Robinson Crusoe
Acceptable with guidance. Age: 14+. A Catholic review of this book for parents.
Our review
Robinson Crusoe sails away from home and is shipwrecked alone on an island for many years. He builds a house, grows food, and learns to pray and thank God. He saves a man named Friday, who becomes his friend and helper. This is the first great castaway story, and at its heart is a man who repents and learns to trust God's providence. Good Books for Catholic Kids lists it for age fourteen and up, and its list for Catholic adults points to 'the Christian worldview that kept Crusoe from despair.' The author was a Puritan, so the faith shown has the Bible and prayer but no Church and no sacraments, and Crusoe makes a few hostile remarks about Catholic priests. He also buys and sells people as slaves without the book calling it wrong. Parents need to correct all three.
For parents
Read aloud from about twelve, in the full text. Independent reading from fourteen, which fits ninth grade. Compass Book Ratings says 12+ and Good Books for Catholic Kids says 14 and up, so Lumen follows the Catholic placement. The old prose is slow, so expect to help. There are cannibal feasts, beheadings and a shooting, some of it graphic. Two things need a parent. First, slavery: Crusoe sells the boy Xury, sails to buy slaves, and makes Friday his servant. Say plainly that the Church condemns slavery. The Catechism forbids anything that leads to human beings 'being bought, sold and exchanged like merchandise' and calls it 'a sin against the dignity of persons' (CCC 2414). Crusoe is wrong here even though the book does not say so. Second, faith: Crusoe's repentance and gratitude are real and worth admiring, but he has no priest, no Mass and no confession. Ask: what would a Catholic castaway miss most? Why did Crusoe disobey his father, and what did it cost him? How does he learn to thank God for what he has? Does he treat Friday as a brother in Christ? Third, the Church: Defoe was a Puritan and Crusoe speaks against Catholics. He says he would rather be 'devoured alive' by savages 'than fall into the merciless claws of the priests, and be carried into the Inquisition.' He compares Catholic clergy to pagan priests who use 'priestcraft' and make 'a secret of religion' to keep the people's 'veneration'. At the end he regrets 'having professed myself a Papist, and thought it might not be the best religion to die with.' Tell your teen this is the prejudice of an Englishman of 1719, not the truth. Priests are not keepers of secrets. They are ordained to preach the Gospel openly and to give the sacraments. The Catholic faith is the faith Christ gave His Church, and the best one to live and die in. Point out that the book's own Catholics behave well: the Portuguese captain is honest and generous, the Spaniard is loyal, and the monastery of St. Augustine spends Crusoe's income 'for the benefit of the poor'. Note too that this review covers the first volume only. Many editions include the sequel, The Farther Adventures, which says much more about Catholic priests and has not been reviewed.