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LibraryThing member Sean191
The book uses three different narrators to tell the tale of a family stranded on an island after the great flood. It's a little annoying at first - the youngest narrator Finn uses spelling and syntax that makes Huck Finn look like a college graduate. Eventually the story moves past his narrative
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when a stranger comes to the island. That's when it gets a bit better. It's still a little too heavy handed and implausible - I feel like the author didn't double-check his work. There are a few too many plot holes to be able to comfortably fall into a willing suspension of disbelief without having to really work at doing so. Show Less
LibraryThing member Clurb
For some reason I had picked up 'The Island...' expecting it to be little more than a fable. It really isn't. This is a story of one family surviving an apocolyptic future with a twist, and is full of the fundaments of real life; violence, death, sex, swearing and deeply-felt religion. Taylor has
Through the very different voices of Finn and Alice, and of their father, both the day to day intricacies and the much larger picture of this little family's isolated life are drawn out and we see the children's maturation alongside the degeneration of their Pa.
My sole annoyance with 'The Island...' was the phonetic, unpunctuated language used by Taylor to portray the voice of Finn. Right from the start it seemed both superfluous and overdone and not at all reflective of the character's age and capacity for reading. The style was also not in any way replicated in the writing of Alice and simply left me wondering when exactly Finn would make his miraculous jump from primary school writing skills to the measured adult tone of his sister.
But this really was the only sour point of the book for me. I found very early on that I cared for all the characters (particularly and instinctively the carefree, lovable three year old, Daisy), I sat enraptured as the plot developed and very soon reached the back cover feeling that the whole thing was pertinent, sensitive and very well done.
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managed to tell a very brutal and upsetting story with an underlying empathy and compassion to his writing which is very rare indeed. I somehow managed to feel anger, sympathy and frustration for all the characters in equal measure.Through the very different voices of Finn and Alice, and of their father, both the day to day intricacies and the much larger picture of this little family's isolated life are drawn out and we see the children's maturation alongside the degeneration of their Pa.
My sole annoyance with 'The Island...' was the phonetic, unpunctuated language used by Taylor to portray the voice of Finn. Right from the start it seemed both superfluous and overdone and not at all reflective of the character's age and capacity for reading. The style was also not in any way replicated in the writing of Alice and simply left me wondering when exactly Finn would make his miraculous jump from primary school writing skills to the measured adult tone of his sister.
But this really was the only sour point of the book for me. I found very early on that I cared for all the characters (particularly and instinctively the carefree, lovable three year old, Daisy), I sat enraptured as the plot developed and very soon reached the back cover feeling that the whole thing was pertinent, sensitive and very well done.
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LibraryThing member klarusu
This is an excellent book and I'm going to state upfront that it's well worth taking the time to read. It's difficult to review, I don't want to go into too much detail as part of its appeal lies in the sense of uncertainty as to what constitutes reality that it engenders in the reader. It is
This book is very well-written. Sometimes Pa's narrative voice becomes confused - a stream of consciousness with religious dogma interspersed. Finn's phonetic spelling takes time to get used to, but once you are, it really conveys the voice of the young boy.
Original and unsettling, this is a book I expect to hear much more about in 2009.
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basically a tale of a family (Pa, Alice, Finn and Daisy), who live on an ark in the middle of an island, separated after a great flood that hit modern-day America. They live off the land and do not know if there are any other survivors elsewhere. The book is told in three different voices: Pa, religious, controlling and desperately protective of his family; Finn, a young boy in awe of his father and at one with the land he's grown up on; and Alice, a teenager with memories of the time before the flood, dissatisfied with the isolated life they live. While trying to piece together the history that led to the flood, the reader gradually has a sense that the story is more complicated than they initially believed.This book is very well-written. Sometimes Pa's narrative voice becomes confused - a stream of consciousness with religious dogma interspersed. Finn's phonetic spelling takes time to get used to, but once you are, it really conveys the voice of the young boy.
Original and unsettling, this is a book I expect to hear much more about in 2009.
