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Island Born
The memoir, ISLAND BORN, challenges what is possible in love and nature. The author and his partner (and soon-to-be-wife), from vastly different backgrounds in Los Angeles, resolve to follow an intuition and sail "the wrong way around the world” – eastward across the Arabian Sea. Pitted against treacherous conditions that included the volatile social and political situation of the world ashore, they discover what it takes, and what it means, to surpass all previous personal and cultural expectations so that they might truly live, and in the end, truly die.Twenty-one years old, Gayle becomes pregnant in the middle of their sailing adventure, but her pregnancy does not make them retreat to Los Angeles where they began. They discover a tiny uninhabited island in a remote atoll, as barely discernible as a shake of pepper in the vast blue of their Indian Ocean chart. There they decide to give up their dream ship, and begin a real life journey neither of them could have ever imagined. With the help of an old chief on a nearby island, they build a thatched family home with no electricity, no running water, no telephone, no address, no bills, and no neighbors.ISLAND BORN seeks to answer the question of whether it is still possible to voyage to an unspoiled place, not only on the globe, but within ourselves. In meeting this risk head on, Frank and Gayle’s voyage takes them to a reality of themselves that confirmed the bare whisper of that initial intuition. Together, they pull up anchor from the seabed of their culture and travel to a place where their determination, their romance, and their lives are challenged beyond the limits of each horizon, but they keep going.(Approximately 434 pages)
- GenresMemoir
452 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 25, 2012
7 people are currently reading
397 people want to read
About the author
Frank Burnaby
1 book5 followersFrank Burnaby is a poet, traveler, sailor, and storyteller. He worked as a gifted and successful lighting designer in Los Angeles for many years. Then moving to an island in the Pacific Northwest, he devoted his time to raising his sons, writing, and to the creation of a wilderness school focused on the developmental needs of 7-13 year old children to experience nature.
As a youth, he survived his parent’s good intentions of enrolling him in military school in seventh grade where he learned to disassemble and reassemble his rifle with his eyes closed, and to pull weeds for not having a mirror shine on his shoes. For high school they sent him away to boarding school in New Jersey.
In 1969 after a stint at San Francisco State University film school, Frank boarded a freighter bound for North Africa. Hitchhiking across Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, he made his way through India and South East Asia, to remote islands in Indonesia by native boat, and finally on to Hong Kong where he taught English.
Landing back in New York City he drove a taxi at night, and studied acting at Herbert Berghof Studios. He worked quickly as an actor including an offer to be a principal in a travel adventure feature film, but instead of pursuing an acting career he started a thriving vegetarian taco stand on the edge of the meat packing district.
Drawn to the sea and his own dream of sailing to a tropical wilderness, he took a job as an apprentice shipwright in a Los Angeles marina. Soon after, he set off with his soon-to-be wife, Gayle, to purchase a small vintage sailboat in England. He was 27, and she was 17. The ensuing five year voyage, eastward across the Indian Ocean, and their amazing story living on an uninhabited island changed his life forever. This is the story, Island Born.
As a youth, he survived his parent’s good intentions of enrolling him in military school in seventh grade where he learned to disassemble and reassemble his rifle with his eyes closed, and to pull weeds for not having a mirror shine on his shoes. For high school they sent him away to boarding school in New Jersey.
In 1969 after a stint at San Francisco State University film school, Frank boarded a freighter bound for North Africa. Hitchhiking across Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, he made his way through India and South East Asia, to remote islands in Indonesia by native boat, and finally on to Hong Kong where he taught English.
Landing back in New York City he drove a taxi at night, and studied acting at Herbert Berghof Studios. He worked quickly as an actor including an offer to be a principal in a travel adventure feature film, but instead of pursuing an acting career he started a thriving vegetarian taco stand on the edge of the meat packing district.
Drawn to the sea and his own dream of sailing to a tropical wilderness, he took a job as an apprentice shipwright in a Los Angeles marina. Soon after, he set off with his soon-to-be wife, Gayle, to purchase a small vintage sailboat in England. He was 27, and she was 17. The ensuing five year voyage, eastward across the Indian Ocean, and their amazing story living on an uninhabited island changed his life forever. This is the story, Island Born.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 21, 2013
I got this book from Goodreads First Reads. Thanks!
