The Coral Island / The Young Fur Traders

Makes for an interesting companion piece with William Golding's Lord of the Flies, but it is very much dated with the sentiments of its own time.

I came to this book via researching Lord of the Flies by William Golding (which I will be rereading shortly). Golding wrote his book as a counterpoint to Ballantyne's The Coral Island so, having never read it, I thought I'd give it a go before reading Lord of the Flies. The Coral Island is about three boys who are precariously shipwrecked on an island in the south Pacific Ocean. It is told by Ralph Rover, one of the boys, in first-person as an adult, reminiscing about his time stranded in the South Pacific. The book is steeped in Christian morality and is somewhat hindered by the narrator and author's limited worldview. The first 60% of the book is about the boys' time on the pristine island and they encounter few dangers except for a shark that happens into their favorite swimming bay. When the boys encounter cannibals that land on their island, then Ralph is kidnapped by pirates soon after, the plot finally revs up, at the behest of losing the presence of two of the boys since they remained on the island. Ultimately, the novel is bogged down by the Christian moralizing, where as the pirates and cannibals are the salacious counterpoint to the Christian crusaders that convert the heathen cannibals and offer an assist to the boys when they needed it most. I found this novel to be more of a historical document than a fun read. Although the relationship between the boys was sweet and realistic, the rest of the book left little to be desired in this modern reader.

I'm looking forward to rereading Lord of the Flies and see how Golding used his novel to respond to Ballantyne's The Coral Island.

Another 1001 book read. Adventure. Action. Pirates. Cannibals. Murder. Treasure. Mystery. What more does a book need?

Just as good at 29 years old as at was when I was 11.