The Isle of Pines, 1668 ─ Henry Neville's Uncertain Utopia

Scheckter (English, Long Island U., New York) presents a critical edition of Neville's (1620-94) short fiction, along with a sequel published later in 1668 that has not been included in any edition before. Called A New and Further Discovery of The Isle of Pines, it does not continue the narrative of castaways who create a paradise by breaking all the rules of polite society, he says, but brings further complications to almost every aspect of the already complicated original. He also discusses the text from such perspectives as translations, paratexts, and ghosts; gender, race, and the new society; and Anglo-Indigenes and European encounter. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

John Scheckter is Professor of English at Long Island University, New York. His previous work includes The Australian Novel, 1830-1980: A Thematic Introduction.