R. M. Ballantyne (1825–1894)

A very successful adventure classic of the Victorian era. It's what today we would call YA fiction, a story about three teenage boys who are shipwrecked on a South Pacific desert island.

I remember reading this as a boy and loving it. Rereading it as an adult, I was surprised by how much religious content it has, much more than I remembered.

Anyway, the language is a bit old-fashioned, but it was a very readable bestseller in its time and it's still quite readable now. The story has two parts: in the first part the boys are alone in their island, and in the second part they have contact with the natives. It's the first part that I love, with its idyllic tale of adventure, exploration and survival in a beautiful environment. This is no Lord of the Flies. The boys are civilized and good friends, and they do well in the bountiful desert island.

The second half of the book feels more aged, with religious references and the natives being portrayed as cannibalistic savages without any regard for our modern political correctness. Not that the depiction is completely inaccurate, since the natives of those islands were by all accounts rather savage, but it is exaggerated here in a sensationalist and condescending Victorian manner, at least in the way natives became perfectly pleasant and civilized whenever they were converted to Christianity.

In any case, the action is fast and there's no room for boredom. It's a ripping yarn. It's easy to see how it captured the imaginations of generations of young readers. I enjoyed the adventures, but what makes it worth reading nowadays is the blissful first half when the boys are stranded in their private paradise.… (meer)

La leí pensando que era un libro de robinsones (y no quisiera dejarme ninguno por leer, es una forma de filosofía que me obsesiona). Sin embargo, es más un libro de aventuras, aventuras de evangelización, para ser más exactos, lo que no es de extrañar, pues está escrito 1857. No obstante, aunque la parte de lucha con los salvajes y su posterior conversión (sin que se dé la más mínima mezcla espúrea con ellos, faltaría más) me ha aburrido bastante, la parte robinsoniana me ha gustado, los personajes están muy bien dibujados y me ha resultado, como mínimo interesante.… (meer)