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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I purchased Kathy Marks' book because I wanted to gain an insight into Pitcairn Island from a modern day perspective. I was intrigued by what had gone on, and this was to be a very different insight than the mentions I had read from Simon Winchester and Jared Diamond in historical/travel and anthropological writing. For Pitcairn Island's Mutiny on the Bounty legacy and associated historical ambiguities, I had 'Life And Death In Eden' by Trevor Lummis to absorb me. Incidentally, Lummis' book is highly recommended; I enjoyed it immensely.
Kathy Marks has written here an extensive book on the trials that took place on Pitcairn against the alleged pedophiles and child molestors; amongst other sexual debauchery. She has done so in a very "journalistic" style and at times I feel she is more matched to her normal career endeavours than as an author. The book was at times rather frustrating with its slow moving nature and long windedness. Arguably there was also some repetition between chapters, where cross-linked subjects found themselves having to regurgitate previously mentioned ideas to reinforce a point. In addition, if I had not read Lummis' book I would have been slightly disappointed to find out that Marks had skimmed over the book's potential to include the historical 'Mutiny...' elements. Rightly so, she can leave that to other sources, but the book does rather hint in its synoptical spiel that it might say more about Pitcairn's history than the brevity posed here.
Lastly though, the scope of the Pitcairn Island trials in this context could have led to some very interesting psychological insights, but unfortunately it did not. This must surely be Marks' biggest mistake. A fine opportunity had been missed to analyse the men's behaviour from a more scientific aspect - piecing together what happens in the human mind when it is put in such a remote location, with such a small population, far from the reach of the law. This was mentioned to an extent, but it was sadly in simplistic terms.
Nevertheless, my stern words aside, I found Marks' book to be an interesting read. I liked the fact she did not resort to a feminist/biased approach. That was a possibility that I had suspected before beginning reading the book. Quite clearly there is nothing to say in support of the atrocities that the men have committed on the island, but the verdicts surrounding them were all expressed in a non-attacking way. I personally believe all opinions should be allowed to have a voice, and thankfully Marks' has permitted this. It must also be remembered that we have few other sources and witnesses for the trials that took place here.
If the rating system allowed for 0.5s I would rate her book as a 3.5/5, but I have rounded it up to a 4/5. If you are a criminologist or psychologist interested in this topic, you may be better off reading something else on this. That said though, if you wish to be more well-read, then I doubt you will be disappointed in 'Lost Paradise'.
Kathy Marks has written here an extensive book on the trials that took place on Pitcairn against the alleged pedophiles and child molestors; amongst other sexual debauchery. She has done so in a very "journalistic" style and at times I feel she is more matched to her normal career endeavours than as an author. The book was at times rather frustrating with its slow moving nature and long windedness. Arguably there was also some repetition between chapters, where cross-linked subjects found themselves having to regurgitate previously mentioned ideas to reinforce a point. In addition, if I had not read Lummis' book I would have been slightly disappointed to find out that Marks had skimmed over the book's potential to include the historical 'Mutiny...' elements. Rightly so, she can leave that to other sources, but the book does rather hint in its synoptical spiel that it might say more about Pitcairn's history than the brevity posed here.
Lastly though, the scope of the Pitcairn Island trials in this context could have led to some very interesting psychological insights, but unfortunately it did not. This must surely be Marks' biggest mistake. A fine opportunity had been missed to analyse the men's behaviour from a more scientific aspect - piecing together what happens in the human mind when it is put in such a remote location, with such a small population, far from the reach of the law. This was mentioned to an extent, but it was sadly in simplistic terms.
Nevertheless, my stern words aside, I found Marks' book to be an interesting read. I liked the fact she did not resort to a feminist/biased approach. That was a possibility that I had suspected before beginning reading the book. Quite clearly there is nothing to say in support of the atrocities that the men have committed on the island, but the verdicts surrounding them were all expressed in a non-attacking way. I personally believe all opinions should be allowed to have a voice, and thankfully Marks' has permitted this. It must also be remembered that we have few other sources and witnesses for the trials that took place here.
