Defoe, Daniel "Robinson Crusoe"

Defoe, Daniel "Robinson Crusoe" - 1719
Original Title: 

The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner: Who lived Eight and Twenty Years, all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the Coast of America, near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque

"Robinson Crusoe" is often credited as "marking the beginning of realistic fiction as a literary genre" and "one of the most widely published books in history".

Classic novels are always interesting. We can "visit" a time long past and see what someone who lived at the time thought about his contemporaries, the political, economical, or social situation.

"Robinson Crusoe", okay, said to be one of the first or maybe even the first fictional novel that could be called "realistic". Possible, I have read a few older novels but they did not ring the same tone.

"One of the most widely published books in history". Well, if they say so, I am sure they are right.

I can imagine why this book is still read three hundred years after its first publication. It is an interesting story. Even today, we cannot imagine how it would be to spend a year on an uninhabited island, let alone twenty-eight. That's longer than most people get for a life-sentence in prison.

Apparently, the author based the story loosely on the life of Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailor who was cast on an island in the Caribbean where he had to spend four years in the early 1700s, so just a few years before Daniel Defoe wrote his famous story.

The novel gives us a lot of insights into the politics and economics of the time. But most of all, it poses a lot of moral issues. "When confronted with the cannibals, Crusoe wrestles with the problem of cultural relativism. Despite his disgust, he feels unjustified in holding the natives morally responsible for a practice so deeply ingrained in their culture." Nothing has changed. We still live in a time where we have discussions about how much of our culture and moral understanding to impose of people with another background. As such, Robinson Crusoe is a great opportunity to think about this problem in a different setting and maybe get an idea on how to solve those problems nowadays.

I have no idea on how many school curricula we can still find this novel but I think it should be there. Just for the reason I gave right now.

There is probably another reason why this book is still passed on to new readers. The language is pretty simple, the story is told in chronological order, it is a pretty easy read. Tedious at times, especially if you read a lot but it offers a captivating story as well as understandable English at the same time, that must be a bonus for many people.

This was discussed in our online international online book club in March 2019.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2025.

From the back cover:

"Robinson Crusoe has captured the imagination of countless readers with its vivid evocation of one man's survival on a remote island, far from the civilization he knows.

Thought to be one of the first English novels, Robinson Crusoe is the timeless story of a merchant's trading voyages and adventures at sea, his shipwreck and subsequent life marooned alone. Based on the life of Alexander Selkirk, it is fascinating in its descriptions of Crusoe's ingenuity and inventiveness, his ability to make and use tools, his discovery of man Friday and his treatment of him.

In addition to this, Robinson Crusoe is also an exploration of the ways in which a man who had made his fortune in trade is able to survive in reasonable comfort, thanks to his resourcefulness, when goods and money can no longer be of any value to him."

Book Quotes of the Week

"You can find magic wherever you look. Sit back and relax, all you need is a book." Dr. Seuss

"Books are embalmed minds." Christian Nevell Bovee

"The love of learning, the sequestered nooks, And all the sweet serenity of books." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"Bread of flour is good; but there is bread, sweet as honey, if we would eat it, in a good book." John Ruskin

"He who lends a book is an idiot. He who returns the book is more of an idiot." Arabic Proverb (I don't really agree with this, I lend my books to my friends all the time.)

"I love to lose myself in other men's minds.... Books think for me." Charles Lamb

Find more book quotes here.

Alexievich, Svetlana "Voices from Chernobyl"

Alexievich, Svetlana "Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster" (Russian: Чернобыльская молитва/Černobylskaja molitva) - 2006

I knew about Chernobyl. We all do. We have all heard of the nuclear disaster in 1986. We have all heard about the dangers we all have been put in by nuclear power plants. And not just since Fukushima 2011. For us Europeans, it started a lot earlier.

We also knew that the Russians tried to hide the fact of the accident to the foreigners for as long as possible. What we only knew from hearsay was the fact that they even hid it from their own people, that they sent their own people into harm's way. Firefighters and other "volunteers" who were sent into the danger zone to clean up. And not just for a couple of minutes. Most of them are dead now and if it hadn't been for Svetlana Alexievich and a lot of heroic people telling their stories, we still wouldn't know what exactly happened in Chernobyl and its surroundings.

