A joy to read, 11 Sep 2008
I first read this (actually that should say I was first forced to read this) in school over 20 years ago. I hated it. It was disected to within an inch of its life and I came to dread those lessons with a passion. What a shame that school can manage to put off even the most ardent of readers. Isn't reading supposed to be about enjoyment?

I picked this up a couple of weeks ago out of curiosity and read the first page while standing in the bookshop. Before I knew it I had read the entire first chapter and loved it. There is such humour in Dicken's books that would have been totally wasted on me as a 15 year old.

It took me a few weeks to read (hence the 4 stars as I had to concentrate more than with other books) but I thought it was just wonderful. I remembered so little of the story from the first time around that it was like reading a new book. What a fantastic array of characters I came to know. Just loved it.

Simply a Classic, 03 Jul 2008
That I came to the novel fully aware of the storyline (through numerous TV and film adaptations) and still raced through the novel is an indication of the quality of the story and its characters.
What did surprise me, which having subsequently watched David Lean's adaptation may be down to selective memory, was what an awful individual Pip became during the course of the novel.
I would also have preferred Dickens originally conceived ending to the novel which appears much more in keeping with the general tone than the revised ending.

Expectations met, 26 Jun 2008
I am not fan of Dickens' novels or his prose, but recognise that his body of work is accepted as hugely impressive and influential.

The plot and principal characters of Great Expectations are well known. The introduction to the penguin paperback made much of Pip's sense of guilt at the fate that befell his sister and his neglect of Joe and Biddy. I was left mostly with the impression however, that one of the defining characteristics of Pip is that he feels a sense of self worthlessness. I attribute this to the fact of his being an orphan. Pip clings to Joe and even in the end, Magwitch, as something like father figures.

What is remarkable about the narrative is Pip's honesty with himself - he is really quite flawed and weak in many ways and does not shirk responsibility for how things turn out. But that he is also possessed of immense goodness and kindness, there is no doubt. The ending is intriguingly left slightly open, but on balance, you have to think that Pip will end up with his beloved Estella after all. Great Expectations is a dark novel and the characters are drawn by an author who like Shakespeare, had a deep insight in to human psychology. Great Expectations is not only unforgettable because of its basic story, but also because of its wonderful characters: the flawed hero Pip, the deranged and bitter Miss Havisham and the extraordinary creation that is Jaggers the solicitor.


One of the six truly great Dickens novels, 25 Mar 2008
Unforgettable - watch the great David Lean film, then read this, or vice versa - you will not be disappointed!

Highly enjoyable, 06 Nov 2007
A really enjoyable read. By the end I felt completely immersed within the story, and anxious to discover Pip's fate. The book has some very touching moments, and shows that there is no pure good, no pure evil, but a lot of in between. I read many novels and can usually guess at whats coming, but I must say I did not see many of the twists and turns of the book (I won't give them away!). The characters are very deep, from the eccentric miss havisham, the icy beauty estella, the friendly herbert, and loyal Joe. I have enjoyed every moment and it is firmly established as one of my favorites

A joy to read, 11 Sep 2008
I first read this (actually that should say I was first forced to read this) in school over 20 years ago. I hated it. It was disected to within an inch of its life and I came to dread those lessons with a passion. What a shame that school can manage to put off even the most ardent of readers. Isn't reading supposed to be about enjoyment?

I picked this up a couple of weeks ago out of curiosity and read the first page while standing in the bookshop. Before I knew it I had read the entire first chapter and loved it. There is such humour in Dicken's books that would have been totally wasted on me as a 15 year old.

It took me a few weeks to read (hence the 4 stars as I had to concentrate more than with other books) but I thought it was just wonderful. I remembered so little of the story from the first time around that it was like reading a new book. What a fantastic array of characters I came to know. Just loved it.

Simply a Classic, 03 Jul 2008
That I came to the novel fully aware of the storyline (through numerous TV and film adaptations) and still raced through the novel is an indication of the quality of the story and its characters.
What did surprise me, which having subsequently watched David Lean's adaptation may be down to selective memory, was what an awful individual Pip became during the course of the novel.
I would also have preferred Dickens originally conceived ending to the novel which appears much more in keeping with the general tone than the revised ending.

Expectations met, 26 Jun 2008
I am not fan of Dickens' novels or his prose, but recognise that his body of work is accepted as hugely impressive and influential.

The plot and principal characters of Great Expectations are well known. The introduction to the penguin paperback made much of Pip's sense of guilt at the fate that befell his sister and his neglect of Joe and Biddy. I was left mostly with the impression however, that one of the defining characteristics of Pip is that he feels a sense of self worthlessness. I attribute this to the fact of his being an orphan. Pip clings to Joe and even in the end, Magwitch, as something like father figures.

What is remarkable about the narrative is Pip's honesty with himself - he is really quite flawed and weak in many ways and does not shirk responsibility for how things turn out. But that he is also possessed of immense goodness and kindness, there is no doubt. The ending is intriguingly left slightly open, but on balance, you have to think that Pip will end up with his beloved Estella after all. Great Expectations is a dark novel and the characters are drawn by an author who like Shakespeare, had a deep insight in to human psychology. Great Expectations is not only unforgettable because of its basic story, but also because of its wonderful characters: the flawed hero Pip, the deranged and bitter Miss Havisham and the extraordinary creation that is Jaggers the solicitor.


One of the six truly great Dickens novels, 25 Mar 2008
Unforgettable - watch the great David Lean film, then read this, or vice versa - you will not be disappointed!

Highly enjoyable, 06 Nov 2007
A really enjoyable read. By the end I felt completely immersed within the story, and anxious to discover Pip's fate. The book has some very touching moments, and shows that there is no pure good, no pure evil, but a lot of in between. I read many novels and can usually guess at whats coming, but I must say I did not see many of the twists and turns of the book (I won't give them away!). The characters are very deep, from the eccentric miss havisham, the icy beauty estella, the friendly herbert, and loyal Joe. I have enjoyed every moment and it is firmly established as one of my favorites

A joy to read, 11 Sep 2008
I first read this (actually that should say I was first forced to read this) in school over 20 years ago. I hated it. It was disected to within an inch of its life and I came to dread those lessons with a passion. What a shame that school can manage to put off even the most ardent of readers. Isn't reading supposed to be about enjoyment?

I picked this up a couple of weeks ago out of curiosity and read the first page while standing in the bookshop. Before I knew it I had read the entire first chapter and loved it. There is such humour in Dicken's books that would have been totally wasted on me as a 15 year old.

It took me a few weeks to read (hence the 4 stars as I had to concentrate more than with other books) but I thought it was just wonderful. I remembered so little of the story from the first time around that it was like reading a new book. What a fantastic array of characters I came to know. Just loved it.

Simply a Classic, 03 Jul 2008
That I came to the novel fully aware of the storyline (through numerous TV and film adaptations) and still raced through the novel is an indication of the quality of the story and its characters.
What did surprise me, which having subsequently watched David Lean's adaptation may be down to selective memory, was what an awful individual Pip became during the course of the novel.
I would also have preferred Dickens originally conceived ending to the novel which appears much more in keeping with the general tone than the revised ending.

Expectations met, 26 Jun 2008
I am not fan of Dickens' novels or his prose, but recognise that his body of work is accepted as hugely impressive and influential.

The plot and principal characters of Great Expectations are well known. The introduction to the penguin paperback made much of Pip's sense of guilt at the fate that befell his sister and his neglect of Joe and Biddy. I was left mostly with the impression however, that one of the defining characteristics of Pip is that he feels a sense of self worthlessness. I attribute this to the fact of his being an orphan. Pip clings to Joe and even in the end, Magwitch, as something like father figures.

What is remarkable about the narrative is Pip's honesty with himself - he is really quite flawed and weak in many ways and does not shirk responsibility for how things turn out. But that he is also possessed of immense goodness and kindness, there is no doubt. The ending is intriguingly left slightly open, but on balance, you have to think that Pip will end up with his beloved Estella after all. Great Expectations is a dark novel and the characters are drawn by an author who like Shakespeare, had a deep insight in to human psychology. Great Expectations is not only unforgettable because of its basic story, but also because of its wonderful characters: the flawed hero Pip, the deranged and bitter Miss Havisham and the extraordinary creation that is Jaggers the solicitor.


One of the six truly great Dickens novels, 25 Mar 2008
Unforgettable - watch the great David Lean film, then read this, or vice versa - you will not be disappointed!

Highly enjoyable, 06 Nov 2007
A really enjoyable read. By the end I felt completely immersed within the story, and anxious to discover Pip's fate. The book has some very touching moments, and shows that there is no pure good, no pure evil, but a lot of in between. I read many novels and can usually guess at whats coming, but I must say I did not see many of the twists and turns of the book (I won't give them away!). The characters are very deep, from the eccentric miss havisham, the icy beauty estella, the friendly herbert, and loyal Joe. I have enjoyed every moment and it is firmly established as one of my favorites

A joy to read, 11 Sep 2008
I first read this (actually that should say I was first forced to read this) in school over 20 years ago. I hated it. It was disected to within an inch of its life and I came to dread those lessons with a passion. What a shame that school can manage to put off even the most ardent of readers. Isn't reading supposed to be about enjoyment?

