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Paradise News
Paradise, tourist style. It's a very long way from home. Bernard Walsh is in Hawaii on family business, escorting his querulous father to the bedside of a long-forgotten aunt. His mission transports him from quiet obscurity in Rummridge, England, to a lush tropical playground, from cloistered solitude into the unfamiliar company of package tourists: honeymooners; young women looking for Mr. Nice; families nuclear and fissile. But it is the island itself that holds the most astonishing surprises, as an accidental encounter opens up to Bernard possibilities of life, and love, never dreamed of in his normally overcast habitat. Paradise News is an enchanting--and very funny--portrait of the late flowering of an honest man.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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810 people want to read
About the author
David Lodge
153 books933 followersDavid John Lodge was an English author and critic. A literature professor at the University of Birmingham until 1987, some of his novels satirise academic life, notably the "Campus Trilogy" – Changing Places: A Tale of Two Campuses (1975), Small World: An Academic Romance (1984) and Nice Work (1988). The second two were shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Another theme is Roman Catholicism, beginning from his first published novel The Picturegoers (1960). Lodge also wrote television screenplays and three stage plays. After retiring, he continued to publish literary criticism. His edition of Twentieth Century Literary Criticism (1972) includes essays on 20th-century writers such as T.S. Eliot. In 1992, he published The Art of Fiction, a collection of essays on literary techniques with illustrative examples from great authors, such as Point of View (Henry James), The Stream of Consciousness (Virginia Woolf) and Interior Monologue (James Joyce), beginning with Beginning and ending with Ending.
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January 19, 2025
A Thoughtful Comedian
David Lodge's novel "Paradise News" is a deceptively simple book to read with many important themes. It is the tale of people from England who travel to Hawaii on a charter package for holiday. The main characters are a lapsed Irish priest,(Bernard) who teaches theology, and his crusty aged father who are summoned to Hawaii to visit a long lost sister of the father who is on her deathbed.
The story is a brisk, breezy satire on Hawaii tourism. With the exception of the main theme and characters, much of the story is not well developed. The main theme, as it involves Bernard stresses growth and change after a lapse of belief in religious dogma. It explores the growth of human love and sexuality as Bernard is able to consummate his relationship with a separated woman he meets in Hawaii, comes to terms with his vocation as a theologian, and learns the virtues of love, patience and forgiveness. He comes to appreciate the nature of religious doubt and the attendant spiritual search through human love and through reflections on the human condition as reflected in the works of William Butler Yeats, the Victorian poets, the Spanish philosopher Unamuno, and the Gospel of Matthew, among other sources.
John Updike's novel "In the Beauty of the Lillies" also deals with the lapse of faith by an American Protestant Clergyman. In Updike's book, when faith is lost, all is downhill for the protagonist and his family. I think Lodge's book can be instructively compared with Updike insofar as it raises questions of religion, secularism and sexuality. There is more hope in Lodge's book than I find in Updike's for meaningful human life outside the reach of the creeds.
Robin Friedman
David Lodge's novel "Paradise News" is a deceptively simple book to read with many important themes. It is the tale of people from England who travel to Hawaii on a charter package for holiday. The main characters are a lapsed Irish priest,(Bernard) who teaches theology, and his crusty aged father who are summoned to Hawaii to visit a long lost sister of the father who is on her deathbed.
The story is a brisk, breezy satire on Hawaii tourism. With the exception of the main theme and characters, much of the story is not well developed. The main theme, as it involves Bernard stresses growth and change after a lapse of belief in religious dogma. It explores the growth of human love and sexuality as Bernard is able to consummate his relationship with a separated woman he meets in Hawaii, comes to terms with his vocation as a theologian, and learns the virtues of love, patience and forgiveness. He comes to appreciate the nature of religious doubt and the attendant spiritual search through human love and through reflections on the human condition as reflected in the works of William Butler Yeats, the Victorian poets, the Spanish philosopher Unamuno, and the Gospel of Matthew, among other sources.
John Updike's novel "In the Beauty of the Lillies" also deals with the lapse of faith by an American Protestant Clergyman. In Updike's book, when faith is lost, all is downhill for the protagonist and his family. I think Lodge's book can be instructively compared with Updike insofar as it raises questions of religion, secularism and sexuality. There is more hope in Lodge's book than I find in Updike's for meaningful human life outside the reach of the creeds.
Robin Friedman
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December 26, 2018I was wondering round the park taking in the running styles of the dogs and the man practising Tai Chi with a pair of wooden cutlasses and who may or may not have been arrested shortly after by the plain clothes police I saw putting on stab proof vests by the park entrances and I thought that I probably haven't read enough nineteenth century English literature to have much to say about this nice middle aged book in which a Priest comes to terms with his loss of faith and succeeds in finding love and a flavour to life. At which point it struck me that while I can't point to specific novels and allusions. What is the crisis of faith but the great nineteenth century theme, in this novel we might say that the experience of Catholic migrants to England catches up with the native Protestant tradition a century late in the figure of a middle aged Catholic theologian who finds that due to a regrettable absence of belief in God he is no longer able to teach down at the Seminary, this contrasted with, at least in my mind, with the fate of the Atheist Anglican whose parish none the less still found him an effective priest. Still his unemployment, if not unemployability causes him a decent late twentieth century existential problem, though is it turns out the love of a good woman promises to fill all available hours, and if man doesn't believe in God , deus ex machina, appears to demonstrate that God in the form of Adam Smith's invisible hand very much believes in man, which I suppose also offers a very nineteenth century resolution to the novel.
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August 26, 2021Editado em 26.Agosto. 2021
Este livro estava parado há mais de dois anos; decididamente, não o vou terminar. Até perdi a vontade de ir ao Havai.
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Março 2019
Uma sátira divertida acerca da forma como hoje vivemos e fazemos férias. O turismo visto como uma disciplina ( ou ciência) que faz parte da antropologia e com montes de dinheiro para investigação, estudos de impacte, estudos de atracção.
«Quando comecei a fazer o meu doutoramento, o prof queria que eu estudasse uma tribo qualquer de África, de que ninguém tinha ouvido falar, chamada Oof. Ao que parece, não conjugam os verbos no futuro e só se lavam nos solstícios do Verão e do Inverno.»
Quem o diz é Roger Sheldrake, que não tendo aceitado a proposta (por motivos evidentes), optou por fazer pesquisa em hotéis de 3 estrelas e publicou um livro intitulado Sighseeing segundo o qual viajar, admirar paisagens é um substituto para um ritual religioso, a saber: acumulação de graça divina através de visitas aos templos, recordações de viagens como relíquias, guias turísticos como livros de orações.
