APRIL 5, 2020 – A week ago while out for a walk, my wife and I encountered our neighbor Kent, who was himself out for a walk–his good wife Joan, a 3M health specialist, was working hard from home. At a distance of a lot more than twice the recommended gap, we carried on a “catch-up” conversation. Kent is, among other things, a man of baseball and . . . a man of great American literature. He never fails to recommend a book he’s devoured. On this occasion he surprised us with an old classic—Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. “I hadn’t read it in years, but the other day I picked it off the shelf. What a delightful read!” said Kent.
I recalled reading Robinson Crusoe when I was young, but apart from the basic storyline—man gets shipwrecked, marooned, survives rather well—I couldn’t remember much about it other than that I’d enjoyed the book.
“It’s definitely worth re-reading,” said Kent. I took his endorsement under advisement–so many books, so little time, even if I live to 100 with sight and marbles intact.
That very evening, I continued watching the Netflix series, Bolívar—a 60-episode dramatic production about the life of El Libertador of South America from the Spanish—the inimitable Simón Bolívar (1783 – 1830), whose full name, by the way, was Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte-Andrade y Blanco. I kid you not.
Featured in that session of binge-watching was young Simón’s (for short) tutor, Don Simón Rodriguez (1769 – 1854), a Venezuelan philosopher/educator, who was highly influenced by the Enlightenment. Young Bolívar was a rebellious kid who’d forced his previous tutor to quit in exasperation. Rodriguez, however, being fully “enlightened,” took an unconventional approach toward his rapscallionian charge: the wise teacher first taught Bolívar how to fence out in the fresh air (basically sword-fighting—a practical skill that would put the future leader in good stead later in life). Then Rodriguez imposed a rule: that there would be no rules except one—before bedtime, young Simón would have to read books. And not the late 18th century version of The Hardy Boys. No, Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu, and . . . Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. The tutor gave that English classic special emphasis. “Everything you will need to know,” he told Bolívar, “is in that book.”
Upon hearing/seeing that, I immediately thought of the earlier conversation with our neighbor Kent. I realized I myself would now definitely have to re-read the book–sooner rather than later. But where to find Robinson Crusoe in the time of Corvid-19? I searched throughout our household book collections; among my wife’s separate extensive inventory for her online book sales business. No sign of Robinson Crusoe. Forget the closed libraries, and why add to our overload of books by buying online, when I could download a copy onto my e-reader? Except . . . where’s my e-reader these days?
(cont.)
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© 2020 by Eric Nilsson
