The Coral Island (Wordsworth Children's Classics)

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a b c d McCulloch, Fiona (2000), " 'The Broken Telescope': Misrepresentation in The Coral Island", Children's Literature Association Quarterly, 25 (3): 137–145, doi: 10.1353/chq.0.1401, S2CID 143981168 The three boys sail to the island of Mango, where a missionary has converted some of the population to Christianity. There they once again meet Tararo, whose daughter Avatea wishes to become a Christian against her father's wishes. The boys attempt to take Avatea in a small boat to a nearby island the chief of which has been converted, but en route they are overtaken by one of Tararo's war canoes and taken prisoner. They are released a month later after the arrival of another missionary, and Tararo's conversion to Christianity. The " false gods" [30] of Mango are consigned to the flames, and the boys set sail for home, older and wiser. They return as adults for another adventure in Ballantyne's 1861 novel The Gorilla Hunters, a sequel to The Coral Island. [31] [32] Genre and style [ edit ] At last we came among the Coral Islands of the Pacific; and I shall never forget the delight with which I gazed—when we chanced to pass one—at the pure white, dazzling shores, and the verdant palm-trees, which looked bright and beautiful in the sunshine. And often did we three long to be landed on one, imagining that we should certainly find perfect happiness there! Our wish was granted sooner than we expected.

Don’t you think we had better put them up first?” I whispered. “It seems cruel to kill them while asleep.”Phillips, Richard (1996), Mapping Men & Empire: A Geography of Adventure, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-13772-0 We all turned our eyes towards the cluster of islands, where, on the largest, we observed curious objects moving on the shore. Chapter Three. The Coral Island—Our first cogitations after landing and the result of them—We conclude that the island is uninhabited. a b c d e f Singh, Minnie (1997), "The Government of Boys: Golding's Lord of the Flies and Ballantyne's Coral Island", Children's Literature, 25: 205–213, doi: 10.1353/chl.0.0478, S2CID 144319352

I could not refrain from laughing at this rebuke, for there was much truth in it as to Peterkin’s ignorance. R.M.Ballantyne was a very prolific writer and wrote more than 80 books, most of which were YA adventure stories like this one, set in different parts of the world. He did his research before writing a book – not like people do today by googling or searching in Wikipedia, but actually going to the places which were featured in the story, living there for a while, and sometimes working there. One can feel that authenticity coming through in 'The Coral Island' in his descriptions of the places and of nature. How he managed to do this extensive kind of first-hand research in the 19th century, when travelling was hard, boggles our imagination.Humph! maybe you’re right,” answered Peterkin; “but I would not give tuppence for a man of books if he had nothing else in him.” Now as we hastened along the white beach, which shone so brightly in the rays of the setting sun that our eyes were quite dazzled by its glare, it suddenly came into Peterkin’s head that we had nothing to eat except the wild berries which grew in profusion at our feet. For a hundred years, 'The Coral Island' was a popular adventure story among kids. Then in 1954, William Golding took the core story from this book and put those teenagers in an island, but instead of them having adventures, he made the story dark and bleak and made them do bad things. He called his book 'Lord of the Flies'. Golding's book became big, it got into recommended reading lists in schools and colleges, and it won Golding the Nobel Prize. 'The Coral Island' and its author R.M.Ballantyne slowly faded into the mists of time. Today, except for this book, all of Ballantyne's books are out-of-print. However, many of them are available as digital copies in Gutenberg.