Vamos conhecendo personagens nas quais nos reconhecemos sobre o pano de fundo da especulação imobiliária e a possibilidade do amor. Destino: Havai.
Este livro estava parado há mais de dois anos; decididamente, não o vou terminar. Até perdi a vontade de ir ao Havai.
---------------------------
Março 2019
Uma sátira divertida acerca da forma como hoje vivemos e fazemos férias. O turismo visto como uma disciplina ( ou ciência) que faz parte da antropologia e com montes de dinheiro para investigação, estudos de impacte, estudos de atracção.
«Quando comecei a fazer o meu doutoramento, o prof queria que eu estudasse uma tribo qualquer de África, de que ninguém tinha ouvido falar, chamada Oof. Ao que parece, não conjugam os verbos no futuro e só se lavam nos solstícios do Verão e do Inverno.»
Quem o diz é Roger Sheldrake, que não tendo aceitado a proposta (por motivos evidentes), optou por fazer pesquisa em hotéis de 3 estrelas e publicou um livro intitulado Sighseeing segundo o qual viajar, admirar paisagens é um substituto para um ritual religioso, a saber: acumulação de graça divina através de visitas aos templos, recordações de viagens como relíquias, guias turísticos como livros de orações.
Vamos conhecendo personagens nas quais nos reconhecemos sobre o pano de fundo da especulação imobiliária e a possibilidade do amor. Destino: Havai.
December 24, 2017
2.5 stars
This is the first David Lodge I have read for many, many years and it was a somewhat mixed return. Lodge can write, make no mistake about that and his plots hang together well. It reads easily and the whole runs along smoothly; it is a comic novel (so I am informed). The novel revolves around Bernard who works as a lecturer in theology at the University of Rummidge (Birmingham). He is an ex-Catholic priest who has lost his faith. He has an uncomfortable relationship with his father and sister, knows very little about sex and relationships and is generally quite isolated. He has an aunt in Hawaii; she has been separated from the rest of the family for many years but is now dying and she would like to see Bernard and his father before she does. She persuades Bernard to take his very home loving father to Hawaii to visit. The cheapest way to do it is to join a package tour. This gives Lodge an excuse to set up a whole series of characters and caricatures of the British abroad and numerous minor plotlines, most of which are irritating and pointless.
Inevitably the trip to Hawaii has its ups and downs after a rather excruciating description of a long plane journey. Bernard’s father steps out in front of a car (foreigners drive on the wrong side of the road) and breaks his hip, ending up in hospital (cue storylines about medical insurance). Bernard then manages to fall in love with the driver of the car, Yolande and to discover that Aunt Isabel is actually much richer than everyone (including Isabel) realised.
This leads to one of the most cringe-making sex scenes I have read in a number of years and a rather interesting and perceptive analysis of why Bernard lost his faith. Lodge seems very at ease and familiar with twentieth century theologians, tripping through Tillich, Kung, Bultmann and Rahner with a fair amount of dexterity whilst discoursing on the teleological argument and debunking the possibility of an afterlife. Moving the setting for all this to an “earthly paradise” was an interesting move and like Henry James, moving your main characters to foreign shores can be fruitful.
There is lots of renewal and transformation at the end and Lodge seems to like to tidy up his plotlines like a gardener trimming a hedge. Most of it irritated me and Lodge creates characters who slide nicely into his world view, which is really quite English and traditional. However the extended look at how and why Bernard lost his faith and the nature of the Catholic Church was certainly worth reading and saved the whole from being a total disaster. A word of advice, skip the sex scene (trust me on this!!)
This is the first David Lodge I have read for many, many years and it was a somewhat mixed return. Lodge can write, make no mistake about that and his plots hang together well. It reads easily and the whole runs along smoothly; it is a comic novel (so I am informed). The novel revolves around Bernard who works as a lecturer in theology at the University of Rummidge (Birmingham). He is an ex-Catholic priest who has lost his faith. He has an uncomfortable relationship with his father and sister, knows very little about sex and relationships and is generally quite isolated. He has an aunt in Hawaii; she has been separated from the rest of the family for many years but is now dying and she would like to see Bernard and his father before she does. She persuades Bernard to take his very home loving father to Hawaii to visit. The cheapest way to do it is to join a package tour. This gives Lodge an excuse to set up a whole series of characters and caricatures of the British abroad and numerous minor plotlines, most of which are irritating and pointless.
Inevitably the trip to Hawaii has its ups and downs after a rather excruciating description of a long plane journey. Bernard’s father steps out in front of a car (foreigners drive on the wrong side of the road) and breaks his hip, ending up in hospital (cue storylines about medical insurance). Bernard then manages to fall in love with the driver of the car, Yolande and to discover that Aunt Isabel is actually much richer than everyone (including Isabel) realised.
This leads to one of the most cringe-making sex scenes I have read in a number of years and a rather interesting and perceptive analysis of why Bernard lost his faith. Lodge seems very at ease and familiar with twentieth century theologians, tripping through Tillich, Kung, Bultmann and Rahner with a fair amount of dexterity whilst discoursing on the teleological argument and debunking the possibility of an afterlife. Moving the setting for all this to an “earthly paradise” was an interesting move and like Henry James, moving your main characters to foreign shores can be fruitful.
There is lots of renewal and transformation at the end and Lodge seems to like to tidy up his plotlines like a gardener trimming a hedge. Most of it irritated me and Lodge creates characters who slide nicely into his world view, which is really quite English and traditional. However the extended look at how and why Bernard lost his faith and the nature of the Catholic Church was certainly worth reading and saved the whole from being a total disaster. A word of advice, skip the sex scene (trust me on this!!)
June 14, 2012
I LOVE David Lodge. When Jack Hall first turned me on to Lodge's work, I very quickly ate through what seemed like most of his fiction--Nice Work (1988), Changing Places (1975), and Small World (1984)--with the greatest delight and voracity. Since then, I've been pecking away--The British Museum Is Falling Down (1965), Thinks (2001, which includes an autistic character), How Far Can You Go? (1980), Deaf Sentence (2008)--finding his novels second hand whenever I can, but since I seem to see the same titles all the time, I had started to think that maybe there was no more. After some resistance, I recently read his Author, Author (2004), a fictionalized biography of Henry James, which I feared might be dull, but which was not only very entertaining, but also left me with a revived interest in James, who has never been a great favorite of mine.
