Customer Reviews

Return to Paradise

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In this "sequel" to the more highly regarded TALES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC, author Michener adopts a somewhat different format. For each of the South Pacific islands included, he first writes an essay about its history and culture. He follows the essay with fiction, an original story set on that island. He not only writes about such obvious choices as Tahiti and Fiji; he also includes both Australia and New Zealand. His story set in New Zealand, a World War II homefront piece entitled UNTIL THEY SAIL, later became a film. That's the one part of this book that I remembered clearly, after a good 40 years, when I sat down to read RETURN TO PARADISE for the second time.

Michener's essays describe the South Pacific as it was in the late 1940s, several years before this "tail end" baby boomer was born, so today's reader needs to approach them as history and treat them accordingly. As such, they're intriguing. Some of the accompanying stories are equally dated, but I was surprised to find others echoing with human dilemmas only too familiar in today's world. UNTIL THEY SAIL didn't disappoint me a bit when read from a mature (think "old enough to be a grandma") woman's viewpoint, even though I last read it as a girl not long into adolescence. It helped me understand my parents' generation, then. This time around it reminded me that what happens to men and women separated (or brought together) by war is universal, and its dynamics never change.

Michener is always worth reading. 5 stars for sheer durability!

I loved this book. While reading Tales of the South Pacific, I was interested in the island cultures which played behind the main stories. This book delves into those cultures, as they were when the book was written. Nice stories.

This is an outstanding book and is a worthy continuation to Michener's Tales of the South Pacific. It is full of excellent stories about the south Pacific which will entertain the reader to its fullest.

While I would be the first to say this is not as good as Tales of the south pacific, few books are. A very good read that any Michener fan will love.

The descriptions of the islands makes one want to vacation there or possible live for a short period of time.

Having read Tales of the South Pacific, one of the classics of 20th Century literature, I couldn't wait to read this 'sequel' by Michener. I wished I hadn't bothered. It seemed as if the great wordsmith was just writing because his publisher demanded to cash in on the success of 'Tales'. Disappointed, I put it down about a third of the way through and never bothered to pick it up again. It takes two to tango - even in a novel. Michener (the author) and I (the reader)danced our way through 'Tales' never missing a step. With the sequel it was if we had two left feet.

Great travel adventure reading. Learn about s pacific & ww2 in Mitchner's historical/ fictional style.

The pieces on Fijian-Indians in 'Fiji' and 'The Mynah Birds', in which local Indians are shown up in an ugly and racist manner, are just bad writing. To his credit Michener apologised about his untoward remarks years after the publication of the book.