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chelse34's review
2.0
This first half of this book was really boring. Three boys get shipwrecked on an island, and they go into all the details of their lives of finding food and exploring the island and such. No plot progression at all. The second half was somewhat better, but I would have written the ending differently. And all of it is not believable.
Plus this book is old and the writing style is not "capital," as they'd say in the book. So it's not the easiest to read. Go read Castaway for a shipwreck island book.
Plus this book is old and the writing style is not "capital," as they'd say in the book. So it's not the easiest to read. Go read Castaway for a shipwreck island book.
202alix's review
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
sirhe's review
4.0
This was a good read. Lengthy, but good. Ballantyne does a good job of portraying these boys' experience on a Polynesian island. It is unpredictable and full of detail.
katewutz's review
3.0
Ballantyne the Brave! Kind of a fun story, despite the rampant racism and imperialism cropping up everywhere. Notable for having inspired William Golding's Lord of the Flies.
oviedorose's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
tense
4.0
elsaves's review
5.0
The first half of this book is them exploring the island upon which they were cast (very informative about tropical islands, plants and animals). The second half of this book is mostly about the natives (who are cannibals). I like how it show how the gospel can change even the most hardened people, even when they are cannibals.
promaroy's review
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).