The appeal of Lodge's writing is manifold. First of all, many of the books have an academic setting or context and his insider's look at this insider's world is a very great pleasure, the eccentric personalities, turf wars, specialized area studies, all tenderly lampooned so that one gets to enjoy laughing at oneself. The fundamentally comic nature of his writing, too, is a big draw for me. There is death and ugliness, disability and disease, even appalling sexual misconduct, and yet, these facts of existence are thoughtfully interwoven into a fabric of sense, meaning, and satisfying closure that is in keeping with the best traditions of intelligent comedy, including faves like Jane Austen and Anthony Trollope. And, while it might not be of great moment to some readers, Lodge often probes sympathetically into the intellectual and emotional life of failed Catholicism, delving critically into Catholic culture, but demonstrating a deep and complex understanding that I find quite compelling.
Such delving is very much present in Paradise News, the protagonist of which is an academic theologian and former Catholic priest (Bernard) sorting out family affairs against the improbable backdrop of tourist-infested Hawaii. As he travels from hospital to hospital visiting first his ailing aunt and then his ailing father, Bernard also rediscovers the simpler joys of life. A blissful read, with enough richness of thought and language to keep me fully occupied, but sufficiently light of heart so that I am always eager to pick it up.
https://bcc-cuny.digication.com/julia...
The appeal of Lodge's writing is manifold. First of all, many of the books have an academic setting or context and his insider's look at this insider's world is a very great pleasure, the eccentric personalities, turf wars, specialized area studies, all tenderly lampooned so that one gets to enjoy laughing at oneself. The fundamentally comic nature of his writing, too, is a big draw for me. There is death and ugliness, disability and disease, even appalling sexual misconduct, and yet, these facts of existence are thoughtfully interwoven into a fabric of sense, meaning, and satisfying closure that is in keeping with the best traditions of intelligent comedy, including faves like Jane Austen and Anthony Trollope. And, while it might not be of great moment to some readers, Lodge often probes sympathetically into the intellectual and emotional life of failed Catholicism, delving critically into Catholic culture, but demonstrating a deep and complex understanding that I find quite compelling.
Such delving is very much present in Paradise News, the protagonist of which is an academic theologian and former Catholic priest (Bernard) sorting out family affairs against the improbable backdrop of tourist-infested Hawaii. As he travels from hospital to hospital visiting first his ailing aunt and then his ailing father, Bernard also rediscovers the simpler joys of life. A blissful read, with enough richness of thought and language to keep me fully occupied, but sufficiently light of heart so that I am always eager to pick it up.
https://bcc-cuny.digication.com/julia...
September 30, 2016
This was a surprising read. Until now I had only read Lodge’s non-fictional writing and so I had to idea what I would find.
Bernard is not your usual main character - a theologian and former priest - who is trying to get his cantankerous father to the other side of the world in order to attempt a reconciliation with his long-ignored aunt, who is on her deathbed. After the comical tribulations of this odd pair at the airport and in the plane, things get even more complicated when Bernard’s father is hurt in a car accident soon after landing in Hawaii, which puts him in a hospital.
I wasn’t too sure about this either when I read the blurb, but I ended up loving it. To combine religion with tourism is admittedly a very weird combination but it works, especially with all the other subjects, from discovering oneself and the possibility of romance. The result is entertaining, funny and poignant.
Lodge does something interesting with the narration too, going from Bernard to the other English tourists that shared the same plane, switching to their points of view in a way that tied the whole together, givings us all their different perceptions of Hawaii, and of being on holiday. The ambulance scene for instance was pure genius. Of all these secondary colourful characters, my favourite was the pompous Dr. Sheldrake who was set on seeing holiday travel as the pilgrimage of modern times, analysing everything, exposing the ridicule of the industry, and indirectly of the academic.
Ultimately for me the whole book revolved around looking at things honestly and with no shame, whether dealing with religion, sex, abuse, ageing and death. All these are still taboo subjects to a certain extent. Fear and shame just make things worse, but talking about them in a frank manner allows understanding and empathy.
A funny, touching and thought-provoking read.
Bernard is not your usual main character - a theologian and former priest - who is trying to get his cantankerous father to the other side of the world in order to attempt a reconciliation with his long-ignored aunt, who is on her deathbed. After the comical tribulations of this odd pair at the airport and in the plane, things get even more complicated when Bernard’s father is hurt in a car accident soon after landing in Hawaii, which puts him in a hospital.
I wasn’t too sure about this either when I read the blurb, but I ended up loving it. To combine religion with tourism is admittedly a very weird combination but it works, especially with all the other subjects, from discovering oneself and the possibility of romance. The result is entertaining, funny and poignant.
Lodge does something interesting with the narration too, going from Bernard to the other English tourists that shared the same plane, switching to their points of view in a way that tied the whole together, givings us all their different perceptions of Hawaii, and of being on holiday. The ambulance scene for instance was pure genius. Of all these secondary colourful characters, my favourite was the pompous Dr. Sheldrake who was set on seeing holiday travel as the pilgrimage of modern times, analysing everything, exposing the ridicule of the industry, and indirectly of the academic.
Ultimately for me the whole book revolved around looking at things honestly and with no shame, whether dealing with religion, sex, abuse, ageing and death. All these are still taboo subjects to a certain extent. Fear and shame just make things worse, but talking about them in a frank manner allows understanding and empathy.
A funny, touching and thought-provoking read.
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August 24, 2016Hawaii with its sun, sand, pristine beaches and promises of romance is made out to be paradise on earth, but is it really a facade after all—construction all over the place, commercialisation with the same old McDonalds and KFC, hordes of tourists in search of paradise, and residents dissatisfied either with the monotony or lack of substance or the change from the “paradise” it once was. This book essentially follows the journey of Bernard Walsh, a former minister, who is travelling with his father to help broker a reconciliation of sorts with his father’s estranged sister who is now on her deathbed. His very first day finds things taking an unanticipated turn with his father meeting with an accident and landing in hospital. Still the place, despite not being the travel brochure kind of paradise, seems to work some magic for him—he finds himself able to help his aunt, and (with a little help) to face and overcome his own personal fears and doubts (of relationships and women) and even find the promise of love, something he’d not even set out looking for. Besides Bernard, Lodge also follows the adventures of the other travellers on the Travelwise Tours package who have their own problems and eccentricities. The novel moves between the comic (I particularly loved the part about the researcher theorising holidays as the new pilgrimages (and going snorkelling as part of his “fieldwork”) and thought Lodge did a great job poking fun at him) and more serious situations and discussions including past burdens and discussions on theology (which I read but didn’t really even attempt to take in). Written as a combination of narrative, diary entries, and letters, this was a fast paced and quite enjoyable read.
November 7, 2011
A favorite novel of mine. In fact it has the same plot arc as many a romance novel: in which the protagonist starts out in a state of loneliness and dysfunction and, while traveling to an exciting new place, falls into disasters that somehow turn out well and end in love and happiness. Only, instead of a Regency heroine at her first London ball, the hero is an aging theology professor in modern Honolulu.
