The book was published on April 25, 1719. Before the end of the year, this first volume had run through four editions. Within years, it had reached an audience as wide as any book ever written in English.
By the end of the 19th century, no book in the history of Western literature had more editions, spin-offs and translations than Robinson Crusoe, with more than 700 such alternative versions, including children's versions with mainly pictures and no text. Why do you think this novel gained so much popularity?
I believe that, as I've said so before with Shakespeare's plays, Robinson Crusoe is an evergreen paragon of morality and of it's time. It will forever be a faithful account of what passed through an Englishman's mind and soul in the late 17th century, what England was all about at the time. All in all, it's a true piece of English History and it will never lose its validity as the greatest morality tale ever told.
ResponderEliminarI think that the novel became so popular because it describes the powerful nation of Britain in just a single character and in a entretaining manner. It is fantastic how a man represents in himself all the aspects of that potential nation: "I am the owner of everything, I am right, you are wrong, I have rights, you haven´t got any". All these thoughts were on the Englishman´s mind at that time and the novel represents them perfectly. That´s why I believe that Robinson Crusoe is no only a good novel, but also real history, as Martina also said.
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