I picked this up a couple of weeks ago out of curiosity and read the first page while standing in the bookshop. Before I knew it I had read the entire first chapter and loved it. There is such humour in Dicken's books that would have been totally wasted on me as a 15 year old.

It took me a few weeks to read (hence the 4 stars as I had to concentrate more than with other books) but I thought it was just wonderful. I remembered so little of the story from the first time around that it was like reading a new book. What a fantastic array of characters I came to know. Just loved it.

Simply a Classic, 03 Jul 2008
That I came to the novel fully aware of the storyline (through numerous TV and film adaptations) and still raced through the novel is an indication of the quality of the story and its characters.
What did surprise me, which having subsequently watched David Lean's adaptation may be down to selective memory, was what an awful individual Pip became during the course of the novel.
I would also have preferred Dickens originally conceived ending to the novel which appears much more in keeping with the general tone than the revised ending.

Expectations met, 26 Jun 2008
I am not fan of Dickens' novels or his prose, but recognise that his body of work is accepted as hugely impressive and influential.

The plot and principal characters of Great Expectations are well known. The introduction to the penguin paperback made much of Pip's sense of guilt at the fate that befell his sister and his neglect of Joe and Biddy. I was left mostly with the impression however, that one of the defining characteristics of Pip is that he feels a sense of self worthlessness. I attribute this to the fact of his being an orphan. Pip clings to Joe and even in the end, Magwitch, as something like father figures.

What is remarkable about the narrative is Pip's honesty with himself - he is really quite flawed and weak in many ways and does not shirk responsibility for how things turn out. But that he is also possessed of immense goodness and kindness, there is no doubt. The ending is intriguingly left slightly open, but on balance, you have to think that Pip will end up with his beloved Estella after all. Great Expectations is a dark novel and the characters are drawn by an author who like Shakespeare, had a deep insight in to human psychology. Great Expectations is not only unforgettable because of its basic story, but also because of its wonderful characters: the flawed hero Pip, the deranged and bitter Miss Havisham and the extraordinary creation that is Jaggers the solicitor.


One of the six truly great Dickens novels, 25 Mar 2008
Unforgettable - watch the great David Lean film, then read this, or vice versa - you will not be disappointed!

Highly enjoyable, 06 Nov 2007
A really enjoyable read. By the end I felt completely immersed within the story, and anxious to discover Pip's fate. The book has some very touching moments, and shows that there is no pure good, no pure evil, but a lot of in between. I read many novels and can usually guess at whats coming, but I must say I did not see many of the twists and turns of the book (I won't give them away!). The characters are very deep, from the eccentric miss havisham, the icy beauty estella, the friendly herbert, and loyal Joe. I have enjoyed every moment and it is firmly established as one of my favorites

A joy to read, 11 Sep 2008
I first read this (actually that should say I was first forced to read this) in school over 20 years ago. I hated it. It was disected to within an inch of its life and I came to dread those lessons with a passion. What a shame that school can manage to put off even the most ardent of readers. Isn't reading supposed to be about enjoyment?

I picked this up a couple of weeks ago out of curiosity and read the first page while standing in the bookshop. Before I knew it I had read the entire first chapter and loved it. There is such humour in Dicken's books that would have been totally wasted on me as a 15 year old.

It took me a few weeks to read (hence the 4 stars as I had to concentrate more than with other books) but I thought it was just wonderful. I remembered so little of the story from the first time around that it was like reading a new book. What a fantastic array of characters I came to know. Just loved it.

Simply a Classic, 03 Jul 2008
That I came to the novel fully aware of the storyline (through numerous TV and film adaptations) and still raced through the novel is an indication of the quality of the story and its characters.
What did surprise me, which having subsequently watched David Lean's adaptation may be down to selective memory, was what an awful individual Pip became during the course of the novel.
I would also have preferred Dickens originally conceived ending to the novel which appears much more in keeping with the general tone than the revised ending.

Expectations met, 26 Jun 2008
I am not fan of Dickens' novels or his prose, but recognise that his body of work is accepted as hugely impressive and influential.

The plot and principal characters of Great Expectations are well known. The introduction to the penguin paperback made much of Pip's sense of guilt at the fate that befell his sister and his neglect of Joe and Biddy. I was left mostly with the impression however, that one of the defining characteristics of Pip is that he feels a sense of self worthlessness. I attribute this to the fact of his being an orphan. Pip clings to Joe and even in the end, Magwitch, as something like father figures.

What is remarkable about the narrative is Pip's honesty with himself - he is really quite flawed and weak in many ways and does not shirk responsibility for how things turn out. But that he is also possessed of immense goodness and kindness, there is no doubt. The ending is intriguingly left slightly open, but on balance, you have to think that Pip will end up with his beloved Estella after all. Great Expectations is a dark novel and the characters are drawn by an author who like Shakespeare, had a deep insight in to human psychology. Great Expectations is not only unforgettable because of its basic story, but also because of its wonderful characters: the flawed hero Pip, the deranged and bitter Miss Havisham and the extraordinary creation that is Jaggers the solicitor.


One of the six truly great Dickens novels, 25 Mar 2008
Unforgettable - watch the great David Lean film, then read this, or vice versa - you will not be disappointed!

Highly enjoyable, 06 Nov 2007
A really enjoyable read. By the end I felt completely immersed within the story, and anxious to discover Pip's fate. The book has some very touching moments, and shows that there is no pure good, no pure evil, but a lot of in between. I read many novels and can usually guess at whats coming, but I must say I did not see many of the twists and turns of the book (I won't give them away!). The characters are very deep, from the eccentric miss havisham, the icy beauty estella, the friendly herbert, and loyal Joe. I have enjoyed every moment and it is firmly established as one of my favorites

An island paradise, 19 Aug 2008
We all know about Robinson Crusoe, or at least we think we do. We know about the shipwreck and the years alone on the island and the footprint in the sand and "Man Friday".

Reading the book for the first time, after years of receiving it via the TV and the cinema, in heavily abridged or heavily revised versions, I was amazed to discover how much more there is to find.

The first joy is Defoe's prose, written with all the urgency and precision of a lifelong pamphleteer. Defoe never leaves any doubt as to what his character is trying to say or why he is trying to say it.
The second joy is the pacing. In the brief sections before and after his time on the island, Crusoe undergoes multiple shipwrecks, capture by pirates, escape from slavery, the life of a Brazilian plantation owner, the putting down of a mutiny and even an attack by wolves. Any one of these events could serve quite happily as the climax of another story. As it is, the only time the pace slows is during Crusoe's sojourn on the island and that is only appropriate to his condition.

The greatest joy of the book, though, is Crusoe himself. This is a very real character with very real failings. He is frequently arrogant, unthinking or even plain stupid but wins us over with the good grace with which he admits his faults. One minute he is praising the quality of his newly baked pots, the next laughing at himself for spending months on building a canoe too large and too far from shore for him ever to be able to drag it to the sea. All the while he struggles to give some meaning to his isolation, a meaning he chooses to find in his own vision of God (a God that, by remarkable coincidence, exactly mirrors Defoe's own, nonconformist vision of his Almighty). It's not an endeavour of which Richard Dawkins - or indeed I - would necessarily approve but it's certainly one appropriate to Crusoe's time and personality.

Robinson Crusoe has been analysed as a prototypical text of British imperialism, a moral text, a religious text and even a Marxist text. It has drawn the attention of Rousseau, Wilkie Collins, Coetzee and Joyce among thousands of others. Having read it, one suddenly sees why. The only thing it lacks is the wonderful theme music from the 1960s TV series.


Lengthy, but worth it, 25 Jun 2008
The original Robinson Crusoe story is said to have been told by an old sailor in a dark bar in Bristol, and said to be his own. Daniel Defoe heard closely and used it to inspire his novel. Modern authors (like French Le Clezio) made their versions a lot shorter, simpler, well, for kids. Defoe's work is of another dimension, much closer to reality.

Part Ray Mears Bush Craft, Part Religious Meditation, 14 Nov 2007
Acknowledged to be one of (if not the) first novel, the unexpurgated version of Robinson Crusoe is nothing like the childrens' book that most people grow up with. For starters, the vast majority of pages in the Penguin version are about the practicalities of living alone on a deserted island, including details accounts of catching, enclosing and raising goats, planting crops and strengthening his shelters. As other reviewers have said, this does become repetitive and it's not helped that Defoe interserpeses it with paragraphs wherein Robinson considers the nature of God and the road to salvation. Yes, Crusoe does become a more devout Christian as a result of staying on the island, but it's telling that this starts because of a terror that he's about to die and what will happen to him when he does.

