Oceania Books

It is very useful for traveling, it can be your bible and your guardian angel, and is very updated, the only problem is that you do not have any photos of the places to visit.A "Must Have!!"

The Let's Go series is fun and irreverently informative. The Australia guide offers many budget insights and interesting facts about this great country.
I have found that the Let's Go books definitely cater well to the rough backpacker, but if you're faint of heart or looking for any fancy frills, this book is not for you.

The Let's Go books are generally pretty useful but this Australia guide is geared to backpackers. Virtually all of the hotel recommendation are hostel or camps... no options or suggestions for other hotels or price ranges. I haven't gone on the trip yet but I suspect that all the restaurant recommendation are also low budget as well. I bascially have to get another guide book to supplement this one.

it has most of the same loding options and usually a couple more. very accurate on prices. covers some areas better than lonely planet, more of a backpackers book. bad maps though. sometimes tough to get a good idea of a city.

One star is not because the Jack London stories in this book are not wonderful. It is because this book is not South Sea Tales by Jack London, which I first got from my grandfather's bookshelf and was one of the most memorable reads from my youth. It is a collection of sea stories, including four from South Sea Tales, but I have found a copy of the original stories at Barnes and Noble. One might guess that some of the stories were dropped because, like Huck Finn, they use dialogue and espouse attitudes that we now know better than to live. The stories are still great and do not deserve to become un-stories. This collection is misnamed and misleading.

London does not disappoint in this collection. His observations are as sound today as they were in his time. It was fascinating to see that London even experimented with science fiction in his story the Red One.

Sean O'Reilly
Editor-at-large
Travelers' Tales
Editor of 30 Days in the South Pacific

It's a shame Jack London's "South Sea Tales" (sometimes referred to as "Hawai'ian Stories") are not more respected, both by the masses and by literary circles. London's stories here are equally as engaging as his better-known Yukon tales ("White Fang," etc.). And the fact that the setting is so drastically different from the snowy Northern Hemisphere of his other tales represents how versatile of a writer he was. It is true, there is not a lot of character differentiation from story to story, which may annoy readers looking for a veritable "collection" of stories and yet please those other readers looking for stories that are connected and read more like chapters of a novel. Nonetheless, Hawai'i is a United State and yet, fiction from this region that is taught on an academic, American Literature collegiate level is rare. That is a shame, because this collection shows that the region is intriguing, dangerous, and beautiful, all at the same time (and what more can you want out of a short story collection)!

Eight good stories by Jack London, about the people and places of the south Pacific in 1908. Also a good long introduction by A. Grove Day which should (like all too many "introductions") only be read *after* reading the stories.

Most of the people in these stories are, of course, either victims or perpetrators (or both) of one of those long painful Western exploitations of a less civilized ("less civilized") part of the world. London knows that that's what's going on, and he writes with sympathy for all concerned, and without the more self-conscious bemoaning that would be expected of a XXIst century writer. To the modern reader, then, he can sometimes seem cold-blooded, but seldom disturbingly so.

The prose is fine and spare most of the time, and never gets in the way of the tale. The places and the tales are memorable. There is not a great variety of character and setting; the eight stories together could almost be a single novel. His voyage on the Snark (which inspired these stories) clearly left him with a strong and single impression of this place and these people, and he conveys that impression skillfully along to us.

Definitely worth reading.

I find this guide very useful in terms of choosing the resorts. It has good descriptions of all the resorts in terms of facilities, clients, food served and activities. The resorts are in different chapters according to the different atolls. So, it is a good guide for choosing the right resort according to one's taste

Like all Lonely Planet guides, a mine of useful information, that proves invaluable in picking the resort that best suits your interests and pocket. A good section on diving and snorkelling. Well worth the money.

There are four main tour books for the Maldives, and this one is a good place to start. (Another good one is the Michelin guide.) This book gives a general overview of the islands and many of the resorts. Divers will want the Divers' Guide to the Maldives to fill out the information here.

It was a good book about an overview of Maldives but did not focus much on the interior travel within Maldives and getting around its myriad of islands

This is a nice, concise guide, to micronesia, covering Palua, Kiribati, the Marianas, Nauro, The federated states of Micronesia, and other small islands that stretch between New Zealand and Hawaii. There are a number of recommendations for the best way to travel between islands and how to plan your journey. THis is not a book that is aimed for the specialist, for scuba-divers it needs to be supplimented and the same goes for those intending to travel by boat. However the book is excellent when it comes to history, restaurants hikes and hotels. It is a wonderful guide-book, indispensible for the island hopping traveller.

