Playing with Water: Passion and Solitude on a Philippine Island (Twentieth Century Lives) [Paperback]

James Hamilton-Paterson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Twentieth Century Lives | Publication Date: April 21, 1998

James Hamilton-Paterson spends a third of each year on an otherwise uninhabited Philippine island, spear-fishing for survival. Playing with Water tells us why he does. Beyond that, it gives an account of life in that class-bound country as a whole. For it is in places like this rather than Manila of the international news reports that the underlying political and cultural reality of the Philippines may be seen.

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 )

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).

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: New Amsterdam Books (April 21, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0941533824
• ISBN-13: 978-0941533829
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #803,541 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #42 in Books > Travel > Asia > Philippines

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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.