Chapter 40Richard Parker did not jump into the water after me. The oar I intended to use as a club floated. I held on to it as I reached for the lifeb...
Chapter 41The elements allowed me to go on living. The lifeboat did not sink. Richard Parker kept out of sight. The sharks prowled but did not lunge. ...
Chapter 42She came floating on an island of bananas in a halo of light, as lovely the Virgin Mary. The rising sun was behind her. Her flaming hair loo...
Chapter 43The last trace I saw of the ship was a patch of oil glimmering on the surface of the water.I was certain I wasn't alone. It was inconcei...
Chapter 44The sun climbed through the sky, reached its zenith, began to come down. I spent the entire day perched on the oar, moving only as much as w...
Chapter 45I was cold. It was a distracted observation, as if it didn't concern me. Daybreak came. It happened quickly, yet by imperceptible degree...
Chapter 46Clouds that gathered where ships were supposed to appear, and the passing of the day, slowly did the job of unbending my smile. It is pointl...
Chapter 47The day broke, humid and overcast, with the wind warm and the sky a dense blanket of grey clouds that looked like bunched-up, dirty cotton s...
Chapter 48Richard Parker was so named because of a clerical error. A panther was terrorizing the Khulna district of Bangladesh, just outside the Sunda...
Chapter 49In the morning I could not move. I was pinned by weakness to the tarpaulin. Even thinking was exhausting. I applied myself to thinking strai...