Customer Reviews

Kite Strings of the Southern Cross : A Woman's Travel Odyssey

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(2)
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"Kite Strings of the Southern Cross" is the best travel book I've read in ten years. Some people think just because they've had interesting travels, they can write a book about them, but not only has Gough had incredibly life-changing, fascinating and hilarious travels, she is a superb writer as well. Now I see that her book is shortlisted for the prestigious Thomas Cook Travel Book of the Year in the UK. It deserves to win wholeheartedly. Kite Strings has no pretensions. It's one of those books that jogs you out of place: a self-willed young traveler voluntarily abroad in a sometimes hostile world, but one that still somehow manages to ask you to marry it every other month. The most beautiful girl in the world, she is raped by the very image of peace and shocking beauty she seeks at the very beginning and she doesn't stop: she has to see every last inch of the earth, she has to allow it to prove its magnificence and generosity. God, what a fantastic book.

I read all the travel books I can get my hands on, and over the last decade have reviewed many of them for the San Francisco Chronicle. Five days ago I finished Laurie Gough's "Kite Strings of the Southern Cross" and have been mulling it over (it rarely leaves my mind, actually), looking for a weakness. I have concluded that it doesn't have one -- it's pretty darned perfect.

In Fiji, on nights when her Fijian lover is not serenading her under the stars, on the beach, Ms. Gough swaps tales around the local backpackers' campfire -- and most of the best ones are her own. A superb storyteller with an easy writing style, Ms. Gough comes across as an intelligent and intrepid traveler and an endearing personality. She weighs in thoughtfully on all the philosophical and metaphysical questions the road raises, and blends cultural insight, travel lore, and personal introspection seamlessly, veering in mood from serious to lighthearted at exactly the right times.

Hers is simply the best travel book I've read since Jeff Greenwald's "The Size of The World" a few years back, the kind of book you want every traveler you know to read.

As a fellow independent woman traveler, I thoroughly enjoyed "Kite Strings of the Southern Cross" and would recommend it to anyone interested in South Pacific travel, women's travel, or independent travel in general.

Laurie Gough is a talented writer and storyteller who, through this book, captures the "feel" of Fiji for her readers. This book is not about giving us a "to do list" for Fiji...it is about capturing the essence of the islands and their people.

Further, it is also a much appreciated addition to the growing list of travel books by and about independent women travelers. So often, women stay at home and wait: wait to meet the right guy to travel with, wait until one of their girlfriends wants to go, wait until "the time is right" or they have enough money. Laurie, through this book, encourages women to just pick up and GO. And this is very important for many of us, because the adventure of discovering the courage and inner strength necessary to travel as a solo woman is one of the most important journeys of all!

Kite Strings of the Southern Cross is the best book I've read in years! It picks up where traditional travel books (i.e. male) leave off, with potent vignettes about life on the road that capture the sensual side of travel. You'll be transported from sinister Malaysian nightclubs, to the back of a motorcycle with a mad maritimer, to a lush Fijian island you'll never want to leave--all seen through the eyes of a world-class adventuress. I missed the book so much when it finished that I started reading it all over again. I just found a fabulous new travel story by Laurie Gough on salon magzine: http://salon.com/travel/feature/2000/03/11/naxos/index.html

Kite Strings of the Southern Cross is the big-hearted, sensual, vibrant and extraordinarily compelling true travel diary of a Canadian woman in Fiji. The writing is breathtaking and skilled. The places she takes the reader are places the reader wants to remain long after the book is put down. Gough's book is set mainly on a remote south pacific island where Gough lived and taught school. Within the Fiji journal itself are ten short stories based on her travels around the world. The early stories are light-hearted and extremely funny, as are the first few journal chapters of Fiji, but as her stay in Fiji intensifies, the short stories begin to take on weight and reveal the darker sides of the human spirit. Some are set in Morocco, Malaysia, Bali, Hawaii, New Zealand, Italy and North America. The story of the author's hilarious motorcycle escapade from California to eastern Canada with Chester McQuiggle is alone worth the price of the book. This exceptional new talent should be read, and read widely, for within her writing we find secrets loaded with stars. When this book came out in Canada last year, under the title of "Island of the Human Heart", it was an immediate sensation. Soon to be published in the US with a new title and a bigger publisher, Americans will now have the chance to be taken on the travel odyssey of their lives.

I just finished reading this fabulous book which so many book clubs seem to be reading and now I understand why. This is the most interesting and best written travel book I've read since Paul Thereoux. (Although I just plain like Laurie Gough much better as a person than I do him, although being a nice person perhaps isn't terribly important to Thereoux.) Gough's book soars with passion, intrigue and adventure. It's lyrical, thoughtful and imaginative. My favourite parts were the Fijian characters who Gough so warmly and honestly portrays. I can't wait for new writings from this talented and open, humorous, free spirit of the road. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

I am swept away by Gough's poetic writing and her journey. I was captivated from the moment I opened the book, and when I finished it I was sad not to be able to spend more time with Gough. I recently traveled throughout Europe and reading her book made me want to plan my next trip to the South Pacific and Asia. Her story captured the essence of what keeps me on the road.

When dad first sent me the book, I looked at the cover and the title and wondered why he was sending it. Not the sort of thing I usually read. And then I saw I grew up with the author, so of course had to read it. And what a treat! As someone who has travelled to some of the same places as Laurie (but with considerably less adventuressness) I was thrilled to see that someone had captured, in beautifully descriptive language, some of the experiences I had as a lone woman travelling the world. I passed it around my office and everyone (travellers and non-travellers alike) enjoyed it immensely. Interestingly people all focussed on different aspects of the story, showing that it really has something for everyone.

Okay, now I understand what all the hype is about surrounding this book for the backpacker crowd. it took me a while to finally get my hands on acopy (i only use libraries and borrow from friends and never buy from stores) but this is the best book i've ever read. i'm a backpacker who has been around the world as the author has and i understand most of the things she went through and it killed me to have to this book end. it's true when people say they couldn't put it down. get your hands on this book. you won't be sorry! it will make you cry and then make you laugh and then make you want to start traveling.

This is a WONDERFUL book. I read it almost a year ago and I'm still recommending it to others, it is one of my few all time favourites. There's something in it for everyone, no matter what your tastes are when it comes to books. I'm eagerly awaiting another!