Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Robinson Crusoe: Level 3
    Robinson Crusoe: Level 3
    Robinson Crusoe: Level 3
    Audiobook (abridged)52 minutes

    Robinson Crusoe: Level 3

    Written by Daniel Defoe

    Narrated by Iman

    3.5/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    Crusoe, a dog, and two cats survive shipwreck and find themselves on a small island. He adapts to his new surroundings with creativity and perseverance.

    Several years pass and he manages to befriend a prisoner from the island. Crusoe eventually makes it off of the island though his family believes him already dead.

    This audio classic novel has been carefully abridged and adapted into 10 short, easy-to-understand chapters. This format enables listeners of all ages and English language abilities to understand and enjoy the story. Composition includes original custom background music.

    This adventure tale is appropriate for children and adults.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEDCON Publishing
    Release dateJul 1, 2011
    ISBN9780848113209
    Author

    Daniel Defoe

    Daniel Defoe was born at the beginning of a period of history known as the English Restoration, so-named because it was when King Charles II restored the monarchy to England following the English Civil War and the brief dictatorship of Oliver Cromwell. Defoe’s contemporaries included Isaac Newton and Samuel Pepys.

    Related to Robinson Crusoe

    Titles in the series (50)

    View More
    View More

    Children's Classics For You

    View More
    View More

    Reviews for Robinson Crusoe

    3.5/5

    135 ratings97 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 1/5
      This should have been a book I really liked, but the overbearing narrative voice ruined it. And I say this as someone who has been reading and enjoying a lot of books with opinionated narrators lately.

      Generally, when I read a novel I expect it to have a degree of personal growth (unless a lack of growth is the point of the story) and narrative tension. And this story *should* have had both of those. Certainly, the protagonist finds God and humility over the course of the novel, but the narration spends the entire book lamenting that he didn't trust to providence, etc., etc. (at length, every few pages, so you don't miss it...) that the personality he had at the beginning is totally absent, overridden by who he becomes by the end. And the way it's written it just seams so *easy* for him to survive--certainly, he must have had problems, but those are mostly glossed over, he has a whole ship full of stuff, and he routinely points out how something he did early on would be useful later, so when the problem does come up you already know it's solved.

      And if the protagonist barely has a personality, no one else has any personality at all. And you might think, well, yeah, he spends the whole book alone on an island--but no! Quite a bit of the book isn't on the island, or otherwise there are other people around. But they just waft on and off-stage with no real effect. Friday is more of a person than anyone else, but he's such a caricature that I feel like he hardly counts. Oh, and the narrator mentions that he got married and had three kids and his wife died, all in one sentence, and goes on with the narration like nothing remarkable happened, and did these people mean nothing to you?

      Ugh. And even though he keeps belaboring the religious lesson over and over, it isn't even a good sermon, because good rhetoric has roots in good story and personal development.

      Anyway, I think what I'm saying here is you'd be better off spending your time reading a wilderness survival manual while singing Amazing Grace over and over again.
    • 5/5
      the really great story
    • 5/5
      Wilkie Collins put in the pen of Gabriel Betteredge the following words: "I have found it my friend in need in all the necessities of this mortal life. When my spirits are bad — ROBINSON CRUSOE. When I want advice — ROBINSON CRUSOE. In past times when my wife plagued me; in present times when I have had a drop too much — ROBINSON CRUSOE." At once both caricature and encomium, and each a fitting response.
    • 4/5
      I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which is obviously a must read for any fan of classic literature.Defoe's writing style is generally quite user friendly given he wrote in the early 1700s. On one level, Robinson Crusoe is a compelling story about what one man must do to survive without the most basic of necessities. It is a testament to the human spirit in the face of adversity. On another level, the book concerns a common man's coming to religion and learning to appreciate what really in matters in life.My only reservation is that the final few chapters seemed out of character with the majority of the book, and in my opinion were unnecessary to the story.
    • 4/5
      based on the story of a man from selkirk in Scotland
    • 1/5
      What I learned from this book is that not every book that is called a classic earns that title.If this hadn't been on my Feb bookshelf then I wouldn't have finished it.

      I know this is regarded as the first english language novel but that doesn't excuse the fact that it is badly written.

      Robinson Crusoe is a complete and utter idiot, he never learns from his mistakes and never takes advice from anybody. Maybe it's just me but if the very first ship you are on sinks perhaps you should take it as a sign, but not him off he goes again and ends up as a slave. He escapes and is rescued by a too good to be true captain and makes a good life for himself in Brazil, but even then that is not enough. So when some of his friends decide they want more slaves he is selected to make the trip to buy them and of course being Robinson the ship is struck by a hurricane while in the Carribean. Sounds bad so far doesn't it and it only gets worse.

      I know that I shouldn't complain about the attitude towards slavery in the book as it was a different time period and it is historically accurate but I just found it really hard to stomach, in fact it made me wish that Friday had been a cannibal.

