{"product_id":"friday-isbn-9781681379814","title":"Friday","description":"\u003cb\u003eA provocative retelling of \u003ci\u003eRobinson Crusoe\u003c\/i\u003e, this classic of twentieth-century French literature depicts the explorer's struggle to tame nature and the transformative power of his relationship with the indigenous character, Friday.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne of the most commonly assigned books in French high schools, \u003ci\u003eFriday\u003c\/i\u003e mines the philosophical underpinnings of Defoe's original story, exploring concepts of imperialism, world-building, and existentialism.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFriday is the Friday of \u003ci\u003eRobinson Crusoe\u003c\/i\u003e, and Michel Tournier's retelling of Defoe's tale of solitude and survival turns it on its head. Cast away on a tropical island, the God-fearing Crusoe hasn't the least doubt what he must do: tame the wilderness and stamp it with the sign of civilization, a fool's errand to which he devotes years and in which he comes close to succeeding. Then Friday shows up, infuriating him with his \"irrepressible, lyrical, and blasphemous\" laugh, and a new, more challenging task confronts the island's self-proclaimed master. But after an unforeseen event destroys all of Crusoe's work, it is up to Friday to teach him just how ignorant he is and always has been.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eFriday\u003c\/i\u003e was Tournier's first novel, and it quickly found a wondering and delighted readership. Writing about the book in his autobiography, Tournier asks, \"What was Friday to Daniel Defoe? Nothing: an animal, at best a creature waiting to receive his humanity from Robinson Crusoe, who as a European was in sole possession of all knowledge and wisdom.\" In \u003ci\u003eFriday\u003c\/i\u003e, Tournier steps out of the secular world of the Western novel into the sacred precincts of universal mythology. The result is radiant, sensual, funny, and utterly unexpected—a modern masterpiece.\"Tournier transposes Defoe's story into a vehicle for both symbolic action and philosophic reflection. The double point of view permits striking meditations not only on God, religion, and morality as in Defoe, but also on perception, identity, and the temptations of oblivion.\" —Roger Shattuck, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A fascinating, unusual novel . . . a remarkably heady French wine in the old English bottle . . . Tournier has attempted nothing less than an exploration of the soul of modern man.” —\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Like [Crusoe’s island], Tournier’s novel is unique, self-sufficient, imaginative, well worth exploring, and with a number of minor miracles to reveal.” —\u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e“\u003ci\u003eFriday\u003c\/i\u003e is the latest and one of the best examples of the French genius for revisionism—for ringing original variations on a traditional theme. It is also unique in that enterprise because it is so moving, so touching in its elegance, so simple in its art.” —Richard Howard\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Defoe’s book is distinguished by an unawareness of the psychology of solitude; nothing happens. Michel Tournier, however has placed his man in precisely the same situation of static impotence, and then proceeds to illustrate a personal development as passionate and variegated as anyone could wish.” —\u003ci\u003eNew Statesman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“M. Tournier is a cultivated and disciplined writer, and his Robinson, the son of a Yorkshire draper, is most likable . . . The castaway has that quaint and peculiarly English stolidity that seems to exist only in the imagination of the French.” —\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eMichel Tournier\u003c\/b\u003e (1924–2016) was born in Paris and studied philosophy under Jean-Paul Sartre and Gaston Bachelard at the Sorbonne, followed by four years of further study at the University of Tübingen, where one of his classmates was Gilles Deleuze. After failing to pass the civil service exam that would allow him to teach philosophy, Tournier turned his attention to translation and broadcasting, eventually becoming a well-known host of cultural programs on radio and television. \u003ci\u003eFriday\u003c\/i\u003e, his best-selling first novel, was published in 1967 and awarded the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française. He went on to write six more novels—among them \u003ci\u003eThe Ogre\u003c\/i\u003e (winner of the Prix Goncourt in 1970), \u003ci\u003eGemini\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Four Wise Men\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eGilles and Jeanne\u003c\/i\u003e—as well as several books of nonfiction, including \u003ci\u003eThe Wind Spirit \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Mirror of Ideas\u003c\/i\u003e. He also adapted \u003ci\u003eFriday\u003c\/i\u003e as a children's book, published in English as \u003ci\u003eFriday and Robinson\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNorman Denny \u003c\/b\u003e(1901-1982) was an English writer and translator. He is best known for his translations of French literature into English, in particular his translation of Victor Hugo's \u003ci\u003eLes Misérables\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"NYRB Classics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48233180594405,"sku":"NP9781681379814","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781681379814.jpg?v=1767727701","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/friday-isbn-9781681379814","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}