The book begins with an account of Crusoe's upbringing, his determination to go to sea in the face of parental objection and a disastrous voyage that sees him sold into slavery. On his escape (helped by a fellow slave who Crusoe in turn sells into slavery!), he's rescued by a Portugese captain and taken to Brazil where he starts a plantation before his wanderlust takes hold again and he embarks on a voyage to buy slaves in Guinea, a voyage that ends in the shipwreck that leaves him stuck on an island for 28 years.

The casual attitude towards slavery may make modern readers uncomfortable. I was certainly shocked by the way Crusoe on several occassions wishes he had some slaves to work for him and his relationship with Friday is certainly one of benevolent white man bringing God to the savage.

The plot only really gets going in the final 80 pages when Defore introduces cannibals and deserters and has Crusoe engage in two daring rescues. Even now these sections are entertaining and the action really gathers speed as we follow Crusoe's deliverance back to civilisation and ending with a peculiar almost postscript of what happens when he decides to travel by land instead of sea and is attacked by ravenous wolves.

The novel is definitely worth a look, but will likely be unpalatable to some modern readers because of the extensive (and somewhat unconvincing) religious meditations.

Traditional and factual. Hard to complete comapared to modern novels, 24 Jun 2007
Robinson Crusoe is claimed to be one of the first novel's written in English (1719) and is a fictional autobiography of a man who is from a very average family in England at that time. The story moves from the main characters moving out of his family home and travelling the seas to his eventual shipwreck off the American coast.

I read this book over an extended period of time due to exams in School but also because they book is very laborious with a completely different style of writing to contemporary writers. At times it is written very factually that reminded me of a non-fiction book such as the treatment of certain animals and how to tame them.

For looking into how literature started and an abstract insight into general life in these times, the first part of the book, the story can be of relevance and provide enough stimulation to finish. Also as many reviewers have mentioned before the novel is also allegorical with the classic shipwrecked story on one level and the deep insight into humanity and how humans behave on the other. Despite some believing that this second level of thought provides more entertainment to the story and makes the book worth reading I personally did not find that stimulating.

However despite its downfalls I still believe Robinson Crusoe to be worth reading for its literature value (as in what the book did for literature, moving it along etc), but it also captures the practical issues with being stuck on a desert island very well. If looking for a page-turner I wouldn't advise this book but the storyline is still appealing.


Other links: Defoe went on to write a lesser known sequel: The further adventures of Robinson Crusoe.
Film: Castaway


Open your eyes., 14 Oct 2006
Just a quickie. Some of the above reviews remind us of how slow and boring this book can be and how repetitive. Well, guys, that's the point. How exciting do you suppose being stranded alone on an Island can be? What would you do to pass the time? Defoe takes us back to a time before T.V etc. Your day would be boring, although eventually menial tasks save ones sanity. Time does pass slowly as it looses relavance. It's not a classic for nothing.

A joy to read, 11 Sep 2008
I first read this (actually that should say I was first forced to read this) in school over 20 years ago. I hated it. It was disected to within an inch of its life and I came to dread those lessons with a passion. What a shame that school can manage to put off even the most ardent of readers. Isn't reading supposed to be about enjoyment?

I picked this up a couple of weeks ago out of curiosity and read the first page while standing in the bookshop. Before I knew it I had read the entire first chapter and loved it. There is such humour in Dicken's books that would have been totally wasted on me as a 15 year old.

It took me a few weeks to read (hence the 4 stars as I had to concentrate more than with other books) but I thought it was just wonderful. I remembered so little of the story from the first time around that it was like reading a new book. What a fantastic array of characters I came to know. Just loved it.

Simply a Classic, 03 Jul 2008
That I came to the novel fully aware of the storyline (through numerous TV and film adaptations) and still raced through the novel is an indication of the quality of the story and its characters.
What did surprise me, which having subsequently watched David Lean's adaptation may be down to selective memory, was what an awful individual Pip became during the course of the novel.
I would also have preferred Dickens originally conceived ending to the novel which appears much more in keeping with the general tone than the revised ending.

Expectations met, 26 Jun 2008
I am not fan of Dickens' novels or his prose, but recognise that his body of work is accepted as hugely impressive and influential.

The plot and principal characters of Great Expectations are well known. The introduction to the penguin paperback made much of Pip's sense of guilt at the fate that befell his sister and his neglect of Joe and Biddy. I was left mostly with the impression however, that one of the defining characteristics of Pip is that he feels a sense of self worthlessness. I attribute this to the fact of his being an orphan. Pip clings to Joe and even in the end, Magwitch, as something like father figures.

What is remarkable about the narrative is Pip's honesty with himself - he is really quite flawed and weak in many ways and does not shirk responsibility for how things turn out. But that he is also possessed of immense goodness and kindness, there is no doubt. The ending is intriguingly left slightly open, but on balance, you have to think that Pip will end up with his beloved Estella after all. Great Expectations is a dark novel and the characters are drawn by an author who like Shakespeare, had a deep insight in to human psychology. Great Expectations is not only unforgettable because of its basic story, but also because of its wonderful characters: the flawed hero Pip, the deranged and bitter Miss Havisham and the extraordinary creation that is Jaggers the solicitor.


One of the six truly great Dickens novels, 25 Mar 2008
Unforgettable - watch the great David Lean film, then read this, or vice versa - you will not be disappointed!

Highly enjoyable, 06 Nov 2007
A really enjoyable read. By the end I felt completely immersed within the story, and anxious to discover Pip's fate. The book has some very touching moments, and shows that there is no pure good, no pure evil, but a lot of in between. I read many novels and can usually guess at whats coming, but I must say I did not see many of the twists and turns of the book (I won't give them away!). The characters are very deep, from the eccentric miss havisham, the icy beauty estella, the friendly herbert, and loyal Joe. I have enjoyed every moment and it is firmly established as one of my favorites

A joy to read, 11 Sep 2008
I first read this (actually that should say I was first forced to read this) in school over 20 years ago. I hated it. It was disected to within an inch of its life and I came to dread those lessons with a passion. What a shame that school can manage to put off even the most ardent of readers. Isn't reading supposed to be about enjoyment?

I picked this up a couple of weeks ago out of curiosity and read the first page while standing in the bookshop. Before I knew it I had read the entire first chapter and loved it. There is such humour in Dicken's books that would have been totally wasted on me as a 15 year old.

It took me a few weeks to read (hence the 4 stars as I had to concentrate more than with other books) but I thought it was just wonderful. I remembered so little of the story from the first time around that it was like reading a new book. What a fantastic array of characters I came to know. Just loved it.

Simply a Classic, 03 Jul 2008
That I came to the novel fully aware of the storyline (through numerous TV and film adaptations) and still raced through the novel is an indication of the quality of the story and its characters.
What did surprise me, which having subsequently watched David Lean's adaptation may be down to selective memory, was what an awful individual Pip became during the course of the novel.
I would also have preferred Dickens originally conceived ending to the novel which appears much more in keeping with the general tone than the revised ending.

Expectations met, 26 Jun 2008
I am not fan of Dickens' novels or his prose, but recognise that his body of work is accepted as hugely impressive and influential.

The plot and principal characters of Great Expectations are well known. The introduction to the penguin paperback made much of Pip's sense of guilt at the fate that befell his sister and his neglect of Joe and Biddy. I was left mostly with the impression however, that one of the defining characteristics of Pip is that he feels a sense of self worthlessness. I attribute this to the fact of his being an orphan. Pip clings to Joe and even in the end, Magwitch, as something like father figures.

What is remarkable about the narrative is Pip's honesty with himself - he is really quite flawed and weak in many ways and does not shirk responsibility for how things turn out. But that he is also possessed of immense goodness and kindness, there is no doubt. The ending is intriguingly left slightly open, but on balance, you have to think that Pip will end up with his beloved Estella after all. Great Expectations is a dark novel and the characters are drawn by an author who like Shakespeare, had a deep insight in to human psychology. Great Expectations is not only unforgettable because of its basic story, but also because of its wonderful characters: the flawed hero Pip, the deranged and bitter Miss Havisham and the extraordinary creation that is Jaggers the solicitor.


One of the six truly great Dickens novels, 25 Mar 2008
Unforgettable - watch the great David Lean film, then read this, or vice versa - you will not be disappointed!

Highly enjoyable, 06 Nov 2007
A really enjoyable read. By the end I felt completely immersed within the story, and anxious to discover Pip's fate. The book has some very touching moments, and shows that there is no pure good, no pure evil, but a lot of in between. I read many novels and can usually guess at whats coming, but I must say I did not see many of the twists and turns of the book (I won't give them away!). The characters are very deep, from the eccentric miss havisham, the icy beauty estella, the friendly herbert, and loyal Joe. I have enjoyed every moment and it is firmly established as one of my favorites

An island paradise, 19 Aug 2008
We all know about Robinson Crusoe, or at least we think we do. We know about the shipwreck and the years alone on the island and the footprint in the sand and "Man Friday".