      I have read this book before but I was about ten and you don't really pick up on the racism and all the other things that are wrong with this book at that age. Then you just think about the adventure of being on a desert island. The reason I read this again is because a few weeks ago I was having dinner with my Mum and she was watching what I thought was I very bad adaptation. Turns out it was the source material that was the problem and based on that there was no way you could ever make a good version.
    • 5/5
      One of the best young adult books ever written. Deserted islands and shipwrecks started with Dafoe.
    • 1/5
      I don't remember reading this book, though it's obvious I have -- the spine is bent, and I'm the only one who's ever owned it. It obviously left no impression on me. It might be something I'd pick up in the future and try again.
    • 4/5
      It was interesting to finally read the classic version after reading versions for children. It was quite like the kids' stories, but iwa was very egocentric and Eurocentric. Also it was really a plot with no charachter development and no insight into how people felt. At times it was so involved in 17th century sailing it was hard to follow.
    • 2/5
      Intellectually, I can see why this is a good book and why it remains a proud member of the Western canon. Unfortunately, I couldn't bring myself to finish this. The prose is dry, Crusoe himself makes me want to bang my head repeatedly against a wall, and religious conversions always make it on to my top ten list of LEAST favorite things I like to see in my fiction. All in all, I get it. It's a classic. It's the first novel. It's important to our literary heritage. But that doesn't mean I want to read it.
    • 4/5
      The story begins with the universal quest: the young man in Britain, torn between his safe home and his hunger for adventure, breaks away from his loving father and sails away into the unknown. After a series of harrowing escapes, he's shipwrecked on a desert island. His lively first-person account shows how his intelligence and education help him survive for many years, and how he uses technology, including guns and tools salvaged from the ship. He sets up home, reads the Bible, finds a parrot as a pet, and even devises a calendar to keep track of time. Then one day he finds a human footprint: "Was it someone who could save me and take me back to civilization? Or was it a savage who landed here?" When some "savages" arrive in several canoes, he uses his guns to get rid of them, and he rescues one of their captives, a handsome fellow with very dark skin. Delighted to have a companion at last, Crusoe names the newcomer Friday (since Crusoe found him on Friday).
    • 1/5
      To say I hated this book is probably the understatement of the century. In fact, I'm only halfway through the book after six years! I just can't seem to bring myself to buckle down and finish it mainly because the main character is a whiny pompous ass who is just plain dislikeable. I should probably donate this book, but there is still this little part of me that insists on finishing it, although that will most likely never happen.
    • 4/5
      This was a classic that I'd missed reading for over five decades but determined to attempt this year. It was an enjoyable read, believable, and kept my interest throughout the tale.
    • 5/5
      Robinson Crusoe was bored with his quiet life in England,so desided to go sea.He enjoyed his exiting voyage.But one day,his ship overturned and he reached the uninhabited island alone.In the island,he built his house,brought up corn and so on.But he always wanted to return his home.One day pirates came to his island.This story is old,but very interesting.While reading this book,iI forgot time.Ending is not surprized but this book leaves a pleasant aftertaste.
    • 1/5
      After the main character in THE MOONSTONE mentioned this as his Bible so frequently, I decided to re-read itsince little remained in my memory except the title. While it may be a "Classic," it is mostly that only in the telling of surviving against great odds.When Robinson ends up being the only survivor of a shipwreck (whose direction he insisted onand for which he feels no guilt), readers are drawn into his methods.The moral dilemma is that he is an unrepentant slave owner who was "...bound to the coast of Guinea, for negroes."Thus, while his ideas are ingenious, we keep hoping that the tons of Bible reading and spiritual conversions he drones on about willbring an awareness or compassion for his fellow humans. This never happens despite the eventual master/servant friendship with darker skinned Friday and that Robinson spent two yearshimself as a slave of the Moors.His senseless killing of many wild animals not for food also makes this less than compelling reading for anyone who cares about animals.And, what happened to Friday's dad?
    • 5/5
      I have seen countless movies regarding Crusoe. This book was as close to a first edition as I could get and it was much better than any movie produced to date. It was a pleasure to know what the author intended to deliver to the public, word-for-word. Must read!
    • 4/5
      Read another copy as a child - loved it - played games for a year based on this shipwrecked, lonely chap & Man Friday (younger sister in reality): Defoe's story is a timeless classic of imagination mixed with the reality of a seafaring mishap all too familiar to the era - amazingly his first novel when aged 60, & a masterpiece of its kind. Still love its vivid ruggedness, today.
    • 4/5
      Telling the incredible story of a man shipwrecked for over two decades, Robinson Crusoe is part adventure, part fantasy, and part conversion story. Much of the story actually deals with Crusoe's coming to real faith in God along with various descriptions of how he manages to survive over two decades alone. The last part of the novel reflects the mores of the time, where class distinctions were much more defined. Crusoe's relationship with Friday would be quite offensive today, but appears completely logical and natural in the book.
    • 5/5
      had not realized till I actually read it that this was a conversion novel with the traditional structure of sins and repentence
    • 3/5
