The Island at the End of the World

I requested this book as I have previously read The Republic of Trees by the same author and absolutely loved that one. Therefore, I hoped for another terrific read with The Island at the End of the World. To my delight I wasn't disappointed at all. I enjoyed the way the tale is narrated in 3 voices and in particular the writing style of the young boy's thoughts is unique. The actual storyline is extremely deep and dark and drew me in from the opening pages. I loved the brilliant choice that Taylor made in giving the family just 3 books to read - fairy tales, the Bible and Shakespeare - they all add to the darkness that he has created with his tale. Sam Taylor is a gifted writer and he wastes not one word. The world he has created is show more pure genius, yet horrifying, and the family and their way of life and the `truths' that they believe in are beautifully written. This book is an extremely thought provoking, disturbing read, that I highly recommend. show less

Told in first-person narrative, we learn that the father, his two children and the family dog have taken shelter on a remote island after what appears to be an apocalyptic event.

I found this book compelling and a real page-turner, and could not rest until I had reached the final page. Some reviewers have commented on how they found the son's narration with its deliberate spelling mistakes offputting. Yes, some of the spellings are unconventional, but I am myself the mother of a 7-year-old displaying very imaginative spelling and as such recognise that they're clearly adding a distinctive voice. The same goes for the teenage daughter, sounding very stilted at first until you realise that the only literary influences in her life have been show more Grimm's Fairy Tales, the Bible and the collected works of Shakespeare. First-person narratives can be double-edged swords, but here the author makes masterful use of it, so that the final twist comes as a complete shock. Recommended. show less

At first glance, this is another of the flood (sorry) of children's post-environmental apocalypse novels reflecting the (justified) panic about what we've done to ourselves and the world.

Taylor's novel is a cut above all of them. It isn't plucky kids getting by: it takes in madness, obsession, sexuality, knowledge and culture. The writing is challenging, exciting and heavily Joycean. This isn't a novel you can consume and forget about - phrases and events will weigh heavily on your mind for weeks afterwards, and it repays rereading.

For some reason I had picked up 'The Island...' expecting it to be little more than a fable. It really isn't. This is a story of one family surviving an apocolyptic future with a twist, and is full of the fundaments of real life; violence, death, sex, swearing and deeply-felt religion. Taylor has managed to tell a very brutal and upsetting story with an underlying empathy and compassion to his writing which is very rare indeed. I somehow managed to feel anger, sympathy and frustration for all the characters in equal measure.

Through the very different voices of Finn and Alice, and of their father, both the day to day intricacies and the much larger picture of this little family's isolated life are drawn out and we see the children's show more maturation alongside the degeneration of their Pa.

My sole annoyance with 'The Island...' was the phonetic, unpunctuated language used by Taylor to portray the voice of Finn. Right from the start it seemed both superfluous and overdone and not at all reflective of the character's age and capacity for reading. The style was also not in any way replicated in the writing of Alice and simply left me wondering when exactly Finn would make his miraculous jump from primary school writing skills to the measured adult tone of his sister.

But this really was the only sour point of the book for me. I found very early on that I cared for all the characters (particularly and instinctively the carefree, lovable three year old, Daisy), I sat enraptured as the plot developed and very soon reached the back cover feeling that the whole thing was pertinent, sensitive and very well done. show less

A few years ago, the world was drowned by a flood to rival Noah's. But a man and his three children were saved - on the ark he built, knowing apocalypse was near. They live a seemingly idyllic life on an island, away from the tainted world, the last survivors. But Pa has seen a boat on the horizon - someone coming to disrupt everything he's built.

Written from the three very different perspectives of 'Pa' and his two eldest children Alice and Finn, this is an interesting idea. Pa, who knew the world before the apocalypse, will stop at nothing to protect his children from the evil of the world beyond the island. Finn, his 8 year old son has no memory of what life was like before the island and, like most 8 year old boys, worships the show more ground his father walks on. Alice, on the other hand, is growing up and has memories of the old world and is becoming increasingly distrustful of her father and frustrated with life on the island. Cracks are starting to show and the arrival of the stranger widens them.

