Brilliant, 08 Jun 2008
Too many reviewers here want a glowing travel brochure out of Theroux. Writing is his vocation, travelling is his muse. Travelling is a way to comment on the human condition as he experiences it, and on his own condition, as he experiences it. It doesn't matter how many people have a good time in Africa, or a bad time in Africa - Theroux has his own devil driving him in his own strange directions, and what he produces are travel books only in the most minimal sense. In the larger sense they are works of literature in which travel plays a part.

I love the complexity of his writing, his honesty in recording moods, enthusiasms, fears, vanities, moments of ill-temper, generosity, meanness. Reviewers point out moments of 'hypocrisy', or 'meanness', or curmudgeonly outbursts, as if he was too stupid to read his own text. Theroux is a writer. He wants you to see that.

I don't seek any kind of objective truth about Africa. I wouldn't believe anyone who purveyed it. What I do find is a writer using his craft to create complex and absorbing works of literature, using travel as a starting point for a succession of events, meetings, conversations, anecdotes, situations, literary digressions, bits of obscure history, polemic, and unlikely destinations.

Dark Star Safari is clever, it is brave, it is fun, it is dark, it is complex. It isn't a coincidence Theroux read Conrad a dozen times as he progressed from north to south. Please don't make the mistake of imagining this book is a variation on 'what I did on my hols'.

Cheer up mate it's only Africa, 31 May 2008
Some things bother me about this book. Firstly, the way he criticises anyone not 'doing Africa' his way, his conceited contempt of anyone holidaying in Africa (a good source of revenue for various African countries) when he himself is an outsider; a tourist. We can't all take a year off work for an all-expenses paid trip down Africa Mr Theroux. His criticism and I have to say over-dramatic account of African cities; I've lived in Nairobi and Kampala and felt perfectly safe if you're sensible and know where to go. Venturing out after dark (unlike Theroux) has never once been a problem for me and my friend (who's lived there most of his life). But he has to sell books. The book's tone was at times depressing and although most countries in sub-saharan Africa have problems many are stable, welcoming and enjoyable for foreigners to visit. The biggest problem I found was with his tone with anything concearned with improving Africa, true it often isn't easy and although his pleasure of seeing subsistance farming doesn't equate to "let's keep them in their place" it did seem apathetic and left me wondering if Mr Theroux simply desires a return to an Africa of 1840 without hospitals, education, propects and security. And 'yes' there is all these things to be found in modern-day Africa, he neglected to mention the sucessful Ugandan-run businesses, schools, infustructure and tourist industries I found in 2006. Things aren't always run perfectly but this is Africa and shouldn't be compared to catching a tube from Hype Park Corner, I'm sure he knows this. But he has to sell books. Finally, his criticism of Aid agencies was upheld in many areas but found his discussion one-sided offering no real solutions, should we stop giving Aid, stop trying to make an impact due to the governing of a predetory elite? It left me asking the question "so what do we do then?" and he supplied no real answers, not that it's his job of course; he is a writer and a very good one at that; he gets 4 out of 5, but like this review he should try to occassionally focus on the positive.

OUTSTANDING!, 09 Feb 2008
What a fantastic book. Will be loved by all readers and a complete must for fans of travel!

Superficial and negative, 21 Sep 2007
I like the way Mr. Theroux writes. It flows well, and he is concrete and catchy in his choice of words. That is about all good I had to say about this travel book...
I think a travel book should be more than superficial anecdotes and thoughts of a journey across such a vast continent as the African, where diversity, complexity and paradoxes abound for any 500-page book one very single subject. In that regard, I find Mr. Theroux's reflections nothing but the mere reflections anyone travelling to Africa is faced with. And Mr. Theroux seems to have the ideas pre-conceived of the problems of Africa and just lash out at everyone from government officials, missionaries, aid workers, private entrepreneurs, prostitutes, farmers, while he seems too pre-occupied with his "erotic novel" to try to go more in-depth with the problems. He wants to get lost in Africa, but to me it is more a book of a man needing to get lost in himself, and his bitterness spills out over a continent that in spite of its numerous wrongs and problems, simply deserves much better.
Mr. Theroux seems a bitter old man, negatively looking at things, not seeing the potential strengths in some countries, like Malawi, where the specter of disillusion becomes almost explicit, as he reflects at how different things were when he was there as a young man.
Nevertheless, it is provoking and well-written enough to be worth a read.


Describes Africa as it is, 09 Aug 2007
I think Paul Theroux expected to find Africa had deteriorated since he last lived there in the 1960s and he is not wrong, so the book has a feeling of being a fait accompli before you have even got very far into it. Having said that, he does raise awareness of some key points regarding the interaction between trade and aid. Firstly if aid projects are a regular occurance in an area then the area becomes economically dependent and there are no incentives for the local populace to improve their own lives: if an aid project is discontinued they can be pretty certain that another will be along shortly to replace it. The "aid business" also loses sight of its aims: they know the project will fail once they have left so lose the will to come up with anything more innovative than spoon-feeding the local population. Aid projects are doomed to fail anyway if the national government doesn't act to reduce corruption and allow businesses and farms to flourish without confiscating any output they make over a subsistence level. (Tim Haford's "Undercover Economist" describes this in more detail). Throughout this book Theroux is pretty angry: he dislikes the western tourists who come on safari trips for not seeing "the real Africa", though he eventually relents and thoroughly enjoys a game-watching trip; he regards the multi-national charities as leeches and the born again Christian missionaries as dangerous and destructive to local communities. The downside is that he adopts a hectoring tone to repeatadly put the same points across; I agree with him that NGOs and churches are more interested in enriching the Mercedes dealerships of Nairobi than doing anything productive but repeating this point in every chapter reduces Theroux to the level of a fire-and-brimstone preacher. Just give us the facts Paul, and maybe a few ideas on what needs to change to improve Africa rather than just belittling others.

Brilliant, 08 Jun 2008
Too many reviewers here want a glowing travel brochure out of Theroux. Writing is his vocation, travelling is his muse. Travelling is a way to comment on the human condition as he experiences it, and on his own condition, as he experiences it. It doesn't matter how many people have a good time in Africa, or a bad time in Africa - Theroux has his own devil driving him in his own strange directions, and what he produces are travel books only in the most minimal sense. In the larger sense they are works of literature in which travel plays a part.

I love the complexity of his writing, his honesty in recording moods, enthusiasms, fears, vanities, moments of ill-temper, generosity, meanness. Reviewers point out moments of 'hypocrisy', or 'meanness', or curmudgeonly outbursts, as if he was too stupid to read his own text. Theroux is a writer. He wants you to see that.

I don't seek any kind of objective truth about Africa. I wouldn't believe anyone who purveyed it. What I do find is a writer using his craft to create complex and absorbing works of literature, using travel as a starting point for a succession of events, meetings, conversations, anecdotes, situations, literary digressions, bits of obscure history, polemic, and unlikely destinations.

Dark Star Safari is clever, it is brave, it is fun, it is dark, it is complex. It isn't a coincidence Theroux read Conrad a dozen times as he progressed from north to south. Please don't make the mistake of imagining this book is a variation on 'what I did on my hols'.

Cheer up mate it's only Africa, 31 May 2008
Some things bother me about this book. Firstly, the way he criticises anyone not 'doing Africa' his way, his conceited contempt of anyone holidaying in Africa (a good source of revenue for various African countries) when he himself is an outsider; a tourist. We can't all take a year off work for an all-expenses paid trip down Africa Mr Theroux. His criticism and I have to say over-dramatic account of African cities; I've lived in Nairobi and Kampala and felt perfectly safe if you're sensible and know where to go. Venturing out after dark (unlike Theroux) has never once been a problem for me and my friend (who's lived there most of his life). But he has to sell books. The book's tone was at times depressing and although most countries in sub-saharan Africa have problems many are stable, welcoming and enjoyable for foreigners to visit. The biggest problem I found was with his tone with anything concearned with improving Africa, true it often isn't easy and although his pleasure of seeing subsistance farming doesn't equate to "let's keep them in their place" it did seem apathetic and left me wondering if Mr Theroux simply desires a return to an Africa of 1840 without hospitals, education, propects and security. And 'yes' there is all these things to be found in modern-day Africa, he neglected to mention the sucessful Ugandan-run businesses, schools, infustructure and tourist industries I found in 2006. Things aren't always run perfectly but this is Africa and shouldn't be compared to catching a tube from Hype Park Corner, I'm sure he knows this. But he has to sell books. Finally, his criticism of Aid agencies was upheld in many areas but found his discussion one-sided offering no real solutions, should we stop giving Aid, stop trying to make an impact due to the governing of a predetory elite? It left me asking the question "so what do we do then?" and he supplied no real answers, not that it's his job of course; he is a writer and a very good one at that; he gets 4 out of 5, but like this review he should try to occassionally focus on the positive.

OUTSTANDING!, 09 Feb 2008
What a fantastic book. Will be loved by all readers and a complete must for fans of travel!

Superficial and negative, 21 Sep 2007
I like the way Mr. Theroux writes. It flows well, and he is concrete and catchy in his choice of words. That is about all good I had to say about this travel book...
I think a travel book should be more than superficial anecdotes and thoughts of a journey across such a vast continent as the African, where diversity, complexity and paradoxes abound for any 500-page book one very single subject. In that regard, I find Mr. Theroux's reflections nothing but the mere reflections anyone travelling to Africa is faced with. And Mr. Theroux seems to have the ideas pre-conceived of the problems of Africa and just lash out at everyone from government officials, missionaries, aid workers, private entrepreneurs, prostitutes, farmers, while he seems too pre-occupied with his "erotic novel" to try to go more in-depth with the problems. He wants to get lost in Africa, but to me it is more a book of a man needing to get lost in himself, and his bitterness spills out over a continent that in spite of its numerous wrongs and problems, simply deserves much better.
Mr. Theroux seems a bitter old man, negatively looking at things, not seeing the potential strengths in some countries, like Malawi, where the specter of disillusion becomes almost explicit, as he reflects at how different things were when he was there as a young man.
Nevertheless, it is provoking and well-written enough to be worth a read.


