Customer Reviews

An Island to Oneself

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

No video cameras and immunity for Tom Neale, he did the real deal all by himself for years on a deserted atoll.

A fascinating story of what it takes to survive and a great character study of the type of person who can/would do it.

Tom lived the lazy island life but wasn't satisfied and finally went out to pull a Robinson Crusoe (at the age of 50!). And this was in the 50s. He had no satellite phone to get him out in an emergency, no doppler weather reports, no Honda(tm) generator.

On top of that, he had no safety net. Off the regular shipping channels, he had no scheduled visits, just some random people who happened to pass by and say hi. It was just his skill, determination and a great knowledge of island living that allowed him to survive and thrive.

His daily struggles (from pesky hermit crabs up to life threatening injuries) are a fascinating peek into a life most people will never experience.

After you finish it, be sure check out Wikipedia and the web for more information (and pics) on his life after this book.

An amazing read that ends much too quickly.

First of all there were 28 reviews on this book before mine, 27 of them were 5 star ratings - that tells you people really love this book. I thought it was very good & I along with most of the other reviewers would love to find a place like this to get away to. I am glad that Tom Neale took the time to write about his adventures because beautiful tropical uninhabited islands are something that don't really exist anymore. The events in this book took place just a generation or so ago & the isolation Tom Neale found there is mostly gone nowadays. In the early 1960's Tom would go up to 14 months without even seeing another human being. Compare that to 2006 - online I can see that at this current moment there are 16 sailboats anchored at Suvarov Atoll.

I thought the best moments in the book are when Tom is describing his friend the duck or his cats...or just his total happiness.

I have a couple minor negative points to add: The book was written in 1966 & the newest edition available was printed in 1990. The "postscript" in my 1990 edition says that Tom left Suvarov in December 1963 for a variety of circumstances & was going to live out his days on Rarotonga rather than die a lonely death on an isolated island.

I was very suprised to find out via the internet that he went back in 1967 & lived there until 1977. I think a postscript in a book written in 1990 should have this information in it.

I also thought it was strange that when you read the book Tom describes his life between 1954 & 1960 as a terrible time where daily he tried to find a way to get back to Suvarov , worked in a dreary store & after work would go home every day & work on a boat he was building. He mentions a few friends and not much else. When I looked up his history after reading the book I see that in this time he got married & 2 years after this became a father. I think it just shows that Tom was a very private person by not even mentioning this in his book.

Like other reviewers, reading this book made me envious of Tom Neale's fulfilled fantasy of living and surviving alone on a beautiful tropical island. Actually, it took him an incredible amount of hard work to get to that point, and even more work, determination, and creativity to provide for all his needs from the limited stores he brought with him and what the island itself offered. He ingeniously found ways to build, cook, raise animals, hunt, and eat. Tom enjoyed the challenge of survival, yet his physical toughness was sometimes severely tested in battling the elements. I lived every beautiful and frustrating moment with him (in my imagination, of course). One reviewer mentioned that Tom must have married and had two kids because the reviewer had just ordered one of his books about his sailing adventures, but that is a different Tom Neale that is currently living. The Tom Neale of An Island to Myself passed away quite a few years ago, and I'm pretty sure he remained a bachelor. Fun book!

This was an interesting book, although I didn't think quite as highly of it as the other reviewers. The author does provide an honest and articulate account of his self-imposed exile on a desert island. Unfortunately, there is little drama or adventure and the greatest hardships appear to be the author's lack of company and his longing for luxury items like cigarettes and meat (no joke)! While Tom shows ingenuity and creates a comfortable little setup for himself on the island, his starting point was a sturdy cabin left behind by the island's previous inhabitants...and this was stocked with a laundry list of supplies that he specially ordered and shipped there from his jumping off point (ie. this is no Alexander Selkirk story). Perhaps the book's greatest asset is its insight into the psyche of someone who would try something like this and the underlying theme (although Tom tries to deny this throughout much of the book) that humans are social beings and that we really do need to be around others. For those in search of a truly fascinating and gripping non-fiction read about human triumph over adversity (with adventure, travel, culture and nature mixed in), a much better option is "PADDLE TO THE AMAZON" by Don Starkell.

