Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Berkley (1983)
Description
Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML: A science fiction adventure for readers of all ages, from a winner of multiple Nebula and Hugo Awards. In the near future, a cargo hovership makes an emergency landing in a rural part of the Midwest. An adventurous teenager, Johnny Clinton, sneaks on board�??only to survive a second crash a few hours later, this time into the Pacific Ocean . . . The crew escapes, but Johnny is left on board, adrift in the wreckage of the ship�??until he is rescued by a pod of dolphins, who bring him to a remote island hidden in the heart of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. There, Johnny meets the brilliant and eccentric Professor Kazan, who has dedicated his life to the study of dolphin communication. Here in this new world, Johnny will find his courage tested once again . .… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member JulesJones
This YA novel was first published in 1963, and was set around fifty years in its then-future. Nearly fifty years on, it has aged remarkably well. Right on the first page, I was taken back to the sensawunda I had when I first read this book as a young teenager around thirty years ago -- not least
When sixteen-year-old Johnny Clinton finds that the giant hovercraft has made an emergency landing near his home, his curiosity leads him to sneak aboard for a look around, and leaves him trapped as an accidental stowaway when it lifts off again unexpectedly. The orphaned Johnny's not too upset at the idea of being carried away from the home he's reluctantly offered by his widowed aunt, so he doesn't come out of hiding until the craft crash-lands in the Pacific Ocean. The crew have abandoned ship, and Johnny is left with nothing but a packing crate and his own clothing to keep him afloat and sheltered -- until a pod of dolphins find him and and save his life by pushing his makeshift raft the hundred miles to the nearest land.
That land is Dolphin Island, an island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef which is home to a research station studying dolphins. The station tracks down where Johnny came from before he's even released from the infirmary, but he's offered the chance to stay, an offer he's quick to accept. He rapidly builds a new life for himself, one that mixes ongoing formal education with involvement in the scientific work on communicating with the dolphins. There's more than a little adventure as well.
This is an excellent short novel, with an engaging protagonist, an interesting story, and some superb world-building. Clarke drew on his own experience of skin-diving on the Great Barrier Reef to paint a wonderful word picture of the Reef and its marine life. Clarke's extrapolation of technology hasn't suffered too badly as reality caught up with it -- it's different to what really happened, but not so much so that it jars. And glory be, the story hasn't been visited by the Sexism Fairy. There's a distinct absence of female characters, but not in a way that says that women shouldn't worry their pretty little heads about difficult things like science. Definitely one for my keeper collection.
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because in the first paragraph Clarke beautifully evokes the sense of wonder his teenage protagonist feels at the sight of an international cargo vessel and the daydreams it inspires about the places it has seen.When sixteen-year-old Johnny Clinton finds that the giant hovercraft has made an emergency landing near his home, his curiosity leads him to sneak aboard for a look around, and leaves him trapped as an accidental stowaway when it lifts off again unexpectedly. The orphaned Johnny's not too upset at the idea of being carried away from the home he's reluctantly offered by his widowed aunt, so he doesn't come out of hiding until the craft crash-lands in the Pacific Ocean. The crew have abandoned ship, and Johnny is left with nothing but a packing crate and his own clothing to keep him afloat and sheltered -- until a pod of dolphins find him and and save his life by pushing his makeshift raft the hundred miles to the nearest land.
That land is Dolphin Island, an island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef which is home to a research station studying dolphins. The station tracks down where Johnny came from before he's even released from the infirmary, but he's offered the chance to stay, an offer he's quick to accept. He rapidly builds a new life for himself, one that mixes ongoing formal education with involvement in the scientific work on communicating with the dolphins. There's more than a little adventure as well.
This is an excellent short novel, with an engaging protagonist, an interesting story, and some superb world-building. Clarke drew on his own experience of skin-diving on the Great Barrier Reef to paint a wonderful word picture of the Reef and its marine life. Clarke's extrapolation of technology hasn't suffered too badly as reality caught up with it -- it's different to what really happened, but not so much so that it jars. And glory be, the story hasn't been visited by the Sexism Fairy. There's a distinct absence of female characters, but not in a way that says that women shouldn't worry their pretty little heads about difficult things like science. Definitely one for my keeper collection.
