Customer Reviews

Island

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

With a trip to Crete planned for this summer I chanced upon this book and bought it. Victoria Hislop has researched her subject very well and written a wonderful story. The life of the Cretans and the plight of the lepers was brought home with a tour to the Island of Spinalonga where the lepers lived. Having read the book and listened to our guide, you could get a keen sense of the small world the lepers lived in and even though they lived a very tough life they did find hope in the small things that made them a community. I was throughly touched by the story and my visit.

I enjoy books about people searching for the history of their families, and thought this might be an intriguing one. Aside from the tacked on angst of the modern girl at the beginning and the end, there is a potentially interesting story of a family torn apart by leprosy. It soon appeared tho that rather than allow the family itself to show me what was happening, the author chose to narrate the book as if she was a reporter, giving a blow by blow description of every house, everyone's clothing, everyone's feeling. Very disappointing.

I enjoyed this novel so much that halfway thru it I ordered Victoria Hislop's next book. The writing style is fantastic. The descriptions are eloquent without being pompous or overdone. The characters are like everyday people, if a bit exagerated. It starts with Alexis, a young woman trying to get to the bottom of her mother's strange and mysterious past while vacationing in Crete. I would like to note here that it is NOT like the "Forgotten Garden" for those of you that are not fond of time jumping. After a brief Part One in which readers meet Alexis and her mother Sofia, the entire novel until the very end is about Eleni (Alexis's great grandmother) and Eleni's daughters, Anna and Maria. Eleni is banished from her family and sent to Spinalonga, a leper colony, during pre world war II. While she makes the most of her situation and her disease, her husband and daughters deal with the loss of her and the girls especially deal with pre adolesence and the uncertainity of their futures. Anna is an awful character, the daughter that is evil and cruel and wants something for nothing. Maria cares for people as well as her father and has a heart of gold. Shortly after Eleni dies, Anna marries into a wealthy family and has all she has ever wanted, fine clothes, maids, and a life of money spending and idleness. Yet she wants more. She desires her husband's cousin, who has decided to marry Maria. Unfortunately, and much to Anna's glee, Maria contracts leprosy and must go live on Spinalonga. Is this a blessing in disguise? Readers will be pleasantly surprised at the outcome. Despite her hardships and disease, Maria outshines Anna in life and happiness. A tired but sometimes true moral is hidden within this story.. "Good things come to those that wait.."

I really loved the way the author showed us what life on Spinalonga must have been like, that the people had hope and lived live to its fullest. She also addressed issues such as prejudicy against those that are different and how people's ignorance makes them act harshly and rashly towards others.

25 years ago I visited the leper colony of Spinalonga. It's a haunting place. Impossible to forget. And from the moment Ms Hislop took her readers to Spinalonga I was back on the island. Her descriptions are so evocative that Spinalonga becomes a character.

If I refer to the novel as a family saga that sounds trite. It's so much more. But I loved the unveiling of the family history, especially the relationships between the female relatives. And whilst the subject matter--leprosy--is harrowing, this is an uplifting read, one filled with hope. I found it impossible to put down.

The island is a well written, easy read. a perfect book to take on a trip or to lounge at the beach. The author really captures the local people and their culture and takes you to a small fishing village where most of the story takes place. One easily loses oneself and although I could not read it fast enough, I wanted to relish the pages and the sights and smells of Plaka that are so well described. It is a story set in and around the 1920's when many people that contracted leprosy were sent to s small island off Crete called Spinalonga. It is a story of love lost and gained, passion, tragedy, family history and particularly the shame and ignorance surrounding leprosy in those days. It brings you right up to the present day where Alexis, the daughter, granddaughter and great granddaughter of the characters, finds out more about herself as she is told the story of her family history. It finally reunites a mother and daughter in understanding and love.

I bought this book based on all the glowing reviews here on amazon and ended up being really disappointed. Obviously a lot of people really loved this book, but I thought I'd add my opinion anyway. I didn't think the writing was very good. I felt that it kept you distant from the characters instead of drawing you in to their lives and story. Much of the story was told in summary, so instead of being with the characters as the important events happen, the narrator describes the events to you after the fact. I didn't make it past the first 70 pages or so and ended up returning it to amazon. I just couldn't force myself to keep reading. None of the characters seemed well drawn to me; they seemed more cliches, stock characters, character types instead of real people. The dialogue was stiff and unrealistic. Sorry! I just wasn't a fan. However, again, based on all the fabulous reviews, maybe I just missed the point.

I found "The Island" to be predictable, lacking in character development and passion, and trite. We are told that Maria is the good, dutiful daughter, while Anna is the rebel, but to me these characterizations were one dimensional and stereotypical. I thought it defied logic that Andreas for years didn't catch on to what was going on between his wife and Manolis, when even Maria, her sister banished to Spinalonga, knew. Also, I would imagine that in such a small area everyone would know when someone contracts leprosy and is sent to Spinalonga. Yet Andreas'parents didn't know. Wouldn't you think that they might ask how Anna's mother died before she married Andreas? Inconsistencies such as these irritated me.

Initially I was going to give this book 4 starts, but later decided on 5. I felt like the beginning was a little hurried in certain parts. Although I had some qualms about pace and writing style in a few parts, the creativity that went into the plot is quite commendable.

In "The Island," Hislop has not only given a different spin on leprosy, an illness as old as history itself, but she has also reawakened the little-known history of Spinalonga. I liked the fact that the love between Maria and Dr. Kyritsis was non-idealized, and characters like Anna were quite realistic. As Alexis undertakes the trip to unearth her family history, layers of history are skillfully unwoven by the author, and the reader is not disappointed.

I was worried about how the author would end the book, but she did it quite well. "The Island" is wound up in a nice, patient way. Without care, the end of this saga could easily have been botched. Good job to Victoria Hislop!

An interesting look at what it might have been like inside the leper colony of Spinalonga of the coast of Crete, but the author does not give us any hint of her research, or how much of the story is based on fact. That, plus some stilted dialogue and narrative, lower this books rating a bit, but it remains an engaging story.

Even an intriguing setting and interesting plot are not enough to make this book a good read. The writer's style is extremely disappointing. Don't waste your money.