Robinson Crusoe

The boys and I just finished Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe today---two days shy of our goal date. This c18 proto-"novel" (written in the form of an autobiographical travel narrative/diary) is a classic of English literature and posed many interesting discussions on God's providence; the importance of ingenuity, self-determination, tenacity, and long-term vision; English seafaring; English colonialism; the questions of slavery and self-defense and dietary morality; the formation of the novel; verisimilitude; protestantism versus catholicism versus paganism; foreshadowing; and the sustained focus to complete a long novel in an age of social media and emojis. Our reading time was a blessing during these summer months--we sat outside even on the hottest days to read ten pages or so daily while the mist from the grass sprinklers kept us cool on our front porch. Now that the boys are old enough to read by themselves, I wonder how many novels we will be able to share together...these days go so quickly.