Rating :
Blurb
A violent storm blows a hot air balloon carrying five American men and a dog thousands of miles into the Pacific and strands them on a deserted island. Through their intelligence and ingenuity, they survive and prosper. There seems to be nothing they can't do with their knowledge of science and technology, and they create a home, a farm, a ranch, a mill, a telegraph, and a mine, among other things. As the years pass, they notice more and more strange events occuring that they can't explain. When they can no longer chalk these occurences up to coincidence, they set out to discover the island's secret.My review
This was a good story, as good as any Jules Verne book I've read; however, it was a little too good to be true. Not only do the characters in the book collectively know everything that could be known in that time period and how to build everything, but they then have a mysterious helper who gets them out of every further bind they find themselves in. As a scientist, Jules Verne goes into great details explaining how the tools, buildings, and items were created which converted these men from castaways into industrious colonists.
Tying this book in with the previous books was interesting, but he obviously hadn't thought that through before hand with his having to mention that some the dates in the other books were wrong. Still, the characters do things and solve problems, which is better than the journey books he wrote where the characters spend most of the book sitting around and talking.
This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite books of all time. It tells the story of how five men manged to defy nature's will and triumph. I really like how Verne goes into detail about how they created everything. Though it is a bit dissapointing that they weren't entirely on their own, it's still a great book.