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LibraryThing member flissp
A few years ago, the world was drowned by a flood to rival Noah's. But a man and his three children were saved - on the ark he built, knowing apocalypse was near. They live a seemingly idyllic life on an island, away from the tainted world, the last survivors. But Pa has seen a boat on the horizon
Written from the three very different perspectives of 'Pa' and his two eldest children Alice and Finn, this is an interesting idea. Pa, who knew the world before the apocalypse, will stop at nothing to protect his children from the evil of the world beyond the island. Finn, his 8 year old son has no memory of what life was like before the island and, like most 8 year old boys, worships the ground his father walks on. Alice, on the other hand, is growing up and has memories of the old world and is becoming increasingly distrustful of her father and frustrated with life on the island. Cracks are starting to show and the arrival of the stranger widens them.
The first part of the book flips between just Pa and Finn and I'm afraid (as, I notice, other people have commented on), I struggled for quite a while with Finn's chapters. I've read a few books written in dialects, but none have irritated me half as much as these do. They're written half phonetically, half as, I suppose, an immature 8 year old might write, but I just didn't find it convincing and consequently just got more and more irked by it as I went along, instead of adjusting.
What I did find convincing was Alice (well mostly - she's a very precocious 13 year old) - she's growing up, without a mother at an age where everything is changing and what does she have to look forward to? A life on an island with a father she doesn't trust and her younger brother and sister. There are just 3 books on the island - fairy tales for when they're small, the bible (which Finn is now struggling with) and Shakespeare which Alice is devouring - immersed in the romance of Romeo and Juliet, a life without the possibility of this kind of love seems bleak. Her voice enters the story in the second half of the book and her language is full of Shakespeare - where I disliked Finn's narrative, I thought that Alice's was a nice touch - when you're that immersed in a writer, it's very easy to find yourself thinking in a similar fashion.
This is initially a slow burner, becoming a gripping read, with, for me, a bit of a disappointing finish. The finish I can live with, but strangely, the little thing of Finn's dialogue seriously detracted from the book for me.
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- someone coming to disrupt everything he's built. Written from the three very different perspectives of 'Pa' and his two eldest children Alice and Finn, this is an interesting idea. Pa, who knew the world before the apocalypse, will stop at nothing to protect his children from the evil of the world beyond the island. Finn, his 8 year old son has no memory of what life was like before the island and, like most 8 year old boys, worships the ground his father walks on. Alice, on the other hand, is growing up and has memories of the old world and is becoming increasingly distrustful of her father and frustrated with life on the island. Cracks are starting to show and the arrival of the stranger widens them.
The first part of the book flips between just Pa and Finn and I'm afraid (as, I notice, other people have commented on), I struggled for quite a while with Finn's chapters. I've read a few books written in dialects, but none have irritated me half as much as these do. They're written half phonetically, half as, I suppose, an immature 8 year old might write, but I just didn't find it convincing and consequently just got more and more irked by it as I went along, instead of adjusting.
What I did find convincing was Alice (well mostly - she's a very precocious 13 year old) - she's growing up, without a mother at an age where everything is changing and what does she have to look forward to? A life on an island with a father she doesn't trust and her younger brother and sister. There are just 3 books on the island - fairy tales for when they're small, the bible (which Finn is now struggling with) and Shakespeare which Alice is devouring - immersed in the romance of Romeo and Juliet, a life without the possibility of this kind of love seems bleak. Her voice enters the story in the second half of the book and her language is full of Shakespeare - where I disliked Finn's narrative, I thought that Alice's was a nice touch - when you're that immersed in a writer, it's very easy to find yourself thinking in a similar fashion.
This is initially a slow burner, becoming a gripping read, with, for me, a bit of a disappointing finish. The finish I can live with, but strangely, the little thing of Finn's dialogue seriously detracted from the book for me.
