356 pages
English language
Published April 4, 1984 by Capricorn Press.
During one of his several adventurous voyages in the 1600s, an Englishman becomes the sole survivor of a shipwreck and lives for nearly thirty years on a deserted island.
I really liked this. It tried to do a lot, and some parts were more successful than others, but I really cared about the characters and want to see where they go next!
And to think Hardy was accused of exploiting coincidences in his novels.......
I mostly enjoyed the book. The characters are well-drawn, if sometimes a little too sketchy. But what really distracted from my reading pleasure is the very conventional gender roles that permeate all relationships. In contrast to the rather radical, edgy stuff he describes, this is really ... strangely distracting.
I give up. I don't care about Crusoe or his misfortunes. His castaway life is just one boring thing after another without any wit or insight added by the author, and the character himself isn't interesting or sympathetic enough to make me wonder what happens next. I can't figure out why this one remains in print.