Describes Africa as it is, 09 Aug 2007
I think Paul Theroux expected to find Africa had deteriorated since he last lived there in the 1960s and he is not wrong, so the book has a feeling of being a fait accompli before you have even got very far into it. Having said that, he does raise awareness of some key points regarding the interaction between trade and aid. Firstly if aid projects are a regular occurance in an area then the area becomes economically dependent and there are no incentives for the local populace to improve their own lives: if an aid project is discontinued they can be pretty certain that another will be along shortly to replace it. The "aid business" also loses sight of its aims: they know the project will fail once they have left so lose the will to come up with anything more innovative than spoon-feeding the local population. Aid projects are doomed to fail anyway if the national government doesn't act to reduce corruption and allow businesses and farms to flourish without confiscating any output they make over a subsistence level. (Tim Haford's "Undercover Economist" describes this in more detail). Throughout this book Theroux is pretty angry: he dislikes the western tourists who come on safari trips for not seeing "the real Africa", though he eventually relents and thoroughly enjoys a game-watching trip; he regards the multi-national charities as leeches and the born again Christian missionaries as dangerous and destructive to local communities. The downside is that he adopts a hectoring tone to repeatadly put the same points across; I agree with him that NGOs and churches are more interested in enriching the Mercedes dealerships of Nairobi than doing anything productive but repeating this point in every chapter reduces Theroux to the level of a fire-and-brimstone preacher. Just give us the facts Paul, and maybe a few ideas on what needs to change to improve Africa rather than just belittling others.

A very narrow view of India, 26 Mar 2008
I was so excited at the prospect of this book - one of the best travel writers writing about my favourite place. I have heard it said that India holds up a mirror to you and your situation in life, forcing you to confront the issues, however uncomfortable they may be. This is, I think, what the book is about and it seems to me a wasted opportunity that the lead characters are all defined by their sexual conduct. This seems a very narrow prism through which to view anyone - especially in a society as diverse as India - and is one which seems to insult both Indians and Americans. Having said all that, Theroux does create some wonderful characters - Shah - the self riteous Jain in the second story, lost Alice and the truly dreadful Stella in the third.

Fascinating, 13 Jan 2008
This newest book by Paul Theroux was a thoroughly enjoyable read. The three novellas are bound together by India as well as fleeting glances between each of the characters and examines the transition between post colonial third world to high tech mecca.
Literary tastes are divergent; one takes away something different from a work than another reader does. Each story in this book is an example of that.

Disappointment, 24 Nov 2007
I have loved so much of Theroux's work but this has been such a disappointment - quite frankly it is I think the worst book I have ever read. It is ill-concieved and lacking a theme, plot or even concept. Do not buy.

Brilliant, 08 Jun 2008
Too many reviewers here want a glowing travel brochure out of Theroux. Writing is his vocation, travelling is his muse. Travelling is a way to comment on the human condition as he experiences it, and on his own condition, as he experiences it. It doesn't matter how many people have a good time in Africa, or a bad time in Africa - Theroux has his own devil driving him in his own strange directions, and what he produces are travel books only in the most minimal sense. In the larger sense they are works of literature in which travel plays a part.

I love the complexity of his writing, his honesty in recording moods, enthusiasms, fears, vanities, moments of ill-temper, generosity, meanness. Reviewers point out moments of 'hypocrisy', or 'meanness', or curmudgeonly outbursts, as if he was too stupid to read his own text. Theroux is a writer. He wants you to see that.

I don't seek any kind of objective truth about Africa. I wouldn't believe anyone who purveyed it. What I do find is a writer using his craft to create complex and absorbing works of literature, using travel as a starting point for a succession of events, meetings, conversations, anecdotes, situations, literary digressions, bits of obscure history, polemic, and unlikely destinations.

Dark Star Safari is clever, it is brave, it is fun, it is dark, it is complex. It isn't a coincidence Theroux read Conrad a dozen times as he progressed from north to south. Please don't make the mistake of imagining this book is a variation on 'what I did on my hols'.

Cheer up mate it's only Africa, 31 May 2008
Some things bother me about this book. Firstly, the way he criticises anyone not 'doing Africa' his way, his conceited contempt of anyone holidaying in Africa (a good source of revenue for various African countries) when he himself is an outsider; a tourist. We can't all take a year off work for an all-expenses paid trip down Africa Mr Theroux. His criticism and I have to say over-dramatic account of African cities; I've lived in Nairobi and Kampala and felt perfectly safe if you're sensible and know where to go. Venturing out after dark (unlike Theroux) has never once been a problem for me and my friend (who's lived there most of his life). But he has to sell books. The book's tone was at times depressing and although most countries in sub-saharan Africa have problems many are stable, welcoming and enjoyable for foreigners to visit. The biggest problem I found was with his tone with anything concearned with improving Africa, true it often isn't easy and although his pleasure of seeing subsistance farming doesn't equate to "let's keep them in their place" it did seem apathetic and left me wondering if Mr Theroux simply desires a return to an Africa of 1840 without hospitals, education, propects and security. And 'yes' there is all these things to be found in modern-day Africa, he neglected to mention the sucessful Ugandan-run businesses, schools, infustructure and tourist industries I found in 2006. Things aren't always run perfectly but this is Africa and shouldn't be compared to catching a tube from Hype Park Corner, I'm sure he knows this. But he has to sell books. Finally, his criticism of Aid agencies was upheld in many areas but found his discussion one-sided offering no real solutions, should we stop giving Aid, stop trying to make an impact due to the governing of a predetory elite? It left me asking the question "so what do we do then?" and he supplied no real answers, not that it's his job of course; he is a writer and a very good one at that; he gets 4 out of 5, but like this review he should try to occassionally focus on the positive.

OUTSTANDING!, 09 Feb 2008
What a fantastic book. Will be loved by all readers and a complete must for fans of travel!

Superficial and negative, 21 Sep 2007
I like the way Mr. Theroux writes. It flows well, and he is concrete and catchy in his choice of words. That is about all good I had to say about this travel book...
I think a travel book should be more than superficial anecdotes and thoughts of a journey across such a vast continent as the African, where diversity, complexity and paradoxes abound for any 500-page book one very single subject. In that regard, I find Mr. Theroux's reflections nothing but the mere reflections anyone travelling to Africa is faced with. And Mr. Theroux seems to have the ideas pre-conceived of the problems of Africa and just lash out at everyone from government officials, missionaries, aid workers, private entrepreneurs, prostitutes, farmers, while he seems too pre-occupied with his "erotic novel" to try to go more in-depth with the problems. He wants to get lost in Africa, but to me it is more a book of a man needing to get lost in himself, and his bitterness spills out over a continent that in spite of its numerous wrongs and problems, simply deserves much better.
Mr. Theroux seems a bitter old man, negatively looking at things, not seeing the potential strengths in some countries, like Malawi, where the specter of disillusion becomes almost explicit, as he reflects at how different things were when he was there as a young man.
Nevertheless, it is provoking and well-written enough to be worth a read.


Describes Africa as it is, 09 Aug 2007
I think Paul Theroux expected to find Africa had deteriorated since he last lived there in the 1960s and he is not wrong, so the book has a feeling of being a fait accompli before you have even got very far into it. Having said that, he does raise awareness of some key points regarding the interaction between trade and aid. Firstly if aid projects are a regular occurance in an area then the area becomes economically dependent and there are no incentives for the local populace to improve their own lives: if an aid project is discontinued they can be pretty certain that another will be along shortly to replace it. The "aid business" also loses sight of its aims: they know the project will fail once they have left so lose the will to come up with anything more innovative than spoon-feeding the local population. Aid projects are doomed to fail anyway if the national government doesn't act to reduce corruption and allow businesses and farms to flourish without confiscating any output they make over a subsistence level. (Tim Haford's "Undercover Economist" describes this in more detail). Throughout this book Theroux is pretty angry: he dislikes the western tourists who come on safari trips for not seeing "the real Africa", though he eventually relents and thoroughly enjoys a game-watching trip; he regards the multi-national charities as leeches and the born again Christian missionaries as dangerous and destructive to local communities. The downside is that he adopts a hectoring tone to repeatadly put the same points across; I agree with him that NGOs and churches are more interested in enriching the Mercedes dealerships of Nairobi than doing anything productive but repeating this point in every chapter reduces Theroux to the level of a fire-and-brimstone preacher. Just give us the facts Paul, and maybe a few ideas on what needs to change to improve Africa rather than just belittling others.

A very narrow view of India, 26 Mar 2008
I was so excited at the prospect of this book - one of the best travel writers writing about my favourite place. I have heard it said that India holds up a mirror to you and your situation in life, forcing you to confront the issues, however uncomfortable they may be. This is, I think, what the book is about and it seems to me a wasted opportunity that the lead characters are all defined by their sexual conduct. This seems a very narrow prism through which to view anyone - especially in a society as diverse as India - and is one which seems to insult both Indians and Americans. Having said all that, Theroux does create some wonderful characters - Shah - the self riteous Jain in the second story, lost Alice and the truly dreadful Stella in the third.

Fascinating, 13 Jan 2008
This newest book by Paul Theroux was a thoroughly enjoyable read. The three novellas are bound together by India as well as fleeting glances between each of the characters and examines the transition between post colonial third world to high tech mecca.
Literary tastes are divergent; one takes away something different from a work than another reader does. Each story in this book is an example of that.

Disappointment, 24 Nov 2007
I have loved so much of Theroux's work but this has been such a disappointment - quite frankly it is I think the worst book I have ever read. It is ill-concieved and lacking a theme, plot or even concept. Do not buy.

And Graham didn't like it!, 23 Jun 2008
This apparently, was not a good novel in the opinion of... Graham Greene. I am ashamed to say, it was the first GG novel I had read, and I absolutely loved it. Set in the nightmarish world of Papa Doc and the Tontons Macoute in Haiti in the 60s, it has an almost deliciously depressing appeal just in its writing style. It's not too heavy on facts , but you realise GG knew the place, and it'll come as no surprise that many characters were based on real people. I was SO upset when I finished this. Immediately after I read Half of a Yellow Sun, by a 'modern master' - It was pale, lame and boring in comparison to this book.