Reading the book for the first time, after years of receiving it via the TV and the cinema, in heavily abridged or heavily revised versions, I was amazed to discover how much more there is to find.

The first joy is Defoe's prose, written with all the urgency and precision of a lifelong pamphleteer. Defoe never leaves any doubt as to what his character is trying to say or why he is trying to say it.
The second joy is the pacing. In the brief sections before and after his time on the island, Crusoe undergoes multiple shipwrecks, capture by pirates, escape from slavery, the life of a Brazilian plantation owner, the putting down of a mutiny and even an attack by wolves. Any one of these events could serve quite happily as the climax of another story. As it is, the only time the pace slows is during Crusoe's sojourn on the island and that is only appropriate to his condition.

The greatest joy of the book, though, is Crusoe himself. This is a very real character with very real failings. He is frequently arrogant, unthinking or even plain stupid but wins us over with the good grace with which he admits his faults. One minute he is praising the quality of his newly baked pots, the next laughing at himself for spending months on building a canoe too large and too far from shore for him ever to be able to drag it to the sea. All the while he struggles to give some meaning to his isolation, a meaning he chooses to find in his own vision of God (a God that, by remarkable coincidence, exactly mirrors Defoe's own, nonconformist vision of his Almighty). It's not an endeavour of which Richard Dawkins - or indeed I - would necessarily approve but it's certainly one appropriate to Crusoe's time and personality.

Robinson Crusoe has been analysed as a prototypical text of British imperialism, a moral text, a religious text and even a Marxist text. It has drawn the attention of Rousseau, Wilkie Collins, Coetzee and Joyce among thousands of others. Having read it, one suddenly sees why. The only thing it lacks is the wonderful theme music from the 1960s TV series.


Lengthy, but worth it, 25 Jun 2008
The original Robinson Crusoe story is said to have been told by an old sailor in a dark bar in Bristol, and said to be his own. Daniel Defoe heard closely and used it to inspire his novel. Modern authors (like French Le Clezio) made their versions a lot shorter, simpler, well, for kids. Defoe's work is of another dimension, much closer to reality.

Part Ray Mears Bush Craft, Part Religious Meditation, 14 Nov 2007
Acknowledged to be one of (if not the) first novel, the unexpurgated version of Robinson Crusoe is nothing like the childrens' book that most people grow up with. For starters, the vast majority of pages in the Penguin version are about the practicalities of living alone on a deserted island, including details accounts of catching, enclosing and raising goats, planting crops and strengthening his shelters. As other reviewers have said, this does become repetitive and it's not helped that Defoe interserpeses it with paragraphs wherein Robinson considers the nature of God and the road to salvation. Yes, Crusoe does become a more devout Christian as a result of staying on the island, but it's telling that this starts because of a terror that he's about to die and what will happen to him when he does.

The book begins with an account of Crusoe's upbringing, his determination to go to sea in the face of parental objection and a disastrous voyage that sees him sold into slavery. On his escape (helped by a fellow slave who Crusoe in turn sells into slavery!), he's rescued by a Portugese captain and taken to Brazil where he starts a plantation before his wanderlust takes hold again and he embarks on a voyage to buy slaves in Guinea, a voyage that ends in the shipwreck that leaves him stuck on an island for 28 years.

The casual attitude towards slavery may make modern readers uncomfortable. I was certainly shocked by the way Crusoe on several occassions wishes he had some slaves to work for him and his relationship with Friday is certainly one of benevolent white man bringing God to the savage.

The plot only really gets going in the final 80 pages when Defore introduces cannibals and deserters and has Crusoe engage in two daring rescues. Even now these sections are entertaining and the action really gathers speed as we follow Crusoe's deliverance back to civilisation and ending with a peculiar almost postscript of what happens when he decides to travel by land instead of sea and is attacked by ravenous wolves.

The novel is definitely worth a look, but will likely be unpalatable to some modern readers because of the extensive (and somewhat unconvincing) religious meditations.

Traditional and factual. Hard to complete comapared to modern novels, 24 Jun 2007
Robinson Crusoe is claimed to be one of the first novel's written in English (1719) and is a fictional autobiography of a man who is from a very average family in England at that time. The story moves from the main characters moving out of his family home and travelling the seas to his eventual shipwreck off the American coast.

I read this book over an extended period of time due to exams in School but also because they book is very laborious with a completely different style of writing to contemporary writers. At times it is written very factually that reminded me of a non-fiction book such as the treatment of certain animals and how to tame them.

For looking into how literature started and an abstract insight into general life in these times, the first part of the book, the story can be of relevance and provide enough stimulation to finish. Also as many reviewers have mentioned before the novel is also allegorical with the classic shipwrecked story on one level and the deep insight into humanity and how humans behave on the other. Despite some believing that this second level of thought provides more entertainment to the story and makes the book worth reading I personally did not find that stimulating.

However despite its downfalls I still believe Robinson Crusoe to be worth reading for its literature value (as in what the book did for literature, moving it along etc), but it also captures the practical issues with being stuck on a desert island very well. If looking for a page-turner I wouldn't advise this book but the storyline is still appealing.


Other links: Defoe went on to write a lesser known sequel: The further adventures of Robinson Crusoe.
Film: Castaway


Open your eyes., 14 Oct 2006
Just a quickie. Some of the above reviews remind us of how slow and boring this book can be and how repetitive. Well, guys, that's the point. How exciting do you suppose being stranded alone on an Island can be? What would you do to pass the time? Defoe takes us back to a time before T.V etc. Your day would be boring, although eventually menial tasks save ones sanity. Time does pass slowly as it looses relavance. It's not a classic for nothing.

Why did I put off reading it for so long?, 26 Sep 2008
What an amazing book! I always put off reading it because it seemed rather stuffy, somehow - how wrong I was! It is a taut and brilliantly written novel, winding through different genres, exquisite symbolism and intricate complexities, into a fantastic and compelling story.

When a shy, poor young woman meets a rich widower in Monte Carlo, she falls in love with him and is astounded when he asks her to be his wife - the new Mrs de Winter. However, she soon realises that the previous Mrs de Winter's presence still hangs heavily over his life and home - the grand Manderley, set on du Maurier's beloved Cornish coast - and that the terrible secrets of their marriage will haunt them both until Rebecca takes her revenge from beyond the grave...

Full of vivid characters, naive hope, thrilling mystery, chilling despair, and descriptions that ring with pure poetry, there is no wonder that this book remains well loved through the generations.

Wonderfully sinister..., 01 Jul 2008
I first read this book as a teenager but remembered how, even then, I had appreciated the writing. And it was just as magical the second time around.
'Rebecca' is the tale of Maxim de Winter, his first wife Rebecca, his nameless second wife (and this is really intriguing - why DDM chose not to name her heroine is poignant in the extreme..) and Manderley - the house in which the tale is set. Narrated by the second wife and beginning at the end (a style I love anyway), we are led by the hand into the controlling World of Maxim and with a 'wing' to house each wife and the formidable housekeeper Mrs Danvers, you can see that such a fruitful cast of characters will make for great reading.
You are initially of the belief that the first wife drowned in an accident but soon, the plot thickens and darkens and the myriad twists and turns slowly draw you to a different conclusion. And the tale then really gets going. All is not quite what it seems. Creepy.
Far fetched, romantic, dreamy and dramatic - Rebecca is a must for readers of all ages...


Magical, 08 Jun 2008
I first read Rebecca when I was 12 and over the years, I believe I must have read it eight more times. Nothing can compare to the first reading of course, the spellbinding writing of Du Maurier is such that you enter the world she creates. you are not a witness you are absorbed into the story. This book reads like a dream, at times you enter a sort of trance ( a pleasurable one, have no fear)probably created by the rhythmic use of language and imagery.
If there are people around who haven't read it yet, you simply must.
You must share the story of that young woman who feels so inadequate, swept off her feet by this older, fascinating man, unable to fill the shoes of Lady of the manor, haunted by all she hears about the first wife, beautiful, accomplished and so much more than she herself will ever be. You must read about the fascinating Mrs Danvers, probably one of the finest characters ever drawn, the housekeeper, totally devoted to the memory of that first wife and who therefore resents the second or rather hates her so much she will try her best to crush her.
A timeless classic, a triumph... words can't do it justice.

Superb, 03 Jun 2008
I first read this spellbinding book about 25 years ago. I continue to read it every few years and still find it exciting, sad, scary in places and as dramatic as the first time. Unlike many others I am not a massive fan of the first chapter but, believe me, you are soon reeled in by the brilliance of the narrative. The story is ageless and I can't recommend it enough. I often get annoyed and find Mrs De Winter a bit spineless and Max de Winter a bit bossy and autocratic but Daphne du Maurier is such a good story teller that you gloss over her characters flaws and still find yourself caring about what happens to them. I often think it would be fascinating if we could have heard Rebecca's version of events written by du Maurier. Please give this book a go, it stays with you long after you have finished it.

