Hello everyone.

I like to read stories about people who are stranded on a foreign, rough land and trying to survive and make the best out of it.

I have read Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, of course.
The novel which had the most impact on me was The Survivors of the "Jonathan", also known as Magellania, written by Jules Verne.
You can also find this topic in James Clavell's Shogun or Yuri Rytkheu's A Dream in Polar Fog.

Can somebody recommend an interesting book?
It does not matter, whether it is fiction or based on a true story. However I dislike, when the main theme is just about horror or splatter.

Thanks for every recommendation! :)

I haven't read it yet, but I have on my TBR list Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage.

http://www.amazon.com/Endurance-Shackletons-Incredible-Voyage-ebook/dp/B001Q3KDMA/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1330091042&sr=8-2

It's nonfiction. I was impressed with the consistently great reviews. This was an ebook deal at one time (don't remember the price) but I didn't pick it up because my library has it.

eP

Adrift in the Pacific-Two Years Holiday by Jules Verne
A Fringe of Leaves by Patrick White
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Cay by Theodore Taylor
The Blue Lagoon by Henry De Vere Stacpoole
The Coral Island, by RM Ballantyne
The Adventures of Ben Gunn by R.F. Delderfield

Non-fiction survival stories:

Sole Survivor by Ruthanne Lum McCunn
Four Against the Arctic by David Roberts

How about The land that time forgot, by Edgar Rice Burroughs - and its two sequels.

Mike

A terrific YA classic, Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O'Dell.

Jules Verne - "The Mysterious Island" available at MobileRead

Frederick Marryat - "Masterman Ready" available at MobileRead

R.M.Ballantyre "The Coral Island" available at MobileRead

Johann Wyss - "The Swiss Family Robinson"

I would recommend Tom Neale: An Island to Oneself. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Neale
I loved that book when I was a kid.

My Side Of The Mountain by Jean Craighead George
The Hatchet Series by Gary Paulsen

I doubt it it has been turned into an ebook, but Robb White's "The Survivor" was a favourite of mine when I was younger. There's also "Death Watch" by the same author, which takes place in an American Desert, but is definitely a survivor tale.

Tunnel in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein I liked it basicly it was about a group of kids trying to survive on a planet but it would be easy to ignore the planet aspect and treat it as an island/jungle.

I don't know if it is available as an ebook, but you might like Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors by Piers Paul Read, the real story of a group of uruguayan rugbiers who, in 1972, survived 72 days in the Andes mountains after the plane that was flying them to Chile crashed.

I just saw that "An Island to Oneself" by Tom Neale is available for free as a PDF here:
http://www.privateislandsonline.com/download_an-island-to-oneself.htm

I haven't read it yet, but I have on my TBR list Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage.

http://www.amazon.com/Endurance-Shackletons-Incredible-Voyage-ebook/dp/B001Q3KDMA/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1330091042&sr=8-2

It's nonfiction. I was impressed with the consistently great reviews. This was an ebook deal at one time (don't remember the price) but I didn't pick it up because my library has it.

eP

I can vouch for Endurance. I listened to it as an audiobook, and it was fascinating. I'd highly recommend it.

On a similar note, "Alone" by Admiral Richard E. Byrd also is an interesting read. The author's isolation was self-imposed and wasn't complete isolation as his support crew was a hundred miles or so away, but he endured the incredible cold of the South Pole along with technical malfunctions, psychological problems, etc.

Enjoy!

SteveK

I haven't read it yet, but I have on my TBR list Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage.

http://www.amazon.com/Endurance-Shackletons-Incredible-Voyage-ebook/dp/B001Q3KDMA/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1330091042&sr=8-2

It's nonfiction. I was impressed with the consistently great reviews. This was an ebook deal at one time (don't remember the price) but I didn't pick it up because my library has it.

eP

I read that in like 6th grade. It was good.

Thanks a lot for your recommendations! I will closely consider them, when I have finished reading my current book.

If you do know more good books about this topic, please just post them. ;)

I haven't read it yet, but I have on my TBR list Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage.

http://www.amazon.com/Endurance-Shackletons-Incredible-Voyage-ebook/dp/B001Q3KDMA/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1330091042&sr=8-2
...

I haven't read that one, either, but I have read (listened to unabridged audio version) of The Endurance, Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander (Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/The-Endurance-ebook/dp/B001O1O6PE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1330528010&sr=1-1)) and recommend it highly.

"Touching the Void", Simpson - a bit out of the "ordinary" survival, but fantastic ! :)

"Touching the Void", Simpson - a bit out of the "ordinary" survival, but fantastic ! :)

Second the motion! The movie is pretty good, too.

The Penal Colony (http://www.amazon.com/The-Penal-Colony-ebook/dp/B004VTHSA6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1330788592&sr=8-2) is a freebie on Amazon.com that was quite good (4 1/2 stars reviews). The main character is exiled to an island with other convicts and has to survive.

The Penal Colony (http://www.amazon.com/The-Penal-Colony-ebook/dp/B004VTHSA6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1330788592&sr=8-2) is a freebie on Amazon.com that was quite good (4 1/2 stars reviews). The main character is exiled to an island with other convicts and has to survive.

Thanks for the pointer (free on Amazon UK too). :thumbsup:

THE WRECK OF THE MEDUSA
The Most Famous Sea Disaster of the Nineteenth Century.
By Jonathan Miles.

NYT review here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/books/review/Williams-t.html?pagewanted=all

Truly horrifying, if that's what you're after.