Comedy and tragedy in the dark night of Haiti, 28 Oct 2006
Three men meet on the Medea, a ship sailing from Philadelphia to Haiti, a country then in the grip of the corrupt Doctor Duvalier - Papa Doc - and his sinister secret police, the Tontons Macoute.
Brown is a sixty-year old owner of the hotel Trianon in Port-au-Prince which he inherited from his mother. The place used to swarm with guests, there used to be cocktails and music but now with the Duvalier regime, hardly any tourists come to Haiti. He is a man without roots and often disillusioned because he has lost the capacity to be concerned, Yet subsequent events in the novel show that he is a man who can get involved if the situation requires him to do so, even at the expense of his own safety. In this sense he is a true humanist.
Mr and Mrs Smith are an American couple travelling to Haiti to open a centre of vegetarian cooking in Port-au-Prince. The reality they are about to discover is bound to disappoint them bitterly. These two characters show that a passionate belief in the integrity of the world may not be a simple flaw in character.
And then there is Mr Jones the confidence man whom everyone likes because he can make people laugh despite the fact that little of what he claims can be taken seriously.
These are the comedians in Mr Greene's novel. As the narrator states at one point: as long as we pretend, we escape. The atrocious dictatorship of Papa Doc is vividly portrayed and looking back it seems hardly believable that such an appalling personage was once viewed as a safeguard against communism in Haiti by Washington. The darkness and the terror of the curfew, the telephones that don't work, the Tontons Macoute in their dark glasses, the violence, injustice, torture and poverty, everything is sharply described by the author. And yet despite all the pain there is always time for love and laughter.
This book has been published as an audiobook by the BBC and is read in a superb way by the comedian Tim Pigott-Smith.

A masterpiece, 26 Mar 2006
I first read "The Comedians" around thirty years ago and then again around twenty years ago. Remembering how much I enjoyed and admired the novel I have just finished re-reading it and have now sadly closed the book.

It is an extremely satisfying novel written by one of the finest novelists of the 20th century.

The three main characters are the men, Brown, Smith (with the feisty Mrs. Smith) and Jones who meet as strangers on board the cargo-ship "Medea" bound from New York to Haiti where their paths cross and re-cross.

Brown, the main character, is a rootless hotelier with a shady past and without faith or hope.

Smith is a one-time American Presidential Candidate on an evangelic crusade to establish a vegetarian centre.

Jones is a mystery at first, a liar certainly, a con man perhaps, who falls in and out with the regime but eventually finds some redemption.

Set in the era of Papa Doc Duvalier's misrule with his sinister Tonton Macoute secret police the novel captures the atmosphere of a nation failed by it's corrupt leaders with a people living in fear and oppression.

But this story is not about Haiti, it is about failed romance, disillusionment, cynicism but with some hope and redemption (but not for all).

The introduction by Paul Theroux is a spoiler - he unravels and lays bare the plot and it is his opinion that this is "not one of Greenes best" and a "tepid novel" - whatever that means. I strongly advise readers to read Theroux's introduction AFTER the book and make their own minds up.

I believe this to be one of Greenes finest novels that even thirty years on from our first meeting was immensely pleasurable to read and one I highly recommend.

Commitment and insight, 21 Aug 2002
This book is about the commited and the uncommited, the passive and the active.
Set in Haiti against the scenery of Papa Doc's authoritarian rule and the Tonton Macoute with their dark glasses and sinister ways the comedians play their parts. The narrator, Mr Brown is a citizen of Mote Carlo, a citizen without ties. He is seemingly indifferent, whereas the mysterious Jones seems to be a man of purpose. And Mr and Mrs Smith, well he was a presidential candidate. As Greene weaves this story of people going about their lives in extraodinary circumstances we see no one is quite who they seem.
Insightful and the more I think about this and dwell on it the more I like it. One I will visit again.

Very sarcastic indeed; offers some good insights, 10 Apr 2001
The book would have probably been banned in today's world of 'politically correct', but, looking over the particular circumstances described, it offers a couple of insights. It seems to say that people do things out of boredom and vanity, whether the things are heroic, comic or evil. Most of them to not admit it to themselves, however, thus believing themselves to have 'real' commitments and desires. This belief feeds them with the energy for aplomb, heroism and evil-doing, as well as for any emotion of non-superficial kind. The 'disillusioned', admitting boredom and vanity as the sole cuases of their actions (like the narrator and Martha), are the passive audience of there own lives.

All in all the book is an interesting and relatively easy read; I think it might profit from translations/explanations of a number of French terms appearing here and there throughout the book (intended, perhaps, to give a feel of Haiti).

Brilliant, 08 Jun 2008
Too many reviewers here want a glowing travel brochure out of Theroux. Writing is his vocation, travelling is his muse. Travelling is a way to comment on the human condition as he experiences it, and on his own condition, as he experiences it. It doesn't matter how many people have a good time in Africa, or a bad time in Africa - Theroux has his own devil driving him in his own strange directions, and what he produces are travel books only in the most minimal sense. In the larger sense they are works of literature in which travel plays a part.

I love the complexity of his writing, his honesty in recording moods, enthusiasms, fears, vanities, moments of ill-temper, generosity, meanness. Reviewers point out moments of 'hypocrisy', or 'meanness', or curmudgeonly outbursts, as if he was too stupid to read his own text. Theroux is a writer. He wants you to see that.

I don't seek any kind of objective truth about Africa. I wouldn't believe anyone who purveyed it. What I do find is a writer using his craft to create complex and absorbing works of literature, using travel as a starting point for a succession of events, meetings, conversations, anecdotes, situations, literary digressions, bits of obscure history, polemic, and unlikely destinations.

Dark Star Safari is clever, it is brave, it is fun, it is dark, it is complex. It isn't a coincidence Theroux read Conrad a dozen times as he progressed from north to south. Please don't make the mistake of imagining this book is a variation on 'what I did on my hols'.

Cheer up mate it's only Africa, 31 May 2008
Some things bother me about this book. Firstly, the way he criticises anyone not 'doing Africa' his way, his conceited contempt of anyone holidaying in Africa (a good source of revenue for various African countries) when he himself is an outsider; a tourist. We can't all take a year off work for an all-expenses paid trip down Africa Mr Theroux. His criticism and I have to say over-dramatic account of African cities; I've lived in Nairobi and Kampala and felt perfectly safe if you're sensible and know where to go. Venturing out after dark (unlike Theroux) has never once been a problem for me and my friend (who's lived there most of his life). But he has to sell books. The book's tone was at times depressing and although most countries in sub-saharan Africa have problems many are stable, welcoming and enjoyable for foreigners to visit. The biggest problem I found was with his tone with anything concearned with improving Africa, true it often isn't easy and although his pleasure of seeing subsistance farming doesn't equate to "let's keep them in their place" it did seem apathetic and left me wondering if Mr Theroux simply desires a return to an Africa of 1840 without hospitals, education, propects and security. And 'yes' there is all these things to be found in modern-day Africa, he neglected to mention the sucessful Ugandan-run businesses, schools, infustructure and tourist industries I found in 2006. Things aren't always run perfectly but this is Africa and shouldn't be compared to catching a tube from Hype Park Corner, I'm sure he knows this. But he has to sell books. Finally, his criticism of Aid agencies was upheld in many areas but found his discussion one-sided offering no real solutions, should we stop giving Aid, stop trying to make an impact due to the governing of a predetory elite? It left me asking the question "so what do we do then?" and he supplied no real answers, not that it's his job of course; he is a writer and a very good one at that; he gets 4 out of 5, but like this review he should try to occassionally focus on the positive.

OUTSTANDING!, 09 Feb 2008
What a fantastic book. Will be loved by all readers and a complete must for fans of travel!

Superficial and negative, 21 Sep 2007
I like the way Mr. Theroux writes. It flows well, and he is concrete and catchy in his choice of words. That is about all good I had to say about this travel book...
I think a travel book should be more than superficial anecdotes and thoughts of a journey across such a vast continent as the African, where diversity, complexity and paradoxes abound for any 500-page book one very single subject. In that regard, I find Mr. Theroux's reflections nothing but the mere reflections anyone travelling to Africa is faced with. And Mr. Theroux seems to have the ideas pre-conceived of the problems of Africa and just lash out at everyone from government officials, missionaries, aid workers, private entrepreneurs, prostitutes, farmers, while he seems too pre-occupied with his "erotic novel" to try to go more in-depth with the problems. He wants to get lost in Africa, but to me it is more a book of a man needing to get lost in himself, and his bitterness spills out over a continent that in spite of its numerous wrongs and problems, simply deserves much better.
Mr. Theroux seems a bitter old man, negatively looking at things, not seeing the potential strengths in some countries, like Malawi, where the specter of disillusion becomes almost explicit, as he reflects at how different things were when he was there as a young man.
Nevertheless, it is provoking and well-written enough to be worth a read.


Describes Africa as it is, 09 Aug 2007
I think Paul Theroux expected to find Africa had deteriorated since he last lived there in the 1960s and he is not wrong, so the book has a feeling of being a fait accompli before you have even got very far into it. Having said that, he does raise awareness of some key points regarding the interaction between trade and aid. Firstly if aid projects are a regular occurance in an area then the area becomes economically dependent and there are no incentives for the local populace to improve their own lives: if an aid project is discontinued they can be pretty certain that another will be along shortly to replace it. The "aid business" also loses sight of its aims: they know the project will fail once they have left so lose the will to come up with anything more innovative than spoon-feeding the local population. Aid projects are doomed to fail anyway if the national government doesn't act to reduce corruption and allow businesses and farms to flourish without confiscating any output they make over a subsistence level. (Tim Haford's "Undercover Economist" describes this in more detail). Throughout this book Theroux is pretty angry: he dislikes the western tourists who come on safari trips for not seeing "the real Africa", though he eventually relents and thoroughly enjoys a game-watching trip; he regards the multi-national charities as leeches and the born again Christian missionaries as dangerous and destructive to local communities. The downside is that he adopts a hectoring tone to repeatadly put the same points across; I agree with him that NGOs and churches are more interested in enriching the Mercedes dealerships of Nairobi than doing anything productive but repeating this point in every chapter reduces Theroux to the level of a fire-and-brimstone preacher. Just give us the facts Paul, and maybe a few ideas on what needs to change to improve Africa rather than just belittling others.

