The Swiss Family Robinson (Signet Classics) (Paperback)

~ Johann D. Wyss (Author), J. Hillis Miller (Introduction), Elizabeth Janeway (Afterword) "ALREADY the tempest had continued six days; on the seventh its fury seemed still increasing; and the morning dawned upon us without a prospect of..." (more)
Key Phrases: sweet acorns, smoking rock, young buffalo, Falcon's Nest, Falcon's Stream, Tent House (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

With a new introduction by J. Hillis Miller

Swept off course by a raging storm, a Swiss pastor, his wife, and four young sons are shipwrecked on an uncharted tropical island. Thus begins the classic story of survival and adventure that has fired the imaginations of readers since it first appeared in 1812.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Signet Classics (December 7, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451529618
• ISBN-13: 978-0451529619
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #25,730 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful adventure and nature story, October 8, 2008

By	Mark E. Baxter "Inquirer" (Layton, UT United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I rarely give 5 star reviews but this 200 year old book deserves it. It is well-written, well-paced, full of adventure, and is a wonderful book on man's interactions with nature and the environment.

A shipwreck strands a family headed for the new world with nothing but the ship's supplies and each other on a desert isle. Through hard work and knowledge of the natural world, they are able to not just survive, but thrive on the island. There is no better adventure in the natural world survival story.

This book is so good and so well-regarded that there have been multiple schmaltzy movie versions over the years. DON'T SEE THEM UNTIL YOU READ THE BOOK! The writing moves well and the plot line includes plenty of excitement. Although this book is 200 years old, the author wrote it as an action book and it does not drag like other works of the time like "Last of the Mohicans" or "Robinson Crusoe". Robinson Crusoe is another famous survival story written prior to this book, but it suffers from being a morality play with little action and long descriptive sections that are frankly boring. The Swiss Family Robinson is a much better book.

This is a particularly clean book also and is perfect for younger readers as well. Highly recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CGE Student Review, June 3, 2009

A Kid's Review

The Swiss Family Robinson is a family traveling in the sea when a tragic storm hits them off course and sends them deeper into the storm and then they were forced to abandon their ship. Unfortunately there were not enough life boats so they had to leave a family and their livestock alone to drown or starve to death. Will they survive the night?
Characters: Swiss family Robinson, Tork and Flora, Elizabeth and the livestock and animals.
Genre: Nonfiction
This adventurous story of a ship wrecked family surviving and conquering the wild and taming animals and building shelter and they have happy and sad times living there and end up actually enjoying it.
I recommend this book to adventure seekers everywhere and people who love survival stories.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars in-your-face didactic literature, August 3, 2009

By	Caraculiambro (La Mancha and environs) - See all my reviews

It seemed like everybody but me was familiar with the story of the Swiss Family Robinson, so I finally decided to sit down and read the original (written by Johann Wyss in the early 1800's).

The thing that surprised me is that the book is unapologetic, didactic literature. Kind of like Robinson Crusoe, but with a heavy-handed attempt to inculcate self-reliance and Christian values.

Here's a sample of what you're in store for. The book is narrated by the father, who at one point believes that a tiger is about to eat one of his sons: ". . . I was well satisfied with the courage of Fritz, who, instead of running away, stood firm to face the danger; the only motion he made being that of seeing that this piece was fit to be discharged, and turning himself to front the spot whence the noise proceeded. . . . I received the poor fellow with lively joy, and did not fail to commend both the bravery and discretion of my son, in not yielding to even a rational alarm."

And then you have the many, many references to Providence and God's wisdom. Another sample:

"Since it please God that it should be so," said my wife, "let us endeavor to be content, and let us be grateful to Him for having saved us from their unhappy fate, and for having once more brought us all together."

The adventures are passable, but they take a back seat to praising various virtues, such as Patience and Thrift. Though the book is still readable, if I had read this as a kid I would probably have been disgusted with it, since what adventures there are are plainly meretricious: the real point of the book is to preach to you.