Flawless!, 26 May 2008
There are so many great books out there but this is one of the best! Thrilling is the best word to describe this book buts not really enough! Every character is great and the story is among the best every written, if you've seen the film then you know how good it is but add an extra 20% of brilliance for the book! I want to meet Rebecca in the same way I want to meet Alexis Colby!

In the tradition of The Adventures of Peter Rabbit, this is a "garden tale" of farmer versus vermin, or vice versa. The farmers in this case are a vaguely criminal team of three stooges: "Boggis and Bunce and Bean / One fat, one short, one lean. / These horrible crooks / So different in looks / Were nonetheless equally mean." Whatever their prowess as poultry farmers, within these pages their sole objective is the extermination of our hero--the noble, the clever, the Fantastic Mr. Fox. Our loyalties are defined from the start; after all, how could you cheer for a man named Bunce who eats his doughnuts stuffed with mashed goose livers? As one might expect, the farmers in this story come out smelling like...well, what farmers occasionally do smell like.

This early Roald Dahl adventure is great for reading aloud to three- to seven-year-olds, who will be delighted to hear that Mr. Fox keeps his family one step ahead of the obsessed farmers. When they try to dig him out, he digs faster; when they lay siege to his den, he tunnels to where the farmers least expect him--their own larders! In the end, Mr. Fox not only survives, but also helps the whole community of burrowing creatures live happily ever after. With his usual flourish, Dahl evokes a magical animal world that, as children, we always knew existed, had we only known where or how to look for it. (Great read aloud for any age; written at a 9- to 12-year-old reading level) --Amazon.com

A joy to read, 11 Sep 2008
I first read this (actually that should say I was first forced to read this) in school over 20 years ago. I hated it. It was disected to within an inch of its life and I came to dread those lessons with a passion. What a shame that school can manage to put off even the most ardent of readers. Isn't reading supposed to be about enjoyment?

I picked this up a couple of weeks ago out of curiosity and read the first page while standing in the bookshop. Before I knew it I had read the entire first chapter and loved it. There is such humour in Dicken's books that would have been totally wasted on me as a 15 year old.

It took me a few weeks to read (hence the 4 stars as I had to concentrate more than with other books) but I thought it was just wonderful. I remembered so little of the story from the first time around that it was like reading a new book. What a fantastic array of characters I came to know. Just loved it.

Simply a Classic, 03 Jul 2008
That I came to the novel fully aware of the storyline (through numerous TV and film adaptations) and still raced through the novel is an indication of the quality of the story and its characters.
What did surprise me, which having subsequently watched David Lean's adaptation may be down to selective memory, was what an awful individual Pip became during the course of the novel.
I would also have preferred Dickens originally conceived ending to the novel which appears much more in keeping with the general tone than the revised ending.

Expectations met, 26 Jun 2008
I am not fan of Dickens' novels or his prose, but recognise that his body of work is accepted as hugely impressive and influential.

The plot and principal characters of Great Expectations are well known. The introduction to the penguin paperback made much of Pip's sense of guilt at the fate that befell his sister and his neglect of Joe and Biddy. I was left mostly with the impression however, that one of the defining characteristics of Pip is that he feels a sense of self worthlessness. I attribute this to the fact of his being an orphan. Pip clings to Joe and even in the end, Magwitch, as something like father figures.

What is remarkable about the narrative is Pip's honesty with himself - he is really quite flawed and weak in many ways and does not shirk responsibility for how things turn out. But that he is also possessed of immense goodness and kindness, there is no doubt. The ending is intriguingly left slightly open, but on balance, you have to think that Pip will end up with his beloved Estella after all. Great Expectations is a dark novel and the characters are drawn by an author who like Shakespeare, had a deep insight in to human psychology. Great Expectations is not only unforgettable because of its basic story, but also because of its wonderful characters: the flawed hero Pip, the deranged and bitter Miss Havisham and the extraordinary creation that is Jaggers the solicitor.


One of the six truly great Dickens novels, 25 Mar 2008
Unforgettable - watch the great David Lean film, then read this, or vice versa - you will not be disappointed!

Highly enjoyable, 06 Nov 2007
A really enjoyable read. By the end I felt completely immersed within the story, and anxious to discover Pip's fate. The book has some very touching moments, and shows that there is no pure good, no pure evil, but a lot of in between. I read many novels and can usually guess at whats coming, but I must say I did not see many of the twists and turns of the book (I won't give them away!). The characters are very deep, from the eccentric miss havisham, the icy beauty estella, the friendly herbert, and loyal Joe. I have enjoyed every moment and it is firmly established as one of my favorites

A joy to read, 11 Sep 2008
I first read this (actually that should say I was first forced to read this) in school over 20 years ago. I hated it. It was disected to within an inch of its life and I came to dread those lessons with a passion. What a shame that school can manage to put off even the most ardent of readers. Isn't reading supposed to be about enjoyment?

I picked this up a couple of weeks ago out of curiosity and read the first page while standing in the bookshop. Before I knew it I had read the entire first chapter and loved it. There is such humour in Dicken's books that would have been totally wasted on me as a 15 year old.

It took me a few weeks to read (hence the 4 stars as I had to concentrate more than with other books) but I thought it was just wonderful. I remembered so little of the story from the first time around that it was like reading a new book. What a fantastic array of characters I came to know. Just loved it.

Simply a Classic, 03 Jul 2008
That I came to the novel fully aware of the storyline (through numerous TV and film adaptations) and still raced through the novel is an indication of the quality of the story and its characters.
What did surprise me, which having subsequently watched David Lean's adaptation may be down to selective memory, was what an awful individual Pip became during the course of the novel.
I would also have preferred Dickens originally conceived ending to the novel which appears much more in keeping with the general tone than the revised ending.

Expectations met, 26 Jun 2008
I am not fan of Dickens' novels or his prose, but recognise that his body of work is accepted as hugely impressive and influential.

The plot and principal characters of Great Expectations are well known. The introduction to the penguin paperback made much of Pip's sense of guilt at the fate that befell his sister and his neglect of Joe and Biddy. I was left mostly with the impression however, that one of the defining characteristics of Pip is that he feels a sense of self worthlessness. I attribute this to the fact of his being an orphan. Pip clings to Joe and even in the end, Magwitch, as something like father figures.

What is remarkable about the narrative is Pip's honesty with himself - he is really quite flawed and weak in many ways and does not shirk responsibility for how things turn out. But that he is also possessed of immense goodness and kindness, there is no doubt. The ending is intriguingly left slightly open, but on balance, you have to think that Pip will end up with his beloved Estella after all. Great Expectations is a dark novel and the characters are drawn by an author who like Shakespeare, had a deep insight in to human psychology. Great Expectations is not only unforgettable because of its basic story, but also because of its wonderful characters: the flawed hero Pip, the deranged and bitter Miss Havisham and the extraordinary creation that is Jaggers the solicitor.


One of the six truly great Dickens novels, 25 Mar 2008
Unforgettable - watch the great David Lean film, then read this, or vice versa - you will not be disappointed!

Highly enjoyable, 06 Nov 2007
A really enjoyable read. By the end I felt completely immersed within the story, and anxious to discover Pip's fate. The book has some very touching moments, and shows that there is no pure good, no pure evil, but a lot of in between. I read many novels and can usually guess at whats coming, but I must say I did not see many of the twists and turns of the book (I won't give them away!). The characters are very deep, from the eccentric miss havisham, the icy beauty estella, the friendly herbert, and loyal Joe. I have enjoyed every moment and it is firmly established as one of my favorites

An island paradise, 19 Aug 2008
We all know about Robinson Crusoe, or at least we think we do. We know about the shipwreck and the years alone on the island and the footprint in the sand and "Man Friday".

Reading the book for the first time, after years of receiving it via the TV and the cinema, in heavily abridged or heavily revised versions, I was amazed to discover how much more there is to find.

The first joy is Defoe's prose, written with all the urgency and precision of a lifelong pamphleteer. Defoe never leaves any doubt as to what his character is trying to say or why he is trying to say it.
The second joy is the pacing. In the brief sections before and after his time on the island, Crusoe undergoes multiple shipwrecks, capture by pirates, escape from slavery, the life of a Brazilian plantation owner, the putting down of a mutiny and even an attack by wolves. Any one of these events could serve quite happily as the climax of another story. As it is, the only time the pace slows is during Crusoe's sojourn on the island and that is only appropriate to his condition.

The greatest joy of the book, though, is Crusoe himself. This is a very real character with very real failings. He is frequently arrogant, unthinking or even plain stupid but wins us over with the good grace with which he admits his faults. One minute he is praising the quality of his newly baked pots, the next laughing at himself for spending months on building a canoe too large and too far from shore for him ever to be able to drag it to the sea. All the while he struggles to give some meaning to his isolation, a meaning he chooses to find in his own vision of God (a God that, by remarkable coincidence, exactly mirrors Defoe's own, nonconformist vision of his Almighty). It's not an endeavour of which Richard Dawkins - or indeed I - would necessarily approve but it's certainly one appropriate to Crusoe's time and personality.