Tom's "Island to Oneself" is a must read. It is a story that one can connect with regardless of background, social, economic or otherwise.
Being a great fan of the south pacific I now have an even greater drive to remain a fan of that bright, hot and so alive place.
My dream is to move to an island one day, maybe not in such remote and isolated conditions as Mr. Neale, but to `My Island' nonetheless.
I was sad when Tom's story closed but have been motivated to seek other literary routes to islands south while I remain here temporarily `stranded' in my desert!

God bless Mr. Neale's soul and may Tom forever rest in peace

I also recommend the following Great Island Stories (to name a few):
"Island of Desire" Robert Dean Frisbie
"Man on His Island" James S. Rockefeller Jr.
"Lost Island" James Normal Hall
"Rascals in Paradise" James A. Michener & A. Grove Day
"Robinson Crusoe" Daniel Defoe
"Kon-Tiki" Thor Heyerdahl
"Tales of the South Pacific" James A. Michener

If you have ever lived (or wanted to live) on a South Pacific Island (and I have lived on several), you will love this book! Written by a simple man in simple words of his simple life on a deserted tropical island in the Cook Islands group. I never met Tom Neale (but I wished I had) and I never had the fortune (nor the personal fortitude) to follow his example but through his book he has made a life-changing impression on me. If you only ever read one book about living on a tropical island, read this one!

Embarassingly, I am not a person who reads books often. This book reminds me of the enjoyment and fun there is in reading. I first read (An Island To Myself) in the early 70's, again in 1981, and recently again at 51 years old. I couldn't put it down and felt I was living another life for 2 1/2 days. Tom Neale went to the uninhabited island of SUVAROV at 51, believe me, he's made me fanticise.... anyone else interested? His experiences and how a (normal) human being can exist 200 miles from civilization is extrodiarily depited. Read this book, it may become a favorite! To answer a few questions in previous reviews herein: Tom Neale died in 1977, he must have married and wrote two more books, one about cruising with his wife and two children which I ordered today.

If you want to be reassured that it is possible to achieve your dreams, no matter what your age, circumstances or dream, then this is the book for you. Read about Mr Neale's outstanding adventure, and absorb yourself in his delicious descriptions of the simple life. The joys of fishing for survival and of sitting out underneath a canopy of stars. The simple pleasure of the company of animals. The sadness of friends passing through and moving on. All the while marvel at his sheer determination and guts. I loved this book, a modern day escapist travelogue.

A wonderful book - this man lived alone on a small island and he tells of all the little things he had to do to survive. Also covers his interaction with one or two visitors who arrived from time to time. From start to finish it's compulsive reading.

After having visited the Cook Islands in 1999 and 2000, and seeing Tom Neale's grave on Rarotonga, I sought out this book, recently buying it from amazon.com and have now finally finished reading it.

I would heartily recommend this book to anyone - but especially to those who deal with daily struggles, whatever they may be. This book, and Tom Neale as a person, mean so much to me personally. I am so encouraged by Tom Neale's determination, dedication, and motivation. I feel that if he, as a man in his late 50's and 60's, can go and live on a desert island, completely fending for himself - that I can do anything. This book really is that motivational. And if you don't find it so, you are missing something.

My absolute favorite parts of the book are in which the chance coincidences arise in Tom's life - his being saved from illness and perhaps death, for instance, by one of the Rockefeller clan who just happened to be passing by. And his anecdotes about wanting a cigarette, or some rum, show him to be completely human and "just like the rest of us."

_An Island To Oneself_ makes me long to return to the Cook Islands someday, if only they were not so far away. Tom Neale's dislike of civilization, and the way things are in daily life, make it no wonder that anyone would want to escape to such an idyll that was (and is) Suwarrow. As Tom Neale has said of the island, "Time passes here as it was meant to."

If only we could all be so lucky.

If I had a guardian angel, I would say it would be Tom Neale. He is inspiration at its utmost and I admire him so.