Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific
by Paul Theroux
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 272)
Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
anyone looking for a true literary escape!
I have read many of Theroux's travel narratives and enjoy them very much. The Happy Isles is more self-indulgent than the others I have read, particularly in the beginning, where Theroux is struggling to come to grips with his separation from his wife and trying to put his best foot forward on his book tour in Australia. I am not opposed to travelogues being introspective but the trouble is that for much of the rest of the book, the writing is steadfastly outward looking, with Theroux a...more
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Read in August, 2008
Damnit Paul Theroux, once again you made this book work by the skin of your teeth. Almost as if you can make your books work by sheer force of will and effort as opposed to any clear message. And somehow that works.
So the gimmick or setting of this Paul Theroux travel book is a year and a half, yup, a year and a half spent traipsing through the Pacific islands with a collapsible kayak. Theroux is a master of creating this fantasy of perfect travel: exquisitely written little vignettes inform...more
So the gimmick or setting of this Paul Theroux travel book is a year and a half, yup, a year and a half spent traipsing through the Pacific islands with a collapsible kayak. Theroux is a master of creating this fantasy of perfect travel: exquisitely written little vignettes inform...more
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Read in September, 2003
This is one of my favorite books of Paul Theroux's. Unlike many of his other books, he comes off as an adventurer as well in this book, spending 18 months alone on a kayak and exploring the many islands of the south pacific. Needless to say, he is scholarly as well in his writings on the Pacific islanders and their history.
As usual, he is not given to the hyperbole about how wonderful the pacific islands and the islanders are, a la James Michener. He is caustic about Australians and the Kiwis...more
As usual, he is not given to the hyperbole about how wonderful the pacific islands and the islanders are, a la James Michener. He is caustic about Australians and the Kiwis...more
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Read in September, 2005
recommends it for:
people who are capable of loving Theroux
Ah, Theroux! How much do I love Theroux?
This is one of my favourite books by him, not only because of where he is traveling. I know, many readers don't like Theroux because he is so seemingly negative. I've heard people ask why he doesn't stay at home if he doesn't like what he sees, but see, I don't think he doesn't like where he is. But he is human, and he sees and describes the world he travels thruogh as a human.
So if you expect great travel writing to sound like "and the we vi...more
This is one of my favourite books by him, not only because of where he is traveling. I know, many readers don't like Theroux because he is so seemingly negative. I've heard people ask why he doesn't stay at home if he doesn't like what he sees, but see, I don't think he doesn't like where he is. But he is human, and he sees and describes the world he travels thruogh as a human.
So if you expect great travel writing to sound like "and the we vi...more
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Read in April, 1996
recommends it for:
Travel readers, General
An excellent book on a place very seldom encountered in literary circles as Theroux doesn't sneak off to Hawaii or Bora Bora for the beaches. This is the real South Pacific with places so desolate and forgotten that it takes someone like him to explore it, and not just a quick flight in and out sort of travel, but by collapsable kayak. It is a great read, describing cultures far removed from the busy world of television and computers. He mixes his patented cynicism with gloriously beautiful land...more
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This is the best book I have read in a very long time. Of course, it fuels my obsession with the South Pacific. Paul Theroux's need to travel to find himself is exactly how I am. I feel as though he was more optomistic in this book than in his others...albeit, he was still quite cantankerous, but there was an essence of hope to this book, captured while he remarked on the beauty of the Marquesas and other islands while paddling amongst the waves. I was very sad when this book ended and immediate...more
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Read in September, 2007
Theroux's lengthier travelogues tend to get a little tedious -- not sure how many times he can describe the way Pacific Islanders eat Cheez Puffs, drink Coke, and spoon tins of Spam for dinner. At 500+ pages, it could've been whittled down to 400. But when he's talking to locals and royalty alike, or describing the natural wonders of the South Pacific, his prose positively soars.
Recommended, though don't feel remiss if you breeze through some portions.
Recommended, though don't feel remiss if you breeze through some portions.
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Read in October, 2005
i read this in my "history of the pacific" course. it's a travelogue, of sorts, but is beautifullly, beautifully written, and touches on some civilizations that hadn't yet been "discovered" by the west (or east, really). it's a little patronizing towards the peoples, but then again, that's emblomatic of the time, and is a really good critical point in time to realize that the history of the pacific is a varied, disparate, and debatable thing.
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Theroux's best travel book. After going through a divorce with his wife, Theroux decided to go on a journey through the South Pacific -- just him and a cayak. His witty style and cranky demeanor through out the book allow the reader to not only gain insight into the cultures that dot the earth's largest ocean but also insight into Theroux's brilliant and emotional psyche. Travel as therapy has never been so well documented.
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I enjoyed this travelogue in the isles of the Pacific...New Zealand, Australia, the Solomon and Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Tahiti, Easter Island and Hawaii. The only thing that bothered me was the author's need to keep us abreast of his personal life and failed marriage. I wasn't interested in that at all. He also comes across as pretty arrogant. Otherwise, it's a great read.
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I've loved all of Paul Theroux's cranky, opinionated travel books, but this one is by far my favorite. Oceania is an incredibly diverse area, and this book deals with Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand and, of course, many of the tiny islands scattered in the Pacific. Theroux does as much of the traveling as he can in a collapsible kayak.
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Read in February, 2008
recommended to Jami by:
Dr. Farrerrecommends it for: people who enjoy traveling
Initially, I was assigned to read a few chapters from this novel for my anthropology class. However, once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. It is a lengthy novel (500+ pages) but the way the author writes is extremely witty and enjoyable to read.
This book gave an excellent perspective and in-depth view of Oceania.
This book gave an excellent perspective and in-depth view of Oceania.
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You love Theroux or you hate him, but you can't deny his skill and talent as travel writer. On this trip, he was at his cynical best and some commentators didn't like it because he was a bit down when taking this trip - he'd just bust up with his wife. The Kiwis and Aussies didn't like his comments on them either ...
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Read in January, 1996
Previous Theroux books I picked up I threw away immediately. What a pompous ass, until this book. Aha! His wife left him and it seems for the first time ever he can see that other people are equals. So, what a delight to read his observations and notions about the South Pacific. Rich.
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recommends it for:
those who love travel writing
I would NEVER want to travel with (or spend any time with) Paul Theroux, but damned can he conjure up a sense of place. Cranky, complaining and mean-spirited, but vastly entertaining.
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Read in April, 2008
Well-- Theroux is not a big fan of New Zealand... and he dissed my home-away-from-home in Dunedin. So it took me some energy to continue reading in light of this. But I am glad I have--- so far, it is feeling like an adventure that will make me antsy to hit the road again.
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Read in May, 2008
recommended to Alexis by:
Robert Ridelrecommends it for: Anybody who happens to care about Pacific Island nations
Very interesting and entertaining read. At times you wonder, because of the latent racism and bumbling attempts at adventure if Paul Theroux is an American raised in the second half of the 20th century or a pre-war british colonialist.
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I really got caught up in this book. I have always dreamed of an extended visit to the islands. PT has some mixed experiences, as usual, but he paints a vivid picture of a contemporary "paradise". Maybe we are better off here.
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top notch 'vicarious experience' writer. i've heard people complain that his misanthropy is at its most glaring in this particular book, but i don't see it...maybe because i'm a grumpy traveler myself.
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Great retelling of the truly devastating number COT --- colonialism and occupation and tourism --- did on island cultures in the Pacific.
Even so, Theroux makes you want to go there to find his world.
Even so, Theroux makes you want to go there to find his world.
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