Getting Stoned with Savages

Continuing on my search for "easy" reads... my next personal no-brainer was Getting Stoned with Savages by J. Maarten Troost.

Last year with our trip to the region, my interest was piqued in the South Pacific... so I picked up Troost's The Sex Lives of Cannibals. That book covered Troost's first experience living in the South Pacific with future wife Sylvia (who managed to snag a job out there).  Stoned is a sequel of sorts as the couple tire of the rat-race of life in the States and decide to give island life another go-round.

Sounds great, huh?  But one can not exactly get great fodder for a book (let alone two of them!) if things are all just tropical drinks and beautiful sunsets. Troost is not living large on Tahiti or Bora Bora. Sex Lives had them on the tiny atoll of Kiribati, while this book has them living in the slightly more populated islands of Vanuatu and Fiji.  But no matter the island, it is clear that everyday life on a South Pacific island is a very different from the luxury experience of the average tourist.   

Both books are very funny and will certainly make you re-think running off to a tropical island for good.  Many of us are familiar with Vanuatu thanks to it being a Survivor locale (Islands of Fire!) a few seasons back.  Now while Troost probably had it slightly easier than those roughing it on a reality shows... but he still has to deal with typhoons and very large insects.  Oh, then there's the "not so distant past" acts of cannibalism and the joys of the kava, a muddy-ish liquid concoction that provides the "stoned" of the title.

The couple next moves on to Fiji... which you think would be better...  as it is a quite popular celebrity vacation spot.  But again, there is a "tourist" side of the island... here, among other things, Troost deals with pesky prostitutes and a house threatened by a mudslide.  As in Vanuatu, the political situation always seems in a constant state of flux... and what do you know, there was a coup just this past week (Fiji's military takes control of nation).  So again, not the idyllic island life of one's dream.

Scanning the Amazon reviews of this book, it seems like a lot of folks thought this book was not as good as the first one.  Granted I can't remember the details of a book I read a month ago... let alone over a year... but I thought this one seemed a little more well (and quickly) paced. 

Definitely a couple of fun books if you are looking for something a little different.

Comments

[Scott-O-Rama]

Looks like an interesting book.

Speaking of which, I totally forgot to give you your other book back. I'm so sorry! I completely meant to do that. Would you like me just to drop it by sometime when I'm down in that area of town?

[Tanya]

Loved your review. Check out mine at www.readthemandeat.com I hope you enjoy it!