Sunday, June 24, 2018

Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss

Swiss Family Robinson (c)1812
by Johann Wyss
The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss is a fun, adventurous classic with lots of action and excitement.
It was first written in 1812, and translated into English in 1814.

It is the story of a family, dad, mom, and four sons who are shipwrecked on a deserted island and who have to make the best of things waiting for help to arrive.

They had the luck to have quite a few domestic animals with them on the ship when it ran onto rocks, but none of the crew of the ship survived. The crew abandoned the family on the ship and took to lifeboats in the storm, and since we never hear from the crew again, we, and the Robinson family can only assume they all drowned.

During their time on the island, they find and tame many wild creatures, and even rescue a young lady who is also shipwrecked on another part of the island.

While I found it a little farfetched that an island would have so many different kinds of animal life, from penguins to ostriches living natively on the island, I didn't let that bother me, and simply enjoyed the story. I believe that anyone who enjoys a good adventure story, especially one that involves people using ingenuity and cleverness to adapt themselves to their new environment, and their new environment to themselves, would enjoy The Swiss Family Robinson.

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