The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (Large Print Edition)

I really enjoyed this. No chapters, just sort of pick up and read and put it down as you please. It does not try to outpace your attention, but it is entertaining and I liked how Crusoe learns his lessons. I think it is a timely read if you take it as a moral meditation. We are surrounded by beeps and blips and buzzes and I think many of us would welcome a stay on a desert island, hence the Minecraft reference. This has really made me realize that I struggle to trust God with my sustenance.

Friday is definitely not the best representation of a native person, but he is also not the worst. Yeah, it's kind of awful that he totally submits to this white man, but I don't see how Defoe writing in 1719 could have come up with something better. Considering the time period, it is actually something remarkable that Crusoe treats Friday as an actual human and not a subhuman. I think it is important not to dismiss an entire work because of one or two imperfect elements.

La suite oubliée de Robinson Crusoe n'en est pas moins intéressante d'un point de vue de l'histoire littéraire et de l'histoire des idées. Ce voyage imaginaire reprend tous les codes du voyage littéraire et les stéréotypes des pays visités. On y retrouve le regard du colonisateur obsédé par la volonté d'apprivoiser la nature et de civiliser les indigènes. Le christianisme est montré comme salvateur et civilisateur pour des nations à l'ignorance crasse dont le paganisme est décrit sous un jour extrêmement négatif. À lire pour les curieux et ceux qui s'intéressent au XVIIIe siècle, même si les idées de l'auteur ont mal vieilli.