A very narrow view of India, 26 Mar 2008
I was so excited at the prospect of this book - one of the best travel writers writing about my favourite place. I have heard it said that India holds up a mirror to you and your situation in life, forcing you to confront the issues, however uncomfortable they may be. This is, I think, what the book is about and it seems to me a wasted opportunity that the lead characters are all defined by their sexual conduct. This seems a very narrow prism through which to view anyone - especially in a society as diverse as India - and is one which seems to insult both Indians and Americans. Having said all that, Theroux does create some wonderful characters - Shah - the self riteous Jain in the second story, lost Alice and the truly dreadful Stella in the third.

Fascinating, 13 Jan 2008
This newest book by Paul Theroux was a thoroughly enjoyable read. The three novellas are bound together by India as well as fleeting glances between each of the characters and examines the transition between post colonial third world to high tech mecca.
Literary tastes are divergent; one takes away something different from a work than another reader does. Each story in this book is an example of that.

Disappointment, 24 Nov 2007
I have loved so much of Theroux's work but this has been such a disappointment - quite frankly it is I think the worst book I have ever read. It is ill-concieved and lacking a theme, plot or even concept. Do not buy.

And Graham didn't like it!, 23 Jun 2008
This apparently, was not a good novel in the opinion of... Graham Greene. I am ashamed to say, it was the first GG novel I had read, and I absolutely loved it. Set in the nightmarish world of Papa Doc and the Tontons Macoute in Haiti in the 60s, it has an almost deliciously depressing appeal just in its writing style. It's not too heavy on facts , but you realise GG knew the place, and it'll come as no surprise that many characters were based on real people. I was SO upset when I finished this. Immediately after I read Half of a Yellow Sun, by a 'modern master' - It was pale, lame and boring in comparison to this book.

Comedy and tragedy in the dark night of Haiti, 28 Oct 2006
Three men meet on the Medea, a ship sailing from Philadelphia to Haiti, a country then in the grip of the corrupt Doctor Duvalier - Papa Doc - and his sinister secret police, the Tontons Macoute.
Brown is a sixty-year old owner of the hotel Trianon in Port-au-Prince which he inherited from his mother. The place used to swarm with guests, there used to be cocktails and music but now with the Duvalier regime, hardly any tourists come to Haiti. He is a man without roots and often disillusioned because he has lost the capacity to be concerned, Yet subsequent events in the novel show that he is a man who can get involved if the situation requires him to do so, even at the expense of his own safety. In this sense he is a true humanist.
Mr and Mrs Smith are an American couple travelling to Haiti to open a centre of vegetarian cooking in Port-au-Prince. The reality they are about to discover is bound to disappoint them bitterly. These two characters show that a passionate belief in the integrity of the world may not be a simple flaw in character.
And then there is Mr Jones the confidence man whom everyone likes because he can make people laugh despite the fact that little of what he claims can be taken seriously.
These are the comedians in Mr Greene's novel. As the narrator states at one point: as long as we pretend, we escape. The atrocious dictatorship of Papa Doc is vividly portrayed and looking back it seems hardly believable that such an appalling personage was once viewed as a safeguard against communism in Haiti by Washington. The darkness and the terror of the curfew, the telephones that don't work, the Tontons Macoute in their dark glasses, the violence, injustice, torture and poverty, everything is sharply described by the author. And yet despite all the pain there is always time for love and laughter.
This book has been published as an audiobook by the BBC and is read in a superb way by the comedian Tim Pigott-Smith.

A masterpiece, 26 Mar 2006
I first read "The Comedians" around thirty years ago and then again around twenty years ago. Remembering how much I enjoyed and admired the novel I have just finished re-reading it and have now sadly closed the book.

It is an extremely satisfying novel written by one of the finest novelists of the 20th century.

The three main characters are the men, Brown, Smith (with the feisty Mrs. Smith) and Jones who meet as strangers on board the cargo-ship "Medea" bound from New York to Haiti where their paths cross and re-cross.

Brown, the main character, is a rootless hotelier with a shady past and without faith or hope.

Smith is a one-time American Presidential Candidate on an evangelic crusade to establish a vegetarian centre.

Jones is a mystery at first, a liar certainly, a con man perhaps, who falls in and out with the regime but eventually finds some redemption.

Set in the era of Papa Doc Duvalier's misrule with his sinister Tonton Macoute secret police the novel captures the atmosphere of a nation failed by it's corrupt leaders with a people living in fear and oppression.

But this story is not about Haiti, it is about failed romance, disillusionment, cynicism but with some hope and redemption (but not for all).

The introduction by Paul Theroux is a spoiler - he unravels and lays bare the plot and it is his opinion that this is "not one of Greenes best" and a "tepid novel" - whatever that means. I strongly advise readers to read Theroux's introduction AFTER the book and make their own minds up.

I believe this to be one of Greenes finest novels that even thirty years on from our first meeting was immensely pleasurable to read and one I highly recommend.

Commitment and insight, 21 Aug 2002
This book is about the commited and the uncommited, the passive and the active.
Set in Haiti against the scenery of Papa Doc's authoritarian rule and the Tonton Macoute with their dark glasses and sinister ways the comedians play their parts. The narrator, Mr Brown is a citizen of Mote Carlo, a citizen without ties. He is seemingly indifferent, whereas the mysterious Jones seems to be a man of purpose. And Mr and Mrs Smith, well he was a presidential candidate. As Greene weaves this story of people going about their lives in extraodinary circumstances we see no one is quite who they seem.
Insightful and the more I think about this and dwell on it the more I like it. One I will visit again.

Very sarcastic indeed; offers some good insights, 10 Apr 2001
The book would have probably been banned in today's world of 'politically correct', but, looking over the particular circumstances described, it offers a couple of insights. It seems to say that people do things out of boredom and vanity, whether the things are heroic, comic or evil. Most of them to not admit it to themselves, however, thus believing themselves to have 'real' commitments and desires. This belief feeds them with the energy for aplomb, heroism and evil-doing, as well as for any emotion of non-superficial kind. The 'disillusioned', admitting boredom and vanity as the sole cuases of their actions (like the narrator and Martha), are the passive audience of there own lives.

All in all the book is an interesting and relatively easy read; I think it might profit from translations/explanations of a number of French terms appearing here and there throughout the book (intended, perhaps, to give a feel of Haiti).

A child's view of untreated bipolar, Chilling but a great read, 30 Sep 2007
Really easy to read. I felt compelled to move on to the next chapter. Brilliantly written. Seems to give a good view of the Miskito Coast which runs along the eastern border of Honduras and Nicaragua.

The insight of Charlie, the eldest son of the family, into what is happening as his father moves them to Honduras to escape the destruction than he predicts of the US and his persecution complex is brilliantly written. The conflicting emotions of Charlie and his observations of his mother and siblings reactions as he is both frightened by and loves his father are fascinating.

You end up wishing for the death of the father as you feel he will destroy his family and feel he is saving them.

Although it never mentions directly that Allie Fox (the father) is mentally ill, the descriptions of his behaviour make that evident in both his genius and his delusion.

You feel hot, humid and dirty just from reading of the life in the swamps and jungles.


Dark, thrilling, and completely brilliant. A great book for people of all ages., 29 Dec 2006
Who hasn't dreamed of leaving the world behind and venturing into the unknown to recreate the world without imperfections? Seeking to escape globalisation, commercialism, and a multitude of abominations and maladies, inventor and genius Allie Fox abandons civilisation and heads for the Honduran rain forest, taking his family. Whereas the missionaries he so despises use the pretense of bringing religion to the forest in order to colonise it, Allie brings ice - the symbol of his god-like ingenuity - and sets about creating a new world free of the poisons of the West.
Although The Mosquito Coast sounds like a contemporary version of Henry David Thoreau's Walden (which, like this story, is also and allegorical fable) it's an infinitely darker exploration of flawed genius, made all the more disturbing by being presented through the eyes of Allie's twelve year old son.
For me, the biggest attraction to this story aside form the travel aspect is the fact that it can be read on so many levels. At once it's a book children will enjoy, but as an allegory a lot of people will see the deeper meanings and possibly learn from them.
Overall, a fantastic book which can be re-read and studied many times.


Lively and Imaginative, 28 Apr 2006
This book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys an imaginative story. It is hard to put down once you start reading, and is absolutely full of creative and interesting sub-plots.

The personalities of the different characters in the book are key to understanding the plot, and they are portrayed in a way which grips the reader. The strange mind of the father pushes the family further and further into their own secluded world, shutting off the outside technology.

Overall, a must-read book! Fantastic!

Fascinating, but often chilling, 09 Sep 2005
I read this book solely because I had read good reviews of it. I'm glad to say that those reviews were spot on. The Mosquito Coast poses questions on a wide range of subjects from family to modern culture. The story is intriguing and after a few chapters I found I was totally gripped.

The father is ingenious, and its difficult not to admire his creativity and intellect, but he has a very cruel streak. There are a few episodes that illustrate his callous nature towards his children in the beginning of the book, but as it proceeds, his actions and attitudes become all the more chilling. The devotion of his wife and children (especially that of Charlie) show the amazing control one person can have over others.

The last three-quarters of the book are utterly gripping, as the father's inability to accept blame for his own mistakes pushes the family into extremely difficult circumstances. From here readers are kept on a knife edge to the shocking climax.

Gripping story, effective writing, interesting characters. Read this book.

Brilliant, 15 Aug 2005
I haven't read any other Paul Theroux but I loved this book. I read it because I really liked the film and was happy that the source material is so strong.

It drags occasionally but that is about the only citicism you can level at it. If the idea interests you then buy it.

