Robinson Crusoe

by Daniel Defoe
Edited by Kathryn Lindskoog
Illustrated by Barbara Chitouras

Multnomah Press, 1991

Robinson Crusoe burst into this bleak book world in 1719 -- an adult Christian novel destined to become the world's favorite adventure story for readers of all ages. It is the story of a young fool who ran away from wealth, security, and family love for a rough life at sea -- and came to his senses too late, stranded alone on a tropical island. Alone except for God and, eventually, cannibals.

From the day Crusoe ran away to sea until the day that he was rescued from his island, author Daniel Defoe recorded thirty-five years of suspense, surprises, and setbacks. Thus the book is so long -- 472 pages of fine print in my 1985 edition -- that few people are aware of the second half anymore, in which Crusoe returns to his island, travels clear around the world, and returns to England in old age to peacefully await "a longer journey than all these." Abridged editions of the first half tend to leave out Crusoe's long struggle with God and his slow transformation into a faith-filled Christian. My 185-page version retains every bit of the story and its Christian message.

Few people realize that Defoe was almost as extraordinary as his fictitious Robinson Crusoe. He was a Presbyterian jack of all trades, a part-time political spy, and a full-time journalist. To support his wife and six children he wrote over 560 books and other publications, and on a couple of occasions his peppery prose landed him in prison. He was almost sixty when he finally turned to fiction, and he was so pleased by ROBINSON CRUSOE that he spent his last ten years producing seven more novels (along with some other books, of course).

Quote from "Adapting the Classics: Purists, Pirates, and Literary Liposuction"