      There's probably nothing I can say about this that hasn't already been said. my thoughts on the matter as as follows. I'm not sure this was what I was expecting. Having thought of it as something you tend to read in school, I wasn't expecting the depth that is to be found in here. In a sense it is a morality play, in that the young Crusoe sins (by leaving to seek adventure), suffers (shipwreck and being stranded on the island) seeks redemption (finds God) and finally is brought safe home. The redemption passage was a little bit wearing, that's really not my thing, but the notes helped put this into some context of the time and nature of religion when this was written. There's an element of you know what happens in outline, so the first part of the book is spent wondering how he's going to get shipwrecked. Once he's on the island, you're waiting for Friday to appear and the pair of them to get off the island again. That is, I think, to do it a disservice. The manner by which Crusoe is able to set up his life is interesting, it makes you wonder how you'd cope if suddenly you were responsible for your own survival - how would you cope? (frankly, I probably wouldn't!). The passage about the savages was, to me, totally unexpected. How did I miss a major plot point like that?! It was dramatic and startling, but could have done with a little less angst about it all. The end all felt a little bit rushed and not necessarily thought through. He sends an emissary to the Spaniards on the mainland and then leaves the island in the hands of some good for nothings and just disappears off home. It didn't seem terribly consistent behaviour. It's certainly a book I am glad I have finally read, but I'm not sure it is one I will return to repeatedly.
    • 4/5
      Though an old story, it still speaks to the imagination of readers all around the world.Widely regarded as the first English novel, Daniel Defoe’ s "Robinson Crusoe" is one of the most popular and influential adventure stories of all time. This classic tale of shipwreck and survival on an uninhabited island was an instant success when first published in 1719 and has inspired countless imitations. In his own words, Robinson Crusoe tells of the terrible storm that drowned all his shipmates and left him marooned on a deserted island. Forced to overcome despair, doubt, and self-pity, he struggles to create a life for himself in the wilderness. From practically nothing, Crusoe painstakingly learns how to make pottery, grow crops, domesticate livestock, and build a house. His many adventures are recounted in vivid detail, including a fierce battle with cannibals and his rescue of Friday, the man who becomes his trusted companion. Full of enchanting detail and daring heroics, "Robinson Crusoe" is a celebration of courage, patience, ingenuity, and hard work.
    • 4/5
      Move over Survivor and Castaway here is the original. I loved this book. Hearing about his years on the island and how he became self-sufficent was very interesting to me, which I would have thought listening to someone spending a quarter of a century alone on a deserted island would get old and teadious it did not. The book really slowed down for me when he finally got back to civilization.
    • 3/5
      This has a lot going for it: adventure, creativity, plus it's one of the first books of fiction in English. There is a downside though, in that the English can be a bit difficult to parse.
    • 3/5
      The storyline of this novel is intriguing enough, but since the medium was so new, Defoe's writing leaves much to be desires. Crusoe's constant listing and mood swings are hard to get through after a while.
    • 5/5
      Being banished from civilization because of what it seemed to be a curse, Robinson tried to build everything again in a very distant little world, the island. His path to the freedom is described in this book in which Robinson tell us his completely accidented life.
      When you think that solitude is the worst enemy... think again. Maybe the island is not as uninhabited as it seems.
      Tales of land and sea danger. Reflections about the man being away of his civilization. Madness and sanity.
    • 5/5
      My dad gave my twelve-year-old nephew a copy of Robinson Crusoe and told him that he ought to read it. My nephew is a reluctant reader and never got very far in the book. After reading it this week, I can see why.Robinson Crusoe was a tough read for me. You know the story, of course. Crusoe, against his parents’ wishes, heads out to the sea and ends up a slave. He escapes from slavery only to later return to the sea and become shipwrecked on an island. How he manages to survive is a fun read. And he does survive, despite a lack of water and food and companionship, despite hurricanes, despite cannibals. The daunting vocabulary and the lengthy sentence structure make this a challenging read for a child.
    • 4/5
      My childhood library included an abridged version of Robinson Crusoe. It was one of my favorites, and I read it several times. When this unabridged version arrived from the Easton Press, I happily settled in to enjoy it again. I don't know what changed - my level of understanding, or the additional material not included in the version I had previously read - but I found the religious material to be slow going.
    • 4/5
      I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Its account of a man's industry and occasionally outright boredom in the face of trying circumstances is inspiring and classic.Honestly, if you dig too deep, there are a lot of uncomfortable themes about race, gender, and religion that might tarnish any fond childhood memories you have (I recommend the excellent essay "Robinson Crusoe and the Ethnic Sidekick").To summarize, it's about a man who uses and possesses everything and everyone he sees. You can draw a lot of conclusions about sexism, white supremacy, and capitalism and you really wouldn't be too far off base.While it's good to keep this in mind, you should also keep in mind that it's over three hundred years old. Not that this makes any of the enclosed sentiments any less awful, but the prevailing ideas of the time should at least be taken into account.
    • 4/5
      Read this, expecting to know the story, since it is a tale told all over the world. Was happily surprised to feel the pace of Crusoe's routines, and all the details of everyday life only made the story more believable. Wonderful read. Read Robert P. Marzec's "Enclosure, Colonization, and the Robinson Crusoe syndrome" parallel with Defoe's book - very interesting analysis. Text published in "boundary", 2:29:2, 2002 (Duke Uni. Press).
    • 4/5
      Very interesting story of the psychology of a castaway.