Island Born is a well written account of a five-year sea voyage a man and a woman take together, to end up in the Maldives with a baby boy. The story is told by the author, and we see everything from his point of view, though he makes considerable efforts to try to explain the moods and feelings of others involved. I imagine that the conversations are re-enactments based on his memory and maybe notes/diaries.
Sometimes you read a book description, and then you read the book, and you kind of wonder why the description was written the way it was. In the book, it is difficult to find much love. There is a lot of hardship that the adventurers literally bring upon themselves, a lot of bickering, and many episodes of "we want completely different things!" We see Burnaby's love for Gayle, but it is difficult to see Gayle's love for him. Perhaps this is how he felt during those years and we see that reflected in his writing. Certainly, it does not feel like a "love and adventure" kind of story. Not to me, at least. It is more a "two bumbling Americans who barely know each other set off on a boat with very limited sailing experience and make a huge mess of it all." I could use tags like malnutrition, bickering, stormy seas, and ignorant/naive Americans to describe the book further.
What makes the journey an adventure is really the lack of seafaring experience the two people have, the fact that they insist on remaining vegetarians and Americans (both with its own problems, like inability to adapt to surrounding cultures, understand local politics, and well, obtain necessary nutrition), and a profound lack of sense of purpose for both people (Frank less so than Gayle). In fact, one often wonders why Gayle went on this trip; it is also clear that both Frank and Gayle wonder this often. So all of this, in addition to the usual stormy weather and strained third-world politics, makes for a good, hard adventure. There are many place in the story that I was surprised that they continued, especially Gayle.
I am not sure if the author meant it to be this way, but I found Gayle utterly unlikable the whole time. Maybe it was because the story is told from Frank's point of view and Gayle seems to make everything extremely difficult for Frank (not that her demands are silly; you just wonder why she would go on a voyage like this if she was to have such demands; though one has to remember that she is 17 when she starts off with him!) So one main character down, I really clung to Frank for the likability factor, and even that was a strain at times, especially when he acted like an ignorant Westerner. Nevertheless, the struggle for his big, unshaped dream made me root for him often.
Besides the twists and turns thrown at Frank and Gayle by mother nature and local politics (all-out war, really), there are some very comical moments in the book. Perhaps the best one takes place in the Maldives, when the relationship between Frank and the chess-loving island chief becomes rather tense (I won't spoil it any further, but Frank's hysterics are hilarious!)
In the end, the story is a remarkable one. It would even be remarkable if it were pure fiction. The tension with nature as well as personal dilemmas and struggles make the book a page turner. At times, the level of anxiety is really high, and the reader can feel the difficulty of some of the decisions the couple has to take.
Recommended for those who love sea storms, fish soup, dandelions, and who hate rats.
Island Born is a well written account of a five-year sea voyage a man and a woman take together, to end up in the Maldives with a baby boy. The story is told by the author, and we see everything from his point of view, though he makes considerable efforts to try to explain the moods and feelings of others involved. I imagine that the conversations are re-enactments based on his memory and maybe notes/diaries.
Sometimes you read a book description, and then you read the book, and you kind of wonder why the description was written the way it was. In the book, it is difficult to find much love. There is a lot of hardship that the adventurers literally bring upon themselves, a lot of bickering, and many episodes of "we want completely different things!" We see Burnaby's love for Gayle, but it is difficult to see Gayle's love for him. Perhaps this is how he felt during those years and we see that reflected in his writing. Certainly, it does not feel like a "love and adventure" kind of story. Not to me, at least. It is more a "two bumbling Americans who barely know each other set off on a boat with very limited sailing experience and make a huge mess of it all." I could use tags like malnutrition, bickering, stormy seas, and ignorant/naive Americans to describe the book further.
