Noa - Noa [Hardcover]

Paul Gauguin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0890970068 | ISBN-13: 978-0890970065 | Publication Date: August 1976

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. This text refers to the Bibliobazaar edition.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

Gauguin may have been guilty of buying into the myth of the ``noble savage,'' but his Romantic quest seems almost contemporary today. In his own post-Rousseau, premulticultural time, however, his Tahitian escapade was viewed less sanguinely. On his return to France, unable to find a publisher, Gauguin himself published his diary, Noa Noa, minus the accompanying woodblock illustrations. Now the journal and art are reunited in this verbal and visual ode to Tahiti. The black-and-white woodblock prints present a spare contrast to the usual wash of colors in Gauguin's paintings, but they retain the pacific sensuality that permeates his work. The color here comes from the sketches Gauguin made in the margins of his diary, and from the writing itself: ``Silence? I am learning to know the silence of a Tahitian night.... The rays of the moon play through the bamboo reeds.... Between me and the sky there was nothing except the high frail roof of pandanus leaves, where the lizards have their nests.'' -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes

Text: English, French (translation)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 148 pages
• Publisher: Archer Editions Pr (August 1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0890970068
• ISBN-13: 978-0890970065
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,492,089 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gauguin's record of one of his stays in the South Sea Paradise., December 27, 2007

By 

James R. Holland "Author of Boston's Notable ... (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Noa Noa: The Tahiti Journal of Paul Gauguin (Hardcover)

This is a jewel of an art book by one of the greatest painters of the late 1800's and early 1900's. Originally considered too racy to publish in France, this 2005 English edition of the banned 1894 illustrated personal journal is probably how Paul Gauguin would have liked to have seen his text and art work combined for publication. The color and layout do justice to his artistic creations. The only change the artist might have still wished for was to have the book's format slightly larger since some of his woodcuts and the original journal itself are slightly larger than this reproduction of the work.
The book has a short 1962 introduction by W. Somerset Maugham that is somewhat amusing in that it tells how Maugham traveled to Tahiti to research Gauguin for a book he was considering writing about the island's most famous painter. He found one of the actual huts where Gauguin had lived and worked and purchased one of the glass panels that Gauguin had painted for one of the hut's three doors. The children living in the hut had passed the time scratching the windows clean and already destroyed the other two door paintings. Maugham bought the half door containing the one surviving glass panel with its painting of "Eve, nude, with the apple in her hand" still intact for four hundred francs and had it shipped back to his home in New York. It was in his writing room at the time he wrote the introduction for this volume.
Relating the antidote of Maugham's good luck and prowess at art collecting was the only subject covered in the introduction. But it did illustrate how little remained in Tahiti of Gauguin's stay in the Island Paradise. There was even less left there after the famous writer's research visit.
Gauguin's text is much more interesting. He tries to capture some of the purity of the native culture that was being quickly destroyed by the European invasion. I particularly liked the stories of one of his treks into the land of the Gods near the center of the island as well as his story of taking a local wife (concubine) from among the natives. After the deal was made with the 13-year-old girl's parents and stepparents, she accompanied her new mate home. After eight days the woman was required to return to her home and if she had decided she didn't like the match, she never returned to him. That's how divorce was handled in Gauguin's Paradise.
Gauguin attempted to explain the secret and mysterious history, legends and religious beliefs of the natives. His paintings and wood block prints helped him with this documentation. Why he suddenly left his idyllic life in paradise after only a two year stay to return to France in 1896 isn't explained in his journal. He only describes the pain it caused him and his beautiful native mate who he never saw again.
This is a must read for any fan of Paul Gauguin's artwork. Unfortunately, it only answers a few of the many unanswered questions about the great painter's life. And new questions are brought up and then abandoned. Personally, I would love to have read more about the former cannibals he met while living in his South Seas Paradise. Too often Gauguin only touched on some really fascinating fact and then left the reader dangling and desperate to know more. It's still a beautifully illustrated must read!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Little Book, December 6, 2000

By A Customer

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This review is from: Noa Noa: The Tahiti Journal of Paul Gauguin (Hardcover)

This is a great book detailing a few pages from his journal. It has great wood-cut reprints and is a quick read. It puts you into the spirit of Tahiti.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Paul Gauguin history, September 20, 2007

By 

K. Swensrud (Gilford, NH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Noa Noa: The Tahiti Journal of Paul Gauguin (Hardcover)

This was very interesting reading just before going to the South Seas. Wonderful to see the islands as he saw them and described them in this journal. Well worth reading!