The Island is a place that lays in the exact center of a small lake in Northern Wisconsin. But before we get ahead of ourselves... Wil Neuton lives in a small town, in Madison Wisconsin. He lives in a buisy family where his father has a buisy job. It requires him to move from place to place. This presents a major problem for Wil. He knows this town well. All of his friends live there. He grew up there and knew where to go. Now it seems as if all of that is going down the drain. After he moves to his family's new house, the truck is unpacked and the house is settled. During a trip to town, however, Wil finds an Island. It's not the prettiest scenic landscape he has ever seen. But it is unique. It is unique because it gives Wil a place for himself-a peace of mind. Soon, Wil becomes attracted to the island. Every day he wakes up and visits the island for hours each day. He paints, draws, writes, and studies whatever is on his mind. Soon, he decides to stay on the island-for a long amount of time. If he leaves, he will lose a part of him-what he has learned about life, and what he will continue to learn. Yet, he cannot stay on the island forever, away from civilization. Several necessary evils are in the way. One is food, in which there is hardly any on the island. Another is the love of his parents, who fear that he will never return from the Island. Wil's father believes that he is crazy, is on drugs, or has joined a cult. And yet another is a Ray Bunner. Ray attacks Wil out of love for fighting, with lowest regaurd to his blantantly obvious innocense. Then the media violates his privacy...and he must convince his parents that the Island is his place. I enjoyed this book very much. But for the reader to enjoy the book, you need to put your feet into Wil's shoes. Otherwise, you wind up wondering things like, "What kind of crazy kid is he?" It was fairly easy for me to understand Wil, partly because he is much like me. Which was why I enjoyed it. I really admire this character the author created. Wil is quite intelligent and his writing is amazing. And some of the things he talks about, people either take for granted or never analize carefully. And the author's style of writing is excellent. Gentle humor shows up in exactly the right places, and there are smooth transitions between the events in the story. Although it makes me wonder what will happen later on in Wil's life. I'll never find out, because this book hasn't been made into a series. Maybe the author meant to write it that way, just so I would think about it. I give this book a rating of 5.
Title: The Island |
2/31/05
