| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
About the Author
Paul Theroux was born in Medford, Massachusetts, in 1941, and published his first novel, Waldo, in 1967. His subsequent novels include Picture Palace, winner of the Whitbread Prize for Fiction, The Mosquito Coast, and the hugely acclaimed, Kowloon Tong. His travel books include The Great Railway Bazaar and The Pillars of Hercules.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Corrective to Lonely Planet Overkill,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific (Paperback)
I found this a well-written, very funny antidote to the endlessly sunny, ultimately irritating "travel copy" contained in my Lonely Planet guidebook. Theroux is the best antidote to being stuck on some never-ending bus-ferry-train journey in the depths of the Third World where there are no Pyramids, Taj Mahals or Great Walls, within a thousand miles, the people are not warm and gracious but poor and grasping and the governments in charge are not victims of the West but inept imbezzelers and tin pot tyrants.Theroux rejuvenates the weary long distance traveller with his unfailing wit, good sense and stubborn determination to be beholden to no one. I particulary liked in this book his account of Australia and New Zealand struggling with their identities in a post 1973 (Britain joining the EU) world. Good writing, and it corresponded with what I was seeing in these countries at the times. His account of the NZ Prime Minister making a pig of herself with her food after running down John F. Kennedy for his personal habits is a bit of satirical writing worthy of Gore Vidal. His depiction of the the modern squalor and boredom of much of Pacific island life matched my experiences in places as diverse as Kuwait, Hong Kong and Singapore (of which Theroux writes about with such accuracy and wit - be sure to try his Kowloon Tong and Saint Jack if you like this one). And despite the sad realities, Theroux almost always likes the places he visits!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A most critical description of paradise,
By DF (London, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific (Paperback)
I realise that Theroux wrote this whilst going through bad times splitting from his first wife, and he masterfully makes that more evident as the book progresses through a recurring theme of being asked about his wife by Pacific Islanders who seemed to pity his lack of family presence. However, having travelled extensively around Oceania I fail to see how anybody can be as critical and miserable as Theroux is at times.
On occasions he is inaccurate and builds almost racial prejudice such as calling The Samoans thieves, not something I have experienced having lived and worked there. I suspect he remained blighted by his recent theft in Tonga whilst writing about Samoa, his next stop. As mentioned in other reviews, some of the commentary about The Japanese is startling and bitter. Another point of contention is that I am uncertain how long he actually spent in some of these countries, his writings about Fiji are particularly sketchy and thin on daily life commentary as if he padded that section out with a commentary on the political situation which could be readily extracted from the news. For such a discerning traveller who throughout this book seeks solitude, wilderness and simple living I cannot believe that the longest stay Theroux makes is in Hawaii - is it down to his American roots? Surely Hawaii is the most culturally boring of the places he visited. Overall this is a good book, well written and beautifully observed with the ability to take the reader on a journey through the Pacific. I pick this book up when I want a Pacific Island hopping fix and would recommend it to any Pacific traveller as essential literature in planning their travels... just don't believe all of it!
9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Theroux spins out,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific (Paperback)
This is Theroux at his best. Obviously bitter from his failed marriage, he sets out to paddle around the Pacific Islands. Altough at 750 pages this looks a long book, it is in fact a gripping and enlightining look at a region which receives little coverage in many parts of the globe.Theroux is even more cynical than usual which actually raises the laugh quota. Although sometimes the views seem a little harsh,he is always perceptive and entertaining.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Sports, Hobbies & Games > Water Sports > Boating > Canoeing
- Books > Sports, Hobbies & Games > Water Sports > Boating > Sailing
- Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Australia & New Zealand > Australia
- Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Australia & New Zealand > Micronesia
- Books > Travel & Holiday > Travel Writing
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
