I remember reading it in my twenties. I had just finished the part where the small group had sailed to the island and walked over to the other side after all that time trying to figure a way to escape their predicament, so the most difficult part of the story was done. On my way to work that next morning, I stopped the car on a rural road (nobody around), kept thinking about their ordeal, then stuck my head out and just yelled at the top of my lungs.
Let's just say I was deeply impressed with what they had done........