Oceania Books

This book successfully conveys the excitement of discovering music, films and pop icons for the first time in your teens. Recalls the dreams of your teens, when you thought you could be anything in life. I love, love, love this book.

Set in Melbourne, Australia, this new novels spins on the axis of an oft-told story about a friendship between a small group of girls falling apart. But the edges -- and edginess -- of the story kick back any cliché. Gem, Mira, and Lo set themselves apart from others by their dress, their interests, but mostly their commitment to the Ug project. Ug is short for underground, and their holiday project is to create an underground film, similar to Warhol's sixties cinema experiments. While hipsters in their own right, the girls look to the past for cultural clues. There's a lot going on here: subplots about Gem's family, her crush, her desire to lose her virginity, as well as the story of the Ug project. Yet, another core story anchors it all: the teen search for identity. Gem's not sure who she is, pretty sure who she doesn't want to be, and through friends, family, and fringe culture, tries to find her true self in a very strange time.

Notes from the Teenage Underground by Simmone Howell shows life through the eyes of a young Australian filmmaker. The more Gem works on her film, the more she learns about her friends -- and about herself.

The book focuses on the personal side of the filmmaking process rather than the technical side. This is about the girl, not the brand of camera she uses. There's something utterly delightful about Gem's take on things - fairly straightforward, totally accepting, and extremely thoughtful.

This book is realistic and comfortable without ever feeling dated or overwrought. It would have felt contemporary ten or fifteen years ago, and it probably will still feel comfortable five or ten years from now.

The author summed up the book perfectly: "Notes is a YA book about underground films, outsider girls, dodgy boys, art happenings and friendship freakouts."

NOTES FROM THE TEENAGE UNDERGROUND is a fantastic debut novel! It starts out with three best friends, Gem, Lo, and Mira, trying to come up with ideas for their summer project. The summer before was their Satan Summer; they dabbled in all things occult. The summer project has a theme, goals, and guides. This year, they want to do something spectacular; it could be their last summer project--who knows what the future will bring?

Lo is usually the one with ideas, but this time, Gem has some ideas of her own. Their theme for the year is Underground, whatever that means. Ug for short. Their guide? This is where Gem is inspired. She sees some of his work--four films of kissing couples playing over and over--at the National Gallery, and she decides, with a bit of help from her artsy mother, Bev, that Andy Warhol should be their guide into the world of the Underground (which at first kept making me think of riding the subway a lot...). She does some research into Andy Warhol, his work, his life, and the people around him, and then comes up with a goal: to make an Underground film.

During the course of this project, Gem realizes a lot of things about her life and her relationships. She feels like her friendship with Lo and Mira is an isosceles triangle; the two of them are close together, and Gem is all alone at one end. She's also being pressured to make some decisions about her future, as all seventeen-year-olds are. Her mother and Sharon, school counselor and Gem's godmother, want her to go to University, but Gem's a lot more interested in film school. Speaking of her love of movies, she's starting to think she could love something else at Video City, where she works--her coworker, Dodgy. On top of all of this, Gem's father, Rolf, has always been out of the picture, just sending the occasional weird haiku from where he lives out in the wilderness--but now it looks as though he could be stepping back into Gem's life, at least for awhile.

This summer is a turning point in Gem's life. When it's all over, Gem will be different. Her life will be different. This much is pretty obvious. But how will things change?

I really, really loved this book. It was a lot of fun to read, and the idea of the summer project was very interesting, something that set this book apart from a ton of others. Almost all young adult literature is about things changing, as that's what's always going on for teenagers, but Simmone Howell's novel had something that makes it stand out in my mind! If it's got Andy Warhol and obscure movies in it, it's got to be different.

Gem is a wonderful character. I really felt, while reading this, as if I knew her. She's very interesting, and what goes on in her mind is fascinating. I couldn't put this book down! I woke up at one in the morning, for some reason anxious to finish this book. That almost never happens to me! As I'm writing this, it's a little bit difficult to explain what about this book is so amazing, but there's something. It really captures the teenage experience. Simmone Howell obviously remembers this time in her life very well! I'm going to have to revise my `Best of 2006' list to add this one! This is a must read!

Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce

Seventeen-year-old movie buff Germaine Greer (aka Gem) might not have been named after a Shakespeare-loving feminist if both her parents had been around. Gem has never seen her father, Rolf, because he has been absent her whole life. But luckily, she's close enough with her mother Bev that they could be considered friends. Having never really been what she would label "popular," Gem feels even luckier to have two girls like Lo and Mira as her closest friends.

The narrator describes the three-girl plot this way: each girl is seeking something...one gets lucky, one ends up where she started, and the other gets lost. As in the past, they decide they need a theme for the year --- some way for them to do whatever they want and not have to apologize. The art and film fanatic that she is, Gem comes up with an idea involving Andy Warhol and his Factory of Superstars and planning an art Happening so Underground it'll blow everyone's minds.

1 word --- 3 syllables --- Underground --- Ug.

