Rating: 
Summary: Disappointment in Theroux' book
Review: I read this book a couple of years ago and am still galled by Theroux' writings. Although I have visited many of the islands of the South Pacific, I will contain my comments to Fiji alone.I have visited many, many times and lived in Fiji for over five years with my family (my mother lived there for almost 20 years). What is written about Fiji is almost fiction. I don't know how Theroux interpreted the islanders as threatening. Their smiles could light up the world. I've been married to a Fijian (man) for over 20 years now and Theroux' take on the people couldn't be further from the truth. Finally, his section on the two coups that occurred is so far from the truth as to be fiction. He must only have spoken with the Indian faction to get such a one-sided slant. My mother was there during the coup and there was no threat or danger to anyone. In fact, very little "uprising" to say the least. I've been waiting for a forum to vent my anger over the Fiji section of the book and I thank you for the space.
Rating: 
Summary: Not just a travelbook, a personal journey too
Review: I read this book at a time when I was going through a difficult period in my life. I saw people in the same trivial light that Paul Theroux seemed to have done. True , he was often rude and opinionated but I supposed his vision must have been coloured by his loneliness and grief (?) then. I enjoyed the book tremendously.
Rating: 
Summary: An interesting story, though probably fictional.
Review: I'm amazed at the poor travel experiences Paul Theroux has. I've been to New Zealand three times so far, and I've had excellent experiences. The only folks I've met that are friendlier than the Kiwis are the Fijians. I'm not alone in my experiences, I've yet to meet someone who didn't love their trip to Fiji. I've read several of Theroux's books and decided that he either has the worst experiences, or makes things up. In Sunrise with Seamonsters he writes how he thought Henry Miller was a better write because Miller's supposed experiences were actually fiction. For a more realistic view of the South Pacific, read Mahina Tiare by Barbara Marrett and John Neal.
Rating:
Summary: one man's reality
Review: I've enjoyed reading these reviews almost as much as i've enjoyed the three times i've read the book. It's the very personal travel journal of a cranky guy in a kayak and it's hugely entertaining BECAUSE it is so personal. All these comments about how 'it doesn't match reality,' or how it's racist, or how he's never happy just crack me up! It's not an travel guide or an encyclopedia entry or even National Geographic, it's a personal story... it doesn't need to be unbiased. Besides, If he was happy all the time it would be boring...
Rating:
Summary: Gloomiest travel writer award
Review: I've read all of Theroux's non-fiction and love it, but it is certainly true that his books are colored by his moods, usually dark. This is the darkest yet, and still an interesting read. I enjoyed comparing his experiences to mine in places I have visited. (I had a better time than he did in those places.) He is certainly braver than I am, travelling alone in dangerous areas, which gives more depth to his tales, but you have to wonder if all that difficulty was necessary? I'm also amazed at how little personal information he gives about the facts of his life, yet he is very generous in sharing his gloom and depression.
