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sararose_cozy's review against another edition
1.0
It was fine until it got racist and colonialist. Should no longer be considered a classic.
forestidylls's review against another edition
4.0
While I confess I didn't enjoy it QUITE as much as I did when I was younger - the long moral expositions and somewhat obvious hypocrisy of the father annoyed me a little - I still love the basic, fun plot of being stuck on an island. There's a reason this book is a classic, and I'll always love rereading it.
ladyphoenixqueen's review against another edition
1.0
DNF. I made it 38 minutes into the audiobook before giving up. The mysogyny and haughtiness of the narrator was overwhelming. Also, those kids were insufferably spoiled. Gross. Hard pass.
lisakerd's review against another edition
2.0
The story works much better in the movie medium, and I adore the 1960 Disney film. Although the narration style diminishes what could have been an exciting, suspenseful novel, it is still way more interesting than Robinson Crusoe.
vaish7_books's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
book_concierge's review
3.0
Digital audiobook read by Frederick Davidson.
Originally published in 1812, this is a classic adventure tale of a mother, father and four sons who are shipwrecked on an unnamed (and apparently uncharted) tropical island in the South Seas.
I had never read the book, though I had seen the Disney movie back in the ‘60s. My adult self recognizes the glaringly implausible (and, frankly, impossible) scenarios – penguins AND bears AND ostriches! – but the adventure still captures the imagination. I also got a bit tired of the Father’s propensity to lecture; my stars, but the man is a walking encyclopedia and he feels compelled to impart his knowledge constantly. Since he is also the narrator, his superior attitude has plenty of opportunity to “shine.” Still, there is much practical information as well as natural history explained, and there are some very exciting scenes to capture the imagination of a young would-be explorer.
There are multiple editions of this classic and some have modernized the language to make it “more accessible to today’s students.” One edition I looked at had the narrator always referring to “the Mother,” never naming this strong woman but relegating her to only that role in life. The edition I wound up reading at least had the narrator referring to her as “my wife.” Again, no name but at least showing a personal relationship.
As for the audio: Davidson's diction is clear, and he sets a decent pace, but his tone of voice makes the father/narrator sound even more superior than Wyss has written him (if that’s even possible). Also, this edition is one that has the narrator referring to the only woman in the party as “the Mother” without any name or even a hint at a personal connection, which just irritated me no end.
Originally published in 1812, this is a classic adventure tale of a mother, father and four sons who are shipwrecked on an unnamed (and apparently uncharted) tropical island in the South Seas.
I had never read the book, though I had seen the Disney movie back in the ‘60s. My adult self recognizes the glaringly implausible (and, frankly, impossible) scenarios – penguins AND bears AND ostriches! – but the adventure still captures the imagination. I also got a bit tired of the Father’s propensity to lecture; my stars, but the man is a walking encyclopedia and he feels compelled to impart his knowledge constantly. Since he is also the narrator, his superior attitude has plenty of opportunity to “shine.” Still, there is much practical information as well as natural history explained, and there are some very exciting scenes to capture the imagination of a young would-be explorer.
There are multiple editions of this classic and some have modernized the language to make it “more accessible to today’s students.” One edition I looked at had the narrator always referring to “the Mother,” never naming this strong woman but relegating her to only that role in life. The edition I wound up reading at least had the narrator referring to her as “my wife.” Again, no name but at least showing a personal relationship.
As for the audio: Davidson's diction is clear, and he sets a decent pace, but his tone of voice makes the father/narrator sound even more superior than Wyss has written him (if that’s even possible). Also, this edition is one that has the narrator referring to the only woman in the party as “the Mother” without any name or even a hint at a personal connection, which just irritated me no end.
bluedaisygirl's review against another edition
2.0
What a slog! If you really want to read this book, read the first 50 pages, turn to a random section in the middle and read 5 of those, then read the last 35 pages. That's all you need... Unless you enjoy reading about the same thing over and over and the killing or capturing of animals for no reason, constantly.
Amazingly, the island in the west indies has animals, flora and fauna from Africa, North and South America and Australia. Oy.
Amazingly, the island in the west indies has animals, flora and fauna from Africa, North and South America and Australia. Oy.
whatsthestorywishbone's review against another edition
4.0
I had watched this movie a LOT as a kid and was interested to see what the book was like. IMHO this is the original my side of the mountain/little house in the big woods. The family gets stranded on an island and have to use what they have to make a homestead and survive. It goes through how they built houses, canoes, what they used to make candles and clothes etc. It also has a bit of Gerald Durrell’s style in the sense that it sets up animal encounters just to teach you a little about the animals. This is NOT an action based book (unlike the movie there are NO pirates!). They don’t even find the girl until the last 30 min. But it 100% kept my little wanna be engineer’s attention (and mine). We did have a running joke where every time they would find something we would say “luckiest island/family ever!” Since the island is just made up of extremely useful stuff that one would never find on the same island. It does show its age too, of course. There is talk of “savages” and the mother never gets called by her name just “the mother.” She does all the cooking and sewing etc. of course. The religion is also super heavy handed and was very jarring at first, fortunately it lessened as the book progressed. It is what you get when you read the classics though, and I still think it was an interesting read despite its glaring faults.