I took this picture in Cardiff Castle, in the playroom of the children of the Bute family which were covered with illustrations of tales classic stories(long story short). I wish I could do the same here for Wolfie's bedroom, but that's not the topic of this post. I recognised right away Robinson Crusoe, from the eponymous novel of Daniel Defoe, and his sidekick Friday. I never read the novel, but as a child I once read a comic book adaptation, present from my favourite child minder (the best in the world), which really fascinated me. I read it over and over again. I later saw a few barely memorable and very derivative adaptations, but looking at this picture today it struck me that for all my childhood fascination I have yet to read the novel. I have a very busy reading program until the end of the year, but Robinson Crusoe might be on the one for next year. it could be a great summer read, come to think of it.
Saturday, 25 May 2019
Robinson Crusoe
I took this picture in Cardiff Castle, in the playroom of the children of the Bute family which were covered with illustrations of tales classic stories(long story short). I wish I could do the same here for Wolfie's bedroom, but that's not the topic of this post. I recognised right away Robinson Crusoe, from the eponymous novel of Daniel Defoe, and his sidekick Friday. I never read the novel, but as a child I once read a comic book adaptation, present from my favourite child minder (the best in the world), which really fascinated me. I read it over and over again. I later saw a few barely memorable and very derivative adaptations, but looking at this picture today it struck me that for all my childhood fascination I have yet to read the novel. I have a very busy reading program until the end of the year, but Robinson Crusoe might be on the one for next year. it could be a great summer read, come to think of it.
I read the book as a kid. It is of course full of European colonial and racist attitudes. The best movie adaptation I ever saw was the 1975 film "Man Friday" with Peter O'Toole and Richard Roundtree which subverts all those messages and tells the tale from Friday's point of view. Well worth watching if you ever get the opportunity to see it.
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