Desert Islands And Robinson Crusoe

Desert Islands opens with a captivating essay on the romance of islands and castaways in literature and life, and the associations that have arisen in the imagination of readers in every generation. The essay leads on to over 200 pages of what de la Mare himself calls 'a rambling commentary', in the form of an anthology or commonplace book on every conceivable aspect of this teeming subject. There are notes, reflections and quotations from a lifetime's reading on wrecks, maroons, pirates, utopias, goats, hallucinations, exotic foods, misers, punishments, solitude , Darwin, parrots, idols, saints, hermits, maps, spices, drugs . . . and of course Daniel Defoe. Desert Islands is the perfect bedside or holiday book. It also playfully boasts a subtitle of rococo inventiveness and one of the longest you will ever read! 'A vast treasure chest, a bewildering collection . . . to dazzle and fascinate everyone who lifts the lid.' Geoffrey Grigson

Dave Glasheen's life began spiralling out of control after he lost his family's vast fortune in the stock market crash of 1987. After a series of catastrophes, he needed to take drastic measures to restore himself. Opting out of the rat race, he cast himself away to a deserted island off the north-east tip of Australia, as far off the grid as was humanly possible. He has lived there ever since. One annual supermarket shop, a sketchy internet connection, and enough ingredients for a home brew satisfy Dave's material needs. He catches fish, traps rainwater and cooks on an open fire. For company he tames dingoes, meets with friends from the Aboriginal community 40 kilometres away, and entertains drop-ins such as Russell Crowe sailing past on his honeymoon. Then there's Dave's running feud with Boxhead, an antisocial saltwater crocodile who just won't leave him in peace. Between heartbreak and hair-raising adventures, Dave has found happiness on Restoration Island. Brimming with humour, eccentricity and hard-earned wisdom, The Millionaire Castaway will give you a whole new view on life.

'Robinson Crusoe' is based on the true story of a Scotsman who was left on a desert island after a quarrel with the captain of his ship. He is shipwrecked, and survives for nearly 30 years on an island often visited by cannibals, before he is finally offered a chance to escape

Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719) has had an enduring and widespread impact, becoming a universal myth. This volume offers various approaches to the rewriting of the desert(ed) island myth of the novel. Its originality comes from the time range covered, as its focus ranges from medieval proto-Robinsonades to twentieth-century cinematic adaptations. It begins with an exploration of Robinsonades written before Robinson Crusoe, prompting discussion about the label “Robinsonade” and why critics have seen Defoe’s narrative as the hypotext of the genre. Robinson Crusoe can only be understood in the context of the imperial expansion of Britain in the 18th century and the rise of capitalism, but Robinsonades adapt to the audiences they address. At the turn of the 19th century, despite the changing context and the increasingly unrealistic claim that one could be stranded on a desert island fertile enough for rebuilding a new life and civilization, the myth of Robinson resurfaced in R. L. Stevenson’s and Joseph Conrad’s fictions. The 19th century was also marked by industrial revolution, progress and scientism, and the authors who wrote Robinsonades at that period witnessed how those developments changed the world. The volume includes a discussion of Jules Verne’s work as a critical perspective on colonial narratives, and deals with transmedial and transgeneric approaches, analysing the bridges and comparisons between the depictions of such narratives in literature, cinema, and television. Finally, the volume proposes a topical approach to the genre by focusing on the link between literature and the environment, and how the Robinsonade can awaken people’s consciences and help make a difference in the world. Bearing in mind the idea that Robinsonades can be wake-up calls, the epilogue of this volume offers a very original comparison between the Robinsonade and the political situation in Great Britain regarding Europe.