What makes the journey an adventure is really the lack of seafaring experience the two people have, the fact that they insist on remaining vegetarians and Americans (both with its own problems, like inability to adapt to surrounding cultures, understand local politics, and well, obtain necessary nutrition), and a profound lack of sense of purpose for both people (Frank less so than Gayle). In fact, one often wonders why Gayle went on this trip; it is also clear that both Frank and Gayle wonder this often. So all of this, in addition to the usual stormy weather and strained third-world politics, makes for a good, hard adventure. There are many place in the story that I was surprised that they continued, especially Gayle.
I am not sure if the author meant it to be this way, but I found Gayle utterly unlikable the whole time. Maybe it was because the story is told from Frank's point of view and Gayle seems to make everything extremely difficult for Frank (not that her demands are silly; you just wonder why she would go on a voyage like this if she was to have such demands; though one has to remember that she is 17 when she starts off with him!) So one main character down, I really clung to Frank for the likability factor, and even that was a strain at times, especially when he acted like an ignorant Westerner. Nevertheless, the struggle for his big, unshaped dream made me root for him often.
Besides the twists and turns thrown at Frank and Gayle by mother nature and local politics (all-out war, really), there are some very comical moments in the book. Perhaps the best one takes place in the Maldives, when the relationship between Frank and the chess-loving island chief becomes rather tense (I won't spoil it any further, but Frank's hysterics are hilarious!)
In the end, the story is a remarkable one. It would even be remarkable if it were pure fiction. The tension with nature as well as personal dilemmas and struggles make the book a page turner. At times, the level of anxiety is really high, and the reader can feel the difficulty of some of the decisions the couple has to take.
Recommended for those who love sea storms, fish soup, dandelions, and who hate rats.
July 31, 2013
I received this book through the Goodreads First Reads program, and I have to admit I mostly got it thinking that my boyfriend would enjoy it, as he has always dreamed of sailing around the world. While the first half of the book definitely did not make me want to join him on a circumglobal sailing adventure, the book was undeniably fascinating. Not only is the story intriguing, with maritime adventures, intercultural interactions, and an unusual romance, but (contrary to what you sometimes find in these types of autobiographical adventures) the book is incredibly well-written. In the end, I thoroughly enjoyed this glimpse into Frank Burnaby's life, and found myself at the end wishing that I could learn more about their lives after where the story concluded. Truly a wonderful surprise and highly recommended.
June 4, 2013
4 AND half stars
The sailing part reminds me of "The Old Man and the Sea" and the island part reminds me of "The Beach" by Alex Garland. Both great reads by the way.
This is one of the many books about adventure and romance of the sea and nature. It does not disappoint. Set in the mid 70's, the author and his wife set out to sail around the world and then settle into a uninhabitated island.
It is one of those books that was hard to put down. I found myself sitting up late at night saying "Just one more page."
Note the author graciouly gifted a copy to me in a give-a-way. The review however is my honest opinion.
The sailing part reminds me of "The Old Man and the Sea" and the island part reminds me of "The Beach" by Alex Garland. Both great reads by the way.
This is one of the many books about adventure and romance of the sea and nature. It does not disappoint. Set in the mid 70's, the author and his wife set out to sail around the world and then settle into a uninhabitated island.
It is one of those books that was hard to put down. I found myself sitting up late at night saying "Just one more page."
Note the author graciouly gifted a copy to me in a give-a-way. The review however is my honest opinion.
June 14, 2013
I loved this story of love, adventure, commitment, disappointment, success & failure, birth and death. My only disappointment in the book was that it ended, and rather abruptly in my opinion. I wanted to know what happened when Frank & Gayle got home, what did they do next? Also, just a small paragraph with a little information of Gayle's death wasn't enough for me.
I love true adventure stories. Island Born was very good!
I love true adventure stories. Island Born was very good!
December 8, 2012
A stunning real life adventure. Beautifully written.
May 13, 2013
A five star review for this creative book, "Island Born"! I highly recommend that you order a copy today!
August 16, 2013
A good book with interesting characters. I won this book on Goodreads. Thank you
Want to read
June 2, 2013I've won this book through a Goodreads 'First Reads' giveaway.
Full review to be included once I've received and read my new book! :)
Full review to be included once I've received and read my new book! :)
September 14, 2013
I won this book in the giveaways and really enjoyed. Such an adventurous story.
August 28, 2016
Review coming soon!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews