Synopses & Reviews
Who has not dreamed of life on an exotic isle, far away from civilization? Here is the novel which has inspired countless imitations by lesser writers, none of which equal the power and originality of Defoe's famous book.
Robinson Crusoe, set ashore on an island after a terrible storm at sea, is forced to make do with only a knife, some tobacco, and a pipe. He learns how to build a canoe, make bread, and endure endless solitude. That is, until, twenty-four years later, when he confronts another human being. First published in 1719, Robinson Crusoe has been praised by such writers as James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and Samuel Johnson as one of the greatest novels in the English language.
@ImNotGilligan You’d think in a diary about solitude I’d write something emotional, but nah, that’d be so emo. I’m not in the mood.
From Twitterature: The World's Greatest Books in Twenty Tweets or Less
Review
“Defoes excellence it is, to make me forget my specific class, character, and circumstances, and to raise me while I read him, into the universal man.”—Samuel Taylor Coleridge
“Among the few English novels which we can call indisputably great.”—Virginia Woolf
Synopsis
Aimed at young readers, this adventure-themed collection of adapted classic books will entertain youngsters with characters and storylines that seek to foster their love for reading. These classics are a great way for young readers to start building their very own library.
Synopsis
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.
Synopsis
The sole survivor of a shipwreck, Robinson Crusoe is stranded on an uninhabited island. With patience and ingenuity, he transforms his island into a tropical paradise. For 24 years he has no human company, until one Friday, he rescues a prisoner from a boat of cannibals. Features a new Afterword. Revised reissue.
Synopsis
One man can be an island The classic tale of a man shipwrecked on a remote island, and his struggle to retain his humanity against the forces of nature, as well as do battle with his own fears and loneliness.
Synopsis
Who has not dreamed of life on an exotic isle, far away from civilization? Here is the novel which has inspired countless imitations by lesser writers, none of which equal the power and originality of Defoe's famous book.
Robinson Crusoe, set ashore on an island after a terrible storm at sea, is forced to make do with only a knife, some tobacco, and a pipe. He learns how to build a canoe, make bread, and endure endless solitude. That is, until, twenty-four years later, when he confronts another human being. First published in 1719, Robinson Crusoe has been praised by such writers as James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and Samuel Johnson as one of the greatest novels in the English language.
Synopsis
As Moll Flanders struggles for survival amid the harsh social realities of seventeenth-century England, there is but one thing she is determined to avoid: the deadly snare of poverty. On the twisting path that leads from her birth in Newgate Prison to her final prosperous respectability, love is regarded as worth no more than its weight in gold; and such matters as bigamy, incest, theft, and prostitution occasion but a brief blush before they are reckoned in terms of profit and loss. Yet so pure is her candor, so healthy her animal appetites, so indomitable her resiliency through every vicissitude of fortune, that this extraordinary woman emerges as one of the most appealing heroines in English literature.
With a New Introduction and with an Afterword by Regina Barreca
Synopsis
One of the most appealing heroines of English literature, Moll Flanders is born in 17th century Newgate Prison. Even so, the young girl determines to face life head-on and raise herself out of abject poverty. This is the story of her pluck—and how it pays off.
About the Author
Daniel Defoe (16601731) was born in London. His father, a butcher, sent him to Charles Mortons academy to study for the ministry, but Defoe entered the business world instead and achieved some initial success as a commission agent. In 1684, he married Mary Tuffley, a prosperous merchants daughter. The following year, stirred by the spirit of adventure, he took part in Monmouths rebellion; and in 1688, he joined a volunteer regiment that acted as William IIIs escort into London. By 1692, Defoes business affairs had floundered, and his creditors filed suit against him. He talked his way out of debtors prison and took up manufacturing, eventually becoming the owner of some tile works at Tilbury. About this time, he started to write. His poem
The True-Born Englishman, published in 1701, met with resounding success. In 1702, he attacked the Tories in the pamphlet
The Shortest Way with the Dissenters. This work enraged the government, and Defoe was imprisoned. Released in November 1704, he became a secret agent for the government, working in favor of the union. Defoe continued to write pamphlets, and it was not until some years later that he turned to fiction. Between 1718 and 1723, he published
Robinson Crusoe,
Moll Flanders, and
A Journal of the Plague Year. He lived for a time in style, but gradually the creditors crept back. Forced to go into hiding, Defoe died, a lonely and hunted man, in Ropemakers Alley, Moorfields, on April 26, 1731.
Regina Barreca, Professor of English Literature and Feminist Theory at the University of Connecticut, is an award-winning columnist for the Hartford Courant. She is the author or editor of numerous books, including They Used to Call Me Snow White. . .But I Drifted and The Penguin Book of Womens Humor. She has also regularly published articles in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and dozens of magazines.