The Happy Isles of Oceania Paddling the Pacific

Geschreven bij Happy Isles of Oceania

Paul Theroux is one of the greatest travel writers of the past few decades and also a prolific novelist. In 1990 he embarked on a new adventure, visiting coastal regions in New Zealand and Australia by kayak in preparation for the real deal, kayaking among the countless islands and islets of Melanesia and Polynesia. Why? His marriage is on the rocks, he thinks he has cancer, he wants to get away from London’s literary scene. In the end, his voyage lasts some eighteen months and ends in Hawaii, where he has lived since. Early on his doctor assures him the stain on his arm is benign. His divorce became official in 1993.
This 600+ pp. tome is most informative about PT himself, a fanatical non-smoker and fish eating vegetarian. He is moody and opinionated about e.g. Australians, missionaries, Japanese and French. His anti-Japanese sentiment reflects the feelings of islanders caught in between the Japanese and US war machines. But PT’s antipathy also coincides with a brief period of US paranoia in the early 1990s over Japan’s global economic ascent, best exemplified by the movie “Rising Sun” (1993), with Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes.
His railings against all things French are based on France’s 160+ nuclear tests in the region. Missionaries and colonial rule had a deep impact on once warlike island cultures. Since PT’s voyage there have been violent episodes in New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands, Fiji. The islands are by and large very Christian and Sundays are very boring.
Theroux tried to assess on all the 51 islands to what extent its inhabitants are still in contact with the Pacific Ocean. Because the ancient forefathers of the people he talked to were perhaps the earliest and best navigators ever: wherever he lands, he asks and observes to see if this seagoing tradition is still intact… For island hopping backpackers this is a nice, amusing companion to a real tour guide.