Surviving Paradise: One Year on a Disappearing Island
Peter Rudiak-Gould
November 2009
256 pages
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FTC: I’ll give you one guess.*
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Rudiak-Gould spent one year as an English teacher on the extremely remote, extremely small island of Ujae, in the Marshall Islands. Think of the Marshall Islands as BFE. And then think of Ujae as the BFE of the Marshall Islands.
It actually took me awhile to get into this book. Although Rudiak-Gould is currently pursuing a doctorate in anthropology (according to that author blurb on the back flap), the first half of this book is exceedingly ethnocentric. He is disappointed in the islanders love for technology, in the seemingly ubiquitous t-shirts with nonsensical slogans, in how noisy the island is, in the parenting style (or his perception of the widespread lack of parenting) of the islanders, and in the lack of respect for and lack of importance placed on education. Oh, and the food…he hates the food. And boo-hoo, no one ever invites him anywhere. And while I can certainly understand the culture shock (there’s a good reason you won’t find me on a remote island), the litany of complaints got old real fast.
But about halfway through, things eased up. Rudiak-Gould settled in to life on a small island, and the complaints (mostly) settle down. The focus becomes the islanders, and his interactions with them, as opposed to things he doesn’t like.
Then we get to the end, which suddenly starts to read like an anthropology paper. It was a little weird, like he was trying to get credit for this book that he wrote.
Still, it is the Marshall Islands (not an area of the world that seems to inspire much literature) and there are some interesting historical and cultural observations to be found in the reading. And yes, major kudos to Rudiak-Gould for his willingness to teach in the middle of nowhere, and to live almost completely cut-off from the world for a year, and for writing about an area of the world that most people never even think of. It’s certainly not the worst travel/living abroad narrative I’ve read. But unless you have an interest in travel narratives and/or life in remote places, I’d hesitate to recommend it.
*Yep, I bought it.
Hmm, I love stuff like this usually, but I think I’m a bigger fan of J. Maarten Troost and his books like The Sex Lives of Cannibals. It was sweet, respectful, and hilarious. Less complaining, methinks.
.-= Andi´s last blog ..New Look, New Books! =-.
If you knew me well, you’d likely recommend this book to me. But I’m passing.
.-= Beth F´s last blog ..Thursday Tea: Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell =-.
Sounds like Rudiak-Gould was disappointed to arrive in BFE and find that they weren’t as isolated as he had expected. Maybe that made it hard for him to write the book he wanted to write when he went there.
.-= Lisa´s last blog ..Wait Till Next Year =-.
I just had a note from the FTC, in league with Hamburger, who said “Stop buying so many books!”
.-= rhapsodyinbooks´s last blog ..Review of “Pretties” by Scott Westerfeld =-.
I’m disappointed to see this book didn’t live up to its potential. Jill (rhapsodyinbooks) made me laugh so hard, I snorted.
.-= Kathy´s last blog ..Review: Battle Royale =-.
I saw another review of this book some time ago and it sounds really interesting! I know nothing about the Marshall Islands, but I think it would be hard to work on them. Great we have a book about it now to learn!
.-= Aarti´s last blog ..Rosie’s Riveters: Louise & Bone =-.
Where are those Marshall Islands at anyway? Pardon my ignorance (and I’m not proud of this, I am usually strong in geography) Sounds relatively interesting though.
.-= Louise´s last blog ..Guest Posting at BOOKLUST – Rosie’s Riveters =-.
It sounds almost like you were reading three different books in one! I do love memoirs like these, but not the complaining ones.
Sounds like the “natives” didn’t have the politeness to meet the author’s expectatons … how day they!
.-= Jenners´s last blog ..My Favorite Reads: "The Classics Reclassifed" by Richard Armour =-.
I wouldn’t think of reading it anyway, I have never been interested in this kind of books
.-= veens´s last blog ..Marley & Me! =-.
OK, I had to use the Urban Dictionary to figure out where BFE is
I’m so out of touch …
.-= Dawn – She is Too Fond of Books´s last blog ..My ALA Midwinter experience … with lots of pictures! =-.