The Mysterious Island
By Jules Verne
Rated 3½ out of 5 stars
Fiction
Reviewed by P. Perkins
“Mr. Smith, would you like to escape?”
5 men are being held captive in Virginia during the Civil War when one of these men, a sailor by the name of Pencroff, asks Cyrus Smith, the engineer, this question. Cyrus, Pencroff, a reporter named Gideon Spilett, Cyrus’s previous slave, Neb, Harbert Brown, a studious boy 15 years old, and Cyrus’s dog Top seize a hot air balloon and take off. Four days later they land on a strange island, but Cyrus Smith has not landed with the rest of them…
The men struggle to survive on this undiscovered island encountering pirates, a volcano, and evil monkeys. As they realize that the things on this island can give them more than mere survival, they make things like a house, a telegraph, and a boat, which they plan to leave Lincoln Island, as they call it, with. Some strange things do happen and they wonder if they are really the only ones on the island…
I read this book because I have also read Around the World in 80 Days, another Verne novel and that was good as well. His style is a little old-fashioned and it took me over a month to read this, but it was still good. Some parts are a little boring but the part where the baboons invade their house isn’t. I would recommend this to someone who has a lot of time on his or her hands and who likes adventure.
