Goats everywhere

I had been listening to Robinson Crusoe on my mp3 player and, while on the elliptical at the gym, had just heard the part where he tames a baby goat. Then I got into my car and headed down the highway. The car in front of me was a red Tacoma, and I saw an animal face in the rear window. Now I'm seeing goats, I thought to myself, believing it must, of course, be a dog. But at the red light, I came closer. No, it really was a goat, staring straight at me! Only in Pixieville, do we take our goats out for a morning spin!

Listening to this classic novel, which I have not read before, is a good way to get through it, as I do find some of the details and repetition (why does he tell the story and present the daily journal that says the same thing?) a bit boring. But it is an important book for me to read in terms of literary history and my interest in literature and geography, and is filling in some missing pieces. Most of my sense of the novel comes from my knowledge of the Elizabeth Bishop poem that refers to it, but now I also see how Life of Pi builds from it. I didn't know how much Defoe dealt with Crusoe's spiritual condition, and questions of God's providence. (So far, in greater depth than The Shack!) I'm also intrigued by how he comes to think of his dwelling as "home." I haven't yet come to the part where he meets Friday, so more comments to follow, if I can figure out how to get the rest of the book onto one of my players, now that I am a mac person and my pc isn't even hooked up enough to use.