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LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
This is one of the few "juveniles" ie, young adult novels Clarke ever wrote. It's main character is sixteen year-old Johnny Clinton. Lost in the pacific, he is saved by a pod of dolphins who bring him to Dolphin Island, a research station in Australia's Great Barrier Reef. There he becomes involved
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in their research into dolphin-human communication. I don't find this as memorable as The Deep Range, Clarke's other novel dealing with Earth's ocean--a surprisingly rare setting in science fiction--one thing that makes this short book worth reading. Show Less
LibraryThing member antao
“Johnny Clinton was sleeping when the hovership raced down the valley, floating along the old turnpike on its cushion of air. [..] To any boy of the twenty.first century, it was a sound of magic, telling of far-off countries and strange cargoes carried in the first ships that could travel with
In “Dolphin Island” by Arthur C. Clarke
“Dolphin Island” was one of the very first proper book I read, or tried to read, in English, when I was 10 or 11, in the fifth year of school, and I loved it. My dad had given it to me, because he thought it would make a good first read for a boy who was trying to teach himself English at the time. Until then, I'd only read some of the simplified English books. At the time, our regular school teacher was away on paternity leave, for the arrival of his adopted son, so we had a substitute. There were reading hours in the schedule, when we were expected to bring books from home, and that substitute teacher noticed I was reading an English book. She thought I wasn't actually reading - after all, how could a 10-year old Portuguese-speaking child who's never had an English lesson possibly read a novel in English? -, flatly refused to believe my explanation that I was busy learning English on my own, and nearly confiscated the book. It was an extremely upsetting experience for me, which is why I remember it so well. When my regular teacher arrived back to work shortly afterwards, the substitute told him about the incident, and basically accused me of being a liar in front of him. Luckily, he put her in her place and told her that no, I wasn't lying, and that I was indeed teaching myself English.
But generally, I've found it's a bad idea to re-read books one loved as a child or a young teenager as an adult. On the occasions I've tried it, it mostly was a sore disappointment. With rare exceptions, you get that sinking feeling you must have had really, really bad taste in your youth. It’s not the case with this one. It holds up pretty well.
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equal ease across land and sea.”In “Dolphin Island” by Arthur C. Clarke
“Dolphin Island” was one of the very first proper book I read, or tried to read, in English, when I was 10 or 11, in the fifth year of school, and I loved it. My dad had given it to me, because he thought it would make a good first read for a boy who was trying to teach himself English at the time. Until then, I'd only read some of the simplified English books. At the time, our regular school teacher was away on paternity leave, for the arrival of his adopted son, so we had a substitute. There were reading hours in the schedule, when we were expected to bring books from home, and that substitute teacher noticed I was reading an English book. She thought I wasn't actually reading - after all, how could a 10-year old Portuguese-speaking child who's never had an English lesson possibly read a novel in English? -, flatly refused to believe my explanation that I was busy learning English on my own, and nearly confiscated the book. It was an extremely upsetting experience for me, which is why I remember it so well. When my regular teacher arrived back to work shortly afterwards, the substitute told him about the incident, and basically accused me of being a liar in front of him. Luckily, he put her in her place and told her that no, I wasn't lying, and that I was indeed teaching myself English.
But generally, I've found it's a bad idea to re-read books one loved as a child or a young teenager as an adult. On the occasions I've tried it, it mostly was a sore disappointment. With rare exceptions, you get that sinking feeling you must have had really, really bad taste in your youth. It’s not the case with this one. It holds up pretty well.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Goodwillbooks
This is an early book by Arthur C. Clarke, and is a relatively simple, quick read. It tells the story of Johnny Clinton, who runs away from home in the middle of the night somewhere in the Great Plains states. Stowing away on a futuristic hovercraft (the story is set sometime in the near future;
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written in 1963, the book appears to be projecting into our current time), Johnny is quickly transported to the middle of the Pacific when the craft breaks down and sinks. He is floating on wreckage when he is rescued by dolphins, who guide him to Dolphin Island. There he begins a new life and assists researchers there in their attempts to communicate with, and enlist the aid of, the dolphins. Clarke always uses broad strokes to describe his characters, but Johnny is an engaging hero. The story would be a good read for young adults and pre-teens. Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1963
Physical description
7 inches
ISBN
042507143X / 9780425071434