[Spoilers] Robinson Crusoe vs. The Mysterious Island

By ivorywren

They both kind of run the same storyline, but one of them just worked way better for me. I read them back to back (started with The Mysterious Island) and couldn’t stop noticing how similar they were, but I actually enjoyed The Mysterious Island a lot more. Robinson Crusoe had me bored for most of it. In both books, the person is stuck on an island and has to figure out how to survive using whatever’s there. Even the main characters end up with someone serving them, which makes the comparison feel even closer. I’m wondering if I liked The Mysterious Island more because the characters land with basically nothing, so it’s more interesting to watch them discover and build things up. In Robinson Crusoe, he already has so much stuff come from the shipwreck, so it didn’t feel as exciting. Also, Robinson was on the island a long time, but it didn’t seem like he was doing much to actually get off. The castaways in The Mysterious Island feel like they’re always trying to find a way home, and that made the plot move more for me. Curious what other people think about how similar they are—and what differences you think might’ve made one more enjoyable.