The first part of the book flips between just Pa and Finn and I'm afraid (as, I notice, other people have commented on), I struggled for quite a while with Finn's chapters. I've read a few books written in dialects, but none have irritated me half as much as these do. They're written half phonetically, half as, I suppose, an immature 8 year old might write, but I just didn't find it convincing and consequently just got more and more irked by it as I went along, instead of adjusting.

What I did find convincing was Alice (well mostly - she's a very precocious 13 year old) - she's growing up, without a mother at an age where everything is changing and what does she have to look forward to? A life on an island with a father she doesn't trust and her younger brother and sister. There are just 3 books on the island - fairy tales for when they're small, the bible (which Finn is now struggling with) and Shakespeare which Alice is devouring - immersed in the romance of Romeo and Juliet, a life without the possibility of this kind of love seems bleak. Her voice enters the story in the second half of the book and her language is full of Shakespeare - where I disliked Finn's narrative, I thought that Alice's was a nice touch - when you're that immersed in a writer, it's very easy to find yourself thinking in a similar fashion.

This is initially a slow burner, becoming a gripping read, with, for me, a bit of a disappointing finish. The finish I can live with, but strangely, the little thing of Finn's dialogue seriously detracted from the book for me. show less

This book is definitely one of those love it or loathe it novels. You'll either love it - for the clever plotting and gradual reveal of what has happened to its family, or loathe it primarily because many chapters are written in eight year old Finn's phonetic speaking voice, where things like changing an'a' for a 'u' in 'can't' will upset many, as will the sexual awakening of young teenager Alice - we hear her voice directly in the second half.

I fall into the first camp - I loved it, even more so once I was used to Finn's voice which does take a few chapters. Right from the beginning you want to find out what happened to this family, God-fearing Pa, Finn, Alice and little sister Daisy - and what became of their mother?

Pa tells of a show more great flood, how he built an ark and that they are the only survivors, lucky to end up on a verdant and fertile island paradise with plenty of wildlife. Their desert island books are the Bible, Shakespeare and Grimm's fairy tales, Alice is starting to get interested in Romeo and Juliet .... a portent of problems to come when this teenager begins to question their situation as her pre-flood memories are awakened. Finn however is having the adventure of a lifetime, until his cat Snowy dies which makes him very sad. Daisy, we never hear directly from but then she's only three and knows no other life.

Then one day a stranger arrives and the family are no-longer alone. Will is not who he seems, but this doesn't stop Alice falling for him and naturally this plunges the family into conflict. Revelations, twists and turns come thick and fast as the novel hurtles towards its climax. To explain any more would give too much away, so I will leave you to make up your own minds. If you can cope with the challenging language and themes there is much to get out of this novel. show less

The story is based on a relatively straightforward idea of a man and his three children living in the wreck of an ark on an island,
apparently the only remaining survivors of a Great Flood. From this, Sam Taylor has woven an intriguing fable that becomes more compelling as it progresses. In addition to the obvious biblical references, the overlapping narratives, intermittent streams of consciousness and interwoven quotations from Shakespeare make this a complex read but not a difficult one and this is a significant achievement. The first part of the novel is alternately narrated by 8-year-old Finn and his father; in the second half Alice provides a third perspective. In order to make these voices distinct Finn's passages are marked by show more the use of phonetic spelling, which initially irritated me with its inconsistency (he spells "ice cold" as "I-scold" yet "dangerous" is correct) but helped to create his point of view. Meanwhile, Pa's sections are punctuated by biblical diatribes and the tortured rantings of a deeply troubled mind to create a truly terrifying character who nevertheless does enlist the reader's sympathy. The arrival of an 'outsider' on the island inevitably disturbs the family's idyllic existence and provides an additional hint (besides others given earlier on) that things are not as they seem. From here the momentum and emotion build to a truly gripping conclusion. Many
readers will find the ending disappointing in its ambiguity but it did not spoil my enjoyment of reading this fantastic novel. show less