Robinson Crusoe

Robinson Crusoe was the inspiration for Bike Friday, so it must have something going for it. The story reads a lot like the Victorian adventures of Jules Verne - only Defoe wrote his work a couple centuries before Verne.

Crusoe denies the advice of his family and takes to a life at sea. He runs in to trouble but manages to come ahead. Eventually, he is the lone survivor of a shipwreck on a deserted island. He luckily is able to get some provisions from the hip and live off the bounty of the land. The bulk of the novel concerns his quarter-century adventures on the island.

Eventually he notices cannibals using the island to consume captives. He eventually chooses to rescue one, and this fins his faithful servant Friday. They later rescue Friday's father and a Spanish shipwreckee from similar fates. Eventually some English mutineers arrive. The island crew return the captain to his post and eventually exit the island.

The return to Portugal where he checks the state of his estate and eventually travels overland towards England. In this travel they have the last adventure fighting wild animals.

DeFoe spends a good deal of time in the head of his main character. His gradual increase in religious faith and optimism help him through what appear to be great challenges. Even with the heavy moralizing, the story moves at an effective pace.