Seth J. Frantzman

I have been to Micronesia twice. The first time I lived there for a couple of years, and the second time I went as a tourist. I purchased this book before returning the second time. It had been seven years since I had been in Micronesia, and some of it had changed drastically while some parts hadn't changed at all. This book was a great guide, and helped me to find some of the better spots that I had somehow managed to miss while I lived there. Here is how the book stacked up. THE GOOD: 1) This book covers all of Micronesia, and that is no small task. It has information about all parts, ranging from Palau to the Marshall Islands. 2) This book gives a lot of information about each island. It explains the history, tells you what you should take, tells you about hotels and restaurants (from the five star establishments to the low end ones), tells you about how to travel to each island as well as how to travel around while on the island and many other bits of useful information to make your stay more enjoyable. 3) The maps are good. They aren't super detailed, but are nice maps of the islands and the villages on them. Quite good enough for any sight seeing or exploring that you might want to do. 4) This book tells you about the popular and good diving spots, hiking spots and historical points. So even though some of the book may be outdated (the nicest hotels in Guam) there are some things that will probably never change (how to hike to a nice hidden waterfall on Pohnpei.) THE BAD: Parts of Micronesia are changing quickly, and this book fails to capture those changes. For example, the list of popular places to stay, eat and shop on Guam wasn't very helpful since the island had changed so much in the past five years (since the book was published). To counteract this information lag, I just picked up tourist publications while I was on Guam, and that updated me enough to fill in all the gaps. OVERALL: It is like a computer that is a couple of years old: sure it is outdated some, but it still works nicely, and it is much better than having nothing at all!

As a merchant marine, "travel" comes with the job. I have long been a collector of maps and travel guides, always searching for items that are the most user friendly & seeingly written for my budget, not one of the Rockerfeller's. I will tip my hat to Lonely Planet here. They accomplish the impossible with every book. Never did I expect to open a single guide book, not to mention a series of them & find myself so mesmerized by what was written. Their guides are not the commonly found or should I say "forced" "stay at the $$$$ hotel, eat at the $$$$ restaurant"... They give you such a wide, realistic range of places to go, visit, stay & enjoy, that they change you from the prospective dreamer ho-hummingly flipping pages in a book to the traveler that sees his/her goals come to pass. After all, isn't that what we really want out of travel? As for this particular guide book... I have been in Guam 4 months on and 4 months off since February of 1996, visiting Saipan as part of work & Rota & Tinian on my own time... I have used & abused this book (Cover still intact) & I have had many co-workers borrow it, with everyone coming away a satisfied reader. So, whether it be Guam, Saipan or any part of Micronesia, this is one guide book that I strongly recommend & if you are doing an around the world trip with Japan as your next stop... Do the right thing... Get the Japan Guide book, but also shell out a few extra dollars and purchase the Japanese Audio Pack. It is hands down the easiest (& one of the most economical) basic language teachers out there & it even comes with a Phrase Book! My current Lonely Planet Guide library includes: Micronesia, Japan (Book & Audio pack), Korea, Singapore-Brunei-Malaysia, Tonga, Southwest USA (Arizona-New Mexico-Utah), & Maldives & Islands Of The East Indian Ocean. I look to expand as I am planing a trip to Argentina's Andes in 2000. A satisfied ! customer I shall remain... I hope you, the reader of my review, read this & come to realize what wonderful publications Lonely Planet offers us. If you do, step back an use AMAZON.COM for all your travel needs. You will be glad you listened. (You know, I always thought these reviews were written by paid personel somewhere, TRUST me this isn't the case at all Customer satisfaction is my reward!) Happy Travels to all!

This is an OK guidebook for information about culture and hotels. I found that it covered all the basics. It covers all of the island nations in the Micronesia area. The section on Palau and Yap were particularly useful to me. However, I thought that there wasn't enough information about scuba diving. Most of the people visiting this region are interested in scuba diving. There isn't enough information on dive shops or dive sites. In fact, there aren't any maps of dive sites at all. If you're going to go diving, I would try another guidebook. If you're just going to go sightseeing, this is just fine. Also another thing I would like to see in the next edition is a few more photos. Sometimes photos can help you decide whether to go to a place or not. With more photos, I think this guidebook would attract more people to these lovely islands.

is an excellent travel memoir (partially fictionalized) in the same vein as Typee.

Typee struck me most by its pictorial quality and sumptuous imagery. In Omoo, however, Melville shores up his powers of characterization, creating a fine supporting cast of individuals.

If you are only familiar with Melville's later work, you will be surprised by the wry sense of humor Melville flashes throughout. Detailed descriptions of practical jokes, drunken brawls, and cultural faux-pas will make you smile, and sometimes laugh out loud. Certain passages are actually a riot!

