Ahh, the French, they do everything so differently. This was a completely different story to the one I read at school. Either the plot was genuinely implausible in some places (curing an arm that was already black with gangrene - please!), or I failed to understand it.
But the atmosphere, the ambience - it was good. The sense of despair at being stuck on the island came through quite well. RC's resourcefullness was good, in fact it was a bit over the top. I mean the harpsichord was always in tune, there were lots of candles to burn, the glasses were unbroken, and there was plenty of writing ink - even after those fifteen years. And by the way - how DID the "sauvages" managed to stay clean shaven all the time???
And you ladies out there, I hope you enjoy the rear views of Vendredi in his G-string as much as my wife did - "strapping" was the word she used.
All in all - a pleasant diversion, not a very believable story, but an interesting one.
