Candlelight Stories » Defoe

Audio Podcast Novel: Robinson Crusoe (Part 17 – Conclusion)

Alessandro Cima — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 03:08:34 +0000

Robinson Crusoe and Friday finally have a ship and a way off the island. Crusoe relates his journey home and how he resolves the outstanding issues he left behind in his life. He meets with one final harrowing adventure on his journey home and uses it to lead into the final thoughts of his great tale. So ends one of the greatest adventures ever written and so began the great art of the English novel. Daniel Defoe created a character that has influenced every writer and every reader’s imagination since he wrote this incredible book.

It has been an uncommon pleasure to read this difficult book and to make my way through the unusual language of Mr. Defoe. Perhaps by reading him, one can learn to think a bit like him. With great language comes great subtlety of thought.

By the way, Defoe did write a sequel to this book. It’s called ‘The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe.’ Perhaps a podcast of that book should be…

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Read by Alessandro Cima

Illustration is by NC Wyeth (1920)
Crusoe is grateful to the ship’s captain for his opportunity of rescue

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Audio Podcast Novel: Robinson Crusoe (Part 16)

Alessandro Cima — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 03:03:11 +0000

DOWNLOAD ROBINSON CRUSOE – PART 16

Crusoe and Friday see what looks like an English ship. But what does this ship bring? This is an action-packed section of the book. Crusoe uses every bit of his cunning and skill to defend himself and Friday while never ceasing to maintain his hope of rescue.

Get all the previous parts here

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Audio Podcast Novel: Robinson Crusoe (Part 15)

Alessandro Cima — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 03:00:26 +0000

DOWNLOAD ROBINSON CRUSOE – PART 15

Robinson Crusoe and Friday get many surprises as they battle cannibals. The action explodes as they are forced to think and act quickly to save lives. Crusoe continues to be amazed at the strength of Friday’s character and his incredible loyalty.

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Illustration is by NC Wyeth (1920)
Crusoe battles the cannibals on the beach

Audio Podcast Novel: Robinson Crusoe (Part 14)

Editor — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 01:37:00 +0000

DOWNLOAD ROBINSON CRUSOE – PART 14

Crusoe builds his friendship with Friday, teaching him English, Christianity, hunting with a gun, and working with tools. The two men develop a deep and trusting bond once Crusoe gets over his struggles with suspicion and doubts about Friday’s intentions. We find ourselves at that part of the novel that best illustrates what many critics of Defoe’s novel say is a glorification of English colonialism and empire. To be sure, that is part of what is going on in the book. However, there is more to it than that. Defoe, at times, seems close to sowing seeds of doubt about the English world he lived in and its beliefs about its place in the world. Pay very close attention to the conversations between Friday and Crusoe. They move in directions entirely unanticipated by Crusoe. He is constantly surprised by how loyal, intelligent, and civilized Friday turns out to be in his very deepest nature.

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Illustration is by NC Wyeth (1920)
Crusoe and Friday build a boat

Audio Podcast Novel: Robinson Crusoe (Part 13)

Editor — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 16:31:05 +0000

DOWNLOAD ROBINSON CRUSOE – PART 13

Cannibals come to Crusoe’s island and make him believe there is a possibility of confrontation. But in this section of the book Crusoe meets his companion, Friday. He considers this man to be his servant and slave. An odd assumption since it is actually he, Robinson Crusoe, who is the intruder in Friday’s part of the world. This must have something to do with the way certain nations operated in those days and, in some cases, still do.

At any rate, Crusoe begins to teach Friday English and becomes more assured of their friendship.

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Illustration is by NC Wyeth (1920)
Crusoe meets the man who becomes Friday

Audio Podcast Novel: Robinson Crusoe (Part 12)

Editor — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 02:59:14 +0000

DOWNLOAD ROBINSON CRUSOE – PART 12

Crusoe worries about being attacked if his presence is discovered by cannibals who visit the island. He finds a spectacular cave and then, during a night storm, hears a cannon shot.

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Audio Podcast Novel: Robinson Crusoe (Part 11)

Editor — Sun, 23 May 2010 19:03:02 +0000

DOWNLOAD ROBINSON CRUSOE – PART 11

Crusoe makes another shocking discovery and sets himself on a course of action that leads him to one of the book’s most interesting passages. It is here, in Crusoe’s struggle with his own outrage and his ideas about what makes for civilized behavior, that Defoe begins to turn the novel in a new direction. He is examining the underpinnings of Western civilization. What makes a person civilized? What does the right of self defense really mean? This kind of thinking and questioning is perhaps somewhat lacking in certain countries today. Notice also how religion, for Crusoe, seems to have a moderating, calming influence. He resists using it to justify himself or his actions.

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Illustration is by NC Wyeth (1920)
Crusoe watches the ocean for boats

Audio Podcast Novel: Robinson Crusoe (Part 10)

Editor — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 00:16:22 +0000

DOWNLOAD ROBINSON CRUSOE – PART 10

Our lone character, Robinson Crusoe, succeeds in raising his herd of goats and learns to use them for meat, milk and cheese. But his shocking discovery on a beach shakes his foundation and fills him with dread.

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Illustration is by NC Wyeth (1920)
Crusoe makes a shocking discovery

Audio Podcast Novel: Robinson Crusoe (Part 9)

Editor — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 04:48:13 +0000

DOWNLOAD ROBINSON CRUSOE – PART 9

Let’s get on with our story, shall we? It’s a good story and reading it is a lot of fun. Difficult, but fun. Defoe’s language is up and down and backward and forward. It makes you think fast. Try picking up the book and reading any part of it out loud and fast. It’s tricky. But it’s a very good way to learn more about how Defoe’s mind worked. Amazing. Are you starting to wonder why Crusoe constantly reminds us of things and says things like: ‘As I told you before,’ or ‘As I said earlier?’

He almost insists that you follow the correct sequence of events, but he skips ahead in order to achieve a much more important goal. He wants you to follow along with his state of mind. That’s why his story-telling language is so twisty and folds back on itself so often. This is certainly one of the most fantastic things about Defoe’s novel. Its obsessive focus on the man’s state of mind sets a precedent that influences almost all of literature following Defoe. It is really this that makes the book so modern.

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Illustration is by NC Wyeth (1920)
Crusoe battles the currents on the far side of his island

Audio Podcast Novel: Robinson Crusoe (Part 8)

Editor — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:16:21 +0000

DOWNLOAD ROBINSON CRUSOE – PART 8

Robinson Crusoe struggles to harvest his corn, make bread, build a boat and sew some clothes. The efforts he makes are constantly set back by mistakes and errors in judgment. He deals with his lack of expertise in the various arts that he must call upon with a certain amount of humor. Pay attention to how Crusoe constantly monitors his state of mind and is ever willing to discuss his mistakes and to poke fun at himself.

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Read by Alessandro Cima