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LibraryThing member 4daisies
I initially gave this book a higher star rating however, after thinking about it for a few days; I started to be more bothered by the implausibles of the story. It is an exciting read, but the way it ends is a disappointment, requiring the reader to ignore certain impossible and unexplained
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situations. I struggle with my word choices because I don't want to give too much away. It is still worth checking out from the library but maybe not deserving of a permanent spot on my limited bookshelf space. Show Less
LibraryThing member SmithSJ01
It was relief I reached the end of this novel. I’m apprehensive as I have two other Sam Taylor novels on my bookshelves. Here’s hoping they are off better quality. If you aren’t into Shakespeare, The Bible or fairy stories you will find this even more of a challenge than I did. The whole book
The two children who narrate a fair amount of the novel are not that hugely apart in years, yet Alice speaks/writes extremely sophisticated and eloquently whilst Finn (aged 8) doesn’t even write phonetically half of the time. Once you get used to Finn’s style of narration, after say a 100 pages or so, the novel becomes easier to read.
Set in a post-apocalyptic world, Finn’s father knew the floods were coming and built an ark in preparation, which the family now live on. Finn believes from his father that his mother Mary died in the floods saving his youngest sister Daisy. Finn is the middle of the three children with Alice being the oldest. The novel revolves around their lives and the father’s unresolved angst till one day the stranger arrives. The stranger, Will, is an interesting character and is everything the father fears.
Whilst not being my favourite novel of the month or the year for that matter, Sam Taylor has tried to do something different and clever. Unfortunately I think it’s going to clearly divide readers.
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is awash with these references; particularly (and obviously) Noah’s Ark and The Tempest.The two children who narrate a fair amount of the novel are not that hugely apart in years, yet Alice speaks/writes extremely sophisticated and eloquently whilst Finn (aged 8) doesn’t even write phonetically half of the time. Once you get used to Finn’s style of narration, after say a 100 pages or so, the novel becomes easier to read.
Set in a post-apocalyptic world, Finn’s father knew the floods were coming and built an ark in preparation, which the family now live on. Finn believes from his father that his mother Mary died in the floods saving his youngest sister Daisy. Finn is the middle of the three children with Alice being the oldest. The novel revolves around their lives and the father’s unresolved angst till one day the stranger arrives. The stranger, Will, is an interesting character and is everything the father fears.
Whilst not being my favourite novel of the month or the year for that matter, Sam Taylor has tried to do something different and clever. Unfortunately I think it’s going to clearly divide readers.
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LibraryThing member dudara
How can a man protect his family from a flood? Can he protect them from the evils of the modern world? Can he raise his children isolated and seperate from other humans? This is the story of Pa and his children. The book is told initially from the viewpoints of Pa, a controlling, religious man and
This family live in their ark, on an abundant and fruitful island. However, Pa's peace and new paradise is threatened when a young man arrives on their island. To illustrate the change in their circumstances, we now hear the voice of teenage Alice, who has vague recollections of her mother and events prior to the flood.
As events unfold, an eerie sense begins to build, leaving the reader feeling uncomfortable and discontent with the paradise in the book.
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Finn, his young son. Each character has a uniquely different voice, even down to the poor semi-phoenetic spelling of Finn.This family live in their ark, on an abundant and fruitful island. However, Pa's peace and new paradise is threatened when a young man arrives on their island. To illustrate the change in their circumstances, we now hear the voice of teenage Alice, who has vague recollections of her mother and events prior to the flood.
As events unfold, an eerie sense begins to build, leaving the reader feeling uncomfortable and discontent with the paradise in the book.
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LibraryThing member aidanbyrne
At first glance, this is another of the flood (sorry) of children's post-environmental apocalypse novels reflecting the (justified) panic about what we've done to ourselves and the world.
Taylor's novel is a cut above all of them. It isn't plucky kids getting by: it takes in madness, obsession,
Taylor's novel is a cut above all of them. It isn't plucky kids getting by: it takes in madness, obsession,
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sexuality, knowledge and culture. The writing is challenging, exciting and heavily Joycean. This isn't a novel you can consume and forget about - phrases and events will weigh heavily on your mind for weeks afterwards, and it repays rereading. Show Less
LibraryThing member CarlGreatbatch
The story is based on a relatively straightforward idea of a man and his three children living in the wreck of an ark on an island,
apparently the only remaining survivors of a Great Flood. From this, Sam Taylor has woven an intriguing fable that becomes more compelling as it progresses. In addition
readers will find the ending disappointing in its ambiguity but it did not spoil my enjoyment of reading this fantastic novel.