Also, in this novel (as compared to Typee), Melville's intrusions into the narrative are less glaring than they are in the previous novel. Yes, some of the diversions take the steam out of the narrative, as in Typee, but these diversions oftentimes give necessary exposition to illuminate characters' motivations.

The beginning of the novel effectively captures the claustrophobic atmosphere aboard a whaling ship, and the crew are indeed a motley lot.

Though you do not have to read Typee before you read Omoo (although the first page of Omoo is, literally, a continuation of the last page of Typee), I recommend you read both in conjunction. Be prepared to absorb a beautifully rendered atmosphere, describing the life of two roving beachcombers in the South Pacific in the early 19th century.

I am approaching the writer Melville with little prior knowledge about the man Melville. Apart from the Whale, read 30 years ago, I knew only Typee before taking up Omoo. Omoo is of course a sequel to Typee. While Typee's core theme is the narrator's life in captivity among an intact tribe of 'savages' in the Marquesas, Omoo continues his adventures as an island hopper, a sailor involved in a mutiny, a jailbird, a farm worker...
All is told with a light hand, in short chapters. Interspersed are thoughts about colonialism and missionaries and about the fate of the native population of the islands. There is lots of ethnology on mainly two exotic tribes: the population of the whaling ships, and the people who live on Tahiti. The attacks on the missionaries seem to have been toned down a bit in view of criticisms at home. The sequel was less well received than the first book.
What strikes me as curious about Omoo is the extent to which the author hides behind a mocking and sometimes self-ironic tone. He is not much given to reflections about himself, or at least not to sharing those with us. What do we conclude about the character of the hero? Obviously he has some problems integrating in his various social environments. He is always the outsider. He runs from his first ship, is an exotic guest in Typee, runs away, joins half-heartedly in a mutiny on his second ship, stays apart from the jail crowd and 'walks away' from prison, doesn't like the work on the potato farm, escapes from some unclear danger in the next village... Would one extrapolate so far, does it seem likely that he will succeed in settling down to any longer term project? He seems unsteady and shallow, aloof without much depth to offer. The story itself is fairly simple, the author does not appear to have a message above the adventure narration and a few rather superficial thoughts on the evils of civilization. In other words, one hopes he will grow up some time. Let's see.

This book can be read on its own even though it is the sequel to TYPEE. There are 82 short chapters that cover life on a whaler and various experiences on the island of Tahiti as well as surrounding islands. We get a feel for life on a whaler and for life on the islands and how foreigners, especially missionaries, influenced the natives for the worse.

Omoo means a rover or one who wanders from island to island. Thus the title fits the feel of the narrative, but also points out a shortcoming as the book roves too much. We are taken from situation to situation a bit too abruptly. There are many characters and events that are introduced, but usually only on a superficial level. I would have liked more in-depth analysis from Melville as many of the characters were just that--characters. Also there are many, for me, unknown nautical terms used that made the reading hard work.

However, enough of the stories give you the sense of being "omoo", especially in a time vastly different from our own, that I recommend the book, even with the many sections that make you plod.

The word that keeps coming to mind as I think about this book is "charming". Melville was in a good mood when he wrote "Omoo", no doubt enjoyed looking back on a very pleasurable period of his still-young life. While it is true that "Omoo" wasn't nearly as successful as "Typee" had been, it is still an impressive work for a young man in his mid-twenties.

I enjoyed his portraits of the people he meets, and especially of his doctor friend, "Long Ghost". His descriptions of Polynesian life and the historical context are quite interesting. And it's funny: Melville had very good sense of humor, displays it throughout "Omoo".

While the book is mainly a picaresque story of adventure, recounting the details of daily life in an exotic setting, and is a much happier book than "Typee", there are a few scenes that preview Melville's later narrative power. Here is the "Julia" in a tropical Pacific gale:

"Under such a press of canvas, and with the heavy sea running, the barque, diving her bows under, now and then shipped green glassy waves, which, breaking over the head-rails, fairly deluged that part of the the ship, and washed clear aft."

And here is a glimpse of the brooding quality of his later work:

"But my meditations were soon interrupted by a gray, spectral shadow cast over the heaving billows. It was the dawn, soon followed by the first rays of the morning. They flashed into view at one end of the arched night, like - to compare great things with small - the gleamings of Guy Fawkes's lantern in the vaults of the Parliament House. Before long, what seemed a live ember rested for a moment on the rim of the ocean, and at last the blood-red sun stood full and round in the level East, and the long sea-day began."

But these are very isolated examples. By and large, "Omoo" is a great contrast with Melville's other books. It is a light, easy, and amusing read. Highly recommended for Melville fans.

Helpful critical works on Melville:

Newton Arvin - "Herman Melville"
D.H. Lawrence -"Studies in Classic American Literature".
F.O. Matthiessen - "American Renaissance"

Note: This particular edition is from the Northwestern-Newberry Edition of Melville's works, and is an MLA Approved Text. As such, it is authoritative, but it lacks an explanatory introduction, which may be a slight drawback.

I can't even tell from this description. I can't imagine a book serving both functions, on the coffee table or at the "crag". I am looking for a climbing guide to Australia, ratings, route, descriptions, odd bits of gear needed. If anyone knows where I can get this let me know. Thanks

For me this book captures rock climbing in Australia perfectly. Simon Carter's flawless and beautiful photographs reveal rock climing in many of Australia's premier locations, and feature unique images world class climbers. This book is equally at home on a coffee table as in the chalked-up hands of an eager climber deciding where to spend the next holiday. Wholeheartedly recommended!

This is the best collection of climbing photographs in one book that I have ever seen, and it's just one photographer! I never get tired of looking at this book or showing it to friends. Simon Carter has truly managed to capture the beauty of the Australian landscape and the magic of climbing in it. A book to be treasured.

...the photography is brilliant, the essays interesting, and the reproduction is top notch. buy this book and you may as well buy a plane ticket to australia, because once you've seen the cragging you won't be able to resist!

Jack London is undoubtedly one of the greatest American writers. His skill is present even in his lesser known short stories. This text conveniently gathers this collection into one edition and provides the reader with marvelous introductions. These two scholars (Tietze and Riedl) provide the reader with awesome maps and diagrams along with well-written critiques. This book is a must have for any adventure story fan.

Jack London's short stories are well-written and adventurous. I enjoyed them thoroughly. However, the introductions to each section by Thomas Tietze were surely the greatest introductions I have ever read. His concise and insightful interpretations of the text should not be underappreciated. I bought the book because of Jack London, but read the stories with greater understanding because of Thomas Tietze. Kudos to this book.

Most of these stories were writen for the Saturday Evening Post and later compiled in book form (the copy I have is a [older]1950s paperback, not the current pricey literary collection). Captain David Grief, called the Son of the Sun for his body's ability to tan perfectly, is a trader, entrepreneur, and adventurere in the south seas. In each of the eight episodes which comprise the book, he has a less than spectacular adventure which he solves using the combination of brawn and brain. There's not enough excitement to be true pulp fiction, and the stories are too slow in developing to interest youthful readers, so it begs the question: who comprises the intended readership? I read them because they were writen by London, and as such are well crafted, even if boring. Unlike many of his other works, I won't be reading this one again.

In short, these editors have fulfilled a desire I have had for years. Some of these stories appear in Jack London collections, but until this well-researched edition came out there was nowhere to get them all in one book.
These David Grief stories are a pleasure to read: a truly heroic hero, exotic settings, well-crafted characters, language at once crisp and descriptive where every word defines a character, furthers the action, or draws the reader into the narrative.
The footnotes illuminate the historical and geographical references in the stories, but even on their own these stories encapsulate cultural views, historical settings, and philosophies with London's personal twist. Hardly anyone today would describe the original islanders in terms of monkeys; but as soon as you think London is racist for doing so, he takes island characters and portrays them heroically and sensitively - often in the same story. One should understand that London did not shy away from presenting the reader with a slice of reality. It is his hero who is the fantasy, but one gets the sense, and rightly so, that London's fantastical characters inhabit a very real world with which he was personally familiar.
The price tag on this edition will discourage those casually acquainted with London, but if you want the best of the best of London this is indispensable.
Consider this as a gift for the short-story lover in your life, whether writer or reader, who appreciates craft and literary substance in their action, romance, and adventure stories. A great collection in every way.

I'm read "Treasure Island" at my childhood, when I were eight years old.
As I'ma writing a book named "Real and imginaries islands", focusing 20 famous islands mentioned at the Universal literature, the island of Stevenson is the first commented in my book. A new reading gave me the chance to meet again Long John Silver with his parrot "Captain Flint" and Jim Hawkins. The mature man and the child were once more next, and I' had a great plesure to read again this novel. Sighting the cronology of Robert Louis Stevenson, I see that there is 120 years from his depart from San Francisco, California, aboard the "Casco", for the South Seas. And i can affirm that "In the South Seas" is a marvellous description of this part of the world. The "South Sea Tales", assembling "The Beach of Falesa", "Thee Bottle IMP", "The Isle of Voices" and "The Ebb-Tide" is a beautiful book and in it, the author has denoucen the action of europeans and north-americans at the South Seas as a disastrous interfering on the culture of the native peoples of the islands of Pacific Ocean, with the goal to domaine them and to take their lands. The courageous words of Robert Louis Stevenson denouncing the merchants and the missionaries as factors to serve the economic interests of Europa ean North America shows as R.L. Stevenson were capable to see the real motifs of their presence at that region. The reading of "South Sea Tales" give us the chance to underatand the right History of the Pacific. It's a pleasure to read "South Sea Tales".

