“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
Description
Shipwrecked and cast ashore on an uninhabited island, Robinson Crusoe ingeniously carves out a solitary, primitive existence for twenty-four years. Eventually, he meets a young native whom he saves from death at the hands of cannibals. He calls him Friday and makes him his companion and servant. Crusoe and Friday share in a variety of adventures, including a fierce battle with cannibals that culminates in the heroes recapturing a mutinous ship and returning to England.
Based partly on the real-life experiences of Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk, Defoe’s novel of human endurance in an exotic, faraway land exerts a timeless appeal and has taken its rightful place among the great works of Western civilization.
Praise
“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
“The footprint scene in Crusoe [is] one of the four greatest in English literature and most unforgettable.” Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish novelist and travel writer
“John Lee does an excellent job narrating this classic shipwreck adventure story." SoundCommentary.com
“John Lee’s performance provides an excellent reason to listen to this classic of English literature. Like the author and the novel’s protagonist, Lee is British. His deep voice recounts the memories of a sailor stranded alone on an island off the coast of Brazil. The story also gives Lee the opportunity to show his skill with the many accents of foreign sailors, adding a delightful authenticity to the yarn. Some narrators founder miserably in the sea of peculiar words used aboard sailing ships of the seventeenth century, but Lee handles them as though he has been aboard a ship all his life. Don't mistake this survival story as being intended solely for children, for it has all the complexities of language, suspense, and action adults love in great books.” AudioFile
“Written by mere man that was wished longer by its readers.” Samuel Johnson, English author, biographer, and playwright
Details
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Release Day | Jul 9, 2008 |
| Release Date | July 10, 2008 |
| Release Date Machine | 1215648000 |
| Imprint | Blackstone Publishing |
| Provider | Craig Black |
| Categories | Literature & Fiction, Children's Books, Classics, Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths, Action & Adventure, Classics, Evergreen Classics, Evergreen Classics, Classics, Fiction - All, Fiction - Adult |
Author Bio
Daniel Defoe (1660–1731), born in London as Daniel Foe, was a novelist, pamphleteer, journalist, and political spy. He is celebrated for his frank and dramatic realism in fiction and the accuracy, vigor, and lucidity of his journalism. Considered the father of the English novel, he was also the first author of ghost stories in English literature. He is best known for his novels Robinson Crusoe and Moll Flanders.
Narrator Bio
John Lee is the winner of numerous Earphones Awards and the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration. He has twice won acclaim as AudioFile’s Best Voice in Fiction & Classics. He also narrates video games, does voice-over work, and writes plays. He is an accomplished stage actor and has written and coproduced the feature films Breathing Hard and Forfeit. He played Alydon in the 1963–64 Doctor Who serial The Daleks.
Overview
Shipwrecked and cast ashore on an uninhabited island, Robinson Crusoe ingeniously carves out a solitary, primitive existence for twenty-four years. Eventually, he meets a young native whom he saves from death at the hands of cannibals. He calls him Friday and makes him his companion and servant. Crusoe and Friday share in a variety of adventures, including a fierce battle with cannibals that culminates in the heroes recapturing a mutinous ship and returning to England.
Based partly on the real-life experiences of Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk, Defoe’s novel of human endurance in an exotic, faraway land exerts a timeless appeal and has taken its rightful place among the great works of Western civilization.
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