The real Robinson Crusoe: Alexander Selkirk on Gunpowder Island explored
Credit: iStockphoto/Duncan Walker A scene from Robinson Crusoe, showing Crusoe and Friday. Not unlike many, one of the first works of classic literature I remember reading as boy was an abridged version of Robinson Crusoe. So when I later learned that the Crusoe character may have been based on the real-life Alexander Selkirk, it wasn't all that surprising. For any writer of fiction, creating a character and the world they live in is a lot of work. Research, mostly. How much easier and more likely to ring true with readers is to take a real-life character, world and situation to work with. Been done so many times. This bit of research from 2008 examines the island on which Selkirk lived, an island now known as Robinson Crusoe's. Earth-shattering? Nah. Interesting? Yes. Here's the report with a link to the full report in the attribution. * * * * * Real Robinson Crusoe: Evidence Of ...