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Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Island reading

Are you thinking of sandy beaches? Of ripe, tropical fruits under shady palms? Even the drama of shipwreck from the safety of your own hearth? Let's begin a look at the maritime aspects of The Guardian's many top ten reading lists, beginning with a little armchair travel to island paradises.

Romesh Gunesekera takes you island hopping with a list of his top ten island books. This list is far ranging, with capsule reviews and descriptions. Not surprising, it includes Robinson Crusoe, but less obvious is the choice of Moby Dick--his paragraph justifying the inclusion of Moby Dick in a list of island reading is a thing of beauty.

2 comments:

Buck said...

Loved the list! One of my favourites is a niche sort of book; I mention it only because I'm sure there are many like it.

Man O War: My Island Home, A History of an Outer Abaco Island. by Haziel Albury.

It describes what it was like to grow up on a small cay in the days before electricity... More on Man O War at the Wikipedia

Heather said...

Thanks for the recommendation, Buck! If anyone's looking for the book, the Wikipedia article has the ISBN, or you can also find it on Worldcat.