John Lee???s reading of Robinson Crusoe is impeccable, with his usual appealing manner and perfect pacing and pronunciation and understanding. And the novel is a classic of English literature, having influenced many later books and genres. And the story is compelling, especially during the years on the deserted island in which Robinson Crusoe must work out how to live by himself, in ways both physical (food and shelter) and spiritual (faith and understanding). Defoe???s detailed imagining of what it would be like to be shipwrecked and survive sound in mind and body on a deserted Caribbean island in the mid-seventeenth century is impressive. The book is sometimes funny, as when the parrot Crusoe???s been trying to teach to speak finally starts talking, waking up Robinson by repeatedly saying, ???Poor Robin, Poor Robin Crusoe,??? the phrase that Crusoe in his self-pity was wont to say to the parrot. The book is also sometimes exciting, as when Crusoe deals with ???savages??? and mutineers. And, despite its old age, it is clearly written, with easy to follow syntax and vocabulary.
There are two main problems I found with the novel that prevent me from giving it five stars: first, the resolution (the ending after the climax) is way too long and detailed and dragging, and second, the world view of the novel (accepting African slavery, conversion of American ???savages??? to Christianity, natural ascendancy of the white man over animals and nature and people of different colors, favorable view of ???compassionate??? or ???rational??? or ???productive??? colonization, and so on), rub me the wrong way. It???s unfair to criticize books that are products of different eras for not being politically correct in terms of today???s worldview, but the first criticism is, I think, valid.
Anyway, I am very glad to have familiarized myself with this important work of English literature, and do recommend this audiobook.
