Reading the Classics discussion

Discussion thread for Robinson Crusoe, w3. Next week is our week off.
Who's reading with us?

Just finished up Chapter 9. I really am enjoying the book and just love hearing about how Crusoe does all the things he does to stay alive. It did lead me to wonder how the heck Defoe knew so much about how to stay alive on an island by yourself. In doing some research on him it turns out he was a secret agent for the King of England! I guess you learn a lot of handy skills doing work like that!

Humm, secret agent. That guy got around.

The Wikipedia article on Robinson Crusoe says there was similar true story that he may have based Crusoe on. Also there is a connection to a retired sea captain that might have part of the source of ideas.

Traditionally Defoe was thought to have based Crusoe on a sailor named Alexander Selkirk, who was marooned on an island in the South Pacific. A few years age, Katherine Frank published Crusoe: Daniel Defoe, Robert Knox, and the Creation of a Myth, asserting that Knox, who’d been left to survive in Ceylon, was the original for Crusoe.

Thanks Bill for the reference. I will have to read it.

Secord, Arthur Wellesley (1963) [1924]. Studies in the Narrative Method of Defoe. New York, NY: Russell & Russell. pp. 21–111: a reference given in the Wikipedia article , supposedly explores numerous possible sources for Crusoe. The Arthur W Secord book sounds interesting to me as I am particular struck by DeFoe's narrative style. His style seems well developed for "the first English novel".

And if Crusoe truly is the first English novel it’s not surprising at all that the style caught on! It’s such a fun ride so far!