Saturday, April 07, 2012

Five top books on castaways

One title on the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five top books on castaways:
The Swiss Family Robinson
by Johann David Wyss

Castaway narratives are often those of solitary individuals struggling with loneliness and despair as much as starvation. Think of Ben Gunn, driven mad when he's marooned alone for three years on Treasure Island, or Crusoe's own bouts of madness, alleviated only when he rescues Friday. But Johann David Wyss, inspired by Defoe's novel, sought to write an adventure in which his sons could also play a part. The result was The Swiss Family Robinson, in which a couple and their four boys are shipwrecked on a remote island. A classic of children's literature, the story of their survival is spellbinding, especially the enormous and elaborate treehouse they construct as their new home.
Read about another novel on the list.

Also see: Ten of the most vivid accounts of being marooned.

--Marshal Zeringue