Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific (Paperback)

by Paul Theroux (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Despite the euphoric title, Oceania as Theroux ( Riding the Iron Rooster ) experienced it was only occasionally a carefree paradise. In the Trobriand Islands, celebrated by anthropologists for their supposed sexual freedom, the novelist and travel writer found prostitution and fear of rape. Samoa struck him as noisy, vandalized, with American-style conspicuous consumption. The intrepid Theroux discussed world politics with the king of Tonga, encountered class consciousness in Honolulu, mingled with street gangs in Auckland, and lived in a bamboo hut in Vanuatu (formerly New Hebrides), where he investigated a cargo cult and rumors of cannibalism. In Australia he braved the Woop Woop (remote outback) to camp with Aborigines. This exhilarating epic ranks with Theroux's best travel books. It is full of disarming observations, high adventure and memorable characters rendered with keen irony. First serial to New York Times Magazine; BOMC featured alternate; QPB alternate.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
The best-selling author of My Secret History ( LJ 4/1/89) and Riding the Iron Rooster ( LJ 6/15/88) spent 18 months in a one-man collapsible kayak exploring such exotic Pacific islands as New Zealand, Australia, the Soloman and Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Tahiti, Easter Island, and Hawaii. Never a kind-hearted chronicler of place, he sets out on this voyage in an especially dour mood, leaving behind a failed marriage and expecting to be diagnosed with cancer at any moment. Soon after he escapes the crowded towns of Australia, however, he starts to lose some of his harsh edge and enjoy his travels, which ultimately heal him. A brilliant storyteller with an eye for the absurd, Theroux takes the reader to little-known places where time seems to have stood still and people lead simple lives totally unrelated to 20th-century America. Highly recommended for all libraries. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/1/92.
- Lisa J. Cochenet, Rhinelander Dist. Lib., Wis.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (October 19, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449908585
• ISBN-13: 978-0449908587
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #503,607 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not much happiness here., August 5, 1999

By A Customer

Mean spirited and critical, Theroux's account of his voyage around the pacific suggests he would have done better to stay at home. Polynesians are broadly depicted as lumbering, shiftless pickpockets with Theroux choosing to include a quite shameful story about a stolen travellers cheque which he countersigns for a Samoan woman. I taught at a college in Tonga in the early nineties and have visited most of the places Theroux covers, including Western Samoa. I only ever found the most gracious and noble people who went well out of their way to be of assistance with everything and whose fundamental decency I still recall. This anti-Jap, anti-Wog romp masquerading as a travel journal will be offensive to many people. Theroux's racism is subtle and it is all the more dislikeable for its subtlety. I came away from The Happy isles Of Oceania with a fresh view on Theroux as well a sudden, irrational impulse to take a shower. This clever, unpleasant book is not a literary island I intend to visit again.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A tortured soul paddles the South Pacific., April 18, 1997

By A Customer

Mr Theroux did it the hard way in a collapsible kayak but his own emotional turmoil alienated him from the beauty through which he struggled. His description of the physical environment was, at times, piercingly accurate but his perception of it appeared to be distorted by chronic loneliness and a dismal lack of self esteem; indeed most references to the humans he tried to avoid were severely skewed toward the sinister. I have lived and worked in many of the places he visited yet never experienced the kind of desperation he exudes. The culture of the South Pacific is highly developed and far more complex than the "paradise" European Artists and glossy brochures would leave you to believe - it's attractiveness is as much social as visual, but a deeper understanding is required . Mr Theroux's tortured emotions have spilled onto the page to the detriment of journalistic accuracy. Some may think this adds to the charm of his story; to me it represents a vaguely cathartic voyage through personal misery rather than an intelligent portrayal of a part of our world that is simply sublime. The prose is polished by skill but this is most definitely not the South Pacific of a relaxed and rational mind

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointment in Theroux' book, September 2, 1997

By A Customer

I read this book a couple of years ago and am still galled by Theroux' writings. Although I have visited many of the islands of the South Pacific, I will contain my comments to Fiji alone. I have visited many, many times and lived in Fiji for over five years with my family (my mother lived there for almost 20 years). What is written about Fiji is almost fiction. I don't know how Theroux interpreted the islanders as threatening. Their smiles could light up the world. I've been married to a Fijian (man) for over 20 years now and Theroux' take on the people couldn't be further from the truth. Finally, his section on the two coups that occurred is so far from the truth as to be fiction. He must only have spoken with the Indian faction to get such a one-sided slant. My mother was there during the coup and there was no threat or danger to anyone. In fact, very little "uprising" to say the least. I've been waiting for a forum to vent my anger over the Fiji section of the book and I thank you for the space.