I agree with Mr. Coppedge. RLS's "island literature" is uneven, as a read of this book will reveal. For a real treat, read his "In the South Seas". Now that is a treasure.

I don't know why no one has reviewed this volume before. It is a good readable edition of several of Stevenson's South Sea stories, including the rarely encountered novel The Ebb Tide. The introduction is interesting enough, and the footnotes are very helpful for expressions in the Beach-la-Mar pidgin dialect and nautical terms. This is Stevenson's most mature fiction and is a far cry from Kidnapped and the Child's Garden of Verses.

Towards the end of Robert Louis Stevenson's life in the late 1880's, he had to move to the Pacific islands for his health. He managed to visit many of the most famous locales while there, including Hawaii, Tahiti, Samoa, the Gilberts, the Marshalls, and many besides these. He listened to and recorded both native legends and sailors' stories, besides creating a few original stories of his own.



The book contains the following stories: The Beach of Falesa, The Bottle Imp, The Isle of Voices, The Ebb-Tide: A Trio and Quartette, and two very short stories. The book also contains a very lengthy literary overview and critique of Stevenson's work, which I would recommend skipping until after you've read the book. Thankfully, it also contains a map, which you will repeatedly refer to.



The Beach of Falesa is about a European trader (Wiltshire) who takes up residence in the fictitious island of Falesa, whereupon he is hoodwinked by a fellow European (Case) into buying a worthless business and marrying an untouchable girl. Wiltshire then determines to unseat Case from his position of dominance among the natives, so he (Wiltshire) can make good on his business and restore his wife Uma to respectibility. This story like the others that follow are true character studies of both human weakness and resolve.



The Bottle Imp is the story of a native Hawaiian who gets his genie in a bottle to grant him his wishes. But though his wishes are made true and he wins the heart of the girl of his dreams, he becomes both arrogant and cursed with leprosy. He is believed to be a devil by his neighbors. Forced into exile with a wife who believes that he doesn't love her, he desperately seeks out the genie once more to cure his illness. Then he can be with her again, but at the price of external damnation. Or is there still a way out?



The Isle of Voices is also a story about greed and lust. One young Hawaiian man (Keola) yearns for a native girl, but lacks the material wealth for a comfortable marriage. So his girlfriend's father magically takes him to the mysterious and frightful Isle of Voices where treasure lies at his feet simply waiting to be picked up. Not sated with slight and trivial wealth, Keola determines to treacherously seize a vast fortune despite being ominously forbidden by the father. However, Keola's plan is overturned, and he is doomed to learn the secret of the Isle of Voices.



The Ebb-Tide is about three washed up derelict sailors of varying criminal aptitudes who take up the job of delivering an abandoned cargo ship to Australia. However, the ship's European company have all died of smallpox, and everyone believes the ship to be cursed. So, Herrick, Davis, and Huish let sail - but to sell the cargo themselves and then take up as pirates. As the trio complete their dangerous moral and legal fall into piracy and murder, they come upon a queer island loaded with wealth. But will they survive what lies ahead?



Overall, I enjoyed the book, but I wasn't engrossed in it. Skip the introduction, or you won't continue reading the book. Go straight to the stories. All the stories are good, but the Ebb-Tide is probably the best.

I love these maps, they never disappoint. The Sydney one covers all the parts of the city that most tourists are likely to visit, with sufficient detail to keep you from getting lost, even on the smallest streets.

There is no better map on the market today.

prompt delivery by amazon. Product quality extremely dependable. Very clear and significant details well highlighted.

Streetwise Sydney is essential to experiencing a city rich in history. It is laminated, so it's easy to fold, and it fits almost anywhere - a breast pocket perhaps. The map color codes different points of interest and of necessity- i.e. the Royal Botanic Gardens, Restaurants and Hotels. This map made a trip to a foreign city not so intimidating, and I wouldn't want to use any other kind when I plan my next adventure.

Don't waste your money. This map shows such a small part of Sydney it is worthless. Using this map is like riding through one of the prettiest cities in the world while looking through a pipe. I threw it away the first day in Australia!