At first Lo and Mira can't grasp the artistic genius of her plan, offering their own suggestions of Art Terror and the likes. But finally they come around and decide to shoot a film called The F-Word and throw The New Year's Happening of all time --- The Exploding Plastic Inevitable. They'll be surrounded by art and possibility.

Gem is forced to ask Roger "Dodgy" Brick, one of her co-workers at Videocity, to let her borrow a video camera. If the dictionary had a word for someone you're attracted to and repelled by at the same time, it would have Dodgy's picture next to it --- 100% barcode guy. But she falls for him anyway, mostly because she wants to experience the same carnal knowledge that Lo and Mira claim to have known.

Gem's great art gurus say that the way art mirrors life, it doesn't need a point. Bev says that life is not about the end...it's about the journey. Others say to devote yourself to something impossible, to give it your whole self and everything will turn out just fine. Gem thinks she sees all that and more, wanting her film to show the powerful links between all the formidable women of history. The only problem is that Gem doesn't know how to do this. So when things with Lo and Mira and The Happening fall to pieces, she feels caught somewhere between damaged and anomaly.

"What was our story? Were we just beginning, or were we experimental? Who was directing us?"

Mix these questions together with the I Ching and hexagrams, a dashboard Elvis, tongue piercings, Fu-Manchu mustaches, Monet's Waterlilies, Guatemalan worry dolls, The Curse of the Ugly, man teachers nicknamed "Boobs," party streaking and Fyodor Dostoyevsky's NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND. Then grab some popcorn and enjoy this camera's-eye view of these teenagers up-close, all poise and control. At first. Keep the camera focused on them long enough, though, and their real selves emerge --- the uncertainty on their faces, their lives of quiet desperation, the unquenchable longing for something to Happen. That's where the good stuff is.

--- Reviewed by Jonathan Stephens

Review first published at Teenreads, 2007.

Like Sterne's other works, _A Sentimental Journey_ is extraordinarily playful. His works are the eighteenth century's postmodernist works of play. They have lots of textual puzzles and tend toward the absurd. For example, the Mr. Yorick of the _Journey_ is also a character in Sterne's major novel _Tristram Shandy_ and is also the name under which he publishes his own sermons (he was a clergyman). The text is very "fragmentary" and the novel even jokes about that itself, labelling parts of itself "fragment." In these ways, the _Journey_ is fun and modern.

But it is also indicative of an important eighteenth-century trend--sensibility or sentimentalism. All eras have their debates about the relationshp between the individual and society and this is one eighteenth-century answer. This opinion has nothing to do with "rights" but everything to do with "sympathy." Mr. Yorick, the "sentimental traveller," relates to other human beings through sympathetic physical responses, most notably the "pulses" and "beats" of his heart and hands for various women.

Therefore, this book is a good way to get into a very different historical mindset while at the same time seeing the roots of some of the literary forms of today.

This autobiographical acount by Sterne of his amorous progress through France and Northern Italy is surely one of the most delightful books ever written. Composed as he lay dying of tuberculosis, the book nonetheless encaptures the author's renowned zest for life as well as the libertine spirit of the age in which he lived. The journey down through France to Northern Italy is the perfect vehicle for an excursion into the nature of human sensibility, and from the moment that this cultured Anglo-Irish cleric sets foot in Calais, the reader is treated to a seies of exquisite encounters with the fairer sex. Rarely has an author transmitted so well his understanding of the psychological complexity of women, or the pleasure he takes in their company. Engaging, perceptive and witty, this is a book whiich cannot fail to leave an imprint on the imagination.

Even for modern readers, "A Sentimental Journey" (published 1768)is as startlingly innovative as Sterne's celebrated "Tristram Shandy". Sterne's ability to crystallize the minute details of experience - which may be down to a few seconds only - is reminiscent of Virginia Woolf's "To the Lighthouse". Indeed, Woolf admired this book.

This is by no means an easy read. The 18th-century prose is difficult; the book is larded with Frenchisms and Biblical or classical allusions; the complex, slow narrative often requires re-reading. But the rewards are great! It's wise, deeply comical, and incredibly perceptive.

There are several helpful reviews below dealing with the aspect of "sentimentality", and so I will just single out two things which appealed to me:

1. STERNE AND BODY LANGUAGE. Sterne shows an almost 20th-century appreciation of body language. In fact, I believe he might have been the first to identify it as such. His chapter, "The Translation", highlights the importance of being able to interpret subtle physical hints, like a language: "There is not a secret so aiding to the progress of sociality, as to get master of this _shorthand_, and be quick in rendering the several turns of looks and limbs, with all their inflections and delineations, into plain words." How visionary!

2. STERNE AND THE FRENCH. Ever since Shakespeare inserted a scene in "cod French" into _Henry V_, actually ever since the Norman Conquest and up to Monty Python and beyond, the English have revelled in mocking the French and their language. His Continental travelling gives Sterne the perfect excuse to do this. At one point he differentiates between "tant pis" (= "never mind" - where there is nothing to be gained) and "tant mieux" (= so much the better - where there IS an advantage). He also has a hilarious section on the grades of French swearing: first "Diable!", then "Peste!" and finally the words that he won't repeat. In all cases, Sterne carefully shows the social niceties of these expressions.

