Author Description

Product DescriptionRobinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a travelogue of true incidents.From School Library JournalGrade 7 Up-Defoe's classic novel of shipwreck and survival, now nearly 300 years old, is abridged competently in this recording. The flavor of the 18th century language is retained, but the plot moves along at a pace more appealing to 21st century ears. The reader, Martin Shaw, has a pleasant voice, but unfortunately tends to trail off at the ends of sentences, losing whole words. As with all abridgements, large sections of the story and entire characters are omitted, but since most of the book tells of Crusoe's solitary sojourn on the island, this is not a major problem. This version is no substitute for the original, but it would be a supplemental purchase in libraries where abridgements are popular.Sarah Flowers, Santa Clara County Library, Morgan Hill, CA Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.From BooklistGr. 4-7. The latest title in the Classic Starts series simplifies Defoe's famous survival adventure story, one of the first novels ever written, reworking the tortuous prose into a relaxed, chatty style ("I felt awful") with short sentences that will be accessible to a grade-school audience. True to the 1719 original, the first-person narrative relates how Crusoe defies his parents, runs away to sea, has various adventures, and survives alone on a desert island until he finds a native man whom Robinson calls Friday. The big difference here is that the two men become friends, pals, and equals. There is not a racist word, nothing about Defoe's "savages." For contrast, to spark classroom discussion, pair this with Timothy Meis' retelling, discussed in Focus: "Survivor" (BKL Mr 1 03), which stays true to the prejudice in the original.Hazel RochmanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reservedReviewRobinson Crusoe could have had a comfortable life in his native England. But the call of the sea and his hunger for adventure were too strong. As the sole survivor of a tragic shipwreck, he ends up a lonely castaway on a deserted island. After years of praying for human company, his prayers are answered--by the arrival of a group of cannibals. Crusoe's story is the classic tale of a man coming to terms with nature and his own rebellious spirit. --From the PublisherExcerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.Robinson CrusoeI Go to SeaI WAS BORN IN THE YEAR 1632, IN THE CITY OF YORK, OF a good family, though not of that country, my father being a foreigner of Bremen who settled first at Hull. He got a good estate by merchandise and, leaving off his trade, lived afterward at York, from whence he had married my mother, whose relations were named Robinson, a very good family in that country, and from whom I was called Robinson Kreutznaer; but by the usual corruption of words in England we are now called, nay, we call ourselves, and write our name "Crusoe," and so my companions always called me.I had two elder brothers, one of which was lieutenant-colonel to an English regiment of foot in Flanders, formerly commanded by the famous Colonel Lockhart, and was killed at the battle near Dunkirk against the Spaniards; what became of my second brother I never knew, any more than my father or mother did know what was become of me.Being the third son of the family, and not bred to any trade, my head began to be filled very early with ramblingthoughts. My father, who was very ancient, had given me a competent share of learning, as far as house education and a country free school generally goes, and designed me for the law; but I would be satisfied with nothing but going to sea; and my inclination to this led me so strongly against the will, nay, the commands, of my fath