Brilliant, 08 Jun 2008
Too many reviewers here want a glowing travel brochure out of Theroux. Writing is his vocation, travelling is his muse. Travelling is a way to comment on the human condition as he experiences it, and on his own condition, as he experiences it. It doesn't matter how many people have a good time in Africa, or a bad time in Africa - Theroux has his own devil driving him in his own strange directions, and what he produces are travel books only in the most minimal sense. In the larger sense they are works of literature in which travel plays a part.

I love the complexity of his writing, his honesty in recording moods, enthusiasms, fears, vanities, moments of ill-temper, generosity, meanness. Reviewers point out moments of 'hypocrisy', or 'meanness', or curmudgeonly outbursts, as if he was too stupid to read his own text. Theroux is a writer. He wants you to see that.

I don't seek any kind of objective truth about Africa. I wouldn't believe anyone who purveyed it. What I do find is a writer using his craft to create complex and absorbing works of literature, using travel as a starting point for a succession of events, meetings, conversations, anecdotes, situations, literary digressions, bits of obscure history, polemic, and unlikely destinations.

Dark Star Safari is clever, it is brave, it is fun, it is dark, it is complex. It isn't a coincidence Theroux read Conrad a dozen times as he progressed from north to south. Please don't make the mistake of imagining this book is a variation on 'what I did on my hols'.

Cheer up mate it's only Africa, 31 May 2008
Some things bother me about this book. Firstly, the way he criticises anyone not 'doing Africa' his way, his conceited contempt of anyone holidaying in Africa (a good source of revenue for various African countries) when he himself is an outsider; a tourist. We can't all take a year off work for an all-expenses paid trip down Africa Mr Theroux. His criticism and I have to say over-dramatic account of African cities; I've lived in Nairobi and Kampala and felt perfectly safe if you're sensible and know where to go. Venturing out after dark (unlike Theroux) has never once been a problem for me and my friend (who's lived there most of his life). But he has to sell books. The book's tone was at times depressing and although most countries in sub-saharan Africa have problems many are stable, welcoming and enjoyable for foreigners to visit. The biggest problem I found was with his tone with anything concearned with improving Africa, true it often isn't easy and although his pleasure of seeing subsistance farming doesn't equate to "let's keep them in their place" it did seem apathetic and left me wondering if Mr Theroux simply desires a return to an Africa of 1840 without hospitals, education, propects and security. And 'yes' there is all these things to be found in modern-day Africa, he neglected to mention the sucessful Ugandan-run businesses, schools, infustructure and tourist industries I found in 2006. Things aren't always run perfectly but this is Africa and shouldn't be compared to catching a tube from Hype Park Corner, I'm sure he knows this. But he has to sell books. Finally, his criticism of Aid agencies was upheld in many areas but found his discussion one-sided offering no real solutions, should we stop giving Aid, stop trying to make an impact due to the governing of a predetory elite? It left me asking the question "so what do we do then?" and he supplied no real answers, not that it's his job of course; he is a writer and a very good one at that; he gets 4 out of 5, but like this review he should try to occassionally focus on the positive.

OUTSTANDING!, 09 Feb 2008
What a fantastic book. Will be loved by all readers and a complete must for fans of travel!

Superficial and negative, 21 Sep 2007
I like the way Mr. Theroux writes. It flows well, and he is concrete and catchy in his choice of words. That is about all good I had to say about this travel book...
I think a travel book should be more than superficial anecdotes and thoughts of a journey across such a vast continent as the African, where diversity, complexity and paradoxes abound for any 500-page book one very single subject. In that regard, I find Mr. Theroux's reflections nothing but the mere reflections anyone travelling to Africa is faced with. And Mr. Theroux seems to have the ideas pre-conceived of the problems of Africa and just lash out at everyone from government officials, missionaries, aid workers, private entrepreneurs, prostitutes, farmers, while he seems too pre-occupied with his "erotic novel" to try to go more in-depth with the problems. He wants to get lost in Africa, but to me it is more a book of a man needing to get lost in himself, and his bitterness spills out over a continent that in spite of its numerous wrongs and problems, simply deserves much better.
Mr. Theroux seems a bitter old man, negatively looking at things, not seeing the potential strengths in some countries, like Malawi, where the specter of disillusion becomes almost explicit, as he reflects at how different things were when he was there as a young man.
Nevertheless, it is provoking and well-written enough to be worth a read.


Describes Africa as it is, 09 Aug 2007
I think Paul Theroux expected to find Africa had deteriorated since he last lived there in the 1960s and he is not wrong, so the book has a feeling of being a fait accompli before you have even got very far into it. Having said that, he does raise awareness of some key points regarding the interaction between trade and aid. Firstly if aid projects are a regular occurance in an area then the area becomes economically dependent and there are no incentives for the local populace to improve their own lives: if an aid project is discontinued they can be pretty certain that another will be along shortly to replace it. The "aid business" also loses sight of its aims: they know the project will fail once they have left so lose the will to come up with anything more innovative than spoon-feeding the local population. Aid projects are doomed to fail anyway if the national government doesn't act to reduce corruption and allow businesses and farms to flourish without confiscating any output they make over a subsistence level. (Tim Haford's "Undercover Economist" describes this in more detail). Throughout this book Theroux is pretty angry: he dislikes the western tourists who come on safari trips for not seeing "the real Africa", though he eventually relents and thoroughly enjoys a game-watching trip; he regards the multi-national charities as leeches and the born again Christian missionaries as dangerous and destructive to local communities. The downside is that he adopts a hectoring tone to repeatadly put the same points across; I agree with him that NGOs and churches are more interested in enriching the Mercedes dealerships of Nairobi than doing anything productive but repeating this point in every chapter reduces Theroux to the level of a fire-and-brimstone preacher. Just give us the facts Paul, and maybe a few ideas on what needs to change to improve Africa rather than just belittling others.

A very narrow view of India, 26 Mar 2008
I was so excited at the prospect of this book - one of the best travel writers writing about my favourite place. I have heard it said that India holds up a mirror to you and your situation in life, forcing you to confront the issues, however uncomfortable they may be. This is, I think, what the book is about and it seems to me a wasted opportunity that the lead characters are all defined by their sexual conduct. This seems a very narrow prism through which to view anyone - especially in a society as diverse as India - and is one which seems to insult both Indians and Americans. Having said all that, Theroux does create some wonderful characters - Shah - the self riteous Jain in the second story, lost Alice and the truly dreadful Stella in the third.

Fascinating, 13 Jan 2008
This newest book by Paul Theroux was a thoroughly enjoyable read. The three novellas are bound together by India as well as fleeting glances between each of the characters and examines the transition between post colonial third world to high tech mecca.
Literary tastes are divergent; one takes away something different from a work than another reader does. Each story in this book is an example of that.

Disappointment, 24 Nov 2007
I have loved so much of Theroux's work but this has been such a disappointment - quite frankly it is I think the worst book I have ever read. It is ill-concieved and lacking a theme, plot or even concept. Do not buy.

And Graham didn't like it!, 23 Jun 2008
This apparently, was not a good novel in the opinion of... Graham Greene. I am ashamed to say, it was the first GG novel I had read, and I absolutely loved it. Set in the nightmarish world of Papa Doc and the Tontons Macoute in Haiti in the 60s, it has an almost deliciously depressing appeal just in its writing style. It's not too heavy on facts , but you realise GG knew the place, and it'll come as no surprise that many characters were based on real people. I was SO upset when I finished this. Immediately after I read Half of a Yellow Sun, by a 'modern master' - It was pale, lame and boring in comparison to this book.

Comedy and tragedy in the dark night of Haiti, 28 Oct 2006
Three men meet on the Medea, a ship sailing from Philadelphia to Haiti, a country then in the grip of the corrupt Doctor Duvalier - Papa Doc - and his sinister secret police, the Tontons Macoute.
Brown is a sixty-year old owner of the hotel Trianon in Port-au-Prince which he inherited from his mother. The place used to swarm with guests, there used to be cocktails and music but now with the Duvalier regime, hardly any tourists come to Haiti. He is a man without roots and often disillusioned because he has lost the capacity to be concerned, Yet subsequent events in the novel show that he is a man who can get involved if the situation requires him to do so, even at the expense of his own safety. In this sense he is a true humanist.
Mr and Mrs Smith are an American couple travelling to Haiti to open a centre of vegetarian cooking in Port-au-Prince. The reality they are about to discover is bound to disappoint them bitterly. These two characters show that a passionate belief in the integrity of the world may not be a simple flaw in character.
And then there is Mr Jones the confidence man whom everyone likes because he can make people laugh despite the fact that little of what he claims can be taken seriously.
These are the comedians in Mr Greene's novel. As the narrator states at one point: as long as we pretend, we escape. The atrocious dictatorship of Papa Doc is vividly portrayed and looking back it seems hardly believable that such an appalling personage was once viewed as a safeguard against communism in Haiti by Washington. The darkness and the terror of the curfew, the telephones that don't work, the Tontons Macoute in their dark glasses, the violence, injustice, torture and poverty, everything is sharply described by the author. And yet despite all the pain there is always time for love and laughter.
This book has been published as an audiobook by the BBC and is read in a superb way by the comedian Tim Pigott-Smith.

A masterpiece, 26 Mar 2006
I first read "The Comedians" around thirty years ago and then again around twenty years ago. Remembering how much I enjoyed and admired the novel I have just finished re-reading it and have now sadly closed the book.

It is an extremely satisfying novel written by one of the finest novelists of the 20th century.

The three main characters are the men, Brown, Smith (with the feisty Mrs. Smith) and Jones who meet as strangers on board the cargo-ship "Medea" bound from New York to Haiti where their paths cross and re-cross.

Brown, the main character, is a rootless hotelier with a shady past and without faith or hope.

Smith is a one-time American Presidential Candidate on an evangelic crusade to establish a vegetarian centre.

Jones is a mystery at first, a liar certainly, a con man perhaps, who falls in and out with the regime but eventually finds some redemption.

Set in the era of Papa Doc Duvalier's misrule with his sinister Tonton Macoute secret police the novel captures the atmosphere of a nation failed by it's corrupt leaders with a people living in fear and oppression.

