and Eighteenth Century )

About the Author
Thomas Keymer has edited Richardson's Pamela and Fielding's Joseph Andrews and Shamela for OWC, and Tom Jones for Penguin. His books include Sterne, the Moderns, and the Novel (OUP, 2002) and The Cambridge Companion to English Literature 1740-1830 (2004), co-edited with Jon Mee.

Customer Reviews

A worth read
If able to conquer the cold, unfeeling person that Robinson Crusoe is, you may find this book an enjoyable read. However, i personally was unable to get past this milestone, and found that a little emotion in Robinson's life could have made this a good novel. Nevertheless, a good plot made this book a worthy read, that although not recommendable, deserves some respect.

Lots To Read But Not Much to Enjoy
Robinson Crusoe has one really appealing story line but not such an appealing writing style. Defoe writes as if you are being told the story by another huuman being. The writing contains about as much emotion as a supervisor at an airport's passport control. It is pact with facts and this is all well and godd but i personally find that without emotion the facts mean nothing to me. This book was written in the time of science annd facts and this becomes obvious the moment you pick the book up. Robinson Crusoe is a long frustrating read which offers no enjoyment to the reader. I would recommend however that if you have to do a coursework piece or an essay then pick this book because the language is not pleasant to read but is extreemly interesting which gives you alot to write about. In conclusion if you are looking for something to read which you want to stir any emotion apart from frustration then stay well away from this book! By Matt C

Classic
I am not quite sure what the other reviewers of this text expected from the world's oldest English novel. I do feel that they may think that it does not live up to the film / television versions.

However, if one reads from the understanding that this text is almost 300 years old, and that to truly understand it properly, you need an 'AS' or 'A' levels or higher in English; then in the context of the period it stands out as a true work of the writers' art.

If you want a Hollywood romp, then watch the DVD. If you want to learn how and why Daniel Defoe wrote this, then this book is a good place to start, with excellent notes and an introductory essay by Oxford University academics.