The Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific

He complains about islanders who don’t smile at him on the street, or who react to him with caution or suspicion. Rather than asking himself WHY they react this way (gee, maybe it’s because he’s a single, white, male STRANGER walking into their village…), rather than trying to understand, he simply labels them unfriendly, "fat," "stupid," "lazy," "clumsy" (his words). When he doesn’t find the young, nubile females he was hoping for, he insults the friendly women he does find, calling them "hooting fatties" with "fat, booby faces." On island after island, he ridicules people’s physical appearance and makes assumptions about their intelligence based on that. Is that what a travel writer does? A professional writer? Heck, is that what a mature adult does?

When every other tourist is like Mr. Theroux, is it any wonder that islanders are so reserved or distrustful? When your home has been overrun and your culture wrung-out by Europeans and Asians for centuries, is it such a surprise that islanders might tend to look at them with a wary eye? He expresses near-hatred of Japanese for coming to the Pacific and "taking over"...but forgets that Euros/Americans have been doing the same thing for hundreds of years. The level of contempt he seems to express toward everyone he encounters is remarkable, yet he continually boo-hoos about how lonely he is...is it any wonder?

If you’re looking for a detailed list of strip joints in Honolulu, this is the book for you - he seems to have visited every single one and describes their "specialties." If you want a book about Oceania, look elsewhere.


Mouldy & Insightful   June 9, 2003
marti mcginnis (DogTrot Hill, KY)
17 out of 26 found this review helpful

I lived in Suva (the capital city of...) Fiji for a year during and just after that island nation's first 'bloodless coup d'etat" in 1987 (good ol' Sitivini "Steve", to his closest pals, Rabuka, and his racist henchmen- the leader of that response to a native India-Indian/Fijian man having won the last democratic election held in that archepelago) and on up into a remote village in Ra for the next year as a health education Peace Corps Volunteer.

It took me all those 2 years living fully immersed within Fijian culture and among an interesting( and it must be said oddly racist, even amongst themselves) bunch of humans as one is ever likely to meet - to start to make sense out of their very complicated ways and mores. Paulie T. got to the crux pretty much immediately.

Personally, I got to hate running into locals who had recently encountered tourists - as it always made interactions more complicated for me. Thus American, Aussie and Japanese toursists were a big headache for me. They would over pay for everything and scamper about scantily clad - tweaking at the Fijian moral compass, developed, ironically, directly from the teachings of those good ol' late 1800's Christian missionaries - who, at least had a hand ;-) in helping Fijians stop eating each other.

He nailed the Fijian culture - and I am assuming he does the same to the others described. Who said traveling was pretty? Sure, it can be if one takes great care to insulate oneself from the local actualities - but where's the fun in that?!

I travel to see how the rest of the world lives. Although, one time I went to the b.v.i. to lay about on the beach completely cut off from reality - and you know what? THAT ain't half bad either!


Irritating, Racist, Filled with Bias, Ignorant & Uninformed   April 30, 2005
DCite
14 out of 25 found this review helpful

I think I made myself pretty clear with the title. But, if further explanation is necessary: Theroux is exactly what he claims to abhor about tourists & travelers. He's an egotistical, self-centered racist who has paddled aimlessly around the world in lieu of actually parenting the children he chose to have and be a husband to his original wife. The only reason I kept reading is bc I was traveling to many of the places about which he wrote. Additionally, I lived in HI and was interested in what he had to say about it. Ultimately I was embarrassed that I had to share Oahu with him. And if he mentioned one more time about his claim that scads of Japanese brides throwing themselves off hotel balconies...I mean really. If you're looking for a fact based book about Oceania, look elsewhere. If you're looking for a self-indulgent POS about a man's traveling mid-life crisis, you can have my copy. Thank God I only wasted a quarter on it.


A travel novel about the author and not the destinations.   September 19, 1999
13 out of 17 found this review helpful

The title 'The Happy Isles of Oceania' can only be ironic. In this book of Theroux's travels around Australasia and the islands of the Pacific, happiness is one emotion that is noticeable by its absence. The opening chapter on New Zealand, in which its inhabitants are variously described as frightful, scruffy and dirty, sets the tone for the rest of the book. According to Theroux, every Pacific island is inhabited by a lazy, mendacious, tardy, thieving and lying populace devoid of culture and manners. Fellow travellers to these islands do not escape the wrath of Theroux's pen as they are collectively dismissed as fat, ignorant, oafish and rude. Yet for all his criticisms of other people for being rude, racist, indifferent and obdurate, the clear impression from reading the book is that Theroux is the worst offender of the lot. Even though the book is over 700 pages long, little interest is paid to the description of his destinations in terms of the natural habitat and the flora and fauna; which I imagine is one of the obvious attractions of the Pacific. Instead the book concentrates almost solely on the author's brooding following a separation from his wife and on his utter disdain for all he meets. Sadly, my lasting impression was not one of beautiful sandy beaches, blue lagoons or vibrant coral reefs, but of a sad and bitter old man who would do well to paddle to a deserted island and not return.


Great writer, nasty person.   February 17, 2001
13 out of 17 found this review helpful

Theroux is a great travel writer--I don't hesitate to say it. When I read his books, I feel as though I'm there with him, and I want to go myself to experience the places he visits more fully. In this book he travels all over the Pacific, including some incredibly out-of-the-way places, and has some remarkable experiences. The problem with his books is that I'm there WITH HIM. Theroux is snobbish, argumentative, sometimes racist or close to it, sometimes downright mean-spirited. I want to comment especially on his four-page diatribe against poor Thor Heyerdahl, which dropped my opinion of Theroux several notches. Who really cares if many of Heyerdahl's theories have been proven wrong? The Kon-Tiki Expedition is still one of the greatest travel books ever, at least as great as anything by Theroux, and obviously written by a person who is much easier to get along with. I had the strong feeling that Theroux was jealous of Heyerdahl because he's never done anything as courageous as sailing halfway across the Pacific on a balsa-wood raft.