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nialiversuch's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Confinement, Police brutality, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Violence, and Racism
Moderate: Xenophobia
Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Child death
jamesdavid's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Murder
dhughes10's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Violence
magpieslibrary's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Violence and Xenophobia
deedireads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
An Island was the darkhorse of the 2021 Booker Prize longlist, publishing in the US almost a whole year after the prize put it on people’s radar. I appreciated it more than enjoyed it, but it’s a quick, impactful read that will probably stay with me longer than I think.
The story is about an old man named Samuel who lives alone on an island off the coast of an unnamed African country, caring for the lighthouse and subsisting off the land. He spent 25 years in jail for his role in a violent protest to overthrow the (corrupt) government before moving to the Island. Sometimes, bodies of drowned refugees wash ashore, but this time the man is alive. As Samuel brings him back to health, flashbacks to his past mix and mingle with his present circumstance to blur the line between fact and fantasy, companionship and violence.
Some parts were slower than others, but the thing I liked best about this book was the form: how it alternated so smoothly between past and present to really show how Samuel’s current reality was informed by the trauma and circumstances of his past. Also, I sympathized with Samuel even though he’s not really a good person; it does a good job of exploring the fact that there are no winners in colonization or coups. And the ending shocked me, but also felt true and earned, which was impressive.
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Moderate: Animal death
thequeenofsheba3's review against another edition
2.25
Graphic: Murder and Violence
Moderate: Classism, Colonisation, and Slavery
Minor: Confinement
nini23's review
4.0
An Island gives a feeling of claustrophobia as two strangers who do not speak a common language are moored on an island and living in close quarters at the lighthouse keeper's tower. Samuel seethes about another mouth to feed and care for, his solitude broken. He vacillates between gruff kindness, impatience and paranoid aggression. The days they spend together are numbered in chapters The First Day, The Second Day etc ratcheting up the tension slowly but surely.
Samuel's traumatic backstory slowly emerges in flashbacks:
On learning Samuel's story and the unnamed African country's, what struck me is the cyclical nature. Colonization, Independence, President, Dictator. Xenophobia, possessiveness, modernization. The pride that Samuel's father exhibited in having been involved in gaining the country's independence is reflected later in his daughter-in-law's satisfaction in being part of the resistance, both with nothing to show for it. The refugee family that were Samuel's neighbours having fled their own country post independence civil war, it's like a history carousel, whose turn is it next, round and round.
Violence is what's emphasized, the violence that humans are capable of inflicting on each other. Over territory, resources, wealth, power. This is what is reflected in the microcosm of the interaction between Samuel and the refugee, what makes it uncomfortable to read.
I wish I could quote from the book especially those about violence and Samuel's spiraling thoughts about the island belonging to him. However the copy I have of this book is an uncorrected proof and the publisher has instructed that we refrain from quoting. As well, there's been discussion of keeping the African country generalized and unnamed which the author addresses in an interview: "I want to be very clear about this, that I don’t believe in reducing Africa to a single country. But in this case, I wanted to use an allegorical means to examine a very complex issue. To take what has been done to Africa in various forms over the centuries, and examine that in a very simple way with just these two protagonists." The two interviews with the author I found were both illuminating, especially with the issue of appropriation: https://www.textpublishing.com.au/blog/interview-with-karen-jennings and https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/aug/05/ive-been-poor-for-a-long-time-after-many-rejections-karen-jennings-is-up-for-the-booker
Thanks to Hogarth, an imprint of Random House Publishing Group and Netgalley for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. This edition of An Island's publication date is projected to be May 2022.
Moderate: Confinement, Colonisation, and Violence
anniekf1209's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Murder and Violence
leahebinns's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Murder and Violence
Minor: Child death and Vomit
serendipitysbooks's review
4.0
Graphic: Violence