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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
This was a really amazing story that, for me, was almost hobbled by the overwhelming amount of time spent on sea lions. It's hard to explain, but an inordinate amount of the book is either on the clubbing/stabbing of seal lions or their mating habits. If you can get through all of that, the survival stories are really amazing, especially the parallel stories of the two different shipwrecked crews. Really fascinating. Except for the sea lion stuff.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
I'm a sucker for survival and exploration tales from the age of sail. I've got another book by this same author that I'll continue to look forward to. The book is also an interesting study in leadership and cooperation as, unbeknownst to them at the time, two separate ships wrecked on the same island and had wildly different experiences.
It's an easy and generally fast paced read with enough twists and turns to keep your attention.
It's an easy and generally fast paced read with enough twists and turns to keep your attention.
Good for a book about being shipwrecked
I never really liked books about ships or being shipwrecked and I'm pretty sure the only reason I read it was because Book Club chose it. It wasn't bad for the kind of book it was. Nonfiction is also not my forte; I like books with dialogue in it, not just quotations. I would recommend it to those that like books about ships and being shipwrecked because, as I said, it's not a bad book. It's just I don't like the subject or genre.
I never really liked books about ships or being shipwrecked and I'm pretty sure the only reason I read it was because Book Club chose it. It wasn't bad for the kind of book it was. Nonfiction is also not my forte; I like books with dialogue in it, not just quotations. I would recommend it to those that like books about ships and being shipwrecked because, as I said, it's not a bad book. It's just I don't like the subject or genre.
1800's, New Zealand, islands, shipwrecks, cannibalism. Fascinating!
An insightful story about the struggles and hardships behind being shipwrecked without the fantastical element that so many well known fictional stories carry. The book carries an interesting examination into the success of one crew and utter failings of another, and how different approaches taken by each sides yielded their results.
Overall I think the story was well researched and excellently wove together the multiple accounts that were made from those that experienced those long, hard months/years of isolation in a forlorn part of the world.
Without listing any spoilers, I will say I was quite surprised when I discovered that one of the survivors actually emigrated and ended up living in the same place as my fathers family lived, an extremely small community in remote Northern Ontario.
Overall I think the story was well researched and excellently wove together the multiple accounts that were made from those that experienced those long, hard months/years of isolation in a forlorn part of the world.
Without listing any spoilers, I will say I was quite surprised when I discovered that one of the survivors actually emigrated and ended up living in the same place as my fathers family lived, an extremely small community in remote Northern Ontario.
“Island of the Lost” by Joan Druett is an incredible story of leadership and survival that is all the more amazing because it is a true story. In the mid-1800s, two ships become wrecked on opposite sides of remote and forbidding Auckland Island. In the face of this disaster, the captain of one ship opts for an egalitarian approach and teamwork. The other rigidly follows aristocratic rules of rank and isn’t particularly thankful to the most resourceful member of his crew, a common sailor, despite his life-saving efforts. Neither group learns of the other while they are on the island. Both suffer the howling winds, bitter cold, and lack of food. Yet, one crew fairs so much better than the other. Ms. Druett has done an exceptional job in researching and telling this often brutal story in a compelling way. Audiobook narration by David Colacci is excellent. This book will be of interest to students of management styles, group dynamics, leadership, and teamwork, as well as readers who enjoy gripping, true-life adventures.
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense