No comments about The Cruise of the Janet Nichol Among the South Sea Islands: A Diary by Mrs. Robert Louis Stevenson.

5 comments about The Last Navigator.

1. The original edition of Thomas' saga showed an excellent example of the truly gifted amateur contributing to the practical art of cultural analysis. Drawn to solve a personal intellectual problem on how the early polynesians navigated, Thomas chose the solution of walking in their "mocassins" or paddling in their canoes, learning their language and living their culture. I found his journey as intriguing as the quests of Oliver Sachs(Island of the Color-blind People) or Jared Diamond (Guns, Germs and Civilization) and as intricate as Dva Sobel's tracing of the development of the Chronometer (Longitude). His tool of learning about these people by choosing their most precious historical achievement was inspired. His report by cross-referencing his modern "quantified" vision with their "common sense" qualitative analysis of the sea and its trails is a fascinating tale of multi-cultural experiences. Will he ever return? Even if the island culture is forever changed, one can only hope that he will in some way give us a follow-up picture. Professional scientists and anthropologists should note that Thomas' approach solves the "solipsistic problem" of intercultural communication as effectively as the "Seti Project" hopes to in the future. It is as interesting as Carl Sagan's fiction-- "Contact", but much closer than one might imagine.



2. The original edition of Thomas' saga showed an excellent example of the truly gifted amateur contributing to the practical art of cultural analysis. Drawn to solve a personal intellectual problem on how the early polynesians navigated, Thomas chose the solution of walking in their "mocassins" or paddling in their canoes, learning their language and living their culture. I found his journey as intriguing as the quests of Oliver Sachs(Island of the Color-blind People) or Jared Diamond (Guns, Germs and Civilization) and as intricate as Dva Sobel's tracing of the development of the Chronometer (Longitude). His tool of learning about these people by choosing their most precious historical achievement was inspired. His report by cross-referencing his modern "quantified" vision with their "common sense" qualitative analysis of the sea and its trails is a fascinating tale of multi-cultural experiences. Will he ever return? Even if the island culture is forever changed, one can only hope that he will in some way give us a follow-up picture. Professional scientists and anthropologists should note that Thomas' approach solves the "solipsistic problem" of intercultural communication as effectively as the "Seti Project" hopes to in the future. It is as interesting as Carl Sagan's fiction-- "Contact", but much closer than one might imagine.



3. This book is one of the few good 1980's attempts to document the voyaging culture of the Caroline Islands of Micronesia. It follows Kenneth Brower's 'Song For Satawal', which is now out of print!

   Plenty of authentic stuff to make this a good read even if you get queasy at the insecurities and soul-searching and quest for meaning that pervades this account of one man's unique adventure in the Pacific.

   There is lots of interesting anthropology (or is it sociology?) here, such as the system for ownership and preservation/protection of marine resources. Good background for anyone working in resource management in the Pacific.

   The image that sticks in my mind after reading this book is the agonizing, slow-motion demise of traditional society in the small islands of the Carolines. The Carolines had centuries of Spanish/German/Japanese/USA stepping on their culture, still they managed to resurrect the voyaging skills, but now face the competition of outboards, charts, technological changes. Their oral tradition recorded vast local knowledge of this part of the pacific ocean, but the younger generations for some reason don't have the desire to avail themselves. Youngsters move away, they choose to join the workaday world instead of developing their skills at the traditonal systems that proferred self-sufficiency to their ancestors. The youngsters don't want the old way.

   The few remaining navigators are at a loss how to preserve the sailing traditions, so one of them accepts a student from Boston, Mass. This guy (the author, Steve) goes to Satawal, home of the greatest surviving ocean-voyaging practitioners, and he spends a LOT of time learning the language, learning the rules, getting informants to tell him about the legends, secret knowledge and systematics of ocean navigation according to the hand-me-down skills of these descendents of the sailors who populated the pacific ocean islands. In the process he manages to get in unpleasant binds over taboos, local politics, and even gets to go fishing and sailing with the natives. The book is liberally salted with the concepts, specifics, and vocabulary of native voyaging, and there is an appendix at the end that gives glossaries, diagrams, etc.




4. The book is good but where is the video that I saw on Public Television several years ago?
   How do I get a copy?
   How do I get in touch with Steve Thomas?



5. I read Steve Thomas' book in the evenings while I was staying at Trader's Ridge Resort on Yap. Steve's clarity and attention to detail taught me not only about the rudiments of traditional oceanic navigation, but also opened my eyes more fully to Micronesian culture, and attuned me to how delicately it hangs between the encroachments of the West and the timeless pace of these islands. Even if you will never see a sailing canoe, this book will change your life. Well done.

1 comments about Fielding's Diving Australia: Fielding's In-Depth Guide to Diving Down Under (Fielding Travel Guides).

1. This is a great book I brought with me all over Australia and found invaluable. This book gives detailed info on more sites than you could ever hope to dive, and even if you don't dive the pictures are great. Top book!

No comments about 2008 Country Profile and Guide to the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)- National Travel Guidebook and Handbook - Kosrae, Pohnpei, Chuuk, Yap, Earthquakes, Typhoons (Two CD-ROM Set).

5 comments about Frommer's Australia from $50 a Day.

1. My life partner and I found Frommer's Australia powerful...entralling...a ferociously well-paced entertainment! We found ourselves knee deep in quicksand and this book, I kid you not, saved our skins. I mean literally! But all in all we found it a smart, craftsman-like, viscerally compelling guide, eh.



2. I went to Australia this summer (or their winter), and I took this book along with me. I read the book on the plane, and it seeemed helpful, but once I got there, I realized the book was lacking. First off - a lot of the places that were discussed in the book (specifically hotel rooms) were grossly misquoted on price. Secondly, the section on Melbourne (where I spent most of my time) I felt was inaccurate and the listing for hotels was extremely small. And the places listed were not very good places either in that they were either too small (and required MONTHS of advanced booking) or were too expensive for the average traveller. I found the Lonely Planet Guide to be much better and more helpful, giving the reader a more objective view of available hotels and eateries. I found a dozen or so inexpensive places to stay and eat that should have made the book. Even the Sydney section (where I also spent some time) was not very good, and the book was too Sydney-centric to be of much use to someone moving about the country. It's obvious that the writers of the book couldn't see beyond Sydney and New South Wales. Hopefully future additions will be more balanced.



3. Our group of six friends just returned from a two week trip to Australia. We did much planning ahead of time using this guide. It was so helpful that even our travel agent was impressed with the information we could give her about our plans to travel by plane, car, and train. Information about each of the cities we visited was right on the money. We stayed in some of the hotels recommended and ate at some of the restaurants. With the information we had ahead of time, our trip went very smoothly. Practically everytime anyone had a question regarding just about anything in the area we were visiting, I just grabbed the book and had the answer.



4. I actually bought 4 different guide books to plan my trip Down Under. I ditched 3 of them almost immediately because Frommer's format was easier to read and locating appropriate information quicker. The advice on suggested tours was especially accurate; the boxed information warrants a second (or third) look - Frommer's never steered us in the wrong direction. Take the price information with a grain of salt as seasoned travelers know that pricing can and will fluctuate.

   Don't buy any other guides - relax and enjoy your trip. Aussies are the most laid-back, patient crowd on the planet. It's an amazing country!




5. I actually bought 4 different guide books to plan my trip Down Under. I ditched 3 of them almost immediately because Frommer's format was easier to read and locating appropriate information quicker. The advice on suggested tours was especially accurate; the boxed information warrants a second (or third) look - Frommer's never steered us in the wrong direction. Take the price information with a grain of salt as seasoned travelers know that pricing can and will fluctuate.

   Don't buy any other guides - relax and enjoy your trip. Aussies are the most laid-back, patient crowd on the planet. It's an amazing country!

1 comments about Cycling Australia : Bicycle Touring Throughout the Sunny Continent (The Active Travel Series).

1. This book was invaluable to me on my tours of Tazmania, South Australia and Victoria. In addition to excellent directions, the author provides you with recommended budget accomadations. Insights into Aussie culture and even a list of helpful Aussie phrases. Fair dinkum mate!

No comments about Buying a Home in New Zealand, 2nd Edition: A Survival Handbook (Buying a Home in New Zealand).

2 comments about Sydney: The Story of a City.

1. Sydney started out as a landing place for convicts from Great Britain. But from those humble beginnings, it has grown into one of the world's great cities. This is a "must read" for anyone planning a trip Down Under any time soon. The insights provided by the author will help the Australian visitor have a much better understanding of the city before him. With the Olympics coming soon to Sydney, the timing of this release couldn't have been better. This is a book worth the investment of time and money. You'll enjoy it.



2. for the Olympics. This is an excellent pre-travel reference for anyone planning to attend the Summer Olympics in Sydney this year. The historical background will help to bring the city to life, from its beginnings as a penal colony to its growth into one of the world's truly great cities.

4 comments about The Singing Line: Tracking the Australian Adventures of My Intrepid Victorian Ancestors.

1. An interesting effort by a distant, if not vague relation to an historically insignificant figure, albeit one from whom myths form with their customary accuracy. What bits of research and experience are fairly presented are harmed, in my view to no benefit, by gratuitous asides regarding her apparently long-suffering companion, family and (soon to be former?) friends. One must wonder what would have been the book had the author not worked for a newspaper, which one might suspect arranged its serialization gratis. The photos beg for the book guillotine.



2. I was fortunate enough to have the chance to live in Melbourne Australia for more than three years. I have experienced large parts of the journey Alice and her husband undertake in their quest to better understand her ancestor's experiences in creating the first telegraph line across Australia.

   I found the book to be very Alice Thomson-centric. She seems to glorify all aspects of her journey while continually placing Charles Todd higher and higher upon his pedestal. I was hoping she would rekindle some of my own memories of the Australia outback. However, Ms. Thomson invariably spends paragraph after paragraph describing her husband's illness or her own tiny adventures driving the Land Cruiser or walking around Coober Pedy. Her descriptions of the local towns and environs is terse, quick, and dull. I do not recommend this book to anyone except Alice Thomson and her immediate family.




3. I bought this book because I am interested in the early explorers and travellers in to the Australian hinterland and because I was about to travel to some of the same areas the author had visited. I found the bits about Todd, the man who came to Australia to look at the stars and ended up connecting Australia to the outside world by a telegraph wire, quite interesting. Although I thought perhaps Alice Thomson was a bit confused as to whether the story was about Alice Todd (the great grandmother for whom she was named) or Charles Todd who laid the line. And I could see where she was coming from in trying to relate the story of her own travels with her husband in the same area and the Todds adventures. But again I'm not sure she pulled it off exactly. By exaggerating her own hardships, she underplayed the genuine difficulties the Todds endured and both stories lost credibility - for me, anyway. But what I really disliked about this book was its horrid comments about Australians and the way they live, in these so-called remote areas. She makes it sound as though one hour out of Adelaide she was alone in the world with people almost unrecognisable as human beings. Spare us the "don't come the raw prawn", "strewth cobber" cliches (which are always only used by the English, anyway). And I hope she feels ashamed at the way she treated people who went out of their way to help her, for a few cheap laughs. In great frustration (it was so nearly a good book) I eventually threw it on the campfire, unfinished, at Lake Eyre, halfway along the Singing Line.



4. This was truly an amazing book. The author involves you in the very foundations that build up the Australian telegraph system - you become part of the history as she takes you through the life of her great-great-grandmother and grandfather. It reveals, once again, how many people gave up so much so that we can have a secure foundation in our society. Well worth owning.

5 comments about The Cruise of the Snark.

1. I've recently arrived back in the USA from Suva and Nadi in Fiji, one of Jack's stopping points.

   However, what he describes about the South Pacific is no more.

   London's South Pacific was affected by European trade and commerce. For one thing, disease, in an era when its prevention was primitive, was rife and the inhabitants of the islands he visited were dropping like flies. Today, of course, the very same network has brought modern medicine and the major health threat to natives in the South Pacific is obesity: the only restaurant on Victoria Parade in Suva, allowed Sunday hours, was McDonald's, while Singh's Curry Shop had to close (I recommend the latter, around the corner from McDonald's on Gordon Street: try the goat curry).

   London's natives were partly pagan. Today, ordinary people in Oceania are mostly fundamentalist Christian, and, in Suva, there is also a streak of Islam, petering out far to the west of Indonesia but echoing in the afternoon call of the Muezzin in Suva.

   The fundamentalism means that the yachtsman is well-advised on shore to dress modestly. Of course, London and his wife did this naturally, long ago. I actually saw an Australian man warn a woman in shorts in Suva to put knickers on lest one of the local Methodists or Moslems be offended.

   But any myth of escape has been so commodified in the South Pacific by tavern owners and tourist companies as to be sour and bitter to the taste.

   London, while asserting his property rights thoughtlessly at Oakland's wharf, and while assuming he had the right to hire men to work on his boat and judge their hard work in print, also assumed, in the South Pacific, his right to wander at will.

   Today, as the Rough Guide to Fiji advises the tourist, 85% of the land in Fiji is owned fee simple by chiefs. Sir Arthur Gordon decided not to repeat America's dispossession of the Indians and covenanted with the lads in Fiji in such a way that today, the natives form a land-owning aristocracy.

   Their fair-mindedness (as on display from Steve Rabuka who backed down from being a military dictator) means that other lads from other mobs have rough civic equality.

   London was the prototype, however, of the colonialist as rugged individual whose humanity is based on the unconscious deprivation of others' humanity.

   London was the prototype of the soured Yank who when a lad thought the best of people, without a dime to his name, who now has everything, and thinks the worst of people.

   London with a grin repeats texts from the hundreds of letters he received from individuals who wanted to sign on to the Snark and so escape their own lives of quiet desparation in an America already unbearable for the average city-dweller. Like him they yearned for a clean-limbed life but unlike London they lacked cash.

   London essentially uses their texts to pad out a book that was obviously written not from the heart but to raise cash for a silly boat.

   Any yachtsman knows in his heart of hearts that if the landlubber wants his experience, he has only to stand in a cold shower tearing up 100 dollar bills. The Snark was an expensive lark and, like modern yachts, unconsciously offensive at both its sharp end (where were the natives, giving London gifts and dying like flies) and its blunt end (where were the American laborers whose work London disrespects because it was not finished on his schedule).

   The South Seas are overrun, today, by people who really ought to be paying more taxes back home. I traveled out there to work at global rates and learned much more about the REAL South Seas than any tourist might, and I'm afraid that Joe Conrad, who also worked for a living, in The Heart of Darkness is more reliable on the tropics than old Jack London.

   I'm afraid that London saw, what he wanted to see: the Gilded Age struggle of man against man. However, as Hannah Arendt points out in The Origins of Totalitarianism, this defines rather a culture of hatred out of which were form racialist identities. London was for the most part free of any special form of racism but he did believe that Socialism was impossible because Alpha males (like Wolf Larsen) would take what they need.

   Well, they might, and they do. Nonetheless, in the South Seas and elsewhere, Beta males and women continue some how to achieve more, and of more lasting value, by working in groups. Sir Arthur Gordon is forgotten save in Suva, because unlike Cecil Rhodes he failed to mind his own press-agentry but it appears he did lasting good with his land-tenure scheme.

   London never learned the limits of his world view and his darkest book, Alcoholic Memories, is a testament to London's limitations.

   My favorite yachtsman remains good old Tristan Jones, a British sailor who was trained in the Royal Navy and who paid his dues. Tristan would like me arrive back, from the back of beyond, without a dime and go willingly to work while living willingly in a doss-house. Tristan dragged his own boat across the Mato Grosso and talked back to tinpot Fascists in Stroessner's Paraguay.

   In my experience it is relatively easy to learn the mechanics of a sailing boat but what is hard is endurance, not only of Nature but the Other. London endured Nature but has a tendency to be impatient in print with others, as shown by his insenstive near-mockery of applicants for service on his boat. Jones, on the other hand, mocks only people who deserve it, like customs agents in Paraguay.

   We lack Tristan Jones' spirit in America with the result that the Third World is overrun with the worst of us, whining yachtsmen and CIA agents and their trophy wives. London I fear was despite his genuine greatness of soul a prototype for the worse that came later.




2. It has been said that the best story Jack London ever conceived is the one he lived. You need look no further than THE CRUISE OF THE SNARK to confirm that. In this book, all of London's passions come together: action, experience, sailing, foreign travel, writing and reading. It is a "real adventure" tale, a travelogue and above all a well-crafted book full of London's personal voice and vibrant outlook on life. One may say it is also full of his ego, but he earns the self-satisfaction by putting action and hard work behind his beliefs and words. He is fearless. He is the first to get the irony in a situation and the first to laugh, especially at himself.
   
   In 1908, London and six others, including his wife Charmian, sailed out of the San Francisco Bay into the open waters of the Pacific on what was to be a lengthy circumnavigation of the world. They were leaving over a year later than originally planned due to hold-ups in the construction of London's "perfect" boat, "The Snark," which ate $30,000 dollars before they left harbor. It isn't long before leaks, sea-sickness and other banana peels come their way, and it takes 27 days to make Hawaii. In due course, London learns to surf, they visit the top of a volcano, hang out at a leper colony, and then head further south to the land of Melville's "Typee" and the scary Solomon Islands. The various captains hired for the trip all seem to lack the navigation gene, so London teaches himself and gets it down to a science. London, first by necessity and then overtaken by the intoxication of success, becomes a self-taught dentist, and thus his crew's savior and worst nightmare. He and the crew suffer a nasty list of maladies, as well. It is a testimony of the man's indefatigable spirit, that even when his own health puts an end to the "round the world" scheme, that he never characterizes the voyage and anything that did not go as planned as a crushing failure or disappointment. He just heads straight to Plan B.
   
   London's voice is wholly engaging, his profiles of crewmates and people encountered are delightful. One only wishes that some of his perceptions of other cultures were more enlightened, though they were liberal for their time. The Penguin Classics critical edition is an excellent balance of original text, a non-spoiling critical introduction, and a selection of 4 other short pieces, including accounts of the voyage by crewmate Martin Johnson and wife Charmian, and two unrelated maritime essays by London that enrich the overall experience of the book.



3. Even though I consider myself a London fan (starting when I read "The Call of the Wild" and "The Cruise of the Dazzler" as a boy), I have never felt the urge to read "The Cruise of the Snark"...until now. I must admit that is one easy, enjoyable read yet there are a couple of chapters which in my opinion seem to be "filler" material, possibly created when Jack was sick and do not seem to fit the adventure billing (Beche De Mer English for example). Regardless, most of this book is very enjoyable and you get a few chuckles when Jack interjects some of his dry, sarcastic humor into the reading (when he mentioned that the Snark was actually shorter than expected and suggested that "the builder was not on speaking terms with the tape-line"). Jack's life was an adventure and this was the culmination of an adventurous soul. It's a wonderful story and a prime example of Murphy's Law.



4. I have a lot of mixed emotions about this book. I thought his book "Call of the Wild" was one of the best ever works by an American writer. That novel was the peak of the Jack London's career.
   
   Just so we are clear, this is not a novel. It is a collection of related short stories. London wrote everyday for a few hours each morning during a two year sea voyage. He did this to make money to pay for the boat trip. He wrote and sent off a number of different short stories during the trip to different magazines and each chapter was published separately. Then later, he took some of the stories and simply arranged them in chronological order to make the present book.
   
   The book and the trip grew out of London's romance with yachting, and his idea that he wanted to sail around the world in a boat that he made himself. He wanted a large boat - about 50' - that he could sail himself helped by a small crew including his second wife. There is a lot of optimism here, and less practical experience than what one might consider to be wise, and London made a number of errors. London did not actually make the boat. He hired contractors. In any case, we hear how London made the boat and then sailed it across the Pacific, finally stopping near Australia. His motivation was based on dreams from his youth plus the romantic inspiration from prior writers such as Melville, Rudyard Kipling, Frank Norris, and Joseph Conrad, to name a few.
   
   We read what we assume to be is a non-fiction account of how he built the boat, and then the trip itself in pieces along with trips to various islands.
   
   Overall, the writing is good, but some parts are a lot more interesting than others so the book has a slightly uneven feel. I found a few of the chapeters to be boring.
   
   Interesting read, but not as good as I had hoped: 4 stars.



5. I have sailed a few times in S.F. Bay being from the Bay area and I truely related to this story and since the Snark was being built by Jack London right before the 1906 quake. It amazed me and invariably he got taken advantage of by the various builders which led to some precarious sailing manuevers since they measured wrong on one side. Which Jack London didn't find out until out at sea. I could picture all the island stops and so enjoyed the old photos that were put into the Snark truly an interesting journey. It was interesting to me hearing of the staph infections were attacking the individuals when the crew would cut themselves and then end up with these sores they knew nothing about and how they had to heal themselves with virtually no medicines on board. This book is a captain's log which he wrote in daily. If your a sailor you'll love it or even if you've been exposed as I have you'll enjoy it, especially if you happen to be from the Bay area. I recommend it as an interesting and enjoyable read though at times I did feel he was just writing to keep his checks coming in to pay for his journey.
   
   Sebastopolian Reader