Sign in with Facebook
Jason Koivu's Reviews > Island of the Blue Dolphins
Island of the Blue Dolphins
by
by
Back in the '70s and early '80s teachers liked to make their students cry, and so they forced them to read books like Island of the Blue Dolphins, which is just the kind of good old fashioned heartbreaking stuff to do the trick!
It starts of great this story of a Chumash (local natives to the Santa Barbara, California area) tribe taken by surprise by fur hunters and then taken from their island, accidentally leaving behind a brother and a sister. There is sorrow a'plenty. The tale trots along, even stepping it up to a steady canter for about the first quarter or third. Then the narrative devolves into a Robinson Crusoe style listing of things done by or to the main character, Karana, while she's stuck alone on an island. As short as Island... is, it grinds on through the middle to a dull (yet somehow still sorrowful!) finish.
I figured this weekend was as good time as any to read this while I was visiting Santa Barbara, since the real life story it's based upon happened on one of the islands just off the coast. What would've made this infinitely more compelling would've been the simple adding of motive. If O'dell has suppled Karana a fervent desire to get off the island and get back to her people, that would've given the reader something to pull for. But he did not. I don't know the real story well enough to say, but from what I recall I have a feeling the author was trying to stay true to the actual account. All I have to say for that is, leave that to the biographers and historians. You're writing fact-based fiction here, my friend. You're allowed a little leeway.
Rating Note: 3.5
It starts of great this story of a Chumash (local natives to the Santa Barbara, California area) tribe taken by surprise by fur hunters and then taken from their island, accidentally leaving behind a brother and a sister. There is sorrow a'plenty. The tale trots along, even stepping it up to a steady canter for about the first quarter or third. Then the narrative devolves into a Robinson Crusoe style listing of things done by or to the main character, Karana, while she's stuck alone on an island. As short as Island... is, it grinds on through the middle to a dull (yet somehow still sorrowful!) finish.
I figured this weekend was as good time as any to read this while I was visiting Santa Barbara, since the real life story it's based upon happened on one of the islands just off the coast. What would've made this infinitely more compelling would've been the simple adding of motive. If O'dell has suppled Karana a fervent desire to get off the island and get back to her people, that would've given the reader something to pull for. But he did not. I don't know the real story well enough to say, but from what I recall I have a feeling the author was trying to stay true to the actual account. All I have to say for that is, leave that to the biographers and historians. You're writing fact-based fiction here, my friend. You're allowed a little leeway.
Rating Note: 3.5
Sign into Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ to see if any of your friends have read
Island of the Blue Dolphins.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
February 29, 2012
– Shelved
June 7, 2013
–
Started Reading
June 9, 2013
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-17 of 17 (17 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Peter
(new)
-
added it
Jun 10, 2013 11:39AM
Very good point about the leeway fact-based fiction writers have with biographies/true accounts =)
reply
|
flag
Peter wrote: "Very good point about the leeway fact-based fiction writers have with biographies/true accounts =)"I like when historical-fiction writers stay as close to the facts as they can, because as they say "truth is stranger than fiction." However, if you're writing fiction I expect you to embellish in order to dramatize the facts. If you don't then what's the point? Stick to nonfiction and write Karana: The True Story of a Girl Left to Fend for Herself on an Island for 18 Years. I'd read that!
Jason wrote: "Peter wrote: "Very good point about the leeway fact-based fiction writers have with biographies/true accounts =)"I like when historical-fiction writers stay as close to the facts as they can, bec..."
ha ha, very true =)
Wow, hit of nostalgia. I'd read this as a little girl and it honestly has not entered my mind again until I saw your review.
MMOGC wrote: "Wow, hit of nostalgia. I'd read this as a little girl and it honestly has not entered my mind again until I saw your review."Well, there you go. Now have yourself a lovely weepy rest of the day!
Honestly, I think I was too young at the time to register how sad it was. The little girl that I was probably only thought "DOLPHINS!"
MMOGC wrote: "Honestly, I think I was too young at the time to register how sad it was. The little girl that I was probably only thought "DOLPHINS!""Plus she had a dog and everything!
Jason isn't it amazing that they made the children born in the 50's read this and then our son born in the 90's had to read it too. That they hadn't come up with a better book for 9 to 12 year olds is beyond me. I didn't know it was based in a true story until you mentioned it. Teachers wanted to make their students cry? In high school, the books they read sophomore year was called the death curriculum. Sadness.
Cynthia wrote: "Jason isn't it amazing that they made the children born in the 50's read this and then our son born in the 90's had to read it too. That they hadn't come up with a better book for 9 to 12 year olds..."You'd think they would've come up with something better for the kids to read over the span of 40 years.
My teacher is making us read it in class right now.
Madeleine wrote: "My teacher is making us read it in class right now."Well, it's good to know that teachers weren't just picking on kids way back when, but are still doing it today! ;)
She did try to leave the island, but realized it was impossible and simply accepted it. She used that old dried up canoe which kept leaking, and when she knew she would sink after a while, she turned around before she could sink. Then she fixed up the canoe (made it smaller) so that she could row it easily, but then she didn't have enough room for the supplies she needed. Her desperation to get off the island, if it had been included in the book, would make her seem foolish, since there was no way off except to wait for the white men to come back for her. At least, that's my take on it... I really love this book btw, if you couldn't already tell. :)
Lillian wrote: "She did try to leave the island, but realized it was impossible and simply accepted it. She used that old dried up canoe which kept leaking, and when she knew she would sink after a while, she turn..."I'm glad you love the book, Lillian! It is a good one, deserving of the attention it's received.
I guess my issue with her giving up on trying to get off the island stems from the fact that you can see the island she was on from the mainland. If my geography is correct, she was just off the coast of Santa Barbara, where I lived for a while, and on clear days the island chain is plainly visible. Granted, it is still quite a long way away, about 20 miles I believe. That would be a daunting trip in a wee canoe.
fjccs jxjxenxtyhxxwjwwxjscj
I remember crying as I read this as a child as well. 'Charlotte's Web' did a number on me too. :)
Monique wrote: "I remember crying as I read this as a child as well. 'Charlotte's Web' did a number on me too. :)"Ugh...don't even talk to me about Charlotte's Web. :'(
Her motive for leaving the island was clearly expressed. She wanted to be with people.
