Independent Reading Assignment Post #1

Jack Blanchard

I am only 35 pages into this book, and it has already begun to blow my mind.  I knew that this this book was going to be full of adventure, but Robinson Crusoe has already exceeded my expectations.  So far, Crusoe has traveled from his hometown of York to London, had his ship captured by Moorish pirates, been imprisoned in the North African city of Sallee, escaped from the pirates, been picked up by a Portuguese captain, and taken to Brazil. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.  Yeah, this book is the bees knees.  I know hearing all of this one would assume that the book is unorganized and hard to follow, but author Daniel Defoe does a magnificent job of keeping all the pieces separate.  The pace of the plot moves fast enough so as not to bore the reader, but slow enough to allow them to process what is going on and not be overwhelmed.  For the type of reader that I am, this is necessary in order to maintain my attention.  This allows me to get the most out of the reading.
Defoe also does a fantastic job of establishing setting throughout the piece.  Although it may not be very descriptive, Defoe is very efficient and creates a formitable setting with minimal words.  For example, "We crowded also as much canvas as our yards would spread, or our masts carry, to have got clear; but finding the pirate gained on us, and would certainly come up with us in a few hours" (Defoe 19).  I, for one, am not a huge fan of an author describing the thickness of a strand of hair on one of the character's heads.  Defoe sets the stage for one of the most important scenes in the story with only a sentence.  If he were still around I think Defoe would be a great asset to overachieving high school students who need to cut their college essays from 10,000 to 500 words.  In this case the saying 'quality over quantity' is highly applicable.
We also learn a lot about the nature of Crusoe early on in the piece.  Crusoe butts heads with his parens when they attempt to crush his want to be free, "I frequently expostulated with my father and mother about their being so positively determined against what they knew my inclinations prompted me to do" (Defoe 9).    He separates from his 'comrade' after his first accident at sea, showing his want to be an individual.  Perhaps this is foreshadowing an experience in which he will have to survive by himself for a prolonged amount of time.  Maybe on a desert island or something, but I haven't read the entire book yet.