[Swiss Family Robinson] Rereading this book as a modern reader was WILD

Disclaimer: I've not read too many "classics" for most of my life, the only other exception aside from this book is Dracula, most of the time I read nonfiction. Please pardon if I'm not too familiar with the "genre conventions".

Back when I was about 10 or 12 years old, I had a copy of Swiss Family Robinson that eventually got ruined by me spilling a glass of milk on it. I have always been fascinated by survival stories of various kinds and had a fascination with zoology, so young me (as much as I could recollect) absolutely loved the book. Anyways, three weeks ago I decided to purchase a copy to see if it has held up after all these years.

Oh boy.

For the most part, despite being influenced by Robinson Crusoe with its castaway and survival setting, it really stood out to me the sheer lack of *strife* the family experienced. Aside from the initial event of the shipwreck and having to survive on an exotic tropical landscape, the family for the most part lives very comfortable lives as the island itself seems to spawn whatever kind of flora and fauna that would help them live comfortable lives. In the edition that I read, there are kangaroos, buffaloes, hippopotamus and a whole bunch more on a single island.

What was even more darkly hilarious is that the characters never once lampshade on how weird this was, rather opting to shoot and consume any animals they come across (understandable given the context but lmao). A constant barrage of "see new animal, shoot animal because we own this island now and we can do it".

The family themselves were "interesting". I'm gonna be honest, the dad was what I could only described as the "platonic ideal" of what a M A N should be. Not only he was so religiously devoted that he could quote the Bible rivaling that of a senior clergyman, but knows about every plants and animals, their uses and can build practically anything. The children were well, just there, mostly to make things happen by running around doing shenanigans. The mother meanwhile was barely a character, mostly there to smooth out whichever things that stumps the father. Overall though, there was a distinct lack of character arcs for any of them, no new revelations about each other, no one gets changed by anything that happened. They got stuck on that island for years, and left it none the worse for wear.

Ultimately, I'd say that the online reviews I read before reading the book really was correct, it TRULY FELT like a product of its time. The specifics are too much for a post, but the overall constant occurrence of overt religious theming of the family's mass exploitation of nature because god gave them dominion of it and the whole "ideal parental figures" as I've mentioned above. For me, it encapsulates quite a fair bit of the common worldview at the time it is written, but there were points where it felt like quasi-absurdist humor at times. In conclusion for those that wants to read/reread it, it was a fun read but be prepared for some occasional "weirdness".

Tl;dr: People weren't kidding about it being "a product of its time"