One of the skilfullnesses of this book is the way almost all the characters are well-intentioned. There are no villains; everybody is trying to cope as best they can. That many of them are intolerable or impossible to live with is just life, not evil.
Another charm is that it's a -British- novel, and so you get all the fish-out-of-water pleasures of Brit-in-America storytelling.
One of the skilfullnesses of this book is the way almost all the characters are well-intentioned. There are no villains; everybody is trying to cope as best they can. That many of them are intolerable or impossible to live with is just life, not evil.
Another charm is that it's a -British- novel, and so you get all the fish-out-of-water pleasures of Brit-in-America storytelling.
August 28, 2016
A quietly funny, quietly satiric and quietly devout book by one of our best-loved Catholic novelists (he probably hates that term) David Lodge. The hero's journey is rather like a sly update of Elizabeth von Arnim's "Enchanted April", with the same subtle sense of grace and miracle. It's well worth a read.
August 22, 2010
What did I learn from Paradise News?
Several things.
Now I can nonchalantly use terms like "lei", "pupu" and "moo-moo" in any conversation about Hawaii. Not that I had or will have many.
Apropos, don't you have the impression that Hawaii are out of fashion? Personally I don't know anyone who went there. And even the fact of being the accidental birthplace of Barack Obama is not helping as much as it could.
Why don't I see any hula dancers parading in the English streets?
Where are the pale tourists wearing Maui and Sons t-shirt?
When the last eruction of Kilauea was shown on TV?
What happened in Pearl Harbour: who attacked who?
How could Sir Paul McCartney forget about his ukulele?
(Israel Kamakawiwo'ole why did you pass away so soon?)
I have a theory.
There is a worldwide conspiracy against Hawaii.
Those islands were once spoiled and now there is nothing else to spoil.
Seasons 10 and 11 of "Baywatch" were the last offence, the final drop.
Hawaii have not recovered yet.
There where David Hasselhoff runs in his red underpants the grass doesn't grow anymore. Think to all those California's wildfires.
When David Lodge wrote this book (early 1990s) Hawaii were still in the newsreels and in the travel agencies brochures. It was a natural choice setting a novel in this paradise for the masses where a bunch of English tourists is heading to.
At first I thought Lodge wanted to follow all of these characters at the same time. Thanks God he didn't. I apppreciated the way he focused on a single main story involving a forty something theologian who doesn't believe anymore. An unbelievable character that Lodge made real.
Then once again there will be a lot of revolving speculations and funny situations on the very Catholic fear-of-Sex. The sceptical theologian will learn many practical things about love and lovers and will eventually find his own paradise on Earth. Discover how!
June 20, 2017
I loved this book! I found it while searching for a book set in Hawaii to read while I was on vacation there. I cannot imagine a better fit for a former pastor to read while vacationing in Hawaii! The book is playfully cinematic, bringing to life a cast of English characters from the London airport to the tacky lounges of Waikiki. In the midst of it, a serious and touching family story unravels as Bernard, the main character, tends to his ailing aunt and father. Along the way a new relationship cracks his frigid exterior and allows him to blossom into sensuality like his Hawaiian surroundings. To top it all off, Catholic theological questions are woven throughout the book as characters reflect on doctrinal questions like the afterlife and the true meaning of Christianity. The author even mentions Swedenborg and the resort where we stayed!
I recommend this book to everyone, but especially to my friends with theological education. It is an entertaining and satisfying read—whether you’re in Hawaii or not.
I recommend this book to everyone, but especially to my friends with theological education. It is an entertaining and satisfying read—whether you’re in Hawaii or not.
February 11, 2025
Endings and beginnings in Hawaii
Bernard, a former Catholic priest who has lost his faith, is travelling to Hawaii with his reluctant father to visit his father’s sister Ursula, who is dying. On the plane they encounter various other travellers on the same package tour who play mainly minor parts in the story, which is mostly about Bernard and how he reacts to Hawaii and the people he meets there, including his Aunt Ursula who, it turns out, has a particular reason for wanting to see her brother before she dies. Through Bernard’s eyes we experience Hawaii vividly, and come to learn more things about his life and family. Inbetween are some brief descriptions about what the other passengers get up to. There is some humour, though not as much as in some of Lodge’s previous books. And there are rather a lot of lengthy theological discussions. But the story remains quite interesting, though I would have liked to see a bit more of the minor characters, some of whom I found more interesting than Bernard.
Bernard, a former Catholic priest who has lost his faith, is travelling to Hawaii with his reluctant father to visit his father’s sister Ursula, who is dying. On the plane they encounter various other travellers on the same package tour who play mainly minor parts in the story, which is mostly about Bernard and how he reacts to Hawaii and the people he meets there, including his Aunt Ursula who, it turns out, has a particular reason for wanting to see her brother before she dies. Through Bernard’s eyes we experience Hawaii vividly, and come to learn more things about his life and family. Inbetween are some brief descriptions about what the other passengers get up to. There is some humour, though not as much as in some of Lodge’s previous books. And there are rather a lot of lengthy theological discussions. But the story remains quite interesting, though I would have liked to see a bit more of the minor characters, some of whom I found more interesting than Bernard.
August 8, 2019
A very different book from my usual choices. I thoroughly enjoyed it. My goodness the author does get through some big words during the theological passages but then that is wholly appropriate. I particularly enjoyed Bernard's evolving character written with sensitivity and humour. In fact all the characters are dealt with similarly and some we might have had much sympathy for initially endear themselves eventually. Other people get their comeuppance just as it should be.
On the whole this is a thoroughly entertaining read, amusing, heart-warming with more than a share of sadness thrown in. I loved it.
On the whole this is a thoroughly entertaining read, amusing, heart-warming with more than a share of sadness thrown in. I loved it.
June 18, 2009
He's such a good writer, and so hilarious in his depiction of English "types" I forgive him his occasional lapse into sentimentality. A very good read, as always.
September 12, 2020
On first glance this short book about a British man who takes his father for a reunion with his father's dying sister in Hawaii is an affable type story - light and breezy like the beach winds. However, the more you read it, the more you see how Lodge has really done a remarkable job of using just a few weeks in time to tell stories about love, loss, sex and sexual predators, family and family secrets and a deep treatise on faith, religion and the mix of the two. One chapter may be about nothing more than a hotel tryst (although everything is about more than just the happenings on the page in this book) and the next about the meaning and existence of an afterlife, but somehow Lodge keeps it all under control, mostly by containing all the lessons to this Hawaiian trip.
The protagonist, Bernard Walsh, seems like he stepped right out of Phoebe Waller Bridge's wonderful Fleabag and on the plane, although realize this is written and set about 30 years ago (with the concern over the cost of phone calls on land lines being the most dated concept). Charming in a bit of an oafish british way (much more Colin Firth than Hugh Grant) and just trying to figure out at 40 what and who he really is - and accidentally seems to stumble into just that.