But this story is not about Haiti, it is about failed romance, disillusionment, cynicism but with some hope and redemption (but not for all).

The introduction by Paul Theroux is a spoiler - he unravels and lays bare the plot and it is his opinion that this is "not one of Greenes best" and a "tepid novel" - whatever that means. I strongly advise readers to read Theroux's introduction AFTER the book and make their own minds up.

I believe this to be one of Greenes finest novels that even thirty years on from our first meeting was immensely pleasurable to read and one I highly recommend.

Commitment and insight, 21 Aug 2002
This book is about the commited and the uncommited, the passive and the active.
Set in Haiti against the scenery of Papa Doc's authoritarian rule and the Tonton Macoute with their dark glasses and sinister ways the comedians play their parts. The narrator, Mr Brown is a citizen of Mote Carlo, a citizen without ties. He is seemingly indifferent, whereas the mysterious Jones seems to be a man of purpose. And Mr and Mrs Smith, well he was a presidential candidate. As Greene weaves this story of people going about their lives in extraodinary circumstances we see no one is quite who they seem.
Insightful and the more I think about this and dwell on it the more I like it. One I will visit again.

Very sarcastic indeed; offers some good insights, 10 Apr 2001
The book would have probably been banned in today's world of 'politically correct', but, looking over the particular circumstances described, it offers a couple of insights. It seems to say that people do things out of boredom and vanity, whether the things are heroic, comic or evil. Most of them to not admit it to themselves, however, thus believing themselves to have 'real' commitments and desires. This belief feeds them with the energy for aplomb, heroism and evil-doing, as well as for any emotion of non-superficial kind. The 'disillusioned', admitting boredom and vanity as the sole cuases of their actions (like the narrator and Martha), are the passive audience of there own lives.

All in all the book is an interesting and relatively easy read; I think it might profit from translations/explanations of a number of French terms appearing here and there throughout the book (intended, perhaps, to give a feel of Haiti).

A child's view of untreated bipolar, Chilling but a great read, 30 Sep 2007
Really easy to read. I felt compelled to move on to the next chapter. Brilliantly written. Seems to give a good view of the Miskito Coast which runs along the eastern border of Honduras and Nicaragua.

The insight of Charlie, the eldest son of the family, into what is happening as his father moves them to Honduras to escape the destruction than he predicts of the US and his persecution complex is brilliantly written. The conflicting emotions of Charlie and his observations of his mother and siblings reactions as he is both frightened by and loves his father are fascinating.

You end up wishing for the death of the father as you feel he will destroy his family and feel he is saving them.

Although it never mentions directly that Allie Fox (the father) is mentally ill, the descriptions of his behaviour make that evident in both his genius and his delusion.

You feel hot, humid and dirty just from reading of the life in the swamps and jungles.


Dark, thrilling, and completely brilliant. A great book for people of all ages., 29 Dec 2006
Who hasn't dreamed of leaving the world behind and venturing into the unknown to recreate the world without imperfections? Seeking to escape globalisation, commercialism, and a multitude of abominations and maladies, inventor and genius Allie Fox abandons civilisation and heads for the Honduran rain forest, taking his family. Whereas the missionaries he so despises use the pretense of bringing religion to the forest in order to colonise it, Allie brings ice - the symbol of his god-like ingenuity - and sets about creating a new world free of the poisons of the West.
Although The Mosquito Coast sounds like a contemporary version of Henry David Thoreau's Walden (which, like this story, is also and allegorical fable) it's an infinitely darker exploration of flawed genius, made all the more disturbing by being presented through the eyes of Allie's twelve year old son.
For me, the biggest attraction to this story aside form the travel aspect is the fact that it can be read on so many levels. At once it's a book children will enjoy, but as an allegory a lot of people will see the deeper meanings and possibly learn from them.
Overall, a fantastic book which can be re-read and studied many times.


Lively and Imaginative, 28 Apr 2006
This book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys an imaginative story. It is hard to put down once you start reading, and is absolutely full of creative and interesting sub-plots.

The personalities of the different characters in the book are key to understanding the plot, and they are portrayed in a way which grips the reader. The strange mind of the father pushes the family further and further into their own secluded world, shutting off the outside technology.

Overall, a must-read book! Fantastic!

Fascinating, but often chilling, 09 Sep 2005
I read this book solely because I had read good reviews of it. I'm glad to say that those reviews were spot on. The Mosquito Coast poses questions on a wide range of subjects from family to modern culture. The story is intriguing and after a few chapters I found I was totally gripped.

The father is ingenious, and its difficult not to admire his creativity and intellect, but he has a very cruel streak. There are a few episodes that illustrate his callous nature towards his children in the beginning of the book, but as it proceeds, his actions and attitudes become all the more chilling. The devotion of his wife and children (especially that of Charlie) show the amazing control one person can have over others.

The last three-quarters of the book are utterly gripping, as the father's inability to accept blame for his own mistakes pushes the family into extremely difficult circumstances. From here readers are kept on a knife edge to the shocking climax.

Gripping story, effective writing, interesting characters. Read this book.

Brilliant, 15 Aug 2005
I haven't read any other Paul Theroux but I loved this book. I read it because I really liked the film and was happy that the source material is so strong.

It drags occasionally but that is about the only citicism you can level at it. If the idea interests you then buy it.

Chalk and cheese..., 22 Oct 2008
I've read a few Theroux books, and I've enjoyed them all. But this book is probably too close to home. What I mean is, although I enjoyed much of Theroux's writing in this book, I found a lot of his comments about some UK towns and villages quite harsh and darkly negative. Theroux has obviously forgotten the old saying: "The world IS as WE are", i.e. our mental mood is either happy or sad depending on if we ourselves are physically alert, or tired or unwell. Theroux's negative rants in this book obvioulsy spring mainly from tiredness, or loneliness, or both - with perhaps alcohol muddying the waters.

This book is still good though - brilliant in places and
laugh-out-loud funny in others. But I did find myself asking why this American can simply write off much of the UK as either dull or uninteresting. After all, here is an ancient island and its people that have seen off The Romans, The Black Death, Hitler and his henchmen, and even Tony Blair, and have survived to this day to tell the tale ...and along comes the father of Louis Theroux and pours negative scorn and complaints over much of our land.

24 years on and it's 2008. Perhaps Paul Theroux should revisit the UK coastline to see how it, and himself, have changes since then.

Maybe selective, but not inaccurate, 18 Mar 2008
Oh for the ability to see ourselves as others see us!

Kingdom by the Sea seems to have upset many readers. Although, more than just about any other race on the planet, the English are whip-sharp when it comes to poking fun at themselves, like most of us they don't want an outsider doing it for them.

Not that Theroux is an outsider by any means. He lived in England for 11 years and married an Englishwoman. So this book doesn't describe the initial impressions of some passer-by. It's an informed, if narrowly-focused, description of parts of the UK and the people who live there, by somebody who has developed a keen ear for the language and a sharp eye for the quirks that make Britain unique. In a more recent travel book, Pillars of Hercules, Theroux recalls this earlier work as follows: "Prejudices in Gibraltar were quite similar to those I had encountered in English seaside resorts, an enjoyable mixture of bluster and wrong-headedness, the Little Englander in full spate." It's that Little Englander who bears the brunt of Theroux's humour, the same person who provided so much material for Monty Python, the same person ridiculed in the film "Shirley Valentine".

It's hard to dispute the accuracy of Theroux's descriptions of coastal Britain twenty years ago, if not today. Lines of cars on the prom gazing seaward; scuzzy holiday camps; criminally-overpriced and substandard accommodation; yobos on public transit swearing in loud voices while the other passengers pretend they're not there; cozy, picturesque coves and garish amusement arcades; ubiquitous "shallies", their occupants glued to evening TV. Of course, this is a selective snapshot taken at a particular time (Britain was at war with the Falklands) but no less incisive for that reason. And while Theroux is not slow to adopt a gently mocking style with many of the people he meets, he is ready to admire or sympathize with others. His description of the people of Cape Wrath is particularly touching.

Those familiar with his writings will find the style familiar. Whether in Africa, Australia, the Pacific or his own America, he can be acerbic and as wrongheaded as his Little Englanders. He has no intention of reinforcing anybody's view of any country he visits. He takes his own angle and, right or wrong, he's consistent. Bouquets and brickbats are handed around without regard to race, sex or social standing. As he quotes on one book: "No one has ever described the place where I have just arrived."

I lived in England for 26 years and traveled extensively through the UK apart from Ireland. Kingdom by the Sea is as realistic an overview of 1980's Britain as you're likely to read, and a superb counter-balance to many of the long-established travel brochure images.






An ill-disguised 'hatchet job'., 18 Feb 2008
I have read a number of the author's other travel books so I had an inkling of what to expect before starting this one. There is no doubt that he is a skillful writer and a learned and well-travelled man. However, on this occasion he has delivered only a cynical and pessimistic diatribe.
The dedication at the beginning (not even his own, but adapted from Charles Dickens: "I dedicate this book to those friends of mine in Britain who...loving their country, can bear the truth, when it is told good-humouredly and in a kind spirit.") smacks of a guilty afterthought -
for there is certainly no evidence of good humour or kind-spiritedness in the book which follows.
He had lived in Britain for 11 years prior to his journey around its coast and obviously takes great delight in pointing out how 'the mighty' have fallen, and how far...(I don't know whether he remained in Britain afterwards, but we have come a long way since then !)
A couple of specific gripes that I have with this book are firstly, that there is no balance. He makes meticulous lists of what he dislikes (childish and unnecessary) and has a corresponding inclination to gloss over anything which he does (very grudginly) admit to admiring.
The second gripe is the inconsistency. For example, his tiresome obsession with trains leads him to take a completely unnecessary return train journey across Cornwall (at the expense of missing out the vast majority of the county) and yet at other times he refuses to deviate, even slightly, from his 'coast-only' route when it would clearly liven up the book !
All in all, this was a thoroughly disappointing book which seems to have been motivated mainly by a desire to 'stick one' on the British.

Kingdom by the Sea, 11 Oct 2007
I have to say I'm surprised by some of the customer reviews on this book. Could it be perhaps they hadn't read a Paul Theroux book before and didn't know what to expect? UK fans of Theroux's misanthropic, razor-sharp observations should have no qualms about the author turning his sights on Britain. Yes, 'The Kingdom by the Sea' is full of monstrous characateurs and Philip Larkin-esque mockery but, more importantly, brilliant observational and descriptive writing . Theroux manages (just) to make the rather relentless and tedious exercise of circumnavigating the British coast contstantly engaging and funny. As with (the also often misinterpreted) Larkin there is empathy beneath the cynicism. Theroux has a good eye for character and, for an American, a good ear for Britain's regional vernacular.

If you want travel writing that idealises its destinations then this is clearly not for you. If you want something balanced and objective this is also a poor bet. Paul Theroux's books don't pretend to be such things, although he makes some lofty claims about hoping to understand the British people and culture in the introduction. If you are familiar with his writing you will know that his books say just as much about the author than about his subjects; the writer Graham Greene described as having 'a chip of ice' in his heart. Theroux can be grumpy and brutal, but never less than engaging. Some of the reviewers make it sound like this book has wounded their national pride. I would be surprised if they don't at least recognize the Britain portrayed in these pages. He captures the national mood at a very definitive time: high unemployment and class conflict, the Falklands, British Rail, skin heads and mods. What is most striking about this novel is how much things in many ways have changed in the 15 years since then, and also how much has not.

Mixed feelings, 27 Feb 2007
Although I find Theroux's writing skilful and some of his descriptions vivid, I did feel thouroughly depressed after reading this book. Depressed by living in Britain, as he brought out all the worst of this country, as experienced on a wet Sunday afternoon in a tacky seaside resort. I am dissapointed that he dismissed most of Cornwall and the West country in a few pages, and do feel that to rush through towns as he did and come to conclusions, a bit unfair on this country. He seemed to speak mostly to people aged over 70 at bus stops and to judge a nation by this seems to me a bit hasty. Just why does he live in England anyway?

Brilliant, 08 Jun 2008
Too many reviewers here want a glowing travel brochure out of Theroux. Writing is his vocation, travelling is his muse. Travelling is a way to comment on the human condition as he experiences it, and on his own condition, as he experiences it. It doesn't matter how many people have a good time in Africa, or a bad time in Africa - Theroux has his own devil driving him in his own strange directions, and what he produces are travel books only in the most minimal sense. In the larger sense they are works of literature in which travel plays a part.

I love the complexity of his writing, his honesty in recording moods, enthusiasms, fears, vanities, moments of ill-temper, generosity, meanness. Reviewers point out moments of 'hypocrisy', or 'meanness', or curmudgeonly outbursts, as if he was too stupid to read his own text. Theroux is a writer. He wants you to see that.

I don't seek any kind of objective truth about Africa. I wouldn't believe anyone who purveyed it. What I do find is a writer using his craft to create complex and absorbing works of literature, using travel as a starting point for a succession of events, meetings, conversations, anecdotes, situations, literary digressions, bits of obscure history, polemic, and unlikely destinations.

Dark Star Safari is clever, it is brave, it is fun, it is dark, it is complex. It isn't a coincidence Theroux read Conrad a dozen times as he progressed from north to south. Please don't make the mistake of imagining this book is a variation on 'what I did on my hols'.

Cheer up mate it's only Africa, 31 May 2008
Some things bother me about this book. Firstly, the way he criticises anyone not 'doing Africa' his way, his conceited contempt of anyone holidaying in Africa (a good source of revenue for various African countries) when he himself is an outsider; a tourist. We can't all take a year off work for an all-expenses paid trip down Africa Mr Theroux. His criticism and I have to say over-dramatic account of African cities; I've lived in Nairobi and Kampala and felt perfectly safe if you're sensible and know where to go. Venturing out after dark (unlike Theroux) has never once been a problem for me and my friend (who's lived there most of his life). But he has to sell books. The book's tone was at times depressing and although most countries in sub-saharan Africa have problems many are stable, welcoming and enjoyable for foreigners to visit. The biggest problem I found was with his tone with anything concearned with improving Africa, true it often isn't easy and although his pleasure of seeing subsistance farming doesn't equate to "let's keep them in their place" it did seem apathetic and left me wondering if Mr Theroux simply desires a return to an Africa of 1840 without hospitals, education, propects and security. And 'yes' there is all these things to be found in modern-day Africa, he neglected to mention the sucessful Ugandan-run businesses, schools, infustructure and tourist industries I found in 2006. Things aren't always run perfectly but this is Africa and shouldn't be compared to catching a tube from Hype Park Corner, I'm sure he knows this. But he has to sell books. Finally, his criticism of Aid agencies was upheld in many areas but found his discussion one-sided offering no real solutions, should we stop giving Aid, stop trying to make an impact due to the governing of a predetory elite? It left me asking the question "so what do we do then?" and he supplied no real answers, not that it's his job of course; he is a writer and a very good one at that; he gets 4 out of 5, but like this review he should try to occassionally focus on the positive.

OUTSTANDING!, 09 Feb 2008
What a fantastic book. Will be loved by all readers and a complete must for fans of travel!

Superficial and negative, 21 Sep 2007
I like the way Mr. Theroux writes. It flows well, and he is concrete and catchy in his choice of words. That is about all good I had to say about this travel book...
I think a travel book should be more than superficial anecdotes and thoughts of a journey across such a vast continent as the African, where diversity, complexity and paradoxes abound for any 500-page book one very single subject. In that regard, I find Mr. Theroux's reflections nothing but the mere reflections anyone travelling to Africa is faced with. And Mr. Theroux seems to have the ideas pre-conceived of the problems of Africa and just lash out at everyone from government officials, missionaries, aid workers, private entrepreneurs, prostitutes, farmers, while he seems too pre-occupied with his "erotic novel" to try to go more in-depth with the problems. He wants to get lost in Africa, but to me it is more a book of a man needing to get lost in himself, and his bitterness spills out over a continent that in spite of its numerous wrongs and problems, simply deserves much better.
Mr. Theroux seems a bitter old man, negatively looking at things, not seeing the potential strengths in some countries, like Malawi, where the specter of disillusion becomes almost explicit, as he reflects at how different things were when he was there as a young man.
Nevertheless, it is provoking and well-written enough to be worth a read.


Describes Africa as it is, 09 Aug 2007
I think Paul Theroux expected to find Africa had deteriorated since he last lived there in the 1960s and he is not wrong, so the book has a feeling of being a fait accompli before you have even got very far into it. Having said that, he does raise awareness of some key points regarding the interaction between trade and aid. Firstly if aid projects are a regular occurance in an area then the area becomes economically dependent and there are no incentives for the local populace to improve their own lives: if an aid project is discontinued they can be pretty certain that another will be along shortly to replace it. The "aid business" also loses sight of its aims: they know the project will fail once they have left so lose the will to come up with anything more innovative than spoon-feeding the local population. Aid projects are doomed to fail anyway if the national government doesn't act to reduce corruption and allow businesses and farms to flourish without confiscating any output they make over a subsistence level. (Tim Haford's "Undercover Economist" describes this in more detail). Throughout this book Theroux is pretty angry: he dislikes the western tourists who come on safari trips for not seeing "the real Africa", though he eventually relents and thoroughly enjoys a game-watching trip; he regards the multi-national charities as leeches and the born again Christian missionaries as dangerous and destructive to local communities. The downside is that he adopts a hectoring tone to repeatadly put the same points across; I agree with him that NGOs and churches are more interested in enriching the Mercedes dealerships of Nairobi than doing anything productive but repeating this point in every chapter reduces Theroux to the level of a fire-and-brimstone preacher. Just give us the facts Paul, and maybe a few ideas on what needs to change to improve Africa rather than just belittling others.

A very narrow view of India, 26 Mar 2008
I was so excited at the prospect of this book - one of the best travel writers writing about my favourite place. I have heard it said that India holds up a mirror to you and your situation in life, forcing you to confront the issues, however uncomfortable they may be. This is, I think, what the book is about and it seems to me a wasted opportunity that the lead characters are all defined by their sexual conduct. This seems a very narrow prism through which to view anyone - especially in a society as diverse as India - and is one which seems to insult both Indians and Americans. Having said all that, Theroux does create some wonderful characters - Shah - the self riteous Jain in the second story, lost Alice and the truly dreadful Stella in the third.

Fascinating, 13 Jan 2008
This newest book by Paul Theroux was a thoroughly enjoyable read. The three novellas are bound together by India as well as fleeting glances between each of the characters and examines the transition between post colonial third world to high tech mecca.
Literary tastes are divergent; one takes away something different from a work than another reader does. Each story in this book is an example of that.

Disappointment, 24 Nov 2007
I have loved so much of Theroux's work but this has been such a disappointment - quite frankly it is I think the worst book I have ever read. It is ill-concieved and lacking a theme, plot or even concept. Do not buy.

And Graham didn't like it!, 23 Jun 2008
This apparently, was not a good novel in the opinion of... Graham Greene. I am ashamed to say, it was the first GG novel I had read, and I absolutely loved it. Set in the nightmarish world of Papa Doc and the Tontons Macoute in Haiti in the 60s, it has an almost deliciously depressing appeal just in its writing style. It's not too heavy on facts , but you realise GG knew the place, and it'll come as no surprise that many characters were based on real people. I was SO upset when I finished this. Immediately after I read Half of a Yellow Sun, by a 'modern master' - It was pale, lame and boring in comparison to this book.

