Salvaged Myth

Crusoe: Daniel Defoe, Robert Knox, and the Creation of a Myth by Katherine Frank

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the perfect companion read to Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. In it, Katherine Frank lays down her theory that Defoe's most famous creation was lifted from the memoirs of Robert Knox - one of Defoe's contemporaries. As a 19-year-old, Knox and his father took to the sea for trade on an East India Company ship only to find themselves imprisoned by the King of Kandy in Ceylon. For the next twenty years, Knox saw his father die, adopted a local child as his own and learned to live amongst Ceylon's people while always yearning to one day escape and return to England.

The first half of the book is a great read, going through Defoe's life in London and his constant struggles with bankruptcy and the law as well as Knox's life on Ceylon and his eventual escape. The second half drags a little when Katherine Frank goes into these men's successes and disappointments later in life. Descriptions of life in Hackney at the start of the 18th Century as well as the great English storm of 1703 (that fascinated both men) add to the enjoyment of this book as well as Frank's thoughts on how Crusoe eventually became a myth in our culture.

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