I haven't read it yet, but I have on my TBR list Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage.

http://www.amazon.com/Endurance-Shackletons-Incredible-Voyage-ebook/dp/B001Q3KDMA/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1330091042&sr=8-2

It's nonfiction. I was impressed with the consistently great reviews. This was an ebook deal at one time (don't remember the price) but I didn't pick it up because my library has it.

eP

I read the book over 30 years ago ...and still do from time to time ..wonderful true story ...one year even bought my mom a large coffee table edition

adrift ...previously mentioned...guy spends 0ver 60 days at sea in a raft after his sail boat is sunk by a whale ( true story)

And I alone Survived ...true too :)

and there must be a book or 2 out there on the largest shark attack in history ...hundreds died ...the sinking of the Indianapolis ...

and there must be a book or 2 out there on the largest shark attack in history ...hundreds died ...the sinking of the Indianapolis ...

Don't want to make light of the truly awful event - but it does sound rather like a non-survivalist work.....

Don't think I could take it, anyway.

"Touching the Void" , though - stunning, and beautifully written....
And the Shackleton ? A real no-brainer really - got to be on your list.

I rather gave up on "Penal Colony", my initial doubts being confirmed - but due to the weakness of the writing, and the somewhat dated feel, rather than any depictions of horror and bestiality that the title nudges you about.
Don't know why I d/loaded it, really, didn't sound anything like my cup of Java.

Oh yes, it was free.......

Not sure if it's available as an ebook, but "Castaway" by Lucy Irvine is beautifully written. They're not strictly stranded, but experimenting in the Crusoe experience. However, some things do go wrong....
Although written from female POV, not a "girlie" book.

Here's another novel: A Dream in Polar Fog (http://www.amazon.com/Dream-Polar-Fog-Yuri-Rytkheu/dp/0974968072). The exploration of cross-cultural issues here is unusually subtle. This the description from Amazon:

A Dream in Polar Fog is at once a cross-cultural journey, an ethnographic fable and chronicle of the Chukchi people and a breathtaking adventure story. It is the story of John MacLellan, a young Canadian sailor who is left behind by his ship, stranded among the native people of the arctic coast. It is the story of one Chukchi community that adopts a crippled stranger and teaches him to live as a “true human being.” During the long winter, John comes to know his new companions—first as untutored primitives, then in the romantic light of noble savages and finally as a real people who share the best and worst of human traits with his own kind. Tragedy strikes, and a life is lost and re-given; a man rises to take the place of a boy; wounds are healed with compassion, honesty and love. And when difficult times loom ahead, it is his new family that John will fight to preserve.

Unbroken (http://www.amazon.com/Unbroken-Survival-Resilience-Redemption-ebook/dp/B003WUYPPG/ref=zg_bs_154606011_56) has excellent reviews on Amazon.

NYT review (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/books/review/Margolick-t.html?pagewanted=all)

Here's another novel: A Dream in Polar Fog (http://www.amazon.com/Dream-Polar-Fog-Yuri-Rytkheu/dp/0974968072). The exploration of cross-cultural issues here is unusually subtle. This the description from Amazon:

A Dream in Polar Fog is at once a cross-cultural journey, an ethnographic fable and chronicle of the Chukchi people and a breathtaking adventure story. It is the story of John MacLellan, a young Canadian sailor who is left behind by his ship, stranded among the native people of the arctic coast. It is the story of one Chukchi community that adopts a crippled stranger and teaches him to live as a “true human being.” During the long winter, John comes to know his new companions—first as untutored primitives, then in the romantic light of noble savages and finally as a real people who share the best and worst of human traits with his own kind. Tragedy strikes, and a life is lost and re-given; a man rises to take the place of a boy; wounds are healed with compassion, honesty and love. And when difficult times loom ahead, it is his new family that John will fight to preserve.

Yes, I already read this, as mentioned in the first post. But still thank you, it is a great book.

Tunnel in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein I liked it basicly it was about a group of kids trying to survive on a planet but it would be easy to ignore the planet aspect and treat it as an island/jungle.

Yes, this is a great book and inspired me to write, Surviving the Fog. This book is the anti-Lord of the Flies.

Don't want to make light of the truly awful event - but it does sound rather like a non-survivalist work.....

Don't think I could take it, anyway.

"Touching the Void" , though - stunning, and beautifully written....
And the Shackleton ? A real no-brainer really - got to be on your list.

I rather gave up on "Penal Colony", my initial doubts being confirmed - but due to the weakness of the writing, and the somewhat dated feel, rather than any depictions of horror and bestiality that the title nudges you about.
Don't know why I d/loaded it, really, didn't sound anything like my cup of Java.

Oh yes, it was free.......


I don't know...most people that survive bad experiences say //it was all about my will,,,..many of these men that both died and survived ...could have just let themselves drown..but chose to live ....I think that is the one common thing all the above mentioned books have in common

So far I read to books due to your recommendations:
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
Great story, I really enjoyed reading it.

Tunnel in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein
I did not know what to think of it, when I read the beginning. It felt to me that the characters in the book did not treat this "Survival" course very special. This course seemed to be regarded as rather unimportant. The main character had no need to take that exam right away. He could have done it later, but it is not obligatory.
I mean in this course some characters got killed in the first couple of hours.They should have emphasized this mortal danger to a greater extent.
However the later part was definitly what I was looking for. I wished the author had covered a longer time period with a deeper character developement and less time jumps.
Still it is a good read.

Thank you very much!

Just caught the tale end of a BBC booky programme while navigating traffic, a book titled "I Am David" by Anne Holm, 1963. About a concentration camp child and his escape and subsequent journey, survival indeed. Dunno if it's E, but sounds a cert for a read, whatever.........

Louis L'Amour's _Last of the Breed_ is a very well-done survival novel w/ some interesting characters and contrasting cultures.