Forums » Reading Corner » Read Thread

I love stories about a person or a small group of people being isolated from the rest of humanity, though most specifically the 'deserted island' scenario.  It's always been fascinating to imagine.

Some of my favorites are 'Hatchet' by Gary Paulson, 'Julie of the Wolves' by Jean Craighead George, the 'Island' trilogy by Gordon Korman, and 'Island of the Blue Dolphins' by Scott O'Dell, to name a few.

Any thoughts on these books or suggestions on any others?

D: I hated Island of the Blue Dolphins. :P

Have you read Lord of the Flies?

Call of the wild is about a dog but It describes a protagonist thrown into a deadly unfamiliar environment and trying to survive while others die constantly around him.

The ending blows :(

I love Gary Paulson in general.

But in all honesty I haven't read many (maybe 2?) good "survivor Island" Type books. Thought about writing one myself when I am done with Continent of Mist.

http://www.amazon.com/New-Year-Island-ebook/dp/B00E69E91M/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1376627321&sr=1-1&keywords=Survivor+island

 

http://www.amazon.com/The-Montauk-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00DTTW890/ref=pd_sim_sbs_kstore_6

 

I dunno if these will help, they were quick Kindle store searches

Aman-you hated Island of the Blue Dolphins because you are A Man and not A Lady, which the book was clearly written for. ;)

Ugilick-Didn't care for Lord of the Flies. I think because of the size of the group. I prefer tales of isolation.

James- Love Call of the Wild, as well as White Fang. I've read them like.. 20 times each. Great stories that prove you can write through the eyes of the animal and still make it a good story (unlike most of the 'in the day of a dog' stories here sadly).

Aeon-New Year Island looks interesting, and hey, for 4$ what do I have to lose? The Montauk Mystery looks like a b-movie book, lol, but I have Prime so it's free, might as well give it a shot. Thanks for the suggestion.

I also forgot to mention the father of all castaway fiction: Robinson Crusoe. I wonder if there's a modern edition somewhere? Reading English from 1700 is charming, but kind of a headache.

Or I was just forced to read it in 5th grade. Forced reading makes every book like torture. :P I think I wrote an ending whe she gets brutally murdered by dolphins (randomly) since I hated the story so much. 

That would be an interesting ending, lol.  Better than the real one.  I think it did end sort of abruptly, like O'Dell just got bored of writing so just decided a boat comes by and she lives happily ever after.  The part where she battles the squid is pretty sweet though.

Have you read my side of the mountain?
It's about a boy who decides to run away from home and live in the catskills, I remember I liked it quite a bit.

There's also any of the five "Hatchet" novels, where a plane crashlands into the wilderness and a kid is forced to survive with nothing but a hatchet. Loved this one especially (There is an ending in which the protagonist returns to the city at the end of each book, but then the next continues as if he was never rescued)

Yea, I've read all of the Hatchet books.  I actually became obsessed with survival stuff after reading that in fourth grade, like building shelters in my back yard, making bows and arrows, and finding edible plants.  Just thinking about it makes me want to go camping.

I'll check out my side of the mountain, sounds like something I would like.

To tell you in advance, the survival aspect disappears very quickly in the first book, and the rest then focus on the life of a falcon.

LOST

As in the TV show?

The Hatchet series was one of my favorites, simply because the main character regresses into almost another person entirely, instead of rehabilitating to modern society.  He becomes more and more fascinated with nature as the books go by, and pretty soon he lives even more comfortably in its laws than in civilization's laws.

EDIT: WHAT THE FUCK FORUM WHY WOULD YOU SEND ME BACK TO THE LOGIN PAGE AND DELETE MY ENTIRE POST JUST FOR TRYING TO BACKSPACE OVER A LETTER???? UGH

 

EDIT2: HOLY SHIT IT'S JUST GOING TO KEEP DOING THIS, WHAT IS GOING ON

 

....sigh. ANYWAY, what I was trying to say...for the third time...is that the ending of Island of the Blue Dolphins may suck, but that's what actually happened to the girl it was inspired by. Scott O'Dell just very kindly left out the epilogue where she died of smallpox 2 weeks later. :(

And if you can find a copy, Marguerite De La Roque: A Story of Survival is a fantastic book based on the (painstakingly researched, the author has a non-fiction book on the subject as well) true story of a 16th century French noblewoman marooned on an island off of Canada with her lover and nurse. None of them have any survival skills and have to struggle to hunt and grow crops and build a shelter before winter sets in. And then of course she winds up pregnant...

 

Anyway, it's listed on Amazon. Clicky link will be provided if someone explains to me how to do that.

 

 

 

 

I HIGHLY reccommend reading the Gone series by Michael Grant. Although they are classified as young adult books, Grant doesn't shy away from depravity or gore in the slightest. The first book is pretty tame compared to the rest, and not quite as good in my opinion. I think overall it is depicted in a more realistic way than many other survival books. Not that the place itself is plausible, but in the way that the characters interact with each other. These have been some of my favorites for years.

I really liked "Farnham's Freehold" even if it was really odd. I'd really recommend it.

And as Drak said, 'My side of the mountain' is a classic book, I remember reading it years ago.

OOOOUR STAAAAR BLAAAZEEEERS!

What? That's completely unrelated, though I did love that show.

Lord of the flies was good.....And i know this isn't fiction and all...but "into the wild" (not CALL of the wild) is impressive. I don't usually care much for non fiction, but john krakaur writes it like its not.