Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/The Coral Island

The Coral Island

 * This is the archived discussion of the TFAR nomination for the article below. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests). Please do not modify this page. 

The result was: scheduled for Today's featured article/July 19, 2015 by Brianboulton (talk) 16:23, 2 July 2015 (UTC)



The Coral Island (1858) is a novel written by Scottish author R. M. Ballantyne. One of the first works of juvenile fiction to feature exclusively juvenile heroes, the story relates the adventures of three boys marooned on a South Pacific island, the only survivors of a shipwreck. A typical Robinsonade – a genre inspired by Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe – and one of the most popular of its type, the book first went on sale in late 1857 and has never been out of print. Among the novel's major themes are the civilising effect of Christianity, 19th-century British imperialism in the South Pacific, and the importance of hierarchy and leadership. It was the inspiration for William Golding's dystopian novel Lord of the Flies (1954), which inverted the morality of The Coral Island. The novel was considered a classic for primary school children of the early 20th century in Britain, and in the United States it was a staple of suggested reading lists for high-school students. Modern critics consider The Coral Island to feature a dated imperialist view of the world, but it was adapted into a four-part children's television drama broadcast by ITV in 2000.
 * Most recent similar article(s): last book 8 April, not fiction
 * Main editors: Drmies, Eric Corbett
 * Promoted: Jan 2014
 * Reasons for nomination: why not?
 * Support as nominator. Gerda Arendt (talk) 16:22, 14 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Support Good idea.♦ Dr. Blofeld  17:24, 14 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Oppose. I'd prefer that this article didn't appear on the main page, as that's just a honey pot for cranks. Eric   Corbett  23:00, 15 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Do you envisage a gang of feral editors typing "Kill the pig! Spill his blood!" over and over on the talk page? Because, to be honest, I'd quite enjoy that for a few minutes (as long as I wasn't the pig). Belle (talk) 11:05, 19 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Yes, but Eric gets that the whole time anyway. Johnbod (talk) 01:52, 27 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Water off a duck's back though; he seems to still be able to produce the goods like this. Ceoil (talk) 10:17, 27 June 2015 (UTC)
 * While I can sympathise with Eric's reluctance to expose his work to the main page morons, it would be a great shame if those idiots were able to influence our choices of articles to feature as TFA. This  article is in my view an excellent example of Wikipedia's best work, and I would very much like to run it. Brianboulton (talk) 18:21, 20 June 2015 (UTC)


 * Support nice work to have. I think with eyes watching it the vandalism will be reverted pronto. Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 01:57, 27 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Support Squealing red-necks and what have you aside, not to mention the humanity of having your work read by the great unwashed, this is a fine page that deserves to be read. Ceoil (talk) 02:20, 27 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Support. Quite aside from the fact that it stands up as an article in its own right, then assuming the hardliners get their way I can't think of any article more appropriate as a combined memorial to Eric Corbett and Jack Merridew (both of whom, despite some often legitimate criticism of both of their behaviour on occasions, have done considerably more good for Wikipedia than all the pondlife who congregate on the drama boards combined.) – iridescent  23:10, 27 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Well, it's a little premature to be making memorials to Eric, in spite of the latest kerfuffle. He is the Captain Grimes of Wikipedia (see p. 199 of the Penguin Classics edition of Decline and Fall for enlightenment). And as for Merridew, who knows under what aliases he continues to haunt the encyclopaedia? But your sentiment is well founded, and I do intend to schedule this as TFA later this month. Brianboulton (talk) 15:07, 29 June 2015 (UTC)