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promaroy's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed reading this book as an adventure story of three teenage boys, it’s quite enthralling and I can see why so many writers felt so inspired and influenced by this. There were LOADS of Imperialist and “God/Jesus Christ is great” undertones but that is to be expected in my opinion. It is a great snapshot of the Victorian era and the thoughts and ideas of that time. At times when he was describing tattooing and surfing by the natives, for example, I couldn’t help but chuckle that these are all things that are done in the west now, so I couldn’t help thinking that this was showing somewhat of an understanding of how much we received from the natives, but maybe not, maybe at that point it really went one way. Really excited to reread Lord of the Flies and I want to read Robinson Crusoe and Treasure Island as well, which I have owned for most of my life but never opened...I could already see a lot of the elements that Lord of the Flies essentially parodied from The Coral Island. Interesting that Ballantyne wrote all of this without any experience of being in the pacific. It was very vivid in terms of descriptions and colours. I did enjoy reading it. The adventure of the original Ralph, Jack and Piggy (Peterkin).
booksinbedinthornhill's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Written 100 years before The Lord of the Flies, The Coral Island couldn't be more different than its literary descendant. I don't really know how to rate this 'classic' children's book (given its built-in racism, pro-colonialism, and missionizing agenda) but it certainly deepens my appreciation of Golding's masterpiece.
pachi's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
jhg1995's review against another edition
3.0
It's kinda bland and the themes are not handled with much grace(although I'm sure 19th century people would disagree.) At any rate, this is leagues superior to that misanthropic cynical garbage called Lord of the Flies.
aliceinbookland99's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
insomanyworlds's review against another edition
2.0
Had to read for school - an oldie so the language and themes are super offensive, but I think I’m entering my pirate era
erweatherburn's review against another edition
3.0
The Coral Island isn’t a book that I would ordinarily pick up; it’s not particularly well known and I honestly hadn’t heard of it before I saw it on my university reading list. Having said that, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I absolutely loved the beginning; within the first three chapters (all of which are extremely short), Ralph and his friends had already been shipwrecked. This initial fast pacing threw me into the action without forcing me to read all about events in England that aren’t actually relevant to the main storyline. The pacing then becomes notably slow, but I didn’t really mind this, as I enjoyed the descriptions of the island and the growing relationships forged between Ralph and his two friends.
For me, this all changed in the latter third of the novel. The narrative turns from the coral island to consider new, more habitated islands, but I feel as though this change was a little too fast. I didn’t mind such speed when it was placed right at the beginning of the novel, but I would have appreciated a slower pace as the friends explore the open ocean. This change of pace led me to feel as though the storyline was being rushed towards a conclusion, almost as if Ballantyne realised that he only had fifty pages left to use.
This, along with the blatant religious references, made me really dislike the novel’s conclusion. I felt as though boxes were purposefully being ticked, regardless of how the narrative actually functioned. Ballantyne wanted a moral, religious message, and so tacked it onto the story in a way that made it all seem slightly unbelievable.
It really is a shame, because I was absolutely loving this book, and feel as though it’s ending may have let it down. Some people may argue that the ending is more interesting, as it does contain a lot more drama, but I cannot deny how different it is to the rest of the book. That’s honestly it for the negatives, though. The writing is wonderful and the characterisation is superb. You have Jack, the older, confident leader, Ralph, the nervous sidekick, and Peterkin, who is essentially the comic relief of the story, particularly when he dramatically announces to a stray cat that the group adopt that he loves it.
It’s a fun little story – probably what we would picture when we think of a traditional adventure novel. One thing that I do want to press, though, is that I really don’t think that this should still be considered a children’s book. When it was first written, over 150 years ago, things were different, and children today are not necessarily the same as children from 150 years ago. I just feel as though the story is a little too brutal and the writing itself is too hard to follow for younger readers. That said, I do recommend this book for older readers because it is both interesting and enjoyable (or at least the beginning was). It is also quite a good book to read in short, regular sessions as the chapters in this book are some of the shortest I have ever seen. I will recommend it, but, if you do read it, let me know what you think of that ending!
