THE UN-DISCOVERED ISLANDS

The IRB's Celebrating 10 Years of Intelligent Reviews October 2007-October 2017

Nonfiction

THE UN-DISCOVERED ISLANDS:

An Archipelago of Myths and Mysteries, Phantoms and Fakes

By Malachy Tallack, Illustrated by Katie Scott
144 pp. Picador

Reviewed by Lynne M. Hinkey

Un-discovered islands, those that once appeared on maps--either through an accident of navigation, an overabundance of imagination, or blatant lies--are the subject of this entertaining breeze through history and geography. Author Malachy Tallack explores two dozen islands that have shown up in cartography, literature, and mythology, many of them complete with elaborate and detailed accounts of their topography, flora and fauna, inhabitants, and culture, that were later discovered to be non-existent...un-discovered. 

Beginning with islands of ancient legend and myth and continuing to the present day, the book provides brief vignettes of twenty-four islands that appeared on maps, but were eventually shown to not be there. In some of these, Tallack touches on the social and psychological aspects of why and how non-existent places get mapped and described in such detail. Perhaps the quintessential model of the ex-island phenomenon, and the most famous of the un-discovered islands, is Atlantis. With its origin firmly based in fiction--it was used as allegory by Plato in his monologues, Critias and Timaeus--the myth of Atlantis grew in human imagination into "a kind of sponge for human fantasy" that continues to this day. Tallack writes, 

"...if you want to explore the astonishing limits of human credulity, searching online for websites about Atlantis is a good place to start." He goes on to give examples of the "theories" and "proof" offered, warning that, "...you can discover almost anything you want about Atlantis, and pretty much every word of it is nonsense...To investigate them is to be faced with an impenetrable forest of absurdity, into which no one ought to wander."

And yet, the myth persists and hunters still search for that utopian society drowned beneath the waves.

With the many and varied stories plus a brief prologue to each chapter, and whimsical illustrations, all in a mere 144 pages, there isn't a lot of depth given to any one of these intriguing tales. Although it's understandable that there might be a paucity of information available about lands and societies that never existed, what is given never feels complete. In each case, just when I felt myself drawn in, my curiosity piqued...The chapter came to an often abrupt end. A few times, I turned pages back and forth to see if I'd missed a page.

An absence of maps also contributes to this feeling of a work incomplete. It seems a huge disservice to the fascinating stories and to readers that an entire book devoted to islands that once appeared on maps is devoid of maps itself. I couldn't help but think that would have partially overcome the overall impression of something missing. Despite the short shrift given to each of these stories, and even without maps to show where they aren't, the tales are fascinating and the illustrations charming, making it an interesting, if somewhat unfulfilling read. Those drawbacks are almost redeemed in the finale.  

The last chapter covers the most recent un-discovery in 2012. A mere five years ago, some maps and Google Earth still indicated the presence of the 15-miles-long by three-miles-wide Sandy Island in the Coral Sea. First reported by a whaling ship in 1876, its "discovery" was most likely a simple error. Nonetheless, it made its way onto the US military's digitized charts more than 100 years later. From there, the island found its way into the World Vector Shoreline Database, which is widely used by scientists and in mapping software. 

The idea of a nonexistent land that managed to live on in a world with satellite surveillance of everything, everywhere, captures the imagination like none of the others: this is a rebel, standing strong against a shrinking globe, where there are no more terrae incognitae to discover, and no more geographic mysteries to solve. "[Sandy Island] showed that mystery had not been destroyed entirely; it is still out there, if you know where to look...perhaps there is another ex-isle still intact, a phantom waiting to be un-discovered. And perhaps we should leave it that way."

BIO

Lynne Hinkey uses experiences from her years living in the Caribbean to infuse her novels with a bit of tropical magic, from the siren call of the islands, to the terror and hysteria caused by the mysterious chupacabra. Visit Lynne at www.lynnehinkey.com