Rating: 
Summary: The solitude of Alexander Selkirk
Review: What comes to mind when you imagine being marooned on an uninhabited tropical island? A Romantic image of castaways and survivors with stories of man and nature and moments of idyllic solitude is one possibility. The other extreme is the glimpse of the dark beast within us and how it's unleashed when civilizing influences are removed. Both in fiction and real life we have some classic examples. Is there a better imaginative illustration of the "beast" that the LORD OF THE FLIES? And for a recently published true story about someone who allowed wickedness free reign read BATAVIA'S GRAVEYARD. The classic story that depicts the sunnier side of human nature and our innate strength and courage is of course ROBINSON CRUSOE. This book treads a middle ground but perhaps from the subtitle "The True and Strange Adventures of the Real Robinson Crusoe" we get a hint of where the author's sentiments lie. The author may admire the fortitude of the main character of her story - a young Scottish seaman named Alexander Selkirk - but she is not at all hesitant about showing his true colors. Born in 1680 to a village tanner Selkirk decided that such sedentary work was not for him. He ran away for a life of adventure (oftentimes dangerous) on the seas. Such a life suited him as he was impetuous and ill-tempered. At the age of 23 he was named sailing master of the galley Cinque-Ports captained by Thomas Stradling. The galley and a larger ship - the St George - under the command of William Dampier set off on a privateering expedition in search of Spanish Galleons. In 1704 after a fruitless year at sea the galley arrived at the uninhabited Juan Fernandez archipelago in the south Pacific, 400 miles west of Valparaiso, Chile. After a month of rest and replenishment Stradling decided to set sail again. Selkirk said the ship wasn't seaworthy and got into a violent argument with his captain and demanded to be put ashore. Stradling gladly obliged and left the man and some supplies behind on what now became SELKIRK'S ISLAND. Diana Souhami begins her book with a description of the natural beauty of this volcanic archipelago which is now protected by UNESCO as a Worldwide Reserve of the Biosphere. No further colonization is permitted and the islands population of mostly lobster fishermen and their families is capped at 500. Chile has made the most of its tourism potential by naming the islands Santa Clara, Marinero Alejandro Selkirk, and of course Robinson Crusoe Island. Using sailing logs, seafarers accounts of the voyages, and the journals of Dampier, and Selkirk's eventual rescuer - Captain Woodes Rogers - the author tells a tale that shows hardship at sea may have been preferable to time spent alone on land. The challenge for castaways is always more than mere physical survival. The intense loneliness that comes with having only oneself as company oftentimes exerts a psychological toll. Selkirk's experience was no different. He was marooned for over 4 years but it was the first year that was the hardest mentally. He immediately regretted his decision to stay and spent the first 8 months in a cave near the seashore paranoid that if he moved he would miss seeing a ship and also in fear of imagined wild animals inland. There was fresh water and good shelter on the island and Selkirk eventually adjusted. His diet included turtles, seals, lobster, and when he went inland he found turnips, cabbage, palm nuts, peppers, and plently of wild goats. In reading this book i've come to believe that Selkirk may very well have been the first Westerner to develop what is now a well known West Indian style of cooking meat. "Jerked" meat is slowly cooked over pimento wood fires with pepper and spices liberally applied. If we were hoping for a positve human story as the ending of this tale then we were misleading ourselves. Selkirk did have his bible with him and read verses out loud so as not to forget how to speak, but it seems the lessons were lost on him. Upon his eventual return to Scotland in 1711 there was some initial joy. He was welcomed home by friends and family and he met and eloped with a dairymaid named Sophia Bruce. A return to his old ways quickly ensued. He became reclusive and irrascible and lost his temper and battered a man. This prompted him to decide that the sea was still best and he set off leaving behind Sophia and another woman and a name for himself as a bigamist. Perhaps Souhami is correct in portraying Selkirk and others as greedy, selfish, and quite brutish and vile characters. Afterall this was a time of pirates and privateers and of loose allegiances both at the personal and national levels. In doing so though she takes a strongly negative view of human nature and throws cold water on Selkirk as a model for Robinson Crusoe. It's actually left to Daniel Defoe and others of his generation such as the great poet and hymn writer William Cowper to offer a more charitable and ultimately redeeming view: "Society, Friendship, and Love
Divinely bestowed upon man,
Oh had I the wings of a dove
How soon would I taste you again!
My sorrows I then might assuage
In the ways of religion and truth,
Might learn from the wisdom of age,
And be cheered by the sallies of youth."
(The Solitude of Alexander Selkirk by William Cowper) Souhami doesn't go anywhere near this at all. As a travelogue the book is great with sufficient details on the idyllic setting of the islands. The history is well researched also. It's just that for a book with a central theme on the character of man the author disappointingly doesn't explore the subject fully enough.
Rating: 
Summary: Accurate but empty
Review: When I chose this book I thought I would enjoy it, because the story sounded really interesting and the book features countless references and footnotes. The book is, indeed, very accurate and the descriptions of pirates life are interesting. But the story it promises to tell you is reduced to a few pages. When you buy a book about a marooned seaman who survived four years in absolute solitude on a Pacific island you expect to read about his experience on that island. But the author confines this description to less than twenty pages. The rest of the book is a endless diary of pirate actions and unlucky sea travels that took place before and after Alexander Selkirk permanence on the island. I realize that the author has put considerable effort in writing this book, but reading it I was disappointed from not finding what I wanted and I was bored from finding what I did not want to find. This book is suited for readers interested in pirates life and 1700's navigation, but, then again, those who are into the subject may find better titles to refer to.
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