Robinson Crusoe has been analysed as a prototypical text of British imperialism, a moral text, a religious text and even a Marxist text. It has drawn the attention of Rousseau, Wilkie Collins, Coetzee and Joyce among thousands of others. Having read it, one suddenly sees why. The only thing it lacks is the wonderful theme music from the 1960s TV series.


Lengthy, but worth it, 25 Jun 2008
The original Robinson Crusoe story is said to have been told by an old sailor in a dark bar in Bristol, and said to be his own. Daniel Defoe heard closely and used it to inspire his novel. Modern authors (like French Le Clezio) made their versions a lot shorter, simpler, well, for kids. Defoe's work is of another dimension, much closer to reality.

Part Ray Mears Bush Craft, Part Religious Meditation, 14 Nov 2007
Acknowledged to be one of (if not the) first novel, the unexpurgated version of Robinson Crusoe is nothing like the childrens' book that most people grow up with. For starters, the vast majority of pages in the Penguin version are about the practicalities of living alone on a deserted island, including details accounts of catching, enclosing and raising goats, planting crops and strengthening his shelters. As other reviewers have said, this does become repetitive and it's not helped that Defoe interserpeses it with paragraphs wherein Robinson considers the nature of God and the road to salvation. Yes, Crusoe does become a more devout Christian as a result of staying on the island, but it's telling that this starts because of a terror that he's about to die and what will happen to him when he does.

The book begins with an account of Crusoe's upbringing, his determination to go to sea in the face of parental objection and a disastrous voyage that sees him sold into slavery. On his escape (helped by a fellow slave who Crusoe in turn sells into slavery!), he's rescued by a Portugese captain and taken to Brazil where he starts a plantation before his wanderlust takes hold again and he embarks on a voyage to buy slaves in Guinea, a voyage that ends in the shipwreck that leaves him stuck on an island for 28 years.

The casual attitude towards slavery may make modern readers uncomfortable. I was certainly shocked by the way Crusoe on several occassions wishes he had some slaves to work for him and his relationship with Friday is certainly one of benevolent white man bringing God to the savage.

The plot only really gets going in the final 80 pages when Defore introduces cannibals and deserters and has Crusoe engage in two daring rescues. Even now these sections are entertaining and the action really gathers speed as we follow Crusoe's deliverance back to civilisation and ending with a peculiar almost postscript of what happens when he decides to travel by land instead of sea and is attacked by ravenous wolves.

The novel is definitely worth a look, but will likely be unpalatable to some modern readers because of the extensive (and somewhat unconvincing) religious meditations.

Traditional and factual. Hard to complete comapared to modern novels, 24 Jun 2007
Robinson Crusoe is claimed to be one of the first novel's written in English (1719) and is a fictional autobiography of a man who is from a very average family in England at that time. The story moves from the main characters moving out of his family home and travelling the seas to his eventual shipwreck off the American coast.

I read this book over an extended period of time due to exams in School but also because they book is very laborious with a completely different style of writing to contemporary writers. At times it is written very factually that reminded me of a non-fiction book such as the treatment of certain animals and how to tame them.

For looking into how literature started and an abstract insight into general life in these times, the first part of the book, the story can be of relevance and provide enough stimulation to finish. Also as many reviewers have mentioned before the novel is also allegorical with the classic shipwrecked story on one level and the deep insight into humanity and how humans behave on the other. Despite some believing that this second level of thought provides more entertainment to the story and makes the book worth reading I personally did not find that stimulating.

However despite its downfalls I still believe Robinson Crusoe to be worth reading for its literature value (as in what the book did for literature, moving it along etc), but it also captures the practical issues with being stuck on a desert island very well. If looking for a page-turner I wouldn't advise this book but the storyline is still appealing.


Other links: Defoe went on to write a lesser known sequel: The further adventures of Robinson Crusoe.
Film: Castaway


Open your eyes., 14 Oct 2006
Just a quickie. Some of the above reviews remind us of how slow and boring this book can be and how repetitive. Well, guys, that's the point. How exciting do you suppose being stranded alone on an Island can be? What would you do to pass the time? Defoe takes us back to a time before T.V etc. Your day would be boring, although eventually menial tasks save ones sanity. Time does pass slowly as it looses relavance. It's not a classic for nothing.

Why did I put off reading it for so long?, 26 Sep 2008
What an amazing book! I always put off reading it because it seemed rather stuffy, somehow - how wrong I was! It is a taut and brilliantly written novel, winding through different genres, exquisite symbolism and intricate complexities, into a fantastic and compelling story.

When a shy, poor young woman meets a rich widower in Monte Carlo, she falls in love with him and is astounded when he asks her to be his wife - the new Mrs de Winter. However, she soon realises that the previous Mrs de Winter's presence still hangs heavily over his life and home - the grand Manderley, set on du Maurier's beloved Cornish coast - and that the terrible secrets of their marriage will haunt them both until Rebecca takes her revenge from beyond the grave...

Full of vivid characters, naive hope, thrilling mystery, chilling despair, and descriptions that ring with pure poetry, there is no wonder that this book remains well loved through the generations.

Wonderfully sinister..., 01 Jul 2008
I first read this book as a teenager but remembered how, even then, I had appreciated the writing. And it was just as magical the second time around.
'Rebecca' is the tale of Maxim de Winter, his first wife Rebecca, his nameless second wife (and this is really intriguing - why DDM chose not to name her heroine is poignant in the extreme..) and Manderley - the house in which the tale is set. Narrated by the second wife and beginning at the end (a style I love anyway), we are led by the hand into the controlling World of Maxim and with a 'wing' to house each wife and the formidable housekeeper Mrs Danvers, you can see that such a fruitful cast of characters will make for great reading.
You are initially of the belief that the first wife drowned in an accident but soon, the plot thickens and darkens and the myriad twists and turns slowly draw you to a different conclusion. And the tale then really gets going. All is not quite what it seems. Creepy.
Far fetched, romantic, dreamy and dramatic - Rebecca is a must for readers of all ages...


Magical, 08 Jun 2008
I first read Rebecca when I was 12 and over the years, I believe I must have read it eight more times. Nothing can compare to the first reading of course, the spellbinding writing of Du Maurier is such that you enter the world she creates. you are not a witness you are absorbed into the story. This book reads like a dream, at times you enter a sort of trance ( a pleasurable one, have no fear)probably created by the rhythmic use of language and imagery.
If there are people around who haven't read it yet, you simply must.
You must share the story of that young woman who feels so inadequate, swept off her feet by this older, fascinating man, unable to fill the shoes of Lady of the manor, haunted by all she hears about the first wife, beautiful, accomplished and so much more than she herself will ever be. You must read about the fascinating Mrs Danvers, probably one of the finest characters ever drawn, the housekeeper, totally devoted to the memory of that first wife and who therefore resents the second or rather hates her so much she will try her best to crush her.
A timeless classic, a triumph... words can't do it justice.

Superb, 03 Jun 2008
I first read this spellbinding book about 25 years ago. I continue to read it every few years and still find it exciting, sad, scary in places and as dramatic as the first time. Unlike many others I am not a massive fan of the first chapter but, believe me, you are soon reeled in by the brilliance of the narrative. The story is ageless and I can't recommend it enough. I often get annoyed and find Mrs De Winter a bit spineless and Max de Winter a bit bossy and autocratic but Daphne du Maurier is such a good story teller that you gloss over her characters flaws and still find yourself caring about what happens to them. I often think it would be fascinating if we could have heard Rebecca's version of events written by du Maurier. Please give this book a go, it stays with you long after you have finished it.

Flawless!, 26 May 2008
There are so many great books out there but this is one of the best! Thrilling is the best word to describe this book buts not really enough! Every character is great and the story is among the best every written, if you've seen the film then you know how good it is but add an extra 20% of brilliance for the book! I want to meet Rebecca in the same way I want to meet Alexis Colby!

Mr Fox, 02 Jul 2008
I liked the part when Mr Fox sneaked into the chicken house.

It would be suitable for 7-12 year olds because it is fun.

My favourite character from the book is Fantastic Mr Fox because he is hilarious and amazing. This book makes people laugh every day. I like The Mr Fox because it is an amazing and fantastic Roald Dahl book. Every time Mr Fox steals a chicken from the farmers.

By Sohail 3H

Fantastic Mr Dahl!, 27 May 2008
A terrific tale of three mean and nasty farmers who decide to catch Mr Fox whatever it takes. The three vile villains are nasty but foolish, a combination that keeps them on the right side of scary for a more sensitive child.
And so they dig down and down, first with spades and then with mechanical diggers. The race is on.
And then, how on earth can the daring and resourceful Mr Fox sit out a siege and keep his family safe from starvation?
The clever and daring Mr Fox fights for survival with bravery and daring through secret passages and an underground world.
There's a magnificent finale, a great banquet, and my older children (5&7) love Mr Fox's inspired vision of a triumphant new way life for all the underground animals, while leaving the three mean farmers still waiting out in the rain.
With Quentin Blake's funny black and white illustrations on every page and many short chapters, the text is amusing and imaginatively descriptive as you'd expect from Mr Dahl. It also includes those little disgusting touches that children love such as "Bean's earholes were clogged with all kinds of muck and wax and bits of chewing-gum and dead flies and stuff like that."