apparently the only remaining survivors of a Great Flood. From this, Sam Taylor has woven an intriguing fable that becomes more compelling as it progresses. In addition
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to the obvious biblical references, the overlapping narratives, intermittent streams of consciousness and interwoven quotations from Shakespeare make this a complex read but not a difficult one and this is a significant achievement. The first part of the novel is alternately narrated by 8-year-old Finn and his father; in the second half Alice provides a third perspective. In order to make these voices distinct Finn's passages are marked by the use of phonetic spelling, which initially irritated me with its inconsistency (he spells "ice cold" as "I-scold" yet "dangerous" is correct) but helped to create his point of view. Meanwhile, Pa's sections are punctuated by biblical diatribes and the tortured rantings of a deeply troubled mind to create a truly terrifying character who nevertheless does enlist the reader's sympathy. The arrival of an 'outsider' on the island inevitably disturbs the family's idyllic existence and provides an additional hint (besides others given earlier on) that things are not as they seem. From here the momentum and emotion build to a truly gripping conclusion. Manyreaders will find the ending disappointing in its ambiguity but it did not spoil my enjoyment of reading this fantastic novel.
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LibraryThing member AlisonsBookMarks
The great flood has washed away the whole world, except for Pa, Alice, Finn, and Daisy. Pa saw the signs and built and ark, which delivered them safely to the island where they have lived all alone for the past 6 years -- alone until the "dark mark" appears on the horizon, and approaches their
The story begins with Pa as the narrator, who speaks almost in tongues. When he's not shouting f**k, his favorite word, he's quoting the bible, describing the old world and their past life as Babylon. He shouts words like greed, celebrity, and money to himself or out loud, we're never sure. His sanity is of question from the first page. Then the narration jumps between Pa and Finn, the eight year-old son, whose phonetic language, which takes a while to understand, was something I never got used to reading. When the children start to question how their memories and the stories their Pa tells them don't match up, Finn says, "The memrys are fine Alice theres no thing rong with em. You orter treasure em. Jus dont be leave in em too strongly cus like mos memrys theyre lusions theyre not real." Of course, young Finn is just repeating what Pa had told him about their memories being contaminated and wrong. Pa especially doesn't want them remembering too much about their mother. Towards the end of the book, Alice, the eldest sibling and teenager of the group, adds her perspective. Since she has only read the bible, Shakespeare, and fairy tales, her voice takes on a romantic feel, exaggerated by the drama every teenager injects into their lives.
Without giving too much away, I can say the "dark mark" turns out to be Finn, a man who Pa knew from the old world, and turns this family upside down. Everything the children were told by their Pa will be questioned, especially that which has to do with their mother. They live on an island, but their father refuses to teach them how to swim, and they are finally starting to question why. I found the story as dark as I had expected it to be. The narration, while awkward at first, helped to balance out the psychotic ramblings of the father with the progression of the storyline, which we got more from the children.
The book was predictable in a "haven't I heard this story before?" kind of way. The father in The Island at the End of the World especially reminded me of the father from The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux. The end, which you could guess half way through the book, was awfully abrupt. I guess since the big reveal in the book was predictable, the readers are expected to guess what happens after we turn the last page as well. If you're looking for a dark, twisty tale of a post-apocalyptic world from the mind of a man having a 6-year nervous breakdown, this is the book for you
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island. Their security, their survival, and their trust in all they know is in jeopardy. The story begins with Pa as the narrator, who speaks almost in tongues. When he's not shouting f**k, his favorite word, he's quoting the bible, describing the old world and their past life as Babylon. He shouts words like greed, celebrity, and money to himself or out loud, we're never sure. His sanity is of question from the first page. Then the narration jumps between Pa and Finn, the eight year-old son, whose phonetic language, which takes a while to understand, was something I never got used to reading. When the children start to question how their memories and the stories their Pa tells them don't match up, Finn says, "The memrys are fine Alice theres no thing rong with em. You orter treasure em. Jus dont be leave in em too strongly cus like mos memrys theyre lusions theyre not real." Of course, young Finn is just repeating what Pa had told him about their memories being contaminated and wrong. Pa especially doesn't want them remembering too much about their mother. Towards the end of the book, Alice, the eldest sibling and teenager of the group, adds her perspective. Since she has only read the bible, Shakespeare, and fairy tales, her voice takes on a romantic feel, exaggerated by the drama every teenager injects into their lives.
