Customer Reviews

The Swiss Family Robinson (Lake Illustrated Classics, Collection 4)

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

But let's be clear right up front. My 5-star rating of this book applies only to the original unabridged version in Johann Wyss' own words. The modernized versions are watered down, time-wasters for word wusses.

When I was nine years old I spent months struggling through this book for the first time. The old style language made for rough going, but I persevered. In the end I was rewarded with more than a classic tale marvelously told; I discovered a love of books and earned self-respect for tackling a tough read.

If I was a teacher whose task it was to introduce students to classic literature, I would skip Dickens and use this book. Kids love adventure, animals, and action. Swiss Family Robinson has it all. It's really a thriller disguised as a literary classic. All book lovers should read this one at least once.

And please don't watch the Disney movie and claim you've "been there, did that" on this story. The movie is totally different and in no way compares.

Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe carved a literary niche for the survival story, and The Swiss Family Robinson is one of the many stories carved in that mould. Written from the perspective of the father, it chronicles the first-hand account of the shipwreck and survival of a Swiss family of six on a remote island somewhere near New Guinea. The family consists of a Swiss pastor who is a walking encyclopedia on agricultural practices from around the world; his wife who excels in equal measure with culinary skills, and four energetic sons. Displaying remarkable resilience and resourcefulness, they survive completely alone for over ten years until their rescue. In the process, they create their own European civilization, showing complete mastery over animals and plants, and creatively establishing houses. The bulk of the novel consists of their struggle for survival with their endless discovery of new species of plants and animals..

Readers should be warned that different versions of the Swiss Family Robinson abound. The Swiss pastor originally credited with the work - Johann David Wyss (1743-1818) - originally told many of these tales to his children, one of whom was likely responsible for the editing and publication of it. It was subsequently translated into many languages, with translators taking major liberties in abridgement or adding episodes of their own. The Disney film version, for instance, contains confrontations with pirates that are entirely absent from the original. Some versions speak of the shipwrecked lass as "Jenny", others as "Emily". The version I read (the Puffin Classics edition) was the translation of WHG Kingston, first published in 1879, and widely regarded as one of the best-loved English translations. Remarkably, however, it is not based on the original German version, but on an 1816 French version. Regardless of which version one reads, abridged versions sacrifice much of the charm of the original. The longer versions are eloquent, descriptive, and employ vocabulary and language that makes them far more satisfying than most contemporary condensed versions.

Given that the original author was a Swiss pastor, it's not surprising to find the narrative soaked with implicit Christian influences. There are frequent references to God's providence, commendation into God's care, keeping the day of rest, as well as the encouragement of Christian morals. The exercise and promotion of Christian virtue is a clear theme, evident especially in a final scene where the father charges his sons to be faithful as Christians. "In a long conversation with my sons I solemnly charged them with the future responsibilities of their life, in all its varied aspects, of duty towards God, their fellow men, and themselves, pointing out the temptations to which their different characters were likely to expose them, and exhorting them affectionately to hold fast to the faith in which they had been brought up." The boys all have different strengths and weaknesses, and Wyss presents this as a moral lesson for his readers: "Children are, on the whole, very much alike everywhere, and you four lads fairly represent multitudes, who are growing up in all directions. It will make me happy to think that my simple narrative may lead some of these to observe how blessed are the results of patient continuance in well-doing, what benefits arise from the thoughtful application of knowledge and science, and how good and pleasant a thing it is when brethren dwell together in unity, under the eyes of parental love." The importance of a wholesome Christian family working together is very central: "And my great wish is that young people who read this record of our lives and adventures, should learn from it how admirably suited is the peaceful, industrious and pious life of a cheerful and united family, to the formation of strong, pure and manly character."

The island proves to be a form of idyllic paradise, where animals from every continent around the world apparently co-exist in a rather impossible manner (Australian kangaroos and platypuses, Antarctic penguins, African lions and elephants, North American wolves, and bears, South American boa constrictors, not to mention walruses, tapirs, toucans, flamingos and ostriches). New species of plants and animals are conveniently discovered on a daily basis, and the Wyss family appears to have an inexhaustible knowledge of how to use these resources to create their own civilization. They are little troubled by sickness, storms or strife, and have few difficulties in taming nearly every animal known to mankind. They are able to cook every delicacy ever conceived. Whether their menu offers truffles or turtle, roasted bear-paw or buffalo, the food is always good and the meat never burnt. In fact their success sometimes becomes rather repetitive and tiresome, and is evidently rooted in an overly optimistic view of mankind and faith in the possibilities offered by scientific knowledge.