This is one of my favourite Dahl stories: a short and snappy chapter book that can be read aloud in less than an hour and is guaranteed to hold the attention of a young listener from about age 5. It's fast paced, with enough excitement, danger and momentum to appeal from Key Stage 1 though children (and adults) who are considerably older will enjoy reading it to themselves. And with gun-toting farmers on the prowl and terrible tractors wrecking havoc on the hill, it's a particularly good story with which to entice reluctant boys.

If you are looking for more of Roald Dahl's magic for the younger age-group The Magic Finger, Esio Trot and The Twits next.

If you like the Robin Hood redistribution from rich and nasty farmers to the poor and worthy then you might also try the longer but every-bit-as-magnificent Danny Champion of the world.

Fantastic Mr Dahl!, 27 May 2008
A terrific tale of three mean and nasty farmers who decide to catch Mr Fox whatever it takes. The three vile villains are nasty but foolish, a combination that keeps them on the right side of scary for a more sensitive child.
And so they dig down and down, first with spades and then with mechanical diggers. The race is on.
And then, how on earth can the daring and resourceful Mr Fox sit out a siege and keep his family safe from starvation?
The clever and daring Mr Fox fights for survival with bravery and daring through secret passages and an underground world.
There's a magnificent finale, a great banquet, and my older children (5&7) love Mr Fox's inspired vision of a triumphant new way life for all the underground animals, while leaving the three mean farmers still waiting out in the rain.
With Quentin Blake's funny black and white illustrations on every page and many short chapters, the text is amusing and imaginatively descriptive as you'd expect from Mr Dahl. It also includes those little disgusting touches that children love such as "Bean's earholes were clogged with all kinds of muck and wax and bits of chewing-gum and dead flies and stuff like that."

This is one of my favourite Dahl stories: a short and snappy chapter book that can be read aloud in less than an hour and is guaranteed to hold the attention of a young listener from about age 5. It's fast paced, with enough excitement, danger and momentum to appeal from Key Stage 1 though children (and adults) who are considerably older will enjoy reading it to themselves. And with gun-toting farmers on the prowl and terrible tractors wrecking havoc on the hill, it's a particularly good story with which to entice reluctant boys.

If you are looking for more of Roald Dahl's magic for the younger age-group The Magic Finger, Esio Trot and The Twits next.

If you like the Robin Hood redistribution from rich and nasty farmers to the poor and worthy then you might also try the longer but every-bit-as-magnificent Danny Champion of the world.


Fantastic Mr Dahl!, 15 Apr 2008
I read this book to my 7-year-old nephew recently and he squealed with delight all the way through. The intention was to read a couple of chapters at a time, but at the end of each chapter he begged me to keep going, so we finished the book in one sitting! I've now bought The Twits, The Witches and Matilda to read to him next...

Fantastic book is Fantastc Mr. Fox, 13 Jan 2008
The story is about a fox named Mr. Fox. At night, he steals chickens, cider, and vegetables from three mean farmers (Bunce, Boggis, and Bean) in order to feed his family and all the underground families. The farmers are fed up with this, and try everything to kill him - even going to the lengths of using bulldozers to dig him out of his foxhole. One night they wait outside his house to kill him. When Mr. Fox comes out of the tunnel, they fire at him; the bullet hits his tail, severing it. They then try surrounding the hill he lives in with men armed with guns. After three days of starving, Mr. Fox and his children dig a tunnel to Boggis' number one chicken house, and steal some chickens. They also raid Bunce's storehouse and Bean's underground cellar of apple cider. Along the way they meet Badger and other animals who are also starving due to the farmers' siege of the hillside. Mr Fox, feeling responsible for the whole affair invites all the animals to a feast made from the loot and they all decide never to go above ground again. They decide to then make an underground town for only the animals.

A joy to read, 11 Sep 2008
I first read this (actually that should say I was first forced to read this) in school over 20 years ago. I hated it. It was disected to within an inch of its life and I came to dread those lessons with a passion. What a shame that school can manage to put off even the most ardent of readers. Isn't reading supposed to be about enjoyment?

I picked this up a couple of weeks ago out of curiosity and read the first page while standing in the bookshop. Before I knew it I had read the entire first chapter and loved it. There is such humour in Dicken's books that would have been totally wasted on me as a 15 year old.

It took me a few weeks to read (hence the 4 stars as I had to concentrate more than with other books) but I thought it was just wonderful. I remembered so little of the story from the first time around that it was like reading a new book. What a fantastic array of characters I came to know. Just loved it.

Simply a Classic, 03 Jul 2008
That I came to the novel fully aware of the storyline (through numerous TV and film adaptations) and still raced through the novel is an indication of the quality of the story and its characters.
What did surprise me, which having subsequently watched David Lean's adaptation may be down to selective memory, was what an awful individual Pip became during the course of the novel.
I would also have preferred Dickens originally conceived ending to the novel which appears much more in keeping with the general tone than the revised ending.

Expectations met, 26 Jun 2008
I am not fan of Dickens' novels or his prose, but recognise that his body of work is accepted as hugely impressive and influential.

The plot and principal characters of Great Expectations are well known. The introduction to the penguin paperback made much of Pip's sense of guilt at the fate that befell his sister and his neglect of Joe and Biddy. I was left mostly with the impression however, that one of the defining characteristics of Pip is that he feels a sense of self worthlessness. I attribute this to the fact of his being an orphan. Pip clings to Joe and even in the end, Magwitch, as something like father figures.

What is remarkable about the narrative is Pip's honesty with himself - he is really quite flawed and weak in many ways and does not shirk responsibility for how things turn out. But that he is also possessed of immense goodness and kindness, there is no doubt. The ending is intriguingly left slightly open, but on balance, you have to think that Pip will end up with his beloved Estella after all. Great Expectations is a dark novel and the characters are drawn by an author who like Shakespeare, had a deep insight in to human psychology. Great Expectations is not only unforgettable because of its basic story, but also because of its wonderful characters: the flawed hero Pip, the deranged and bitter Miss Havisham and the extraordinary creation that is Jaggers the solicitor.


One of the six truly great Dickens novels, 25 Mar 2008
Unforgettable - watch the great David Lean film, then read this, or vice versa - you will not be disappointed!

Highly enjoyable, 06 Nov 2007
A really enjoyable read. By the end I felt completely immersed within the story, and anxious to discover Pip's fate. The book has some very touching moments, and shows that there is no pure good, no pure evil, but a lot of in between. I read many novels and can usually guess at whats coming, but I must say I did not see many of the twists and turns of the book (I won't give them away!). The characters are very deep, from the eccentric miss havisham, the icy beauty estella, the friendly herbert, and loyal Joe. I have enjoyed every moment and it is firmly established as one of my favorites

A joy to read, 11 Sep 2008
I first read this (actually that should say I was first forced to read this) in school over 20 years ago. I hated it. It was disected to within an inch of its life and I came to dread those lessons with a passion. What a shame that school can manage to put off even the most ardent of readers. Isn't reading supposed to be about enjoyment?

I picked this up a couple of weeks ago out of curiosity and read the first page while standing in the bookshop. Before I knew it I had read the entire first chapter and loved it. There is such humour in Dicken's books that would have been totally wasted on me as a 15 year old.

It took me a few weeks to read (hence the 4 stars as I had to concentrate more than with other books) but I thought it was just wonderful. I remembered so little of the story from the first time around that it was like reading a new book. What a fantastic array of characters I came to know. Just loved it.

Simply a Classic, 03 Jul 2008
That I came to the novel fully aware of the storyline (through numerous TV and film adaptations) and still raced through the novel is an indication of the quality of the story and its characters.
What did surprise me, which having subsequently watched David Lean's adaptation may be down to selective memory, was what an awful individual Pip became during the course of the novel.
I would also have preferred Dickens originally conceived ending to the novel which appears much more in keeping with the general tone than the revised ending.

Expectations met, 26 Jun 2008
I am not fan of Dickens' novels or his prose, but recognise that his body of work is accepted as hugely impressive and influential.

The plot and principal characters of Great Expectations are well known. The introduction to the penguin paperback made much of Pip's sense of guilt at the fate that befell his sister and his neglect of Joe and Biddy. I was left mostly with the impression however, that one of the defining characteristics of Pip is that he feels a sense of self worthlessness. I attribute this to the fact of his being an orphan. Pip clings to Joe and even in the end, Magwitch, as something like father figures.

