Thoughts on Robison Crusoe (aka week two blog)

So far I've found that Robinson Crusoe is not a book for those who needs books with non stop action, luckily I'm not one of them. Although Robinson Crusoe cannot in any way be considered a action novel, it does have its share of adventure and danger. In the first 50 pages Crusoe finds himself almost drowned in giant storms not once but twice, enslaved by Moors for two years, and lion hunting, all before he's even shipwrecked. Even with these somewhat thrilling events, Robinson Crusoe is still a dull book, so one should only undertake the reading of this book if they are truly dedicated to finishing it, otherwise you'll find yourself doubting your book choice throughout the reading.

To say Robinson Crusoe is abounding in literary elements is a huge overstatement, for those within are far between (although they are rather significant when used). Although these elements are few, the overwhelming majority seem to be imagery. DeFoe uses imagery to really emphasize on the turning points so that they pop out at you. One such occasion is when Crusoe is enslaved by Moors. By really making the reader really visualize the sea battle between Crusoe's crew and the Moor pirates, DeFoe seems to really shove the fact that something big is going to happen.

Tone in Robinson Crusoe so far hasn't been a huge part of the story for one reason, it changes quiet drastically very quickly. Crusoe goes through some major life style changes, from a well to do middle classman to ship captain to slave to plantation owner. With such drastic changes in surroundings one should expect very severe tone changes. I'll see if the tone settles down once Crusoe stops his voyages, i.e. is shipwrecked.