Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

A storm at sea... a doomed ship... a sole survivor... here is Daniel Defoe's immortal tale of a young merchant seaman cast ashore on an uninhabited tropical island, destined to spend twenty-four years in isolated loneliness. But more than a story of man against nature, Robinson Crusoe is a penetrating study of a universal problem--man against himself. In this great work Defoe introduces us to an immature Crusoe, floundering as aimlessly through life as he later is to flounder helplessly in the grip of a savage sea. We share his struggle for survival; feel his despondence at hearing no human sound but the echo of his own despairing prayers;suffer his hostility toward a god he fells has unjustly forsaken him. And at the end of his long ordeal we witness a rebirth: We see a mature Robinson Crusoe who has doggedly conquered his environment and rekindled his faith in his Savior... a Robinson Crusoe who has finally master himself.