Playing with Water: Passion & Solitude on a Philippine Island [Hardcover]

James Hamilton-Paterson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1987

"A wonderful inner journey in the outer light and color of a remote coast, uncommonly well written."--Peter Matthiessen

Editorial Reviews

Review

...a work of such genuine commitment, balanced perception and responsive passion that it will certainly be condemned to become a classic. (New York Times Book Review )

A classic travel book...entirely original: at once astringently and gorgeously written... (Andrew Harvey )

Unforgetable. The Philippine landscape and these remote islanders are crystalline and at the same time mysterious; the writing itself supurb. (Ronald Blythe ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

James Hamilton-Paterson is generally known as a commentator on the Philippines, where he has lived on and off since 1979. He is one of the most reclusive of British literary exiles, sharing his time between Austria, where he moved recently from Italy, and the Philippines. His work defies accurate definition, containing elements of travel writing, autobiography, fiction and science. Hamilton-Paterson was born on November 6, 1941 in London, England. He was educated at Windlesham House, Sussex, Bickley Hall, Kent, King's School, Canterbury, and Exeter College, Oxford. Some of his other books include A very personal war: the story of Cornelius Hawkridge (1971), The View from Mount Dog (1987), and Gerontius (1989).

James Hamilton-Paterson is generally known as a commentator on the Philippines, where he has lived on and off since 1979. He is one of the most reclusive of British literary exiles, sharing his time between Austria, where he moved recently from Italy, and the Philippines. His work defies accurate definition, containing elements of travel writing, autobiography, fiction and science.

Hamilton-Paterson was born on November 6, 1941 in London, England. He was educated at Windlesham House, Sussex, Bickley Hall, Kent, King's School, Canterbury, and Exeter College, Oxford. Some of his other books include A very personal war: the story of Cornelius Hawkridge (1971), The View from Mount Dog (1987), and Gerontius (1989). --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 282 pages
• Publisher: New Amsterdam Books; Open market ed edition (September 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0941533107
• ISBN-13: 978-0941533102
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,787,564 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Paterson shares his insights about diving for a living, July 12, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Munich, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Playing with Water: Passion and Solitude on a Philippine Island (Twentieth Century Lives) (Paperback)

Paterson is living on a small island in the Philippines and he is joining the natives in diving (i.e. fishing) for a living. We scuba-divers, as we only come for 1-2 week vacations, often are not experiencing the reality around our dive sites. Paterson's book was helping me understanding more of the countries I was visiting. Very instructive are his personal insights about ecology in a third world country and the connections to the economical and social structure. I found it very valuable that the insights do not follow the well known beaten paths about the third world but are rather well founded, personal observations. This makes this book a much more interesting read than any other book about the subject that I have ever read before.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Go read...it's good!, September 21, 2002

By 

A. N. Teodoro III (River Edge, NJ, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Playing with Water: Passion and Solitude on a Philippine Island (Twentieth Century Lives) (Paperback)

i read this book so many years ago, but i can still remember
how good it is. this book is not only about the underwater
world but also about the goings-on in a typical barrio in
the philippines. it has a socio-economic aspect to it that i
found quite realistic, having been born and raised in that very
same third world country. it amazed and pleased me that a
foreigner like hamilton-paterson could, quite accurately, capture
the very essence of filipino rural society---like the old woman who
he suspects isnt so aloof and taciturn as she seems
and the children of the barrio who frolick in the water and
in their humble amusements, oblivious of the shortcomings of a
third world upbringing. the book is an unusual stew of underwater
adventure and an unpatronizing account of a life among barrio folk.

5.0 out of 5 stars James Hamilton-Paterson, February 11, 2012

By 

Dan Sanley - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Playing with Water: Passion and Solitude on a Philippine Island (Twentieth Century Lives) (Paperback)

James Hamilton-Paterson is a very intelligent author and forces me to break out my dictionary every now and then, yet this book is about a very simple adventure. It is an experience we only dream of doing since it is impractical for most. Since we cannot take on an adventure like this on our own, we can at least read about the experience here. It is an account of living alone on an uninhabited island in the Philippines. There is contact with the locals on the mainland, which makes the book all the more enjoyable, because of the unique personality of the Philippine people. You will feel as if you are there as this is no imaginary experience, but very real one, right down to every beautiful detail.