But rather than become too frustrated by the utopianism, you should suspend your sense of disbelief and enjoy the ride. Certainly it is rather hard to believe that a Swiss pastor can immediately recognize a Myrica cerifera when he sees one and conveniently knows that its berries can be melted and strained to make candles, or that he knows that a sturgeon's bladder can be used to make isinglass, or that he remembers intricate details about Italian, Indian and South American practices of agriculture and animal husbandry. The production of chinaware, porcelain, soap, and rubber boots and the apparent skills in taxidermy and other exotic abilities may at times be hard to swallow. And the endless discoveries and conquests of nature are rather repetitive. But in the end it's enjoyable. It's little wonder that the Wyss family decided not to leave their "New Switzerland" at the end. For the same reason, so many people come back to the Robinson's island time and again. Some of the ideas in this book are certainly dated, but this book has stood the test of time, and spending time with the Swiss Family Robinson will continue to be rewarding.

I want anyone else who is considering ordering this book toknowthat this version is severely abridged. All references to the family's faith in God are removed, as well as other description. This may or may not be what you are looking for, but it does completely change the character of the story. This volume is about 150 pages, compared to my unabridged paperback, now sadly falling apart, which is 445 pp.

Similarly to Robinson Crusoe, the Swiss Family Robinson's ship gets hung up on rocks off the coast of a mysterious land. Again, similarly, they manage to salvage some things from the wreck, and provide for themselves off the land. Here the similarities end.

The Swiss Family Robinson plot line is way less convincing! The entire crew leaves the ship by lifeboat in the night, and is never heard from again - and no reason is given for their desertion of just this one family! Oddly enough, their "wreck" never gets really wrecked, but remains intact enough to plunder endlessly. Not to mention that since it was stocked to supply a brand new settlement, it has everything they could possibly need. Fruit trees, livestock, seeds, tools, even a forge and a little ship! Every time they turn around they stumble over another food source or other resource! And Mr. Robinson is a seemingly endless storehouse of knowledge about obscure tropical plants and animals and their uses.

If you are a realist, it is a bit much to swallow!

It is also very religious, and loaded with little morality speeches. There is nothing about illness, all injuries are minor, and nobody ever gets depressed with their lot! And all are continually very grateful for God's providence.

It is a very pretty picture of a family stranded in Eden, all working hard and cheerfully together. Just lovely, but much more sanitized than the truly convincing story of Robinson Crusoe.

Everyman's Children's Classics really SERIOUSLY screwed this up. If you are going to advertise a classic, you should publish the original unabridged version. Otherwise what's the point. I got taken in because I figured the series would respect the books. It was beautifully produced and a quality product for a mere physical object, but I felt totally ripped off when I opened it to see that it was NOT the original book. Now I have to figure out who to give it to. Certainly, no-one I really like.

What a disappointment.

There's not many classic books that are more well known than "The Swiss Family Robinson." A Swiss family is stranded on an uninhabited island and there doesn't seem to be any rescues that are lingering around the corner for many years. Soon the family is taming tons of new pets, fighting off animals such as anacondas and lions, and learning how to basically survive off the land the best they can. The Robinson family must keep an eye out for danger while also starting a whole new way of life for themselves.

I thought "The Swiss Family Robinson" was a spectacular adventure/survival book. You can say that the book is pretty much a long diary that is kept by the father of the family of everything that happens to them on the island. The book I read did have many references to God unlike some of the abridged editions. The only thing I didn't like about "The Swiss Family Robinson" is that when the family starts collecting and taming many animals that they find on the island, it gets a little tough to keep up with all the animals' names, but that wasn't bad enough to take anything away from the book for me.

