Shipwrecked and castaway, Daniel DeFoe’s hard-luck character, Robinson Crusoe, is still the standard for “growing where you’re planted”; not just making do with what happens to you, but prospering in whatever circumstances you face. Captured by pirates, he makes his break in a small boat and undergoes desperate adventures before winning his way back to civilization. However, Crusoe determines to chance his luck a second time when, after sweating his way to prosperity as a planter in Brazil, he undertakes a voyage that isn’t needful… and is marooned on a small island off South America. Crusoe makes the best of the situation: lacking anything but knife, some tobacco, and a pipe he cleverly finds ways to feed, shelter, and clothe himself. His ardent wish is to escape his island – (why is it that the only people who come there are cannibals?!), but, he spends more than two decades in isolation before acquiring a sidekick – the man Friday you’ve probably heard of. And who would guess his way to salvation would depend on leading a last-ditch fight against a shipful of mutineers?
11 Hours and 18 Minutes
