Many stories: both sad and funny, were told in his books by A. R. Belyaev. For more than a dozen years, his science fiction novels have enjoyed the love of readers. One of them is “The Island of the Dead Ships”. Summary of the book in this article.
Briefly about the novel
For the first time the work was published as a “fantastic movie story”, in the preface the author indicated that this was a literary arrangement of the American film. The author called the chapters “paintings”, and the story was structured accordingly: the plot was cut off in the most sensitive places, events were rapidly developing, and there was a rapid change of episodes. Later A. R. Belyaev introduced a lot of informative material into the story “Island of the Dead Ships”, the short content of the film turned into a full-fledged adventure novel, which was published in 1927.
The book is read in one breath: the storylines are organically inscribed, the portraits of the characters are well-written, there is some intrigue throughout the novel. The author approached the creation of a work with a fair amount of fiction. By the will of the sea current, for more than one hundred years, wrecked ships accumulated in a certain place and formed an artificial island in Sargasso thickets. This is where the heroes of the novel fall - on the island of dead ships inhabited only by disaster victims. The summary of the work does not convey even a small fraction of the author’s imagination, but it may serve as an incentive to read the original.
The main characters of the work
Passengers of the Benjamin Franklin liner:
- Viviana Kingman - the daughter of a billionaire;
- Simpkins - the detective;
- Reginald Gatling is an alleged criminal.
Residents of the island:
- Fergus Slayton - Governor;
- Flores - took the place of the governor after his disappearance;
- Turnip is a former owner of paper mills.
Before proceeding with the description of the summary of Belyaev's Island of the Dead Ship, it is necessary to clarify that the four parts of the novel are divided into twenty-six chapters. The narrative in the work is on behalf of the author.
From Genoa to New York
On a warm day, a transatlantic liner leaves Genoa for New York. On board is detective Jim Simpkins, who accompanies the murder suspect Reginald Gatling. The daughter of billionaire Vavian Kingman went up to the upper deck and, contemplating how a steamboat got out of the harbor, thought about how terrible it was that a criminal, possibly a murderer, was traveling with them.
A giant liner tirelessly cuts the surface of the water, passengers relax in cabins. A terrible push made Simpkins jump to his feet and run out onto the deck. He sees the passengers in a panic leaving the ship and taking places in boats. Hearing that the ship is sinking, the detective returns to the cabin for his ward. They do not have time to evacuate and remain on the ship with Miss Kingman rescued by them.
Sargasso Sea
Due to the breakdown of the propeller, the ship is immobilized, but does not sink. Monotonous days flowed in the hope that the victims would be picked up by a passing ship. Miss Kingman tidies up, washes clothes and is busy in the kitchen. In the evenings they gather in the cabin. Reginald and Vaviana found a common language and spend time talking. In one of the conversations, they are interrupted by Simpkins and talks about the crime committed by Gatling. The girl reacted to this surprisingly calmly.
Sargasso algae covers the surface of the water with a continuous carpet and does not allow the vessel to move. Gatling explains that rarely does a ship manage to get out of here. They have a large supply of food, and perhaps they will last several years.
Cemetery of the dead ships
It seemed that the ship was motionless, but a barely noticeable course inexorably leads the ship to the middle of the Sargasso Sea. Along the way, more and more wreckage of ships began to come across. On one of them, a skeleton was attached to the mast. Gatling finds a sealed bottle containing a captain's farewell letter. The summary of “Islands of lost ships” does not fully state the letter. Therefore, it is very brief: the captain reported that the entire crew was dead, and asked to transfer part of the gold from the captain’s cabin to his wife.
Soon, Simpkins saw the island. It turned out to be a huge cemetery of ships knocked together. Skeletons whitened on many of them. The satellites were silent. What they see scares them, especially Miss Kingman. Reginald and Jim decided to explore the island, hoping to find something suitable for swimming. A walk among half-rotten ships and skeletons horrifies them. Gatling saves Simpkins from death and sees smoke coming from the chimney on their ship. It was a sign. So, something happened to Miss Kingman.
Inhabited island
Viviana was making breakfast when people suddenly appeared - Flores and Ternip. They ask her to visit Fergus Slayton, the governor of the island. The Simpkins and Gatling who came up understand that it is useless to resist, since there are still people on the island. Together they go to Slayton. They learn that the population of the island consists of several dozen men and two women.
The rude and unceremonious Fergus Slaypton immediately decided to marry Miss Kingman. The girl, of course, refused. And Slayton, having put Jim and Reginald in the punishment cell, arranges the election of the groom. Viviana refuses everyone, including Slayton. He says that it should belong only to him, and whoever does not agree can measure his strength with him.