If the rating system allowed for 0.5s I would rate her book as a 3.5/5, but I have rounded it up to a 4/5. If you are a criminologist or psychologist interested in this topic, you may be better off reading something else on this. That said though, if you wish to be more well-read, then I doubt you will be disappointed in 'Lost Paradise'.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is fantastic, it dispels the myth that Pitcairn Island is a paradise. It is well written by Kathy Marks, a Asia- Pacific correspondent who was present at the child abuse trial held on Pitcairn Island in 2004.
It is a book that you can not put down, as the reader you will be absorbed in the facts about the history of the Island, the trial, and the verdict of those accused of the vile crimes to the young people who lived on Pitcairn.
It is a book that you can not put down, as the reader you will be absorbed in the facts about the history of the Island, the trial, and the verdict of those accused of the vile crimes to the young people who lived on Pitcairn.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
51 reviews
15 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Disappointing
12 Aug 2010
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
What a missed opportunity. This could have been an insightful book about a truly puzzling and horrifying development of human culture, if intelligently written. But the author cobbled together her dispatches to the New Zealand Herald, filled in the gaps with gossip and her own pouty reactions to other aspects of community life on Pitcairn, and stretched the book to twice its necessary length. She is shocked! Shocked! To find internecine disputes, patronage, parochialism, favoritism, and suspicion of outsiders on what is essentially an isolated tribal population of fifty somewhere in the South Pacific. Shocked to find that the population shuns her as a journalist. And her easily bruised sensibilities show as she undercuts the power of the main story of sexual abuse of children by diluting it with her snarky comments on almost every person on the island, generously spicing her writing with gossipy asides like "Someone said" and "Someone heard," and offering us distasteful observations about who likes whom. I would hate to be this woman's neighbor. And unless I missed something she apparently believes that Clark Gable and Mel Gibson are the planet's main source of information about the Bounty mutiny and Pitcairn, when more people have read Nordoff and Hall's work than have seen the movies. Indeed, her neglect of much of the written material, and her paltry treatment of the amazing background of the Bounty descendants, in favor of her high-school level snit about the everyday social graces of the inhabitants makes one wonder if she has even read anything but her own writing. A disappointment. It gets one star because she was willing to make the trip.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Fascinating Account of the Tragedy that Occurred on Pitcairn Island
17 Feb 2009
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I have been fascinated with Pitcairn Island since I first saw Mutiny on the Bounty. I had visions of an island paradise. I then heard about a sexual abuse scandal on the island at one point but the news did not spend much time on it so I did not learn much. Then I saw this book.
While Lost Paradise first and foremost is a book about the horrible sexual abuse and child molestation scandal that occurred on the island it also gives the reader an understanding of how the mutineer's legacy led to this modern day tragedy. The author does a great job in interweaving the stories of a modern day trial on an isolated, remote island of approximately 50 people, most of who were relatives of the mutineers who decided to make the deserted island their home in 1790.
In a moving chapter called "Reaping a Sad Legacy Since Bounty Times" the author explains that after the mutiny Christian returned to Tahiti. After inviting some Tahitians (mostly women) on board for a party Christian cut the anchor cable. One woman jumped overboard and six older woman were left of on a nearby island but a dozen women including a girl of 14 were left for 15 men. She writes "Such is the basis on which Pitcairn was established: women abducted and shared out like rations of rum, then held captive, effectively, on a remote island 1,300 miles from home." Some 10 years later only one mutineer was left alive (as well as most of the women and the children fathered by the other men) because of infighting and illness.
In another chapter called "Lord of the Flies" the author looks at what happens when a small group of people create their own society on a deserted island. She compares the culture to other isolated islands.
I want to stress that this information is intertwined with the stories of those on trial and the victims as well. The information about the trial and life on modern day Pitcairn Island is well documented and seemingly fair.
In order to make this book as good as it is the author needed to be part criminal trial reporter, part historian and part anthropologist. She was all three and more. This is a fascinating book about a terrible abuse scandal on isolated island founded by famous mutineers.
While Lost Paradise first and foremost is a book about the horrible sexual abuse and child molestation scandal that occurred on the island it also gives the reader an understanding of how the mutineer's legacy led to this modern day tragedy. The author does a great job in interweaving the stories of a modern day trial on an isolated, remote island of approximately 50 people, most of who were relatives of the mutineers who decided to make the deserted island their home in 1790.
