In the third novel of the "Bounty" trilogy, the mutineers of the "Bounty" take their Tahiti brides and four male islanders and settle on the previously uninhabited island in the Western South Pacific, the place known as Pitcairn's Island. This novel is fascinating in how it contrasts with the second novel of the series, "Men versus the Sea". In "MS", Captain Bligh and the castaways of the Bounty take a scant amount of food, no weapons, very few supplies and a small launch which was designed to transport small parties from ship to shore, and use these to travel over 1,000 miles through the Pacific to safety in the Dutch port of Timor. Bligh and his crew had nothing, but managed to make it all of those miles to safety with only two men lost.In contrast, the mutineers had vast resources, an entire island to themselves along with more supplies from Tahiti and the supplies of the "Bounty" itself, and in the end they end up being murdered by each other. It's a sad tale of how men who have nothing in common except their conspiracy in mutiny, with no God and no moral code and no social binding to hold them together, turned a place which should have been a new Garden of Eden into a new manifestation of hell. The mutineers conspire to turn their native helpers into slaves. When the natives revolt and kill half of the mutineers, the remaining mutineers build a still and become perpetual drunks who are supported by their women as they stagger 24/7. Eventually the wives revolt against the men and kill the few who were left. By the time an American vessel visits Pitcairn's island 16 years after the Bounty originally landed there, only one survivor of the Bounty was left on the island. The only other traces of the Bounty mutineers were the children that they begot and the women who supported them and eventually helped to finish their annihiliation. It's a fascinating story.While the other two volumes of the "Bounty" saga are seafaring tales, "PI" is really more of a story of Paradise lost. It makes one wonder about the makeup of man, are we really basically good creatures, or is there an evil inherent in man that would spoil any utopia that we seek to build for ourselves. I'm sure that Nordhoff meant the reader to ponder this as we read about the demise of the Bounty mutineers. I would recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys such tales.
Based on historical records of the settlement of the mutinous HMS Bounty crew on a small island (which despite modern air & sea travel) is pretty much in the middle of nowhere (lies several thousand miles between Australia and New Zealand and is only accessible today by a speed boat which drops off/picks up cargo and people from bigger boats in the shipping lanes). Of the 15 men (6 of whom were Tahitians) and 12 women (all Tahitians) only 1 man (from the Bounty) and 10 women were left a few years later, the rest casualties of "Lord of the Flies" squabbles for dominance for the island and the women.
On sait que les trois livres qui composent le cycle romanesque inspiré par la mutinerie de la « Bounty » peuvent se lire dans un ordre indifférent : chacun d'eux est une oeuvre qui se suffit à elle-même. Celui-ci évoque l'aventure de cette poignée de révoltés qui, maîtres du navire gagnèrent l'îlot de Pitcairn, perdu au fin fond du Pacifique Sud, pour se mettre à l'abri de la justice des hommes. Quinze hommes et douze femmes, Blancs et « Indiens » liés par le même destin, se réfugient donc, un beau jour de 1790. sur ce rocher désert et v fondent une minuscule république. Leur chef, Fletcher Christian, acquis aux idées nouvelles, entend partager équitablement la terre et traiter Blancs et Indiens sur le même pied. Il lui faudra admettre qu'il s'agit là d'un rêve - lequel ne tardera pas à se transformer en cauchemar... Nordhoff et Hall, qui furent dans l'entre-deux-guerres, à la suite de Conrad, les vrais rénovateurs de la fiction aventureuse, oeuvrent ici en romanciers - mais ils ont mené leur enquête en historiens. Leur récit, pour incroyable qu'il soit, ne se fonde que sur la réalité la plus exactement repérée.
—Mazel
I waffled about the rating: for some parts I would have said three, for some two, for some two and a half, for some one (!). This last novel in the famous "Mutiny on the Bounty" trilogy took me through a range of emotions, but disgust and pity were foremost. The men who sought refuge on Pitcairn's Island after their mutiny called it an Eden, but from day one it was nothing of the sort: every sort of evil, from murder to adultery to gluttony, came with them. At times it was terrible to read, especially since the anarchy of democracy precluded any justice being done, and the rampant killing in the last half is nightmarish. In the end, however, there is a pleasantly surprising amount of hope.On a side note, while I read the three books in order - "Mutiny," "Men Against the Sea," then "Pitcairn's Island" - and spaced out by many months, I think it would be better to read this novel after "Mutiny." It would, I believe, preserve continuity and leave the characters' personalities fresh in mind.
—Abigail Hartman
Not a big fan of fiction... but have read 3 books of the mutiny on the Bounty. This novel based on actual events is actually very good. It really grabbed me and kept me reading. The characters are very well developed to where you actual start to develop feelings towards them. I hate this guy, I like this guy, I hope this guy lives..... No one really knows exactly how things happened on Pitcairn Island, but this book is so well written that it is almost convincing. I have since learned that this is the third book in a trilogy... maybe I will have to read the previous 2... this one was good enough to make me consider it.
—Michael
