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Robinson Crusoe Audiobook
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(2.89) - 9 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Shipwrecked and cast ashore on an uninhabited island, Robinson Crusoe ingeniously carves out a solitary, primitive existence for twenty-four years. Eventually, he meets a young native whom he saves from death at the hands of cannibals. He calls him Friday and makes him his companion and servant. Crusoe and Friday share in a variety of adventures, including a fierce battle with cannibals that culminates in the heroes recapturing a mutinous ship and returning to England.
Based partly on the real-life experiences of Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk, Defoe’s novel of human endurance in an exotic, faraway land exerts a timeless appeal and has taken its rightful place among the great works of Western civilization.
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"Would that I were so productive as to multiple my store to bountifully in this society as did Mr. Crusoe when he had none but cats and goats with which to divert himself. "
— Jurek (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Three hundred years later, does Robinson Crusoe hold up as a classic? A classic is a book that generations have found worth returning to and arguing with. Vividly written, replete with paradoxes and troubling cultural attitudes, revealing a deep strain of supernaturalism beneath its realist surface, Robinson Crusoe is just such a classic and far more than a simple adventure story for kids.”
— Washington Post -
“The footprint scene in Crusoe [is] one of the four greatest in English literature and most unforgettable.”
— Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish novelist and travel writer -
“John Lee does an excellent job narrating this classic shipwreck adventure story."
— SoundCommentary.com -
“John Lee’s performance provides an excellent reason to listen to this classic of English literature. Like the author and the novel’s protagonist, Lee is British. His deep voice recounts the memories of a sailor stranded alone on an island off the coast of Brazil. The story also gives Lee the opportunity to show his skill with the many accents of foreign sailors, adding a delightful authenticity to the yarn. Some narrators founder miserably in the sea of peculiar words used aboard sailing ships of the seventeenth century, but Lee handles them as though he has been aboard a ship all his life. Don't mistake this survival story as being intended solely for children, for it has all the complexities of language, suspense, and action adults love in great books.”
— AudioFile -
“Written by mere man that was wished longer by its readers.”
— Samuel Johnson, English author, biographer, and playwright -
“[Robinson Crusoe], it can be argued, has had more impact on writing…than any other book in the English language.”
— Avi, Newbery Award–winning author
Robinson Crusoe Listener Reviews
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Jaala Pruitt, 10/28/2021
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" but I was little and reading it for spite so this review may be very off "
— Dillonef, 6/29/2011 -
" It was a book that I think most should read, but I did not much care for it. "
— Simon, 6/28/2011 -
" A hugely influential work that seems to be a metaphor for European capitalism and expansion, accompanied by the expected hubris.<br/><br/>After having read this I would recommend Swift's Gulliver's Travels which takes a more pessimistic view of man's nature. "
— Russell, 6/15/2011 -
" I had a hard time getting into this book, I'm not sure I ever really did. I'm not sure I liked the main character that much. Which made the book difficult for me to read since he's alone for a good chunk of it. Although it was interesting to see how his mind worked and to see his creativity. "
— Candi, 6/13/2011 -
" i like this story but the language is too difficult for young people today. They won't stay with it to the end. "
— Randy, 6/13/2011 -
" Cannibals?! Long entries about acquiring provisions to survive on a deserted island?! Heavy-handed morality messages. I'm so glad that "children's literature" has evolved. I wouldn't have wanted to read this one as a child. "
— Dana, 6/10/2011 -
" Well, the whole book was a collection of boring stuff. I just liked the part where Crusoe built his so-called castle. "
— Prashansa, 6/8/2011
About Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe (1660–1731), born in London as Daniel Foe, was a novelist, pamphleteer, journalist, and political spy. He is celebrated for his frank and dramatic realism in fiction and the accuracy, vigor, and lucidity of his journalism. Considered the father of the English novel, he was also the first author of ghost stories in English literature. He is best known for his novels Robinson Crusoe and Moll Flanders.
About John Lee
John Lee is the winner of numerous Earphones Awards and the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration. He has twice won acclaim as AudioFile’s Best Voice in Fiction & Classics. He also narrates video games, does voice-over work, and writes plays. He is an accomplished stage actor and has written and coproduced the feature films Breathing Hard and Forfeit. He played Alydon in the 1963–64 Doctor Who serial The Daleks.