It's a bit dense so not the breezy read the cover and name would imply, but definitely worth the time.
The protagonist, Bernard Walsh, seems like he stepped right out of Phoebe Waller Bridge's wonderful Fleabag and on the plane, although realize this is written and set about 30 years ago (with the concern over the cost of phone calls on land lines being the most dated concept). Charming in a bit of an oafish british way (much more Colin Firth than Hugh Grant) and just trying to figure out at 40 what and who he really is - and accidentally seems to stumble into just that.
It's a bit dense so not the breezy read the cover and name would imply, but definitely worth the time.
May 11, 2025
too theological
May 17, 2023
Κάτι τρέχει με τον Λόντζ: τα βιβλία του ενώ ξεκινάνε σαν τυπικά rom-com κάπου ενδιάμεσα περνούν μια φάση ψυχανάλυσης και κάπου προς το τέλος επιστρέφουν στο rom-com μαζί με ένα γλυκανάλατο (καμία φορά γλυκόπικρο) φινάλε. Δεν είναι άσχημα αλλά καλλιεργούν προσδοκίες στις οποίες δεν ανταποκρίνονται, κυλάνε ευχάριστα, προβληματίζουν λίγο και τελειώνουν με συμβατικό τρόπο. Όπως και στα υπόλοιπα βιβλία έτσι και εδώ ο Λόντζ αναμοχλεύει γνώριμα σε αυτόν μοτίβα: η επίδραση του καθολικισμού στη ζωή των ανθρώπων, το σεξ και η θρησκεία, η μοναξιά των ακαδημαϊκών όλα αναμειγμένα με χαριτωμένες κωμικές σκηνές που ίσως να λειτουργούσανε καλύτερα σε μια ταινία. Παρόλα αυτά, παραμένει ένα ευχάριστο, λίγο ανάλαφρο ανάγνωσμα, ιδιαίτερα καλοκαιρινό.
September 27, 2021
A funny easy going book, perfect to take away with you on holiday.
Very well written by breaking down the narrative at times with memos, letters, etc.
The only thing that wasn’t quite appealing was the Christianity subject, just something that I’m not interested in.
Very well written by breaking down the narrative at times with memos, letters, etc.
The only thing that wasn’t quite appealing was the Christianity subject, just something that I’m not interested in.
March 6, 2021
I found this book an absolute joy. David Lodge's deceptively simple prose style combines humour with several deeper themes and makes for a novel which entertains at many levels. The great pleasure of re-reading his work after many years is that the passage of time brings a different perspective. The themes of old age, loss of faith and how childhood experiences can affect a person's whole life resonate much more with me now than when I first read this book.
I'm also intrigued to realise just how much our lives have changed in the thirty years since Paradise News was first published. The author brilliantly evokes the era and atmosphere of package holidays in a way that is simultaneously contemporary and dated: the numbing tedium of a long haul flight feels familiar, but the concepts of having to watch inflight movies on a communal screen, smoking areas on planes, and miniatures of spirits being handed out liberally by flight attendants feel impossibly old-fashioned.
It's a novel that makes you laugh and makes you think.
I'm also intrigued to realise just how much our lives have changed in the thirty years since Paradise News was first published. The author brilliantly evokes the era and atmosphere of package holidays in a way that is simultaneously contemporary and dated: the numbing tedium of a long haul flight feels familiar, but the concepts of having to watch inflight movies on a communal screen, smoking areas on planes, and miniatures of spirits being handed out liberally by flight attendants feel impossibly old-fashioned.
It's a novel that makes you laugh and makes you think.
October 29, 2017
Actually not terrible-might even be worth 3 stars, or at least 2.5 if that were an option. Lodge will never be a great writer, but he is a very good writer. That is, he is very readable. And unlike other writers, he doesn't write empty sections: indeed, each potentially boring situation is fully written and surprisingly engaging. I would vaguely be open to reading more by the author, though not compelled.
February 12, 2014
A first-class novel with unexpected depths. How a trip to take his aged father to Hawaii to visit a dying aunt changes the life of Bernard Walsh. Some lovely insights, humour, and reflections on the place of religion in a secular world.
May 23, 2023
I was bored. All the way through. Perhaps the language was all right, I wouldn’t know, cause the story and the characters left me unmoved and indifferent.
It’s supposed to be an amusing book - I didn’t laugh one single time, and I am usually a reader who often laughs out loud when reading.
It’s supposed to be an amusing book - I didn’t laugh one single time, and I am usually a reader who often laughs out loud when reading.
August 6, 2013
Deft warm humour and deliciously comical details...but also a compassionate exploration of some of life's bigger questions. Another wonderful novel by David Lodge.
January 29, 2015
I love david lodge. Always a great easy read - funny and touching but also clever and interesting. Catholicism, Hawaii, death, romance - you can't lose.
June 26, 2016
This was an entertaining and fairly quick read. I enjoyed the main character, Englishman Bernard's sometimes humorous perspective of American culture and Hawaiian tourism, in particular.
