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Jump to navigationJump to searchThe Island by M A Bennett (view source)
Revision as of 10:32, 18 August 2020
, 10:32, 18 August 2020no edit summary
The book is, first and foremost, a character study of each of the survivors on the island, who initially all seem to conform to various high-school stereotypes. Link, our protagonist, is the archetypal geek, being interested in books and video games. He's the only member of the group who actually has any clue as to how to survive on the island. His primary tormentor is Sebastian Loam, the archetypal 'Jock' – big, handsome, good at sports, but completely lacking in any sort of academic ability. Gil Egan, Sebastian's partner-in-crime, is like an inverted version of Link, being just as intelligent as the latter, but completely loyal to Sebastian. Miranda Pencroft, the archetypal 'Beautiful Girl' also happens to be Sebastian's girlfriend. Her friend Jun Am Li is the stereotypical 'Asian Overachiever', who wishes to become a famous violinist one day. There is also Ralph Turk, who acts very much like the stereotypical 'chav', despite being from a quite wealthy part of Oxford. And finally, there is Flora, who seems to be an 'emo', and is also one of the few people Link thinks of as a friend. However, as the end of the book reveals, this was most likely intentional, and each of the characters turns out to be so much more than their initial appearance would suggest.
Much like ''The Lord of the Flies'', ''The Island'' chronicles the survivors' descent into insanity. However, rather than the entire group descending into barbarity, the book follows Link's descent into tyranny. Being the only one of the survivors with any knowledge of how to survive on the island, naturally , the others all start to rally around him and respect him more. However, after being tormented by these people, Link sets out to rule the island with an iron fist, and make the other students pay for what they did to him. It's very much a learning experience for Link, as he sees how power corrupts even fundamentally decent people like himself.
Another quite interesting aspect of this book is the prominence of ''Desert Island Discs''. Link and his parents are both fans of the programme, and in his conversations with the other survivors , he often asks which six tracks they'd ideally like to have with them. It also features quite largely in the ending, as the island's true nature is revealed to the reader.
Overall, this book is a well-written take on a piece of classic literature, packed with reasonably three-dimensional characters, and an interesting underlying plot full of twists and turns.
Similar books by other authors:<br>
[[Marooned in the Arctic by Peggy Caravantes]] – a similar, although more biographical, story for older readers also dealing with a mismatched group of people on a mission to survive in one of the most inhospitable places on earth. Older readers might appreciate [[Castle of Water by Dane Huckelbridge]].
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