Without giving too much away, I can say the "dark mark" turns out to be Finn, a man who Pa knew from the old world, and turns this family upside down. Everything the children were told by their Pa will be questioned, especially that which has to do with their mother. They live on an island, but their father refuses to teach them how to swim, and they are finally starting to question why. I found the story as dark as I had expected it to be. The narration, while awkward at first, helped to balance out the psychotic ramblings of the father with the progression of the storyline, which we got more from the children.
The book was predictable in a "haven't I heard this story before?" kind of way. The father in The Island at the End of the World especially reminded me of the father from The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux. The end, which you could guess half way through the book, was awfully abrupt. I guess since the big reveal in the book was predictable, the readers are expected to guess what happens after we turn the last page as well. If you're looking for a dark, twisty tale of a post-apocalyptic world from the mind of a man having a 6-year nervous breakdown, this is the book for you
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LibraryThing member DeDeNoel
This is one of the strangest books I have ever read. The back of the book and cover of the book were very intriguing and I couldn't wait to read it! The writing style is very unique... I would say in a bad way. It took me a few chapters to really get the hang of it. There isn't much punctuation and
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a lot of the sentences just stop with no end. The story itself is very weak. The idea was wasted by easily guessed plot twists and undeveloped characters. The book is made of two parts. The first part is boring and makes you wonder 'why am I still reading this?' the second part is a little more interesting and holds your attention, because you think something will happen. However, nothing really does. I don't recommend reading this. Show Less
LibraryThing member passion4reading
Told in first-person narrative, we learn that the father, his two children and the family dog have taken shelter on a remote island after what appears to be an apocalyptic event.
I found this book compelling and a real page-turner, and could not rest until I had reached the final page. Some
I found this book compelling and a real page-turner, and could not rest until I had reached the final page. Some
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reviewers have commented on how they found the son's narration with its deliberate spelling mistakes offputting. Yes, some of the spellings are unconventional, but I am myself the mother of a 7-year-old displaying very imaginative spelling and as such recognise that they're clearly adding a distinctive voice. The same goes for the teenage daughter, sounding very stilted at first until you realise that her only literary influences in her life have been Grimm's Fairy Tales, the bible and the collected works of Shakespeare. First-person narratives can be double-edged swords, but here the author makes masterful use of it, so that the final twist comes as a complete shock. Recommended. Show Less
Publication
Faber and Faber (no date), Paperback, 224 pages
Description
In a world nearly destroyed by catastrophic floods, one family has been spared. Many years ago, as the waters rose, a father and his three children took to their ark and drifted to the safety of a small island. Life there is a quiet idyll of music and farming. Young Alice, Finn, and Daisy are grateful for their salvation; until the day a stranger swims ashore. A terrifyingly plausible adventure story, The Island at the End of the World is a mesmerizing novel from an exciting new writer.
Media reviews
The Island at the End of the World manages to combine rollercoaster storytelling with a deep mythic quality: Ben is Lear, Oedipus and Noah rolled into one, beset by jealousy and paranoia, afraid of what Finn astutely dubs "the big, dark thing". On the ark, away from the modern world he so detests,
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Ben has reduced his children's reading to the Bible; and Finn has moments of terror that his father will "sakry fice'" him like God asked Abraham to do with Isaac. Show Less
Insightful and correct, but emblematic of the novel's difficulties, too, as it's entirely unlikely to come from the mouth of a nine-year-old. Something powerful lurks at the heart of The Island at the End of the World, but another firing in the kiln might have been required to realise it.
Now Sam Taylor's extraordinary novel The Island at the End of the World takes his story further into darkness. Transformed into a 21st-century survivalist and religious maniac living in isolation after total war, this Noah is a murderous liar and also, as his adolescent daughter puts it, a tyrant
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and a spy. Show Less
Language
Original publication date
2009-01
Physical description
224 p.; 8.43 inches
ISBN
0571240518 / 9780571240517
Local notes
Early Reviewers