If you are at all interested in the future of our planet, in the environment, you should read this harrowing account of what money can do to people. Because that's what it's all about: money and power. Every war is fought over it and every decision in business is made over it. And who pays the price? We, the "little people".

A very powerful story that everyone should read, especially those who still think that nuclear power is the "cheapest" and "best" form of energy.

This book is a strong reminder of the quote "We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children" (probably by Moses Henry Cass - according to Quote Investigator but attributed to many other wise folks and people).

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2025.

From the back cover:

"'Voices from Chernobyl' is the first book to present personal accounts of what happened on April 26, 1986, when the worst nuclear reactor accident in history contaminated as much as three quarters of Europe. Svetlana Alexievich a journalist who now suffers from an immune deficiency developed while researching this book interviewed hundreds of people affected by the meltdown. Their narratives form a crucial document revealing how the government masked the event with deception and denial. Harrowing and unforgettable, 'Voices from Chernobyl' bears witness to a tragedy and its aftermath in a book that is as unforgettable as it is essential."

Svetlana Alexievich received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2015 "for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time" and the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade (Friedenspreis) in 2013. 

I contribute to this page: Read the Nobels and you can find all my blogs about Nobel Prize winning authors and their books here.

Book Quotes of the Week

“A book: just a pile of dead letters? No, a bag full of seeds.” André Gide

"Tell me what you read and I'll tell you who you are' is true enough, but I'd know you better if you told me what you reread." François Mauriac

“If you have not done things worthy of being written about, at least write things worthy of being read.” Giacomo Casanova

“Maybe this is why we read, and why in moments of darkness we return to books: to find words for what we already know.” Alberto Manguel

"I divide all readers into two classes; those who read to remember and those who read to forget." William Lyon Phelps

“The paradoxical virtue of reading lies in distancing ourselves from the world so that we may make sense of it.”  Daniel Pennac

Find more book quotes here.

Hislop, Victoria "The Thread"

Hislop, Victoria "The Thread" - 2011

This is my third book by Victoria Hislop and it is not going to be the last. I have loved every single line of this.

While a young man visits his grandparents in Greece, they tell him the story of their life and at the same time the story of their town and country. Thessaloniki has gone through a lot of turmoil and so have its inhabitants.

We get to know successful men and unhappy women, determined men who want to save their country as well as people who have given up all hope. We go through the German occupation and follow the resistance fighters into the mountains. We meet a young seamstress who is determined to work hard to get through life. Her love to the man she shouldn't fall in love with has to overcome many obstacles but since we meet them as the grandparents of the young man at the beginning, we already know that they will finally have a happy end.

This is a story about love and a story about survival. How do people, especially women, get through tumultuous times. Even in wartime, some people seem to try to hold up a class system whereas for others it just seems to became unimportant. We learn how families react differently in difficult situations as well as how relationships are formed - or not - and how different marriages function - or not.

There is so much history in this book, so many details that make history interesting even to people who are not interested in history at all. Victoria Hislop has earned her place on my list of favourite authors. She usually starts with a prologue taking place today and then goes back into the history when finally coming back to modern times in her epilogue. I especially loved the title of this book, a light allusion to the job of a seamstress as well as to all the different people in the story whose lives are linked together.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2025.

From the back cover:

"Thessaloniki, 1917. As Dimitri Komninos is born, a devastating fire sweeps through the thriving Greek city where Christians, Jews and Muslims live side by side. Five years later, Katerina Sarafoglou's home in Asia Minor is destroyed by the Turkish army. Losing her mother in the chaos, she flees across the sea to an unknown destination in Greece. Soon her life will become entwined with Dimitri's, and with the story of the city itself, as war, fear and persecution begin to divide its people.

Thessaloniki, 2007. A young Anglo-Greek hears his grandparents' life story for the first time and realises he has a decision to make. For many decades, they have looked after the memories and treasures of the people who were forced to leave. Should he become their next custodian and make this city his home?"

Find the other Victoria Hislop books I read here.

Hargreaves, Roger "Mr. Men"

Hargreaves, Roger "Mr. Men" - 1971ff.

