An Island to Oneself
An Island to Oneself by Tom Nealeby Tom Neale
Shares rank 17 of 25 memoirs by recommenders
A memoir of years spent alone on a South Pacific island, recommended for its vivid account of solitude and the lasting pull of the place.
A memoir of years spent alone on a South Pacific island, recommended for its vivid account of solitude and the lasting pull of the place.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Vivid account of solitary island life
“The guy spent years on an island in the middle of the pacific all alone”
Comment from 23 Feb 2026 in “The Lighthouse: How extreme isolation transforms the body and mind” Lasting desire for the South Pacific
“they really put a south pacific bug in me which I retain to this day”
Comment from 23 Feb 2026 in “The Lighthouse: How extreme isolation transforms the body and mind” Strongly recommended as a good read
“An amazing book - well worth a read”
Comment from 11 Aug 2026 in “Confessions of a Long-Distance Sailor”
Other memoirs people recommend
The four most recommended other memoirs, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Careless Peopleby Sarah Wynn-Williams | 106 | 24 | 82% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Man's Search for Meaningby Viktor Frankl | 13 | 2 | 87% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!by Richard Feynman | 11 | 7 | 61% | 6 | — | — |
| Down and Out in Paris and Londonby George Orwell | 9 | 1 | 90% | 8 | — | — |
| An Island to Oneselfby Tom NealeThis page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
All 3 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“An amazing book - well worth a read”
“they really put a south pacific bug in me which I retain to this day”
“The guy spent years on an island in the middle of the pacific all alone”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.