Comedy and tragedy in the dark night of Haiti, 28 Oct 2006
Three men meet on the Medea, a ship sailing from Philadelphia to Haiti, a country then in the grip of the corrupt Doctor Duvalier - Papa Doc - and his sinister secret police, the Tontons Macoute.
Brown is a sixty-year old owner of the hotel Trianon in Port-au-Prince which he inherited from his mother. The place used to swarm with guests, there used to be cocktails and music but now with the Duvalier regime, hardly any tourists come to Haiti. He is a man without roots and often disillusioned because he has lost the capacity to be concerned, Yet subsequent events in the novel show that he is a man who can get involved if the situation requires him to do so, even at the expense of his own safety. In this sense he is a true humanist.
Mr and Mrs Smith are an American couple travelling to Haiti to open a centre of vegetarian cooking in Port-au-Prince. The reality they are about to discover is bound to disappoint them bitterly. These two characters show that a passionate belief in the integrity of the world may not be a simple flaw in character.
And then there is Mr Jones the confidence man whom everyone likes because he can make people laugh despite the fact that little of what he claims can be taken seriously.
These are the comedians in Mr Greene's novel. As the narrator states at one point: as long as we pretend, we escape. The atrocious dictatorship of Papa Doc is vividly portrayed and looking back it seems hardly believable that such an appalling personage was once viewed as a safeguard against communism in Haiti by Washington. The darkness and the terror of the curfew, the telephones that don't work, the Tontons Macoute in their dark glasses, the violence, injustice, torture and poverty, everything is sharply described by the author. And yet despite all the pain there is always time for love and laughter.
This book has been published as an audiobook by the BBC and is read in a superb way by the comedian Tim Pigott-Smith.

A masterpiece, 26 Mar 2006
I first read "The Comedians" around thirty years ago and then again around twenty years ago. Remembering how much I enjoyed and admired the novel I have just finished re-reading it and have now sadly closed the book.

It is an extremely satisfying novel written by one of the finest novelists of the 20th century.

The three main characters are the men, Brown, Smith (with the feisty Mrs. Smith) and Jones who meet as strangers on board the cargo-ship "Medea" bound from New York to Haiti where their paths cross and re-cross.

Brown, the main character, is a rootless hotelier with a shady past and without faith or hope.

Smith is a one-time American Presidential Candidate on an evangelic crusade to establish a vegetarian centre.

Jones is a mystery at first, a liar certainly, a con man perhaps, who falls in and out with the regime but eventually finds some redemption.

Set in the era of Papa Doc Duvalier's misrule with his sinister Tonton Macoute secret police the novel captures the atmosphere of a nation failed by it's corrupt leaders with a people living in fear and oppression.

But this story is not about Haiti, it is about failed romance, disillusionment, cynicism but with some hope and redemption (but not for all).

The introduction by Paul Theroux is a spoiler - he unravels and lays bare the plot and it is his opinion that this is "not one of Greenes best" and a "tepid novel" - whatever that means. I strongly advise readers to read Theroux's introduction AFTER the book and make their own minds up.

I believe this to be one of Greenes finest novels that even thirty years on from our first meeting was immensely pleasurable to read and one I highly recommend.

Commitment and insight, 21 Aug 2002
This book is about the commited and the uncommited, the passive and the active.
Set in Haiti against the scenery of Papa Doc's authoritarian rule and the Tonton Macoute with their dark glasses and sinister ways the comedians play their parts. The narrator, Mr Brown is a citizen of Mote Carlo, a citizen without ties. He is seemingly indifferent, whereas the mysterious Jones seems to be a man of purpose. And Mr and Mrs Smith, well he was a presidential candidate. As Greene weaves this story of people going about their lives in extraodinary circumstances we see no one is quite who they seem.
Insightful and the more I think about this and dwell on it the more I like it. One I will visit again.

Very sarcastic indeed; offers some good insights, 10 Apr 2001
The book would have probably been banned in today's world of 'politically correct', but, looking over the particular circumstances described, it offers a couple of insights. It seems to say that people do things out of boredom and vanity, whether the things are heroic, comic or evil. Most of them to not admit it to themselves, however, thus believing themselves to have 'real' commitments and desires. This belief feeds them with the energy for aplomb, heroism and evil-doing, as well as for any emotion of non-superficial kind. The 'disillusioned', admitting boredom and vanity as the sole cuases of their actions (like the narrator and Martha), are the passive audience of there own lives.

All in all the book is an interesting and relatively easy read; I think it might profit from translations/explanations of a number of French terms appearing here and there throughout the book (intended, perhaps, to give a feel of Haiti).

A child's view of untreated bipolar, Chilling but a great read, 30 Sep 2007
Really easy to read. I felt compelled to move on to the next chapter. Brilliantly written. Seems to give a good view of the Miskito Coast which runs along the eastern border of Honduras and Nicaragua.

The insight of Charlie, the eldest son of the family, into what is happening as his father moves them to Honduras to escape the destruction than he predicts of the US and his persecution complex is brilliantly written. The conflicting emotions of Charlie and his observations of his mother and siblings reactions as he is both frightened by and loves his father are fascinating.

You end up wishing for the death of the father as you feel he will destroy his family and feel he is saving them.

Although it never mentions directly that Allie Fox (the father) is mentally ill, the descriptions of his behaviour make that evident in both his genius and his delusion.

You feel hot, humid and dirty just from reading of the life in the swamps and jungles.


Dark, thrilling, and completely brilliant. A great book for people of all ages., 29 Dec 2006
Who hasn't dreamed of leaving the world behind and venturing into the unknown to recreate the world without imperfections? Seeking to escape globalisation, commercialism, and a multitude of abominations and maladies, inventor and genius Allie Fox abandons civilisation and heads for the Honduran rain forest, taking his family. Whereas the missionaries he so despises use the pretense of bringing religion to the forest in order to colonise it, Allie brings ice - the symbol of his god-like ingenuity - and sets about creating a new world free of the poisons of the West.
Although The Mosquito Coast sounds like a contemporary version of Henry David Thoreau's Walden (which, like this story, is also and allegorical fable) it's an infinitely darker exploration of flawed genius, made all the more disturbing by being presented through the eyes of Allie's twelve year old son.
For me, the biggest attraction to this story aside form the travel aspect is the fact that it can be read on so many levels. At once it's a book children will enjoy, but as an allegory a lot of people will see the deeper meanings and possibly learn from them.
Overall, a fantastic book which can be re-read and studied many times.


Lively and Imaginative, 28 Apr 2006
This book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys an imaginative story. It is hard to put down once you start reading, and is absolutely full of creative and interesting sub-plots.

The personalities of the different characters in the book are key to understanding the plot, and they are portrayed in a way which grips the reader. The strange mind of the father pushes the family further and further into their own secluded world, shutting off the outside technology.

Overall, a must-read book! Fantastic!

Fascinating, but often chilling, 09 Sep 2005
I read this book solely because I had read good reviews of it. I'm glad to say that those reviews were spot on. The Mosquito Coast poses questions on a wide range of subjects from family to modern culture. The story is intriguing and after a few chapters I found I was totally gripped.

The father is ingenious, and its difficult not to admire his creativity and intellect, but he has a very cruel streak. There are a few episodes that illustrate his callous nature towards his children in the beginning of the book, but as it proceeds, his actions and attitudes become all the more chilling. The devotion of his wife and children (especially that of Charlie) show the amazing control one person can have over others.

The last three-quarters of the book are utterly gripping, as the father's inability to accept blame for his own mistakes pushes the family into extremely difficult circumstances. From here readers are kept on a knife edge to the shocking climax.

Gripping story, effective writing, interesting characters. Read this book.

Brilliant, 15 Aug 2005
I haven't read any other Paul Theroux but I loved this book. I read it because I really liked the film and was happy that the source material is so strong.

It drags occasionally but that is about the only citicism you can level at it. If the idea interests you then buy it.

Chalk and cheese..., 22 Oct 2008
I've read a few Theroux books, and I've enjoyed them all. But this book is probably too close to home. What I mean is, although I enjoyed much of Theroux's writing in this book, I found a lot of his comments about some UK towns and villages quite harsh and darkly negative. Theroux has obviously forgotten the old saying: "The world IS as WE are", i.e. our mental mood is either happy or sad depending on if we ourselves are physically alert, or tired or unwell. Theroux's negative rants in this book obvioulsy spring mainly from tiredness, or loneliness, or both - with perhaps alcohol muddying the waters.

This book is still good though - brilliant in places and
laugh-out-loud funny in others. But I did find myself asking why this American can simply write off much of the UK as either dull or uninteresting. After all, here is an ancient island and its people that have seen off The Romans, The Black Death, Hitler and his henchmen, and even Tony Blair, and have survived to this day to tell the tale ...and along comes the father of Louis Theroux and pours negative scorn and complaints over much of our land.

24 years on and it's 2008. Perhaps Paul Theroux should revisit the UK coastline to see how it, and himself, have changes since then.

Maybe selective, but not inaccurate, 18 Mar 2008
Oh for the ability to see ourselves as others see us!

Kingdom by the Sea seems to have upset many readers. Although, more than just about any other race on the planet, the English are whip-sharp when it comes to poking fun at themselves, like most of us they don't want an outsider doing it for them.

Not that Theroux is an outsider by any means. He lived in England for 11 years and married an Englishwoman. So this book doesn't describe the initial impressions of some passer-by. It's an informed, if narrowly-focused, description of parts of the UK and the people who live there, by somebody who has developed a keen ear for the language and a sharp eye for the quirks that make Britain unique. In a more recent travel book, Pillars of Hercules, Theroux recalls this earlier work as follows: "Prejudices in Gibraltar were quite similar to those I had encountered in English seaside resorts, an enjoyable mixture of bluster and wrong-headedness, the Little Englander in full spate." It's that Little Englander who bears the brunt of Theroux's humour, the same person who provided so much material for Monty Python, the same person ridiculed in the film "Shirley Valentine".

It's hard to dispute the accuracy of Theroux's descriptions of coastal Britain twenty years ago, if not today. Lines of cars on the prom gazing seaward; scuzzy holiday camps; criminally-overpriced and substandard accommodation; yobos on public transit swearing in loud voices while the other passengers pretend they're not there; cozy, picturesque coves and garish amusement arcades; ubiquitous "shallies", their occupants glued to evening TV. Of course, this is a selective snapshot taken at a particular time (Britain was at war with the Falklands) but no less incisive for that reason. And while Theroux is not slow to adopt a gently mocking style with many of the people he meets, he is ready to admire or sympathize with others. His description of the people of Cape Wrath is particularly touching.

Those familiar with his writings will find the style familiar. Whether in Africa, Aust