I live about as far away from any ocean as you can get (in the middle of the US--where plains and prairies are abundant), yet I am drawn to books and movies that are set on islands or near coastlines. Wishful thinking, I guess. If I could live anywhere I would choose to live near a rocky coast where I could hear the roar of the ocean every day. This past weekend I watched Swept from the Sea with Rachel Weisz, and Vincent Perez, which was set in Cornwall. To be honest I didn't really like the movie--not sure why, as every Amazon reviewer seemed to love it. However, it had the most beautiful setting--including a lovely cottage a stones throw from the ocean.
I had no idea, but the movie was based on a short story by Joseph Conrad called "Amy Foster". It is the story of the lone survivor of a ship lost at sea--bound for America from Russia. Yanko is washed ashore in some small village in Cornwall. He cannot speak the language and is taken as a madman. Amy is an outcast herself, though I must have not been paying attention to the part where they explained why she barely spoke. Of course they fall in love, and marry (don't worry he learns english)--tragic ending--everything you expect from classic literature. Even though there were aspects of the movie I just didn't go for, I loved the setting. That alone is worth watching the movie for.
I still have books to fall back on even though the movie won't prove to be a favorite. Of my current reads: Robinson Crusoe is perhaps the first tale of a man shipwrecked on a deserted island. Crusoe has just been shipwrecked, and he is pulling off all the supplies from his ship that he can save that will be of use before it sinks. Occasionally while I am reading I am having visions of another island impinge upon my reading--The Island of Doctor Moreau--yet another harrowing island tale of a slightly different kind (good thing I haven't watched the movie or I would be having vivid images in my mind of animal-like creatures, which likely Crusoe has not and will not encounter). However, John Banville's The Sea is a much more gentle read. No shipwrecks! Max, the narrator, looks back at his childhood holidays by the sea. I know this is also going to have some sort of tragic ending (I can just feel it), but it is lyrical nonetheless.
I have not forgotten my quest for that perfect book. You know--when you are in the mood for a particular place or story, which in my case usually has something to do with an island, or a town by the sea, or sailing. Am I the only one who looks for these sorts of comfort reads (not necessarily this particular setting, but whatever you yourself fancy)? No matter how many ways the story is told, I am happy to read book after book of the same sort. I still have my subset of books from the larger TBR pile, and eventually I am going to grab one of these books to read: The Loving Spirit (Cornall) and Frenchman's Creek (Cornish Coast) by Daphne Du Maurier, Foreign Fruit by Jojo Moyes (a story set in a 1950s British seaside town), Moonfleet by J. Meade Falkner (classic tale of mystery and high adventure in a Dorset smuggling village), Ross Poldark by Winston Graham (you guessed it-Cornwall), and Isabella by Fiona Mountain (a love story of Fletcher Christian--of Mutiny on the Bounty fame--and Isabella Curwen). Yes, you have seen some of these titles before (and note--they are all set in Britain, and I ordered them from Amazon-UK--am I missing books with this sort of setting here in the US? Am I not paying attention? Don't we have any good stories of that type here?). I have a feeling that one of these is going to sneak into the current reads pile. I do try and keep an orderly line from the TBR pile to my nightstand, but occasionally one will mischievously cut. What can you do? It's obviously screaming to be read--it simply can't be ignored!