Roger Hargreaves wrote 48 Mr. Men books. Books about all sorts of traits a person can have, always concentrated in one person. There is Mr. Bump who always bumps into everything, one of my boys' favourites. Then there is Mr. Rush who is always rushing somewhere. Mr. Happy is happy, Mr. Silly is silly, Mr. Small is small and Mr. Tall is tall. Well, it goes on like that. My kids also loved Mr. Grumpy because he made funny faces. The absolute favourite in our family was Mr. Tickle. His arms were so long, they could come from anywhere and tickle you. All children like that.

Every single Mr. Men is lovely illustrated, kids can recognize them instantly.

Whether you just read a few or all of the little stories, they are lovely goodnight stories for little children and good books for beginner readers.

Here is a list of all the little Mr. Men books:

Mr. Tickle - 1971
Mr. Greedy - 1971
Mr. Happy - 1971
Mr. Nosey - 1971
Mr. Sneeze - 1971
Mr. Bump - 1971
Mr. Snow - 1972
Mr. Messy - 1972
Mr. Topsy-Turvy - 1972
Mr. Silly - 1972
Mr. Uppity - 1972
Mr. Small - 1972
Mr. Daydream - 1972
Mr. Forgetful - 1976

Mr. Jelly (or Mr. Nervous) - 1976
Mr. Noisy - 1976

Mr. Lazy - 1976
Mr. Funny - 1976
Mr. Mean (or Mr. Stingy) - 1976
Mr. Chatterbox - 1976
Mr. Fussy - 1976
Mr. Bounce - 1976
Mr. Muddle - 1976
Mr. Dizzy - 1976
Mr. Impossible - 1976
Mr. Strong - 1976
Mr. Grumpy - 1978
Mr. Clumsy - 1978
Mr. Quiet - 1978
Mr. Rush - 1978
Mr. Tall - 1978
Mr. Worry - 1978
Mr. Nonsense - 1978
Mr. Wrong - 1978
Mr. Skinny - 1978
Mr. Mischief - 1978
Mr. Clever - 1978
Mr. Busy - 1978
Mr. Slow - 1978
Mr. Brave - 1990
Mr. Grumble - 1990
Mr. Perfect - 1990
Mr. Cheerful - 1990
Mr. Cool - 2003
Mr. Rude - 2003
Mr. Good - 2003
Mr. Nobody - 1985/2010

If you have the complete collection, you can actually read "My Mr. Men Library" in the Mr. Men font on the spine. Looks nice on the bookshelf but we never managed to get all of them.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2025.

From the back cover:

"The lasting appeal of these classic books will ensure this collection takes pride of place on any child's nursery bookshelf. The Mr. Men have been delighting children for generations with their charming and funny antics."

Steinbeck, John "The Pearl"

Steinbeck, John "The Pearl" - 1947

I absolutely love John Steinbeck. Whether it is a large saga or a short story, he manages to describe the characters so well, to let them come alive, to give you the feeling you are there. I have never lived in the United States, I have actually never been to the United States but the way he describes it, it makes me feel like I have. Well, at least during his times. And he also describes the landscape so vividly, it feels almost like looking at a painting only someone is explaining it to you.

The story is a sad tragedy, telling of the problems of the indigenous inhabitants of Mexico, how they have to struggle through their daily lives and yet never can hope to get anywhere. Even when they seem to find a treasure, others manage to ruin it for them. Another story about how the invaders exploited the natives. Apparently an old Mexican folktale, the story rings true to your mind.

This story is a parable, full of symbolism. We have the pearl fisher and his family, we have the evil that threatens them in many forms, we have the richness that is about to come to them but taken away. We have the pearl telling its own story. It changes its music that you can almost hear, it changes its soul the same way as the story takes its path from the beginning to the end. The characters change throughout the book as well as the relationship between the characters develop, an interesting view into the lives of this culture.

A very powerful story, as anything by this fabulous author who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception". Well deserved.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2025.

From the back cover:

"In the town they tell the story of the great pearl - how it was found and how it was lost again. They tell of Kino, the fisherman, and of his wife, Juana, and of the baby, Coyotito. And because the story has been told so often, it has taken root in every man's mind."

Find the other John Steinbeck books I read here.

I contribute to this page: Read the Nobels and you can find all my blogs about Nobel Prize winning authors and their books here.