August 22, 2022
Good words in good order with almost no lasting effect whatsoever
December 7, 2025
Paradise News by David Lodge – author of the magnum opus Changing Places https://realini.blogspot.com/2021/05/... and other excellent books
8 out of 10
David Lodge has enchanted this reader with The Campus Trilogy, especially the first two volumes, Changing Places and Small World https://realini.blogspot.com/2021/05/... the last, Nice Work, might have been a case of too high expectations, and I did not find it so exhilarating
To mention the last, but not least of the list of four novels (fie with Paradise News) How Far Can You Go https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/08/... was an exuberant satire, looking at religious people trying to find where the limits imposed by faith end, what liberties they can take…
Religion is present in Paradise News, in the first place, the hero, Bernard Walsh, is an agnostic Catholic priest – well, as agnostic, it would be an oxymoron to still call him Catholic, but this is amusing – and he talks about aspects of dogma, including what heaven would mean, in terms of intimacy, and some opinions on that
Will they have sex in Eden, those who reach that blessed realm, and then some experts have written about it, the way that angels can kiss from a distance, apparently, then about intimacy, possible, meaning some sort of sex, but in a platonic way, which is a contradiction in terms, but then this is that kind of outré scenario
Paradise would be located in Hawaii, albeit historians have tried to see where the inspiration for the bible would be placed in reality – they have looked at aspects from the holy texts, and then found some basis for the plagues, it seems that a huge volcano erupted, and the clouds brought some of the calamities on Egypt
Ursula is the aunt that lives in Hawaii, and she finds she has cancer which is in terminal phase, hence she only has months to live, so she wants to see her brother, Jack Walsh, and she contacts her family in Britain, and Bernard, Jack’s son, is the one that will get involved in this, eventually convincing his father to fly there
On the way, the hero of the narrative meets quite a few interesting people, one of them has some really provocative ideas on travel, he wants to do for this what Freud did for the family, he says that people do not want to go on holiday, they have just been brainwashed, and I can connect this with a novel by Kingsley Amis
In I Like It Here https://realini.blogspot.com/2022/09/... Magister Ludi describes events based on his own experience, he had spent time in Lisbon, and he says something to the effect of ‘why travel, to see the replica of the Tower of London’, you have all the excitement back home…
In Paradise News there is talk of ‘travel as a religion’, and indeed, brilliant David Lodge was prescient, he published the book in 1991, 34 years ago, when mass tourism was already on the move, but had not reached the levels of the present, when the news announces protests in popular destinations, against visitors
We were talking about this at the sauna, it sounds crazy, because some of those areas rely so much on guests, but in Barcelona, they use water pistols against foreigners, with the message to go home, and then they express their desire to have ‘sustainable tourism, not mass tourism’, which is a fine balance to strike
Bhutan is one really special land, the last to bring in television and advertising, only a few decades ago, in the nineties I think it was, and they could see how happiness levels decreased, they also insist on the happiness measures, less on GDP, and they have a tax for tourists, there is a minimum to pay each day, Venice and other places consider taxes
When Bernard and his father land in Hawaii, the latter has an accident, he just walks into the road and he is hit by a car, so he has to spend time in a hospital – there is the question of insurance, what kind they have – and in a strange development, the son begins a relationship with Yolande Miller, the driver of the car…
Meanwhile, he tries to arrange things for Ursula, his aunt, who is in a nursing home of a rather modest level, the family thought she is well off, and then they find she is not, a situation that is again reversed, when some IBM shares are found in her security box – I wonder how much they would be today, when IBM has fallen way behind the likes of Microsoft, and the other tech giants, some of them passing the limit of three trillion dollars
Bernard has had a very awkward past, in sexual matters, which in fact would mean he does not really have experience, in his only previous bond, they rushed into trying sex, and thus he found he was unable to perform, however, he is lucky this time, because Yolande knows exactly what to do, and she sees he is a good, gentle, special man
Ergo, we have this unusual combination of sadness, Yolande will die soon, and solace, tenderness, and optimism that comes from what awaits some of the characters, even Yolande will get some closure, she can share with munificent Bernard the tragedy of her childhood, in which she had been sexually abused by her oldest brother, and furthermore, Jack found about it, and had not interfered, had not tried to stop it…
Yolande and Bernard may have a future together, against all odds, the fact that they are thousands of miles apart, and the man does not have a decent situation back home, nevertheless, maybe he gets some support from Ursula, and then who knows, we could have a happy end, after this finale, which is more ambiguous…
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’
“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”
8 out of 10
David Lodge has enchanted this reader with The Campus Trilogy, especially the first two volumes, Changing Places and Small World https://realini.blogspot.com/2021/05/... the last, Nice Work, might have been a case of too high expectations, and I did not find it so exhilarating
To mention the last, but not least of the list of four novels (fie with Paradise News) How Far Can You Go https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/08/... was an exuberant satire, looking at religious people trying to find where the limits imposed by faith end, what liberties they can take…
Religion is present in Paradise News, in the first place, the hero, Bernard Walsh, is an agnostic Catholic priest – well, as agnostic, it would be an oxymoron to still call him Catholic, but this is amusing – and he talks about aspects of dogma, including what heaven would mean, in terms of intimacy, and some opinions on that
Will they have sex in Eden, those who reach that blessed realm, and then some experts have written about it, the way that angels can kiss from a distance, apparently, then about intimacy, possible, meaning some sort of sex, but in a platonic way, which is a contradiction in terms, but then this is that kind of outré scenario
Paradise would be located in Hawaii, albeit historians have tried to see where the inspiration for the bible would be placed in reality – they have looked at aspects from the holy texts, and then found some basis for the plagues, it seems that a huge volcano erupted, and the clouds brought some of the calamities on Egypt
Ursula is the aunt that lives in Hawaii, and she finds she has cancer which is in terminal phase, hence she only has months to live, so she wants to see her brother, Jack Walsh, and she contacts her family in Britain, and Bernard, Jack’s son, is the one that will get involved in this, eventually convincing his father to fly there
On the way, the hero of the narrative meets quite a few interesting people, one of them has some really provocative ideas on travel, he wants to do for this what Freud did for the family, he says that people do not want to go on holiday, they have just been brainwashed, and I can connect this with a novel by Kingsley Amis
In I Like It Here https://realini.blogspot.com/2022/09/... Magister Ludi describes events based on his own experience, he had spent time in Lisbon, and he says something to the effect of ‘why travel, to see the replica of the Tower of London’, you have all the excitement back home…
In Paradise News there is talk of ‘travel as a religion’, and indeed, brilliant David Lodge was prescient, he published the book in 1991, 34 years ago, when mass tourism was already on the move, but had not reached the levels of the present, when the news announces protests in popular destinations, against visitors
We were talking about this at the sauna, it sounds crazy, because some of those areas rely so much on guests, but in Barcelona, they use water pistols against foreigners, with the message to go home, and then they express their desire to have ‘sustainable tourism, not mass tourism’, which is a fine balance to strike
Bhutan is one really special land, the last to bring in television and advertising, only a few decades ago, in the nineties I think it was, and they could see how happiness levels decreased, they also insist on the happiness measures, less on GDP, and they have a tax for tourists, there is a minimum to pay each day, Venice and other places consider taxes
When Bernard and his father land in Hawaii, the latter has an accident, he just walks into the road and he is hit by a car, so he has to spend time in a hospital – there is the question of insurance, what kind they have – and in a strange development, the son begins a relationship with Yolande Miller, the driver of the car…
Meanwhile, he tries to arrange things for Ursula, his aunt, who is in a nursing home of a rather modest level, the family thought she is well off, and then they find she is not, a situation that is again reversed, when some IBM shares are found in her security box – I wonder how much they would be today, when IBM has fallen way behind the likes of Microsoft, and the other tech giants, some of them passing the limit of three trillion dollars
Bernard has had a very awkward past, in sexual matters, which in fact would mean he does not really have experience, in his only previous bond, they rushed into trying sex, and thus he found he was unable to perform, however, he is lucky this time, because Yolande knows exactly what to do, and she sees he is a good, gentle, special man
Ergo, we have this unusual combination of sadness, Yolande will die soon, and solace, tenderness, and optimism that comes from what awaits some of the characters, even Yolande will get some closure, she can share with munificent Bernard the tragedy of her childhood, in which she had been sexually abused by her oldest brother, and furthermore, Jack found about it, and had not interfered, had not tried to stop it…
Yolande and Bernard may have a future together, against all odds, the fact that they are thousands of miles apart, and the man does not have a decent situation back home, nevertheless, maybe he gets some support from Ursula, and then who knows, we could have a happy end, after this finale, which is more ambiguous…
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’
“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”
December 10, 2016
В самом начале книги складывается впечатление, что это очередной "производственный боевик" в стиле А.Хейли. Несколько персонажей, несколько сюжетных линий, но главная тема - отдых на "райских" :)) Гаваях.
