I had wanted to read this book for a long time, and I wanted to like it. But I don't. It was such a task to read; I think I hate it.
Warning: possibly spoiler
Let me sum it up:
- I have the conch
- You are the hunter
- We need the fire
- The beast
- Two characters fighting over the chief position
Repeat as necessary.
I get what the book is trying to convey, but I find it hard to root for almost all one-dimensional characters. I don't know them except for a tiny glimpse of their backgrounds. Tiny is not an exaggeration but a generous remark based on a couple of sentences.
But that is not the point, the point is survival.
Yeah? Survival from the everlasting fruit trees and easily hunted pigs. Minimal shelters for what I assume is tropical weather with ocean water being warmer than the air (is it near a volcano?). What kind of fruit trees provide that kind of nourishment for that many kids continuously? I could be wrong, but as far as I know, tropical fruit trees like papaya, coconut, or banana need months or more to bear fruit. Some roots and tubers are faster, but they are not trees and still need months. See how they fare from a swarm of hungry kids who don't know how to replant them.
I joined several survival expeditions when I was younger; we had nothing but had to make use of what nature gave us. There was a lake and forest in the area. For a week or more, we had almost nothing to eat despite roaming a great area. The delicious banana we have in the stores are clones, genetically modified bananas. What we found in the wild—after happily imagining roasted or fresh bananas—were full of seeds. There was barely any flesh on them, and they were almost inedible. We could probably munch on ferns or leaves (mentioned in the book but not as food sources), but most of those we tried were bitter. We tried to fish and only yielded a pitiful tiny one. We dug for roots, but most that were sufficient for food sources were planted, not wildly grown, and mostly near human settlements. Snakes and small animals prefer to stay away from us, and medium-sized animals watched from far and decided we were not tasty. Have you tried to corner your dog to get something from it? Imagine trying to corner a wild pig in an open space. Maybe we suck, but we were a small group of young adults with some survival knowledge. Maybe we were at the wrong place, but the point is survival in the wild is damn hard, and the natural elements are no joke. And is there any mention of freshwater sources in the book? That should be the number one thing to worry about.
But the survival detail is not the main point; it is what they become.
Yeah, it's fun when they FINALLY stop bickering and do something (or not, they actually never stop bickering). No, I don't at all condone the animalistic behavior that finally takes place, but at this point, it was almost too late for me. Do something FFS I don't care. Heads should roll for my amusement at this point. I had almost stopped reading and had fallen asleep way too many nights. Yeah, this should show a chilling fact about human nature, and that would be good. But do we see the development of the characters that lead to that? Nope, not internally, besides war paint and bickerings. Cult-like? It was never consistent. On and off, and suddenly, it was a full-blown cult. Is there something supernatural? Hallucination? Probably. But I'm not aware of any hint about it until the titular character shows up in a paragraph, and for the life of me, I'm not even sure what it was. Then it was never mentioned again. GAH. Maybe I'm not sophisticated enough to understand, but I want something more than a pig head with flies that may or may not talk.
And the collective chants and conversations drive me nuts the longer it is in the book. Double name calling, repeat after the others. I get that it's difficult to involve that many characters, but they shouldn't just be a group of talking robots who imitate everything the named characters say.
And the big picture. Nothing? The plane crash is implied, a dead body is finally found, but what?? Why are the boys scattered all over the island without any serious injuries? Where is the wreckage, the adult, whatever hints of memory and recollection? No!
Just repeat after me
- I have the conch
- You are the hunter
- We need the fire
- The beast
- Two characters fighting over the chief position
I thought of 3 stars, but only because it's a classic.
Then, I wrote this, and I hate it again.
2 talking pig heads out of 5 magical fruit trees.
