I loved this book. I remember reading this story as a child. The swashbuckling adventure parts have always stuck in my mind. I have now reread it many years later as I am a huge fan of Defoe. Beyond the story itself, which reads quickly and crisply, you appreciate this book for so many reasons. His style is unflowery and his descriptions are vivid. Despite the age of the book, the story is beautifully told and does keep your interest at all times. As with his other books, he perfectly weaves his views on faith, religion, science, philosophy, anthropology, politics and the whole human race around a simple but engaging story. One instant you are reading about how he built himself a hut or grew his own food, and the next you experience the most beautiful, elegant and unpretentious discourse on not judging other people… You can read this book on many levels, at virtually any age, and you will definitely get a lot out of it.

This book was first published in 1719 and what was considered a riproaring adventure 300 years ago may seem a little tame now. Read this with one eye on when it was written and the social and political landscape of 1700's and it is still an enjoyable story. Much copied and much lampooned this is the original adventure, stranded on an island and battling the elements and visiting villains it still has the power to entertain. Yes it can be difficult to get through the old fashioned prose but it's still a good book.

First and foremost this is a gripping adventure story set in an exotic location. Reading the original text for the first time one is reminded of subsequent books set in similar contexts which were all inspired if not shaped by Defoe’s seminal work - Stevenson’s ‘The Ebb Tide’ or Morpurgo’s ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom’ for example. Robinson Crusoe is a vivid portrayal of the intense inner life of one man and his emotional and physical struggle to survive. The ebb and flow of Crusoe’s fortunes and mental state is depicted in meticulous detail, marking the painfully slow passage of time. At a metaphysical level it is a compelling tale of fate, misdemeanour and penitence. Crusoe’s initial resentment and religious wavering at his misfortune is gradually transformed into contentment and conviction by his travails. Although Defoe’s prose is at times clumsy to the modern reader, it nevertheless serves to effectively convey the eponymous hero’s desperate, confused and sometimes terrified thoughts. Besides the sentence structure, contemporary readers will be shocked also by the 18th century British values in relation to slavery and missionary work. This is one classic which remains a must read firstly as an exciting adventure and secondly as a ground breaking work which has influenced so much of subsequent English literature.

Follow Robinson Crusoe's daily battles to survive. I recommend this book to readers of Treasure Island. Lots of action and adventure are stored in one book, whether its fighting pirates or escaping cannibals.

I probably only gave this book three stars because I hate giving books less than that, but I did find it a little dull. I thought that it would be an adventure story, because of the reviews on my book (I have a copy of the Vintage Classics edition). The parts about him settling in and founding a life for himself are interesting, but it is when the book starts to become moralistic that I found myself rolling my eyes. I understand that this book is a product of the times that it was written in, and that religion was a larger part of their lives than it is for many of us today and perhaps I may have liked it if I had been born in the seventeenth century, but for a 21st century person, I found it quite dull. And I barely read anything that doesn't count as a classic. So, in conclusion, I didn't like it much. Especially the parts at the end. At times he so bugged me that I wanted to tell Robinson Crusoe to shut up and stop being so superior about his religion.