For me, this all changed in the latter third of the novel. The narrative turns from the coral island to consider new, more habitated islands, but I feel as though this change was a little too fast. I didn’t mind such speed when it was placed right at the beginning of the novel, but I would have appreciated a slower pace as the friends explore the open ocean. This change of pace led me to feel as though the storyline was being rushed towards a conclusion, almost as if Ballantyne realised that he only had fifty pages left to use.
This, along with the blatant religious references, made me really dislike the novel’s conclusion. I felt as though boxes were purposefully being ticked, regardless of how the narrative actually functioned. Ballantyne wanted a moral, religious message, and so tacked it onto the story in a way that made it all seem slightly unbelievable.
It really is a shame, because I was absolutely loving this book, and feel as though it’s ending may have let it down. Some people may argue that the ending is more interesting, as it does contain a lot more drama, but I cannot deny how different it is to the rest of the book. That’s honestly it for the negatives, though. The writing is wonderful and the characterisation is superb. You have Jack, the older, confident leader, Ralph, the nervous sidekick, and Peterkin, who is essentially the comic relief of the story, particularly when he dramatically announces to a stray cat that the group adopt that he loves it.
It’s a fun little story – probably what we would picture when we think of a traditional adventure novel. One thing that I do want to press, though, is that I really don’t think that this should still be considered a children’s book. When it was first written, over 150 years ago, things were different, and children today are not necessarily the same as children from 150 years ago. I just feel as though the story is a little too brutal and the writing itself is too hard to follow for younger readers. That said, I do recommend this book for older readers because it is both interesting and enjoyable (or at least the beginning was). It is also quite a good book to read in short, regular sessions as the chapters in this book are some of the shortest I have ever seen. I will recommend it, but, if you do read it, let me know what you think of that ending!
ricksilva's review against another edition
3.0
I don't tend to reread very many books, but this was one that I loved when I read it (as a pre-teen). I decided to try reading it to my son in chapters.
First half was great. Classic adventure story with three teenaged boys shipwrecked on the iconic deserted island in the South Pacific. Their story of survival together is perhaps a bit overly optimistic, but it's still great fun.
When the book moves into its second act, and pirates and Pacific Islander natives become involved, it takes a turn into some pretty graphic violence, and I found myself having to skip a lot when reading to my son just because it really wasn't appropriate for his age. It also presents a lot of severe racial stereotypes and inaccuracies, probably typical for its genre and time of writing, but no less disturbing.
Interestly, this book (almost certainly more so than the similarly-themed Robinson Crusoe) was obviously a strong influence on Golding's Lord of the Flies.
One aspect that I did really like in this story was the loyalty between the three boys, and their readiness to express their love for each other and their fears when things go wrong. The range of emotion is missing from a lot of more current adventure stories featuring boys, and it was a nice recurring theme, especially in the first half.
I had very little memory of the negative aspects of this book from my original reading of it, so it was an interesting experience to revisit it with a few decades of additional life experience.
First half was great. Classic adventure story with three teenaged boys shipwrecked on the iconic deserted island in the South Pacific. Their story of survival together is perhaps a bit overly optimistic, but it's still great fun.
When the book moves into its second act, and pirates and Pacific Islander natives become involved, it takes a turn into some pretty graphic violence, and I found myself having to skip a lot when reading to my son just because it really wasn't appropriate for his age. It also presents a lot of severe racial stereotypes and inaccuracies, probably typical for its genre and time of writing, but no less disturbing.
Interestly, this book (almost certainly more so than the similarly-themed Robinson Crusoe) was obviously a strong influence on Golding's Lord of the Flies.
One aspect that I did really like in this story was the loyalty between the three boys, and their readiness to express their love for each other and their fears when things go wrong. The range of emotion is missing from a lot of more current adventure stories featuring boys, and it was a nice recurring theme, especially in the first half.
I had very little memory of the negative aspects of this book from my original reading of it, so it was an interesting experience to revisit it with a few decades of additional life experience.
sreepurna's review against another edition
1.0
Ew.
I would not have believed that people still like this book if I hadn't read Goodreads reviews. What a peculiar world.
I would not have believed that people still like this book if I hadn't read Goodreads reviews. What a peculiar world.