In a moving chapter called "Reaping a Sad Legacy Since Bounty Times" the author explains that after the mutiny Christian returned to Tahiti. After inviting some Tahitians (mostly women) on board for a party Christian cut the anchor cable. One woman jumped overboard and six older woman were left of on a nearby island but a dozen women including a girl of 14 were left for 15 men. She writes "Such is the basis on which Pitcairn was established: women abducted and shared out like rations of rum, then held captive, effectively, on a remote island 1,300 miles from home." Some 10 years later only one mutineer was left alive (as well as most of the women and the children fathered by the other men) because of infighting and illness.
In another chapter called "Lord of the Flies" the author looks at what happens when a small group of people create their own society on a deserted island. She compares the culture to other isolated islands.
I want to stress that this information is intertwined with the stories of those on trial and the victims as well. The information about the trial and life on modern day Pitcairn Island is well documented and seemingly fair.
In order to make this book as good as it is the author needed to be part criminal trial reporter, part historian and part anthropologist. She was all three and more. This is a fascinating book about a terrible abuse scandal on isolated island founded by famous mutineers.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Pitcairn, Hell on Earth
29 Jan 2009
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Kathy Marks, the author of "Lost Paradise" was one of only six journalists allowed access to Pitcairn and who covered the sensational trials of several influential Pitcairn inhabitants, prominent men who were accused of the most abhorrent crimes - that of sexual abuse of young girls on the island.
Pitcairn Island has historic significance going back generations, as it was the island that became home to Fletcher Christian and other mutineers from the HMS Bounty. Today, it is home to about 50 descendants of the early settlers and until recently, was viewed as a sort of paradise on earth, an idyllic island, remote and peaceful. Little did the general public know of the dark secrets concealed for generations by the island's inhabitants, and even those from the outside world who were privy to what was going on - that of the systematic sexual abuse of young children, condoned by many of the inhabitants, and seen as part of the island culture. The horrors finally came to light when one young teenage girl alleged rape and the world discovered Pitcairn's horrific secret.
Reading this book is like "The Lord of the Flies" come alive - how a remote society, isolated from the outside world, developed close kinship and strong bonds, and where the strong preyed upon the innocent, almost 'cannibalistic' in nature, where grown men, so-called leaders of others systematically indulged in the violation of innocent children. Worse still, is the revelation of the cult of secrecy surrounding the abuse, where the violated have no voice and rights to decry the abuse, instead are forced to endure and keep silent.
Kathy Marks does an excellent job painting a compelling portrait not only of the case proceedings, but also of the culture of the Pitcairn Islanders and the foundations of the society that allowed for these abuses to go on for so long, unchecked.
I found those who abetted these criminals extremely abhorrent - justifying the abuse as part of the island culture of breaking them in? The attitude of indifference is simply appalling. I wonder at the years of therapy needed to get the victims over their trauma.
This is horrific reading, but very compelling, and I for one could not put the book down. Highly recommended.
Pitcairn Island has historic significance going back generations, as it was the island that became home to Fletcher Christian and other mutineers from the HMS Bounty. Today, it is home to about 50 descendants of the early settlers and until recently, was viewed as a sort of paradise on earth, an idyllic island, remote and peaceful. Little did the general public know of the dark secrets concealed for generations by the island's inhabitants, and even those from the outside world who were privy to what was going on - that of the systematic sexual abuse of young children, condoned by many of the inhabitants, and seen as part of the island culture. The horrors finally came to light when one young teenage girl alleged rape and the world discovered Pitcairn's horrific secret.
Reading this book is like "The Lord of the Flies" come alive - how a remote society, isolated from the outside world, developed close kinship and strong bonds, and where the strong preyed upon the innocent, almost 'cannibalistic' in nature, where grown men, so-called leaders of others systematically indulged in the violation of innocent children. Worse still, is the revelation of the cult of secrecy surrounding the abuse, where the violated have no voice and rights to decry the abuse, instead are forced to endure and keep silent.
Kathy Marks does an excellent job painting a compelling portrait not only of the case proceedings, but also of the culture of the Pitcairn Islanders and the foundations of the society that allowed for these abuses to go on for so long, unchecked.
I found those who abetted these criminals extremely abhorrent - justifying the abuse as part of the island culture of breaking them in? The attitude of indifference is simply appalling. I wonder at the years of therapy needed to get the victims over their trauma.
This is horrific reading, but very compelling, and I for one could not put the book down. Highly recommended.
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