Madman's Island
![]() First edition cover design | |
Author | Ion Idriess |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | novel |
Publisher | Cornstalk Publishing |
Publication date | 1927 |
Publication place | Australia |
Madman's Island is a 1927 novel by Ion Idriess set in northern Australia.
It was Idriess' first novel and was semi-autobiographical, although he invented the love interest at the insistence of the publisher.[1][2]
Plot
Jack Burnett decides to go prospecting on an uninhabited island in the Barrier Reef with a friend. The friend goes mad and tries to kill Jack. Jack discovers some opium stashed away by Japanese smugglers. Jack is rescued and sells the opium to a Chinese merchant in Cooktown.
In Cairns, Jack runs into the Japanese smugglers, but manages to escape with the help of a woman he has fallen in love with.[3]
Background
The book was based on a true incident that happened to Idriess. In 1923 he was marooned on Howick Island in Queensland with a friend he had gone prospecting with. The friend had a war injury which sent him mad and he tried to kill Idriess.[4]
Idriess kept a diary of his time on the island and used it as the basis for the book. He sold it to a publisher in 1925.[1][5][6]
Idriess fictionalised the story, including a subplot about opium smuggling.
Reception
The book was not received particularly well.[7][8]
1938 edition
![]() First edition cover design | |
Author | Ion Idriess |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | non-fiction |
Publisher | Angus and Robertson |
Publication date | 1938 |
Publication place | Australia |
Idriess rewrote the book after he had achieved acclaim with his other writings. He removed the fictional elements and instead revised it as a memoir. It was republished in 1938 and was a large success, selling 70,000 copies.[1][9][10][11][12]
Radio adaptation
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/65/Madman_island_on_radio.png)
The novel was serialised for radio in 1941,[13] the first time one of his books was so adapted,[14] and on which it was read by Ellis Price.[15][16][17] It was adapted for radio again in 1949.[18]
References
- ^ a b c Interview with Ion Idriess", ABC
- ^ "Author of Twenty-two Books And Still Going Strong". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 33, 223. New South Wales, Australia. 17 June 1944. p. 7. Retrieved 12 December 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "NEW FICTION". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 27, 898. New South Wales, Australia. 4 June 1927. p. 10. Retrieved 16 April 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Marooned". The Telegraph. No. 15, 675. Queensland, Australia. 23 February 1923. p. 6. Retrieved 16 April 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "MADMAN'S ISLAND". Daily Examiner. Vol. 17, no. 2549. New South Wales, Australia. 4 September 1925. p. 7. Retrieved 16 April 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Marooned on Madman's Island". Sunday Mail. No. 445. Queensland, Australia. 30 October 1938. p. 1 (MAGAZINE SECTION). Retrieved 16 April 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "NEW FICTION". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 4 June 1927. p. 10. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
- ^ "MADMANS ISLAND". The Cairns Post. Qld.: National Library of Australia. 20 June 1927. p. 9. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
- ^ "Author of Twenty-two Books And Still Going Strong". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 33, 223. New South Wales, Australia. 17 June 1944. p. 7. Retrieved 28 March 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "MADMAN'S ISLAND". Kapunda Herald (SA : 1878–1951). SA: National Library of Australia. 16 September 1938. p. 1. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
- ^ "BOOK of the WEEK". The Chronicle. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 29 September 1938. p. 55. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
- ^ "AN AUSTRALIAN STORY". Geraldton Guardian and Express. WA: National Library of Australia. 4 October 1938. p. 1. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
- ^ "Thrills Pack LIfe: Idriess Was 'Broke' So Took To Pen", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred per Cent Australian Radio Journal, 36 (27), Sydney: Wireless Press, July 5, 1941, nla.obj-721538126, retrieved 12 December 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "2UE CALLING". The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate. No. 4588. New South Wales, Australia. 13 August 1941. p. 12. Retrieved 12 December 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "2UE CALLING". The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate. No. 4583. New South Wales, Australia. 9 July 1941. p. 12. Retrieved 12 December 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Radio Gets Its First Idriess Novel "Madman's Island" To Be Read By Ellis Price Next Month", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred per Cent Australian Radio Journal, 36 (26), Sydney: Wireless Press, June 28, 1941, retrieved 12 December 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "Idriess Stories For Broadcast", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred per Cent Australian Radio Journal, 35 (48), Sydney: Wireless Press, November 30, 1940, retrieved 12 December 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "NSW Commercial progammes", ABC Weekly, 11 (3), Sydney, 15 January 1949, retrieved 12 December 2023 – via Trove
- v
- t
- e
- Madman's Island (1927)
- Drums of Mer (1933)
- Forty Fathoms Deep (1937)
- Isles of Despair (1947)
- The Wild White Man of Badu (1950)
- The Red Chief (1953)
- Prospecting for Gold (1931)
- Cyaniding for Gold (1939)
- Fortunes in Minerals (1941)
- Opals and Sapphires (1967)
- Lasseter's Last Ride (1931)
- Flynn of the Inland (1932)
- The Cattle King (1936)
- Horrie the Wog-dog (1945)
- The Desert Column (1932)
- Men of the Jungle (1932)
- Madman's Island (1938) (revision)
- Lightning Ridge (1940)
- Back o' Cairns (1958)
- The Tin Scratchers (1959)
- My Mate Dick (1962)
- Gold Dust and Ashes (1933)
- Man Tracks (1935)
- The Silent Service (1944)
- Stone of Destiny (1948)
- Outlaws of the Leopolds (1952)
- The Nor'-westers (1954)
- The Silver City (1956)
- Coral Sea Calling (1957)
- The Yellow Joss (1934)
- The Wild North (1960)
- Over the Range (1937)
- In Crocodile Land (1946)
- One Wet Season (1949)
- Across the Nullarbor (1951)
- Tracks of Destiny (1961)
- Must Australia Fight? (1939)
- The Great Boomerang (1941)
- Onward Australia (1943)
- Challenge of the North (1969)
- Headhunters of the Coral Sea (1940)
- The Great Trek (1940)
- Nemarluk: King of the Wilds (1941)
- The Opium Smugglers (1947)
series
- The Vanished People (1955)
- Our Living Stone Age (1963)
- Our Stone Age Mystery (1964)