The Coral Island - RM Ballantyne

Published by Fabbri Publishing: Barcelona, Spain, 1991.
First published by The Thames Publishing Company, 1857.

When I recently reread Lord of the Flies it noted that William Golding wrote that book after having read this one. Apparently he decided that this book was too happy, and that it wasn't realistic, so wrote the far heavier version he is known for. I had a copy of this book on my shelf, so felt it only appropriate to see what I thought, myself.

The Coral Island is, as Golding pointed out, a far more positive experience than Lord of the Flies. There are only three boys who end up shipwrecked on the island (with all the adults adrift in a separate boat and possibly ending up elsewhere), and two of them - Ralph and Jack - have had their names repurposed for the main characters in Golding's book. The third book, Peterkin, does not appear in Lord of the Flies, but perhaps his 'P' name inspired the character of Piggy - the third 'lead' of Flies.

Whereas Flies has the boys attempting to form civilization, only to fall into chaos, the boys in Coral Island use their know-how and practical skills to flourish on their island. Jack knows a lot about various flora and fauna, and the boys thrive on "cocoa-nuts," pigs and fish. They create candles from candle-nut trees, they are able to build a boat by cutting straight logs, and even make sails from coconut fibres. There are points in the book where the boys admit they are having such a good time that they don't want to be rescued.

For about the first third of the book, it is a relatively idyllic account of life on the island, with only a few slightly dramatic encounters with sharks, or the ruined evidence of former inhabitants. Then, all of sudden, the book shifts tone. This begins with the arrival of a group of 'natives', pursued by a second group, who have open and bloody warfare on the beach, complete with brains splattering and moments of cannibalism. The boys step in to help out, save one group, and then wave them farewell.

A second change happens when a group of pirates arrive. In short order, one of the boys is captured, and the book leaves the other two behind, following this new adventure on a pirate ship.

Eventually, after various adventures, the main boy returns to rescue the others, and they have a final adventure where Christianity ends up saving the day.

So... a book of three sections, each quite different. Which, to be honest, is par for the course of some older stories where the adventure rambles in a bunch of different directions.

It's interesting. A mix of fun light-hearted adventure, brutal violence, and questions about the impact of Christianity, all of which have quite different tones.

Lord of the Flies is a much better written book, but personally, I 'enjoyed' this one more.

Completed 10 March 2026.

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