"The Swiss Family Robinson" by Johann David Wyss

I read this with some friends on Instagram as part of the #DisneyOriginsBookClub last month, and it was such a fun trip down memory lane for me!  I read this several times as a kid, and I've seen the 1960 Disney movie dozens of times -- it's one my kids love now too.  But I haven't reread the book since my teens, so I was eager to revisit it.

I finished reading this right before we went to Florida on vacation.  My choice of attraction to visit in Disney World was the Swiss Family Robinson tree house, and it was awesome!  The pictures throughout this post are from my visit there.

A Swiss family -- Mother, Father, Fritz, Ernest, Jack, and Francis -- are stranded on a deserted island when the colonizing ship they were sailing on runs afoul of a giant storm.  Because that ship was meant for the establishment of a new colony, they have every conceivable tool and supply at their disposal.  They just have to ferry them to land from the shipwreck.  Also, because both Father and Mother are extremely resourceful and unbelievably knowledgeable, they have no trouble at all making a very fine new home on that deserted island.

One of the things I liked best about this book is how adamant the father (who is the narrator) is that they ask God to bless their every venture, and thank God for every blessing that befalls them.  You can tell that the author was a minister, and that he took his faith very seriously.

Besides being a minister, Johann David Wyss was an amateur naturalist and outdoorsman, and he made up this story as a series of bedtime stories for his sons, teaching them lessons about animals and nature, as well as survival skills and moral lessons.  He wrote the stories down eventually, but never shared them with anyone.  His son, Johann Rudolph Wyss (author of the Swiss national anthem!), eventually found his father's handwritten manuscript, spiffed it up, and submitted it to a publisher.  And it was a great success, way back in 1812.

All of that explains why this story is extremely episodic (because it was made up in little bits at bedtime, night after night) and occasionally pedantic (because it was meant to instruct the storyteller's sons).  Neither of those characteristics made the book unenjoyable for me in the slightest, but there were people in our reading group who found those aspects fairly off-putting, so YMMV.

Is this story far-fetched?  Totally.  Is it a rip-roaring good time?  Absolutely.  I really love stories of people building new lives with only what they have at hand, and that's probably due in a large part to this book.

By the way, the family's last name is NOT Robinson.  Their last name is never given, nor are the first names of the parents.  Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe was so popular when it came out in 1719 that it spawned an entire genre, called "robinsonade."  As this Wikipedia article explains, robinsinade stories are all about castaways surviving on deserted islands or in other remote and inaccessible places.  There were German robinsons and French robinsons and so on -- so the book's title means this is a robinson story about a Swiss family, not about story about a Swiss family named Robinson.

Now you know!

Particularly Good Bits:

With God's help, let us endeavour to live here contentedly, thankful that we were not cast upon some bare and inhospitable island (p. 20).

Everyone had the pleasant sensation which attends successful labour, as well as experiencing the joy of affording unexpected pleasure to others; and I especially pointed out to my sons how truly genuine happiness consists in that, rather than in mere self-gratification (p. 87).

But, in reality, the more there was to do the better; and I never ceased contriving fresh improvements, being fully aware of the importance of constant employment as a means of strengthening and maintaining the health of mind and body (p. 160).

And my great wish is that young people who read this record of our lives and adventures should learn from it how admirably suited is the peaceful, industrious and pious life of a cheerful and united family to the formation of strong, pure, and manly character (p. 237-38).

What can be more delightful than to find harmony of opinion in those we love when a great and momentous decision has to be taken? (p. 274)

"The whole earth is the Lord's, and where, as in His sight, you lead good and useful lives, there is your home" (p. 276).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for characters running into dangerous animals now and then.

This has been my 36th book read from my third Classics Club list.