Survival by Thinking and Doing, 17. März 2007

Robinson Crusoe is best taken at two levels, the literal adventure story of survival on an isolated island and as a metaphor for finding one's way through life. I recommend that everyone read the book who is willing to look at both of those levels. If you only want the adventure story, you may not be totally satisfied. The language, circumstances, and attitudes may put you off so that you would prefer to be reading a Western or Space-based adventure story with a more modern perspective.Few books require anyone to rethink the availability and nature of the fundamentals of life: Water, food, shelter, clothing, and entertainment. Then having become solitary in our own minds as a reader, Defoe adds the extraordinary complication of providing a companion who is totally different from Crusoe. This provides the important opportunity to see Crusoe's civilized limitations compared to Friday's more natural ones. The comparisons will make for thought-provoking reading for those who are able to overcome the stalled thinking that the educated, civilized route is always the best.One of the things that I specially liked about the book is the Crusoe is an ordinary person in many ways, making lots of mistakes, and having lots of setbacks. Put a modern Superhero (from either the comic books, adventure or spy novels, or the movies) into this situation, and it would all be solved in a few minutes with devices from the heel of one's shoe. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I liked the trial-and-error explorations. They seemed just like everyday life, and made the book's many lessons come home to me in a more fundamental way.Have a good solitary trip through this book!

      even if you think you already know it, 4. April 2003

Because Robinson Crusoe is one of the most known stories in English literature, a lot of people don't consider it worth reading. Even though one knows the major proceedings taking place, Daniel Defoe manages to keep readers' interest by a cunning way of telling details. It's also fun trying to observe the little logical mistakes in the book, like a naked man filling his pockets, as a a result of the short time Defoe had to write it.

       Für den Preis kann man es wahrlich nicht selber machen, 24. Juli 2001

Ich habe mir das Buch bestellt, um mein Vokabular aufzufrischen und zu erweitern. Natürlich eignet sich dazu jedes englische Buch, aber schon nach wenigen Seiten nimmt es einen gefangen und lässt einen nicht mehr los, bis man es zuende gelesen hat. Die Story dürfte hinlänglich bekannt sein, doch mach sie noch einmal doppelt Spaß, wenn man sie im englischen original-Text liest, und dafür muss es auch keine wissenschaftliche Edition sein, die dann locker das 10fache kostet.