Особенно хорош один персонаж, который специально летит на Гаваи, чтобы разоблачить всё лицемерие туриндустрии, которая фабрикует суррогатные впечатления и "туристический рай" на деле является фальшивкой. В его уста автор вкладывает ряд интересных мыслей и фактов, но, увы, сюжетная линия этого персонажа оказывается неоправданно короткой, и как-то "повисает в воздухе" :(
В целом роман получился странным - я бы назвал его "фрейдистско-религиозным" :). Главный герой романа - переваливший за середину жизни теолог. Который в Бога не верит, но теологию преподаёт :). Надо ли сомневаться, что по ходу сюжета жизнь (и другие персонажи) будут постоянно навязывать ему разной глубины диалоге о вере?
Теолог приезжает на Гаваи не столько отдыхать - он привозит туда своего пожилого отца, чтобы тот мог повидаться со своей сестрой, которая уже давно живёт на Гаваях (эмигрировала во время второй мировой войны). Но... в первый же их день в "раю" отец попадает под машину, а его сестра также лежит прикованная к постели болезнью. Такая вот ирония судьбы - они рядом, но встретиться не удаётся.
Где тут фрейдизм, спросите вы? А вот: теолог-племянник навещает свою тётушку, и о чем бы вы думали, они ведут разговоры (кроме Бога, конечно)? Тётушка в деталях вспоминает, как в детстве в отношении неё общий знакомый совершал развратные действия. Прекрасная тема для обсуждения с племянником, которого не видела много лет!
Племянник-теолог тоже времени даром не теряет. У него закручивается бурный роман с женщиной... которая сбила машиной его отца! Там тоже много всяких пикантных деталей, например, великовозрастный теолог оказывается девственником и знойная гавайка проводит с ним секс-терапию. Ну чем вам не рай для заблудшего теолога?! :)))
Но... Несмотря на "многабукофф" (а также на проблески теологической мысли, перемежающиеся эротическими заставками), я так и не понял, что хотел сказать автор. Многие персонажи появляются лишь единожды и исчезают. Какие-то мысли герои высказывают, но "в пустоту". Их реплики и переживания как-то выдернуты из сюжета. В целом получается как-то очень сумбурно, нет какого-то единого стержня, нет финала.
В общем, у меня книга оставила впечатление какой-то сырой, незавершенной. Герои банальны, но местами жизнь приоткрывает перед ними какие-то иные глубины и шансы (парадоксальным образом это происходит в искусственном туристическом "раю"). Но такое впечатление, что герои эти глубины и шансы (что про Бога, что про Любовь) в упор не видят, а продолжают привычно мельтешить по жизни :((.
Возможно, автор специально "подвесил" развязку сюжета, а мне вот не хватило какого-то катарсиса, логической точки. В процессе чтения местами было увлекательно, но в финале удовлетворения никакого :). Посему книгу не рекомендую.
Особенно хорош один персонаж, который специально летит на Гаваи, чтобы разоблачить всё лицемерие туриндустрии, которая фабрикует суррогатные впечатления и "туристический рай" на деле является фальшивкой. В его уста автор вкладывает ряд интересных мыслей и фактов, но, увы, сюжетная линия этого персонажа оказывается неоправданно короткой, и как-то "повисает в воздухе" :(
В целом роман получился странным - я бы назвал его "фрейдистско-религиозным" :). Главный герой романа - переваливший за середину жизни теолог. Который в Бога не верит, но теологию преподаёт :). Надо ли сомневаться, что по ходу сюжета жизнь (и другие персонажи) будут постоянно навязывать ему разной глубины диалоге о вере?
Теолог приезжает на Гаваи не столько отдыхать - он привозит туда своего пожилого отца, чтобы тот мог повидаться со своей сестрой, которая уже давно живёт на Гаваях (эмигрировала во время второй мировой войны). Но... в первый же их день в "раю" отец попадает под машину, а его сестра также лежит прикованная к постели болезнью. Такая вот ирония судьбы - они рядом, но встретиться не удаётся.
Где тут фрейдизм, спросите вы? А вот: теолог-племянник навещает свою тётушку, и о чем бы вы думали, они ведут разговоры (кроме Бога, конечно)? Тётушка в деталях вспоминает, как в детстве в отношении неё общий знакомый совершал развратные действия. Прекрасная тема для обсуждения с племянником, которого не видела много лет!
Племянник-теолог тоже времени даром не теряет. У него закручивается бурный роман с женщиной... которая сбила машиной его отца! Там тоже много всяких пикантных деталей, например, великовозрастный теолог оказывается девственником и знойная гавайка проводит с ним секс-терапию. Ну чем вам не рай для заблудшего теолога?! :)))
Но... Несмотря на "многабукофф" (а также на проблески теологической мысли, перемежающиеся эротическими заставками), я так и не понял, что хотел сказать автор. Многие персонажи появляются лишь единожды и исчезают. Какие-то мысли герои высказывают, но "в пустоту". Их реплики и переживания как-то выдернуты из сюжета. В целом получается как-то очень сумбурно, нет какого-то единого стержня, нет финала.
В общем, у меня книга оставила впечатление какой-то сырой, незавершенной. Герои банальны, но местами жизнь приоткрывает перед ними какие-то иные глубины и шансы (парадоксальным образом это происходит в искусственном туристическом "раю"). Но такое впечатление, что герои эти глубины и шансы (что про Бога, что про Любовь) в упор не видят, а продолжают привычно мельтешить по жизни :((.
Возможно, автор специально "подвесил" развязку сюжета, а мне вот не хватило какого-то катарсиса, логической точки. В процессе чтения местами было увлекательно, но в финале удовлетворения никакого :). Посему книгу не рекомендую.
November 17, 2023
Smart and engaging, but by no means the best book by David Lodge. This novel about British visitors of Oahu reads like, well, a book by a visitor. The charm of Lodge’s academic novels (Changing Places, Small World, and Nice Work), by contrast, is how thoroughly Lodge knows that milieu. That makes the satire sharper and funnier. Or perhaps it’s that I know that milieu so well myself. Be that as it may, I get a much greater kick out of the academic novels. Paradise News has its amusing moments, but it does not live up to the “very funny” description in the blurb on its back cover.