The brawl began. Gatling, taking advantage of her, is selected from arrest and takes part in the elections. Miss Kingman agrees to become his wife. He takes the girl away and warns that she has nothing to fear - she is free. The summary of “Island of the Dead Ship” cannot convey the horror that Viviana experienced during the terrible ceremony of these tramps, so she was grateful to Gatling for her salvation.
The escape was a success
The new arrivals gathered to flee. They are joined by those who do not like the orders on the island - Ternip with his wife and three sailors. They report that the island has a submarine suitable for sailing. It only needs to be repaired a little. Together, they repair the boat for several nights in a row. But one morning, when they were returning, they were seen by one of the close governor.
They decided to run immediately. The fugitives are being chased. Reginald gets a bullet in his shoulder, but Slayton chasing him was also injured. The fugitives take refuge in a boat, lift up the hatch and hide under water. They are saved. Miss Kingman takes care of the wounded Gatling, and he tells Viviana a story that made him a criminal.
Reginald was in love with the wonderful girl Della. But Della Jackson's father, in order to improve his financial situation, decided to marry her off as the son of the banker Lorrobi. She did not argue with her father, but she wanted to meet with Gatling before the wedding. He, having decided that they had better not see each other, left the city. The meeting did not take place. Reginald read in a newspaper that Della was killed where they agreed to meet. Gatling was declared a criminal.
Expedition to the island
The next chapter of The Island of the Dead Ship, a brief summary of which is given in this article, begins with the difficulties that the fugitives encountered in the submarine. Running out of electricity and air. It is necessary to raise the boat to the surface, but too thick algae interfere. Someone will have to get out through the torpedo hatch and clear the way with a knife. Gatling is still too weak, and Simpkins decides. Soon the boat surfaced. The fugitives saw a ship that, receiving a distress signal, went towards them.
The life of the fugitives was out of danger. Another mystery revealed on the ship. From the newspaper, Simpkins learned that Dellu killed Lorrobi because the girl refused to marry him. The son of a banker, having received a letter from her in which she announced that she would not marry him, decided to kill Della and blame her opponent. The story of the crime was detailed in Lorrobi's diary.
The summary of “Island of the lost ships” continues with a chapter where Viviana and Reginald become husband and wife. After some time, they organized an expedition to explore the Sargasso Sea, and along the way decided to visit the island. Simpkins intends to find out the secret of Slayton and, to find documents on the island, joins them. Equipping the vessel “Defiant” with a special screw that cuts algae, they set off. A researcher, Professor Thompson, is traveling with them.
Mystery Slayton
Meanwhile, life is boiling on the island. When Gatling escaped, Slayton was seriously injured and fell into the water. Flores declared himself the new governor. He generously endorsed the dissent and made his assistants. Flores invites the islanders to explore the neighboring island, the same ship graveyard. Having built bridges, they move to a new island and meet there an overgrown savage.
It soon turns out that Slayton, who was considered dead, turned out to be alive. He is trying to regain power. But Florence imprisoned him. Slayton manages to free himself at night and seize power again. The Defiant approaches the island. Bocco, assistant governor, comes to the ship and talks about the situation on the island. Arrivals at the Defiant threaten to shell the island if they are not allowed to land. Bocco conveyed the essence of the negotiations to his comrades, and the islanders decided to oppose Slayton. He is running.
Simpkins found the documents and found out that the inhabitant of the neighboring island was the pianist Edward Gortwan, Slayton's brother. In order to take possession of his condition, Slayton, aka Abraham Gortwan, puts his brother in a psychiatric clinic. To do this, I had to bribe Montreal officials, where they then lived. When the city’s administration changed, Slayton was afraid his scam would open and take Edward to the Canary Islands. The ship hit a severe storm along the way. Slayton leaves his brother and gets to the neighboring island. Edward went wild during this time, but in the society of people the mind gradually returns to him.
Edward did not speak for a long time, but once he heard Viviana playing the piano. The music acted on him. Once a famous musician, he soon began to perform Beethoven's works. He allowed to cut his nails and hair, gradually began to speak.
All that remained was to catch Slayton in order to bring him to justice. He hides on a sailboat along with an assistant who drops a bomb at one of the ships. A strong fire begins on the island. In the hope of salvation, everyone runs aboard the Defiant. Slayton was unable to escape.
Thus ends the novel by the author of “Islands of Lost Ships,” a very brief summary of which is set forth in this article.