The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1808)

The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Four Stars, recommended as a classic.

In summary this is written as an autobiography of an English youngster, born in the year 1632, in the city of York, anxious for adventure against his family's advice. He sets upon the sea to satisfy his adventure yearnings. He endures some hardships, some enslavement, and some fortune obtaining a plantation in South America. To enhance his fortune he voyages to find laborers to work on his plantation, slaves. (He had been a slave to moslems for some years during his adventures, this isn't a controversial point in this 1600s novel)

During his voyage he is shipwrecked and is the sole survivor on a deserted island for some 27 years when circumstances change to allow him to return to England. There after are some other minor adventures, re-obtaining his properties and monies he had entrusted to others before he vanished at sea.

The meat of the novel is his adventures as a sole survivor on a deserted island.


Here is where I must recommend this book to every soul as required reading.

I'm sure this would be a banned book in most western countries today as he does openly speak of his Christian faith and how it sustains him and influences many of his actions over the decades he is stranded on the island. To me, that is nothing I wouldn't hear from any friend or neighbor who openly loves the Lord Jesus and felt their blessings and challenges of faith that they endure.

Another reason I recommend this book is for its utility. Here is a soul who explains in detail how he survives on a deserted island, how he manages to provide for himself, home, food, and ceaseless work to achieve the comforts he desires.

I recall reading this book when I was very young and I'm convinced the first time I read it the edition must have been an abridged edition as I recall his "man-servant" Friday with him as a major part of his stay on the deserted island. In the unabridged edition I'm reviewing his opportunity to meet his man Friday doesn't happen for over two decades of his solitude.

It was an interesting read to me. I believe it is stock full of good advice, great examples of the process of thinking and solving problems. I believe this alone makes it a worthy read for anyone who was not required to read it in elementary school. I suspect if a youngster reads this edition of Robinson Crusoe he would have obtained a massive amount of information that is no longer available at all in many public schools.

Today I hear congressional representatives talking about hunting as being ridiculous because in the modern age we can just go to the store to get food. I'm convinced some of our actual adult national leaders do not understand things as essential as "the food chain". Our constitution is unknown to them except as vague suggestions of freedom to speak or civil rights which are only vaguely understood. They do not understand the founder's intention of people having arms in order to overthrow the government if it becomes tyrannical, which was largely the purpose of the second amendment. My point isn't really the idiocy of our leaders or the population's growing ignorance of founding documents. Rather, THIS book uses fiction to educate people in thinking processes and survival strategies in interesting fictional stories of adventure.

One example before I conclude. Our stranded hero has his island invaded by cannibals. From a safe distance, and in concealment, he witnesses them kill and eat humans which terribly upsets him to the point he makes plans to slaughter them should they land on his island again. During the years that go by he is anxious for his own safety, yet he has occasion to consider that while, in his mind and beliefs he ought to kill them as evil monsters, there may be things his God has not revealed to him about this situation, and that to kill without being in harm's way would do no good for his soul.

This process of thinking and discovering his own morals against his safety and security is something some folks graduating from doctoral studies haven't even read about, let alone considered... and learning these processes is essential in even an elementary education.

I recently finished Don Quixote and am reminded of his "adventures" which are belly-laugh funny. I believe the adventures in this edition of The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe would be interesting to youngsters. Perhaps young teenagers may find this book quite exciting. There be cannibals, pirates, adventures on the high seas, ship wrecks and survival with only your wit, hard work, and inventiveness to keep you alive.

I believe this is probably a "volume one" as it ended with the anticipation of more to come. My research would suggest there is more "Robinson Crusoe" beyond this edition.

With E-books, it is impossible to tell. I believe this book is around 450 pages. The Audiobook was 13 hours, 20 minutes.

This ebook is available free at Gutenberg Project, Feedbooks, Amazon, and other outlets. The audiobook is available at Librovox, Youtube, Audiobook Treasury, Audiobooks Org, Learn Out Loud (The Audiobooks Org edition), and both from my public service cloud service at Public Folder or Reading Classics.


I started reading this book on 2/17/19 and completed it after seven reading sessions on 3/10/19. Classics are classic for a reason. They have usually appealed to people for several dozen or hundreds of years. I enjoyed this one and hope you will too.


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