Such was the flood of suggestions of other books about islands, following last week's list, here are more.
1 The Naked and the Dead
Norman Mailer
Mailer's unforgettable account of a platoon of soldiers, trapped on the fictional South Pacific island of Anopopei, was based on his own experiences in the Phillipines campaign in the second world war. Mailer took inspiration from Tolstoy, whose Anna Karenina he read every morning before sitting down to write.
2 Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Louis de Berniere
Also set during the second world war, this time on Greek island of Cephallonia, Louis de Berniere's runaway bestseller is a high-octane love triangle, whose frothing plotline reflects the cauldron of Allies, Italians and Germans that fought over the island.
3 Bear Island
Alistair MacLean
Using an island in the Norwegian Arctic, MacLean spins a classic locked-room thriller, in which various members of a film crew en route to the island are murdered, the deaths continuing once they reach the island.
4 Reef
Romesh Gunesekara
Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, this delicate, gentle novel is the story of a boy sent to work for a scientist working on the Sri Lankan coral reef. A subtle view of the relationship between the coloniser and the colonised, it mirrors the destruction of Gunesekera's homeland by the corrupt powers that rule it.
5 Sicilian Carousel
LaWrence Durrell
A lightly fictionalised version of a whistlestop tour Durrell took around Sicily in a little red coach, an island he had wished not to visit after the death of his close friend and correspondent, Martine. Readers can be glad that he overcame his reluctance.
6 The Island of Sheep
John Buchan
In the third of Richard Hannay's knightly outings, the island where it is partly set is a thinly-veiled Faroes. The story is undisguised tosh, of the rip-roaring sort that makes the Bond movies look like kitchen sink realism.
7 Vinland
George Mackay Brown
The writer who considered a day out of Orkney a day wasted turned to the 11th century, when Ranald Sigmundsson, the hero of his saga-style novel, wishes to set sail for the remote island of the title, which he had once visited as a young man. This journey is as much spiritual as physical, and articulates some of Mackay Brown's reflections on death.
8 The Fanatic
James Robertson
Most of Robertson's debut novel takes place on dry land, but the scenes on the Bass Rock, off North Berwick, where one of his characters is imprisoned, are indelible, and are a reminder that this, the world's most famous sanctuary of gannets, was once a terrifying place of correction.
9 The Lighthouse
P D James
When an autocratic, unprincipled novelist is found hanging from the railings of the lighthouse, on a private island off the Cornish coast, what first looks like suicide is soon revealed as murder. The isolated, hot-house setting is perfect for a traditionally overwrought plot, whose feverish potential is doused by James's calm style and even less excitable hero, Adam Dagliesh.
10 A House for Mr Biswas
V S Naipaul
This is a droll, subversive story of a poorly educated boy born in Trinidad, with an extra finger, whose ambition in life is to build and own his own house. A brilliant, subtle work that made Naipaul's name on the international stage, its hero is great company.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article