Castaway Tales
From Robinson Crusoe to Life of Pi
Christopher Palmer
- A
- wide-ranging
- and
- appreciative
- literary
- history
- of
- the
- castaway
- tale
- from
- Defoe
- to
- the
- presentEver
- since
- Robinson
- Crusoe
- washed
- ashore,
- the
- castaway
- story
- has
- survived
- and
- prospered,
- inspiring
- a
- multitude
- of
- writers
- of
- adventure
- fiction
- to
- imitate
- and
- adapt
- its
- mythic
- elements.
- In
- his
- brilliant
- critical
- study
- of
- this
- popular
- genre,
- Christopher
- Palmer
- traces
- the
- castaway
- tales'
- history
- and
- changes
- through
- periods
- of
- settlement,
- violence,
- and
- reconciliation,
- and
- across
- genres
- and
- languages.
- Showing
- how
- subsequent
- authors
- have
- parodied
- or
- inverted
- the
- castaway
- tale,
- Palmer
- concentrates
- on
- the
- period
- following
- H.
- G.
- Wells's
- The
- Island
- of
- Dr.
- Moreau.
- These
- much
- darker
- visions
- are
- seen
- in
- later
- novels
- including
- William
- Golding's
- Lord
- of
- the
- Flies,
- J.
- G.
- Ballard's
- Concrete
- Island,
- and
- Iain
- Banks's
- The
- Wasp
- Factory.
- In
- these
- and
- other
- variations,
- the
- castaway
- becomes
- a
- cannibal,
- the
- castaway's
- island
- is
- relocated
- to
- center
- of
- London,
- female
- castaways
- mock
- the
- traditional
- masculinity
- of
- the
- original
- Crusoe,
- or
- Friday
- ceases
- to
- be
- a
- biddable
- servant.
- By
- the
- mid-twentieth
- century,
- the
- castaway
- tale
- has
- plunged
- into
- violence
- and
- madness,
- only
- to
- see
- it
- return
- in
- young
- adult
- novels—such
- as
- Scott
- O'Dell's
- Island
- of
- the
- Blue
- Dolphins
- and
- Terry
- Pratchett's
- Nation—to
- the
- buoyancy
- and
- optimism
- of
- the
- original.
- The
- result
- is
- a
- fascinating
- series
- of
- revisions
- of
- violence
- and
- pessimism,
- but
- also reconciliation.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
