Robinson Crusoe: Daniel Defoe (Penguin Classics)

Robinson Crusoe: Daniel Defoe (Penguin Classics)

by Daniel Defoe (Author), Daniel Defoe (Author), Daniel Defoe (Author), John Richetti (Editor)

Synopsis

Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe", regarded by many to be first novel in English, is also the original tale of a castaway struggling to survive on a remote desert island. This "Penguin Classics" is edited with an introduction and notes by John Richetti. The sole survivor of a shipwreck, Robinson Crusoe is washed up on a desert island. In his journal he chronicles his daily battle to stay alive, as he conquers isolation, fashions shelter and clothes, enlists the help of a native islander who he names 'Friday', and fights off cannibals and mutineers. Written in an age of exploration and enterprise, it has been variously interpreted as an embodiment of British imperialist values, as a portrayal of 'natural man', or as a moral fable. But above all is a brilliant narrative, depicting Crusoe's transformation from terrified survivor to self-sufficient master of an island. This edition contains a full chronology of Defoe's life and times, explanatory notes, glossary and a critical introduction discussing "Robinson Crusoe" as a pioneering work of modern psychological realism. Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) had a variety of careers including merchant, soldier, and political pamphleteer. Over the course of his life Daniel Defoe wrote over two hundred and fifty books on economics, history, biography and crime, but is best remembered for the fiction he produced in late life, which includes "Robinson Crusoe" (1719), "Moll Flanders" (1722) and "Roxana" (1724). Defoe had a great influence on the development of the English novel and many consider him to be the first true novelist. If you enjoyed "Robinson Crusoe", you may like Alexandre Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo", also available in "Penguin Classics". ""Robinson Crusoe" has a universal appeal, a story that goes right to the core of existence". (Simon Armitage).

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 288
Edition: Penguin Classics ed.
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Published: 23 Dec 2004

ISBN 10: 0141439823
ISBN 13: 9780141439822
Children’s book age: 9-11 Years

Media Reviews
Beyond the end of Robinson Crusoe is a new world of fiction. Even though it did not know itself to be a 'novel, ' and even though there were books that we might now call 'novels' published before it, Robinson Crusoe has made itself into a prototype . . . Perhaps because of all the novels that we have read . . . the novelty of Defoe's fiction is the more striking when we return to it. Here it is, at the beginning of things, with its final word reaching out into the future. -from the Introduction by John Mullan
Author Bio
Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) had a variety of careers including merchant, soldier, secret agent, and political pamphleteer. He wrote on economics, history, biography and crime but is best remembered for his fiction, which includes Robinson Crusoe (1719), Moll Flanders (1722) and Roxana (1724). John Richetti is Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania. He is an expert of 18th-century literature and has published widely on the subject.