I recommend anybody who likes survival or adventure books, especially if you like reading the classics, to get "The Swiss Family Robinson." I would recommend getting an unabridged version of the book if you can so you won't miss a word.

I really liked the book "The Swiss Family Robinson." It has a lot of action-like things that make it so exiting to read. How the Family Robinson survived without anything, except what was on the shipwreaked boat. It was very cool, with all the exotic animals.The wars against animals made me read on and on for the adventure and excitment. This book is for venturesome readers. You should read it, or you will be missing out.

The book that I am reviewing is The Swiss Family Robinson. The Author is Johann Wyss. This Book is an Adventure novel; it has a lot of fun and interesting content. The author did a great job on this book.

The story is about a family that gets stranded on an island and try to survive by themselves. The family set up camp on shore. The family awhile after made a house in a tree. They only made it in 3 months and every person participated. The Family also had to fight animals such as a serpent and a lioness. The Robinsons planted crops and other vegetables. At times the children would do weird things but that made the story even more irresistible.


The writer's word use was a little above my level sometimes as a 6th grader, but was still enjoyable to read. Her Sentence structure was equal in the way that, not all her sentences were short, or long. This book has a lot of action and adventure, and sometimes rather sad. With word choice she used word that ranged in difficulty. This book is great for anyone who wants to read it.

I began reading this timeless classic for the first time in my forty years last week. At first I was incredulous about the worldwide menagerie that was the island they were shipwrecked upon. Not counting the animals they brought with them from the grounded ship, we have an impossible group of animals: North American porcupines, African jackals and flamingos, Australian kangaroos, Antarctic penguins, South American anacondas... and the list goes on. It's as though the author interviewed every sailor he could find and included their journey's animals into this single story. This disbelief was difficult for me to suspend, until I had this thought...

The Swiss Family Robinson DROWNED in the ship wreck on the way to Australia!

How else could their ease of transition from urbanites to jungle dwellers be explained? How could the good pastor Robinson know as much as he did about flora and fauna from around the world? How could this Garden of Eden provide them with all the raw materials they needed, all the way down to Indian rubber and Egyptian cotton? Why was there virtually no tension between the family members other than anxiety on the part of the mother as Robinson and his boys were pillaging the ship? Why did they choose to stay on the island? The simplest answer is also the most obscene. Because they were all dead and in their personal heaven!

Notice that while Pastor Robinson often prays to God, he never mentions Jesus Christ or any other form of organized religion. The book was written in the last days of the Age of Enlightenment, where the study of natural history was encouraged and deism, the study of religion as viewed by the natural world without the confines of religious dogma, was in full bloom. What we're reading about is the Robinson family in "deist heaven"... man at one with nature, with man as master of nature. Infinite game. Infinite resources. A perfect Utopia in which to live out eternity.

I've found that reading the book with this frame of mind helps to suspend my disbelief when I become overly critical of the author's literary excesses.

The book that I read for this book review was called The Swiss Family Robinson.
The author of the book was a woman named Johann Wyss. My name is Lila and I am a [...] student. The book the Swiss Family Robinson was a very good adventure book that took place in the 1700's during the Revolutionary War.

The book The Swiss Family Robinson is about a family, a minister his wife and there 4 sons: Fritz, Ernest, Franz, and Jack. The family is on a when they are shipwrecked. The next morning when the family wakes up they realize that the other ship members have abandoned them they suddenly realize that the ship will sink any moment and that they were in trouble. The family builds a raft and they sail to the closest island. When they get on to the island they find bigger problems. The family needs to find food, build shelter and survive. After a little while on the island the family builds a house in the tree. They are able to catch fish for food and they survive so cleverly alone from the world that when their rescue finally comes they don't want to leave. It is an amazing book of discovery and adventure that you won't want to put down.

This book (The Swiss Family Robinson) was a very good book. I liked how the book was so exciting that it made the reader not want to put it down. On a scale from 1 to 5 I would rate this book a 4. I really liked how the author described the setting and other things. It made it really interesting for the reader. One of the other things that the author did really well was she spread out short sentences and the longer sentences. She might have a very long sentence and then a short sentence. One someone reads this book they will be able to tell what is going on in the book because of the great description