Pincher Martin by William Golding

Cover artist Anthony Gross

Pincher Martin, a lieutenant on a naval ship, is thrown into the sea when a U boat sinks his ship. His struggle to survive on the small rocky island upon which he finds himself makes up most of the story.

Pincher Martin's strong sense of self-worth demands the reader's attention, although any interest in him as a person is increasingly strained as his memories reveal himself to have been a thoroughly dangerous and unpleasant character.

And then there's the famous nothing-was-as-you-thought last line...

No one but a Where's Wally fan would read William Golding for his humour. Or the loving and supportive relationships, for that matter. Or the three-dimensional women. Or the three-dimensional men, really. Golding's books tend to be rather dry and cold stuff (I think) about deeply flawed people meeting their destruction. 

Yes, it's all very modern and Nobel-Prize-For-Literature-Winning.

Still, some of his books are quite short.

So that's good, isn't it.

Word To Use Today: martin. A martin is a small migratory swallow-type bird, often with a slightly forked tail. It may be so called because it migrates about the time of Martinmas, November 11th...

...except that any sensible martin will be long gone from its breeding grounds by then.