Resumen
Resumen de La isla de los Pingüinos
Para quién es
For readers who love irony, history told with a grin, and fiction that argues with power. It also suits anyone curious about the Dreyfus era and satire on religion, politics and the stories institutions tell.
De qué trata este libro
Penguin Island is a satirical novel by Anatole France, published in France in 1908. It tells the history of an imaginary people, from their first days to a far future, and under the joke it tells the history of France and of Europe. France wrote it in the years after the Dreyfus affair, when he had seen how easily courts, churches, newspapers and crowds could be bent by fear and pride.
The book is written as a mock chronicle. It moves through origins, ancient times, the Middle Ages, modern times and the future, and each age mirrors a real one. You get a quick tour of Western history seen by a sharp, amused, sceptical mind. You also get a run of scenes about saints, kings, generals, financiers and mobs that still ring true. The story begins with an old saint who makes a very odd mistake.
En este resumen
- 1A blind saint baptizes the wrong creaturesFree
- 2God turns the penguins into people
- 3Property, kings and the birth of the state
- 4The Middle Ages bring saints, wars and bargains
- 5The Pyrot affair mirrors the Dreyfus scandal
- 6What the satire really says about history
Idea clave 1 de 6
A blind saint baptizes the wrong creatures
The story opens in early Christian Brittany with Mael, an abbot who is old, holy and very short of sight. He is carried by a stone trough, a miracle of sorts, to a distant island in the northern seas. There he finds a crowd of large birds standing on the shore, and he takes them for people.
Mael preaches to them with great kindness, and then he baptizes them. The birds are penguins, though the book's creatures are shown as the large, upright, dignified animals of the old stories. Nobody on the island corrects him. The joke is gentle, but it sets up the whole book. A rite performed by mistake will have real consequences.
Heaven is thrown into confusion. Saints and angels argue over what should be done about a baptized flock that has no souls. The scene mocks the learned arguments of theologians, who treat a question about birds as a matter of grave doctrine. Saint Patrick, Saint Catherine of Alexandria and others offer opinions, each fitted to his or her own character.
The point is already clear. France shows that big institutions, whether in heaven or on earth, run on rules, habit and rank, and that they treat an accident as a legal problem. The warm laugh at the old saint turns into a colder laugh at the system around him.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Mael
- A nearly blind Breton abbot who mistakenly baptizes penguins and tries to guide them as humans.
- Saint Catherine of Alexandria
- A saint in heaven who pleads with God on behalf of the baptized penguins.
- Kraken
- A rough hero whose dragon tale brings him prestige and power among the island's people.
- Pyrot
- An army officer accused of stealing hay, whose unjust case divides the island's modern republic.
- The Chronicler
- The learned narrator who recounts the island's history while quietly mocking its rulers and institutions.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 82,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 5 h 30 min
- Listening time9 h 10 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 12 other languages
Questions about La isla de los Pingüinos
What is Penguin Island about?
It is a satirical history of an imaginary island whose penguins are baptized by mistake and then turned into humans. Their story mirrors the history of France and Europe, from early Christianity to modern politics and a far future.
Is Penguin Island a true story?
No. It is a work of fantasy and satire, published in 1908. It uses an invented island to mock real events, institutions and attitudes, especially the French politics of France's own day.
What is the Pyrot affair in Penguin Island?
It is the book's version of the Dreyfus affair. Pyrot is an officer wrongly accused of stealing army hay, and the case shows how pride, the press and the army defend an injustice.
Who is Mael in Penguin Island?
Mael is an old, nearly blind saint from Brittany. He lands on the island, mistakes penguins for people and baptizes them, which starts the chain of events that the book follows.
Is Penguin Island hard to read?
Not very. The sentences are clear and the tone is light, but it helps to know a little European and French history, because many of the jokes are aimed at real events.