One of the numerous side characters of the novel, Roger Sheldrake, is an academic working on a book deconstructing tourism. The thesis of the book, he says, “is that sightseeing is a substitute for religious ritual. The sightseeing tour as secular pilgrimage. Accumulation of grace by visiting the shrines of high culture. Souvenirs as relics. Guidebooks as devotional aids.” Sheldrake opines, “I don’t think people really want to go on holiday, any more than they really want to go to church. . . . That’s what my next book is going to be about, tourism and the myth of paradise. . . It’s no coincidence that tourism arose just as religion went into decline.” Sheldrake is a minor character, but he provides a kind of Greek chorus for the story of the book’s protagonist, Bernard Walsh, a former priest who is now an atheist. Bernard’s trip to Hawaii (not, it should be noted, as a tourist but to visit his dying aunt) does provide him something of a “substitute for religious ritual.” The metaphor works better, however, for the actual tourists in the novel. Bernard’s story is, as I said at the outset, rather engaging, but neither engrossing nor very profound.
An amusing element of the book is Bernard’s struggles with American English, with which I can identify in reverse as I have read a number of contemporary British novels and have found myself Googling a lot of British slang. Bernard’s observations are more mundane. He is amused that one “fills out” rather than “fills in” forms, and he is confused when a waitress brings his salad and says, “There you go!” He responds, “Where?” “thinking that perhaps he had to collect his spaghetti himself.” Language is entertaining.
I give Paradise News 3.5 stars, rounded up.
One of the numerous side characters of the novel, Roger Sheldrake, is an academic working on a book deconstructing tourism. The thesis of the book, he says, “is that sightseeing is a substitute for religious ritual. The sightseeing tour as secular pilgrimage. Accumulation of grace by visiting the shrines of high culture. Souvenirs as relics. Guidebooks as devotional aids.” Sheldrake opines, “I don’t think people really want to go on holiday, any more than they really want to go to church. . . . That’s what my next book is going to be about, tourism and the myth of paradise. . . It’s no coincidence that tourism arose just as religion went into decline.” Sheldrake is a minor character, but he provides a kind of Greek chorus for the story of the book’s protagonist, Bernard Walsh, a former priest who is now an atheist. Bernard’s trip to Hawaii (not, it should be noted, as a tourist but to visit his dying aunt) does provide him something of a “substitute for religious ritual.” The metaphor works better, however, for the actual tourists in the novel. Bernard’s story is, as I said at the outset, rather engaging, but neither engrossing nor very profound.
An amusing element of the book is Bernard’s struggles with American English, with which I can identify in reverse as I have read a number of contemporary British novels and have found myself Googling a lot of British slang. Bernard’s observations are more mundane. He is amused that one “fills out” rather than “fills in” forms, and he is confused when a waitress brings his salad and says, “There you go!” He responds, “Where?” “thinking that perhaps he had to collect his spaghetti himself.” Language is entertaining.
I give Paradise News 3.5 stars, rounded up.
October 21, 2024
Quanto è probabile ritrovarsi a rileggere un libro a distanza di anni - in questo caso almeno venti - sulla scia dell'entusiasmo perché ci è capitato di nuovo letteralmente tra le mani e il ricordo della penna ispirata dell'autore (il mitico Lodge, classe 1935, ma non lo diresti) ci ha fatte capitolare nonostante il nostro motto suoni pressapoco "Ci sono troppi bei libri ancora ignoti per rituffarsi in quelli già noti"...?
Avete capito, poche possibilità.
Ma il racconto del viaggio che l’irlandese Bernard, teologo ed ex prete cattolico dalla disastrosa vita sentimentale, intraprende insieme al padre, il coriaceo Bernard, dalla grigia Inghilterra alla lussuregginate Honolulu per l'ultima visita ad una zia moribonda vale decisamente una rilettura ed anche una rilettura.
Mi sono lanciata, da gggiovane, su molti titoli di Lodge, ma questo è senza dubbio quello che mi ha colpito di più: vuoi per l'ambientazione esotica - il racconto è anche una satira neanche così sottotraccia verso il turismo di massa e l'esotico a tutti i costi - vuoi per la scrittura arguta e ricca di immagini, vuoi per la capacità unica di riflettere al contempo di vacanze, vecchiaia e malattia: ,a scusate, in quale altro romanzo l'autore saltabecca agile da spiaggie hawaiiane a dilemmi morali e religiosi dando vita ad un puzzle tanto improbabile quanto perfetto?
Un grande sì, insomma, con l'unica pecca di avermi invogliata a recuperare altre riletture mentre la colonna dei nuovi "To be read" già s'innalza e si inclina pericolosamente sul mio comodino.
Giudizio tecnico finale: Abbi fede. Anche (soprattutto) vista mare.
PS. Questa recensione è dedicata alla mia amica Lu, che ho scoperto essere una fan delle mie recensioni scombinate e (troppo) personali. Ma saperlo mi ha fatto un gran piacere, ecco.
Avete capito, poche possibilità.
Ma il racconto del viaggio che l’irlandese Bernard, teologo ed ex prete cattolico dalla disastrosa vita sentimentale, intraprende insieme al padre, il coriaceo Bernard, dalla grigia Inghilterra alla lussuregginate Honolulu per l'ultima visita ad una zia moribonda vale decisamente una rilettura ed anche una rilettura.
Mi sono lanciata, da gggiovane, su molti titoli di Lodge, ma questo è senza dubbio quello che mi ha colpito di più: vuoi per l'ambientazione esotica - il racconto è anche una satira neanche così sottotraccia verso il turismo di massa e l'esotico a tutti i costi - vuoi per la scrittura arguta e ricca di immagini, vuoi per la capacità unica di riflettere al contempo di vacanze, vecchiaia e malattia: ,a scusate, in quale altro romanzo l'autore saltabecca agile da spiaggie hawaiiane a dilemmi morali e religiosi dando vita ad un puzzle tanto improbabile quanto perfetto?
Un grande sì, insomma, con l'unica pecca di avermi invogliata a recuperare altre riletture mentre la colonna dei nuovi "To be read" già s'innalza e si inclina pericolosamente sul mio comodino.
Giudizio tecnico finale: Abbi fede. Anche (soprattutto) vista mare.
PS. Questa recensione è dedicata alla mia amica Lu, che ho scoperto essere una fan delle mie recensioni scombinate e (troppo) personali. Ma saperlo mi ha fatto un gran piacere, ecco.
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