When Islands in the Stream Crossed from Page to Song
by Librarian Lynn Lampert, Coordinator of Instruction & Information Literacy - September 11, 2026
What happens when a 1970 Ernest Hemingway novel title washes ashore in the world of country pop music more than a decade later, with a little help from Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers and the iconic Bee Gees (who wrote the song)? The answer is a fascinating story about how words can travel from page to song, gathering new meanings along the way.
The two very different Islands in the Stream works introduced their audiences to stories of solitude, companionship, memory, love, and loss. More than that, they remind us of the enduring ways that books, songs, and the words within them can remain with us long after their creators are gone.
In 1970, Ernest Hemingway’s posthumously published novel Islands in the Stream led readers into a world of isolation, memory, love, and loss among the islands of the Caribbean. Set primarily in the Bahamas, the novel follows the artist Thomas Hudson and explores the complicated relationships between fathers and sons, lovers, friends, and the sea itself.
Thirteen years later, in 1983, a song bearing the same title, became something entirely different: a soaring duet by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. Written by the Bee Gees (Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb) the song transformed the phrase “islands in the stream” into a timeless metaphor about two people who discover refuge and companionship in one another. Rogers and Parton’s recording became an enduring country pop classic that has now entertained multiple generations and will likely continue to do so for many years to come.
For many listeners the song, rather than the Hemingway's novel, is likely the first thing that comes to mind when they hear the words Islands in the Stream. Yet there is something amazing about the journey of Islands in the Stream: from Hemingway’s manuscript to a posthumously published novel, to a Bee Gees composition, and finally to one of the most beloved duets in popular music history.
Ironically, Dolly Parton’s final personal Instagram post, shared on August 15, 2026, celebrated the 43rd anniversary of her iconic “Islands in the Stream” duet with her close friend and collaborator the late Kenny Rogers. Since Parton’s passing on August 25, the song has now experienced another remarkable resurgence on the music charts. On August 26, 2026, “Islands in the Stream” was reportedly streamed more than 1.49 million times in the United States, making it the country’s third-most-streamed song that day.
While there may not be a similar rush to read Hemingway’s Islands in the Stream, a Gohstand Reading Room copy of Hemingway's beautiful book is waiting for you. And this seems like a very fitting reason to post about the connection between a great American novelist and a great American singer who shared more than an unforgettable title. Dolly Parton was a passionate advocate for reading and the power of books. Through her Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, she has helped put over 150 million books into the hands of children around the world, nurturing a love of reading for generations. She also spoke often about her own love of books and the classics – and loved to be called “The Book Lady”.
In a recent interview she was asked what she would want to read if stranded on a desert island, Dolly said that she reads everything from Reese Witherspoon's book club and Oprah's Book Club, and that she specifically loves historical fiction. "Whatever the new books are, whatever's on the New York Time bestseller list, I love to read that." She also listed some of her favorites to the New York Times including Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird and Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander. So, in honor of Dolly Parton, why not pick up a book from the Gohstand Reading Room? In a 2012 interview with the Miami Herald, she said, “If I’m remembered 100 years from now, I hope it will be not for looks but for books”. So even if a Gohstand Reading Room Hemingway title doesn't end up in your hands from this list of books below, The Book Drop invites you to consider reading one of these following books from its shelves (or even online) …a couple of which Dolly Parton mentioned as one of her favorite reads back through the years.
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Location: Gohstand Reading Room; PS3537.T3234 G8 1993
Awards: Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 1940.
Summary: John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath stands as one of the most influential works of 20th-century American literature. Many Americans learn about the Great Depression through this novel. Steinbeck masterfully created an important work that asks the reader to question the idea of the American Dream and the journey of individual Americans through a tumultuous time in our nation’s history.
"Published in 1939, this Pulitzer Prize-winning epic tells the story of the Joad family's migration from Oklahoma to California during the Great Depression. Through their struggles, Steinbeck vividly depicts the plight of migrant workers and the economic hardships faced by millions during the Dust Bowl era. Controversial upon release for its unflinching social criticism, The Grapes of Wrath went on to win both critical acclaim and massive popular success. It was the bestselling book of 1939 and has since been recognized as one of the greatest American novels. Steinbeck's stark prose and memorable characters have left an indelible mark on American culture" (Audible description).
The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré
Location: Gohstand Reading Room; PR6104.A83298 G57 2020
Summary: "A powerful, emotional debut novel told in the unforgettable voice of a young Nigerian woman who is trapped in a life of servitude but determined to get an education so that she can escape and choose her own future. Adunni is a fourteen-year-old Nigerian girl who knows what she wants: an education. This, her mother has told her, is the only way to get a "louding voice"--The ability to speak for herself and decide her own future. But instead, Adunni's father sells her to be the third wife of a local man who is eager for her to bear him a son and heir. When Adunni runs away to the city, hoping to make a better life, she finds that the only other option before her is servitude to a wealthy family. As a yielding daughter, a subservient wife, and a powerless slave, Adunni is told, by words and deeds, that she is nothing. But while misfortunes might muffle her voice for a time, they cannot mute it. And when she realizes that she must stand up not only for herself, but for other girls, for the ones who came before her and were lost, and for the next girls, who will inevitably follow; she finds the resolve to speak, however she can--in a whisper, in song, in broken English--until she is heard"-- Provided by publisher.
Kindred by Octavia Butler
Location: Online
Summary: "Dana's torment begins when she suddenly vanishes on her 26th birthday from California, 1976, and is dragged through time to antebellum Maryland to rescue a boy named Rufus, heir to a slaveowner's plantation. She soon realizes the purpose of her summons to the past: protect Rufus to ensure his assault of her Black ancestor so that she may one day be born. As she endures the traumas of slavery and the soul-crushing normalization of savagery, Dana fights to keep her autonomy and return to the present. Blazing the trail for neo-slavery narratives like Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad and Ta-Nehisi Coates's The Water Dancer, Butler takes one of speculative fiction's oldest tropes and infuses it with lasting depth and power. Dana not only experiences the cruelties of slavery on her skin but also grimly learns to accept it as a condition of her own existence in the present." -- Provided by publisher.
Islands in the Stream by Ernest Hemingway
Location: Gohstand Reading Room; PS3515.E37 I8
Summary: Published posthumously, this story follows the adventures of Thomas Hudson, who establishes himself as an artist in the tropics, until he is called to serve in World War II by destroying submarines off the coast of Cuba.