Rating: 
Summary: Overcompensating for Melville
Review: If Melville and others over romanticize the Pacific islands, Paul Theroux overcompensates in his attempt to overcome such stereotypes. His narrative is equally full of useful information and unduly dark observations of this unique part of the world. Despite his intellectual protestations to the contrary, Paul sets off in much the same way as Gaugin and others before him to find a world which never existed. Having recently separated from his wife, he embarks on a journey which could never satisfy and, finding the internal emptiness still present, proceeds to take out his frustration on the mirage which has haunted so many great artists before him. In turn he savagely attacks islanders, Christians, the Japanese, the French, and any other group of people unfortunate enough to cross his path. The only people who seem to satisfy him are a group of islanders who celebrate a sexual freedom similar to that reported by early visitors to the region. In his anger over the confimation of what he always knew to be a dream, he finds true companionship only in his own thoughts and solitude. In the process, unfortunately, he provides a superficial meandering through the landscape (seascape?) of a little understood region of the world. But, then again, this is exactly what I like about this book. Frustrated negativism aside, Theroux provides a sufficient dose of current reality and informative history to serve as a foundation for deep thought by the careful reader. Rather than direct the audience through his own thought processes and conclusions, his transparent disappointment encourages others to come to their own conclusions. Having worked for the past five years in this part of the world, I can appreciate the accuracy of his writing while seeing through the bias with which it is presented. I would encourage others to enjoy this book and to gain a glimpse into the contradictory world of Pacific island life. One can only wonder, however, how differently it may have been written had the author approached the region during a different season of his life.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Corrective to Lonely Planet Overkill
Review: If you've ever been stuck on a train, bus or ferry in some interesting part of the world, with nothing to read but the (aargh!)Lonely Planet (or Rough Guide, etc) guide book of that region, and have consequently nearly died of agony over the shiny-happy over-enthusiasm for a location that is clearly awful; or if you've fallen asleep over the poor excuses for historical or cultural sections these guides provide, then Paul Theroux's book is the companion for you the next time you visit Australia-New Zealand and the Pacific. This is a wonderful, well-written read that's often very funny, and I found it matched my own observations of the parts I visited. Theroux's description of Australia and New Zealand struggling with their national identity as nations is very well observed - I saw the same thing and am glad I had his book along. His depiction of the wild Australian heavy drinkers ("ferals") is simply accurate, however painful it may be for some Australians to admit. Some of the Pacific islands Theroux described in all their boredom reminded me of places I was living (Hong Kong, Singapore) at the time I first read this, so they certainly weren't unbelievable. It should be pointed out that Theroux actually liked many of these places he visited - he has simply done a good job of observation while being beholden to no one - the essence of good travel writing. People who say only nice things about about a place write tourist bureau pamphlets or guidebooks. Great read. The detached reader (and traveller) will love it.
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Summary: A travel book that reads like a thriller , I loved it
Review: It is an incredibly enjoyable book that takes you there and shows you things that you might not see even if you were there. The chapters on Australia are especially amusing, Theroux captures the spirit (literally) of the Aussies precisely. It is a perfect desert island book!
Rating:
Summary: Good Read, but get a map
Review: It took months for me to finish this book. Not that it wasn't a good book: I read a couple more books in the interim, I read primarily on the road & I haven't been traveling for work a lot and have just had a bunch going on in general. Despite the word "Happy" in the title, the Isles of Oceania as Theroux experienced them were only very occasionally carefree paradises. He went on and on in the last chapters about the beauty, history and people of Hawaii and those parts of his tale made me want to go and see and experience that land for myself, but he wasn't so cheery about Western Australia, Rapa Nui, Tonga (Theroux discussed world politics with the king of Tonga), the Trobriands (discussed the first Gulf War with a fisherman in the middle of the Ocean), Samoa, New Zealand, etc... His story is somewhat biased and there are all sorts of generalizations made about every one of the native peoples he encountered and his views about the places he visited were highly opinionated, but that was because his trip was a very personal travel journal of a lonely, cranky middle-aged man going through a divorce who paddled a kayak in the Pacific and it's entertaining because his tale is so personal. Theroux's story doesn't need to be unbiased. It is a great read, but I would find a map of Pacific to look at while reading this book because unless you are/were a geography major the places mentioned, their distance apart and their exact location relative to your world will be confusing.
Rating:
Summary: Slightly Tedious
Review: Like many of the other reviews here, I agree that the recent breakup of his marriage may have led the writer to come across as a complete grouch. However,it was still an honest account of his adventures. Having sailed a little in the Pacific, I can relate to some of the issues he has mentioned, such as the islanders' disregard for the preservation of their beaches and landscape. Most people want to believe that these islands are pristine. Beautiful and amazing as they are, there is a large amount of pollution;local beaches being used as the dump,toilet and bath. So,his depiction of this is at least accurate. His hatred for the Japanese is rather annoying,when the United States is equally as guilty for their conduct in military matters.... But,on the whole,the book was entertaining enough, perhaps because I have an interest in reading just about anything about the South Pacific.
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