What is remarkable about the narrative is Pip's honesty with himself - he is really quite flawed and weak in many ways and does not shirk responsibility for how things turn out. But that he is also possessed of immense goodness and kindness, there is no doubt. The ending is intriguingly left slightly open, but on balance, you have to think that Pip will end up with his beloved Estella after all. Great Expectations is a dark novel and the characters are drawn by an author who like Shakespeare, had a deep insight in to human psychology. Great Expectations is not only unforgettable because of its basic story, but also because of its wonderful characters: the flawed hero Pip, the deranged and bitter Miss Havisham and the extraordinary creation that is Jaggers the solicitor.


One of the six truly great Dickens novels, 25 Mar 2008
Unforgettable - watch the great David Lean film, then read this, or vice versa - you will not be disappointed!

Highly enjoyable, 06 Nov 2007
A really enjoyable read. By the end I felt completely immersed within the story, and anxious to discover Pip's fate. The book has some very touching moments, and shows that there is no pure good, no pure evil, but a lot of in between. I read many novels and can usually guess at whats coming, but I must say I did not see many of the twists and turns of the book (I won't give them away!). The characters are very deep, from the eccentric miss havisham, the icy beauty estella, the friendly herbert, and loyal Joe. I have enjoyed every moment and it is firmly established as one of my favorites

An island paradise, 19 Aug 2008
We all know about Robinson Crusoe, or at least we think we do. We know about the shipwreck and the years alone on the island and the footprint in the sand and "Man Friday".

Reading the book for the first time, after years of receiving it via the TV and the cinema, in heavily abridged or heavily revised versions, I was amazed to discover how much more there is to find.

The first joy is Defoe's prose, written with all the urgency and precision of a lifelong pamphleteer. Defoe never leaves any doubt as to what his character is trying to say or why he is trying to say it.
The second joy is the pacing. In the brief sections before and after his time on the island, Crusoe undergoes multiple shipwrecks, capture by pirates, escape from slavery, the life of a Brazilian plantation owner, the putting down of a mutiny and even an attack by wolves. Any one of these events could serve quite happily as the climax of another story. As it is, the only time the pace slows is during Crusoe's sojourn on the island and that is only appropriate to his condition.

The greatest joy of the book, though, is Crusoe himself. This is a very real character with very real failings. He is frequently arrogant, unthinking or even plain stupid but wins us over with the good grace with which he admits his faults. One minute he is praising the quality of his newly baked pots, the next laughing at himself for spending months on building a canoe too large and too far from shore for him ever to be able to drag it to the sea. All the while he struggles to give some meaning to his isolation, a meaning he chooses to find in his own vision of God (a God that, by remarkable coincidence, exactly mirrors Defoe's own, nonconformist vision of his Almighty). It's not an endeavour of which Richard Dawkins - or indeed I - would necessarily approve but it's certainly one appropriate to Crusoe's time and personality.

Robinson Crusoe has been analysed as a prototypical text of British imperialism, a moral text, a religious text and even a Marxist text. It has drawn the attention of Rousseau, Wilkie Collins, Coetzee and Joyce among thousands of others. Having read it, one suddenly sees why. The only thing it lacks is the wonderful theme music from the 1960s TV series.


Lengthy, but worth it, 25 Jun 2008
The original Robinson Crusoe story is said to have been told by an old sailor in a dark bar in Bristol, and said to be his own. Daniel Defoe heard closely and used it to inspire his novel. Modern authors (like French Le Clezio) made their versions a lot shorter, simpler, well, for kids. Defoe's work is of another dimension, much closer to reality.

Part Ray Mears Bush Craft, Part Religious Meditation, 14 Nov 2007
Acknowledged to be one of (if not the) first novel, the unexpurgated version of Robinson Crusoe is nothing like the childrens' book that most people grow up with. For starters, the vast majority of pages in the Penguin version are about the practicalities of living alone on a deserted island, including details accounts of catching, enclosing and raising goats, planting crops and strengthening his shelters. As other reviewers have said, this does become repetitive and it's not helped that Defoe interserpeses it with paragraphs wherein Robinson considers the nature of God and the road to salvation. Yes, Crusoe does become a more devout Christian as a result of staying on the island, but it's telling that this starts because of a terror that he's about to die and what will happen to him when he does.

The book begins with an account of Crusoe's upbringing, his determination to go to sea in the face of parental objection and a disastrous voyage that sees him sold into slavery. On his escape (helped by a fellow slave who Crusoe in turn sells into slavery!), he's rescued by a Portugese captain and taken to Brazil where he starts a plantation before his wanderlust takes hold again and he embarks on a voyage to buy slaves in Guinea, a voyage that ends in the shipwreck that leaves him stuck on an island for 28 years.

The casual attitude towards slavery may make modern readers uncomfortable. I was certainly shocked by the way Crusoe on several occassions wishes he had some slaves to work for him and his relationship with Friday is certainly one of benevolent white man bringing God to the savage.

The plot only really gets going in the final 80 pages when Defore introduces cannibals and deserters and has Crusoe engage in two daring rescues. Even now these sections are entertaining and the action really gathers speed as we follow Crusoe's deliverance back to civilisation and ending with a peculiar almost postscript of what happens when he decides to travel by land instead of sea and is attacked by ravenous wolves.

The novel is definitely worth a look, but will likely be unpalatable to some modern readers because of the extensive (and somewhat unconvincing) religious meditations.

Traditional and factual. Hard to complete comapared to modern novels, 24 Jun 2007
Robinson Crusoe is claimed to be one of the first novel's written in English (1719) and is a fictional autobiography of a man who is from a very average family in England at that time. The story moves from the main characters moving out of his family home and travelling the seas to his eventual shipwreck off the American coast.

I read this book over an extended period of time due to exams in School but also because they book is very laborious with a completely different style of writing to contemporary writers. At times it is written very factually that reminded me of a non-fiction book such as the treatment of certain animals and how to tame them.

For looking into how literature started and an abstract insight into general life in these times, the first part of the book, the story can be of relevance and provide enough stimulation to finish. Also as many reviewers have mentioned before the novel is also allegorical with the classic shipwrecked story on one level and the deep insight into humanity and how humans behave on the other. Despite some believing that this second level of thought provides more entertainment to the story and makes the book worth reading I personally did not find that stimulating.

However despite its downfalls I still believe Robinson Crusoe to be worth reading for its literature value (as in what the book did for literature, moving it along etc), but it also captures the practical issues with being stuck on a desert island very well. If looking for a page-turner I wouldn't advise this book but the storyline is still appealing.


Other links: Defoe went on to write a lesser known sequel: The further adventures of Robinson Crusoe.
Film: Castaway


Open your eyes., 14 Oct 2006
Just a quickie. Some of the above reviews remind us of how slow and boring this book can be and how repetitive. Well, guys, that's the point. How exciting do you suppose being stranded alone on an Island can be? What would you do to pass the time? Defoe takes us back to a time before T.V etc. Your day would be boring, although eventually menial tasks save ones sanity. Time does pass slowly as it looses relavance. It's not a classic for nothing.

Why did I put off reading it for so long?, 26 Sep 2008
What an amazing book! I always put off reading it because it seemed rather stuffy, somehow - how wrong I was! It is a taut and brilliantly written novel, winding through different genres, exquisite symbolism and intricate complexities, into a fantastic and compelling story.

When a shy, poor young woman meets a rich widower in Monte Carlo, she falls in love with him and is astounded when he asks her to be his wife - the new Mrs de Winter. However, she soon realises that the previous Mrs de Winter's presence still hangs heavily over his life and home - the grand Manderley, set on du Maurier's beloved Cornish coast - and that the terrible secrets of their marriage will haunt them both until Rebecca takes her revenge from beyond the grave...

Full of vivid characters, naive hope, thrilling mystery, chilling despair, and descriptions that ring with pure poetry, there is no wonder that this book remains well loved through the generations.

Wonderfully sinister..., 01 Jul 2008
I first read this book as a teenager but remembered how, even then, I had appreciated the writing. And it was just as magical the second time around.
'Rebecca' is the tale of Maxim de Winter, his first wife Rebecca, his nameless second wife (and this is really intriguing - why DDM chose not to name her heroine is poignant in the extreme..) and Manderley - the house in which the tale is set. Narrated by the second wife and beginning at the end (a style I love anyway), we are led by the hand into the controlling World of Maxim and with a 'wing' to house each wife and the formidable housekeeper Mrs Danvers, you can see that such a fruitful cast of characters will make for great reading.
You are initially of the belief that the first wife drowned in an accident but soon, the plot thickens and darkens and the myriad twists and turns slowly draw you to a different conclusion. And the tale then really gets going. All is not quite what it seems. Creepy.
Far fetched, romantic, dreamy and dramatic - Rebecca is a must for readers of all ages...


Magical, 08 Jun 2008
I first read Rebecca when I was 12 and over the years, I believe I must have read it eight more times. Nothing can compare to the first reading of course, the spellbinding writing of Du Maurier is such that you enter the world she creates.