The protagonist, Yorick, has various adventures of lust and feeling with women and other typically travelish things like losing his passport that we can all relate to. He's tender, obscene, learned, funny, companionable, and above all, readable - if tough.

A Sentimental Journey is a fabulous book for so many reasons. Laurence Sterne was an immensely influential writer in the 18th century--his major works, Sentimental Journey and Tristram Shandy, were responses to the travel narrative and newly born novel, respectively. His writing is essential to scholars of the 18th century--he is referenced in Austen's Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey, Brown's The Power of Sympathy, Foster's The Coquette and Tyler's The Contrast. To understand and appreciate his novel is to have a better appreciation and love of the works that built their structures on his foundation. And yet it is original, as Yorick says himself, "both my travels and observations will be altogether of a different cast from any of my fore-runners."

Yet it is not solely for historical benefit that one should read Sentimental Journey. The adventures and amours of Sterne's semi-autobiographical Yorick are delightful. One of the most romantic passages I've read in a book occurs when Yorick inadvertantly takes the hand of a woman and describes in detail the thrill of merely holding it. Granted, hers is not the only hand he will hold, but he writes so wonderfully, candidly and engagingly that it is extremely difficult to hold his passions against the sentimental Yorick. His scene with the starling locked in a cage is pertinent and a touching commentary on slavery. What a guy! My only complaint is the editor of this edition does not feel it necessary to translate the French-of which there is plenty-making some passages difficult to understand at best. However,this is a sentimental journey that I will gladly take over and over.

Sterne befuddles and delights readers and critics alike in A Sentimental Journey. He takes the fashionable travel log of the time and satarizes it. Contemporary critics had a fit over its supposedly bawdy nature, yet some modern readers may over look its sublte innuendo. The form of the novel is quite unlike anything that had preceeded it, thus is important for any scholars. Most importanly, however, the book is funny and fun to read.

I agree with Dressage Wanabe. This book is good, but not for very young readers. When Dusty's father begins to become an alcoholic and there are some scenes that I would rather not relive, they would signify that this book shouldn't be read by younger readers. Personally, if I had known one of those parts was in there, I would have skipped over it.

And yes, the beginning was a little slow. However, I liked this book. After a prolonged drought, Dusty and her family are in the pits of financial trouble. When Dusty begins competing on the Snow Pony, however, income begins to come back into the family account. Dusty's best friend Sally goes off to boarding school and they begin to slowly seperate, like two friends just drifting away. As things become worse in Dusty's life, including school, financial problems, her father drinking alcohol, ect., Dusty finds that her consolation is in a beautiful mare that only she can ride. Together, the two battle through tough times and end up overcoming one of the biggest challenges of them all.

I think this a good book. I gave it only four stars for some of the mature content, but besides that, mature readers should be able to enjoy this book. Especially if they like horses or reading about family difficulties. Or both!

A wonderfully written story for anyone who loves horses. My daughter and I read this book together. We had to look up some of the Australian slang words and some of the "scenes" were a bit mature for a pre-teen (family strife involving an alcoholic dad and sexual fondling of a young girl). We picked this book up after reading Alison Lester's other horse book, The Quicksand Pony, which was also very enjoyable - and more appropriate for a younger reader. Although we both enjoyed The Snow Pony, I would recommend it only for the more mature reader.

I thought the book was excellent, I could not put it down! There was an exciting part in every section of the book, I could not believe what happened in the middle of the book. The beginning of the book was kind of slow, but it will pick up, trust me. Anyways, about the book, there is a girl named Dusty, she has a brother, a dad, and a mom. Dusty's mom is in show jumping, she trains horses to show jump at their house. Her dad, Jack is a hard worker on their farm. Dusty, her dad, and her little brother go up to the cabin and see a beautiful horse and her mate. Dusty and her father watched them run in the snow, that's how dusty got the perfect horse. Dusty's mother trained the snow pony to jump and she could jump like no other horses in the world could. Well that's all that I'm going to say. Anyone who likes horses this is the book for you. Have fun reading, I'm sure you won't put this thrilling book down.

I gotta tell you Dusty is an interesting charcter. She's alot like her father but is much stronger than him in ways of the heart and helps comfort her whole family during the tough times that come in the book while being a teenage girl. She is really inspiring how she never gives up on the snow pony and I must tell you if you want a heartwarming story but one where bonds are constantly being pushed then you'll love this book, you have my word on it.

I loved the book it had a few boring bits but it was still exciting.Its a fantastic book and probaly my favourite!!!!!

The Guide is great to get an overview over the many attractions in Bali - lots of pictures and some nice overview maps of the island's regions. However, the descriptions are on the short side and it does not contain detailed street maps that could be useful for orientation. But overall a nice introduction!

Colorful guidebook has marvelous images that create an immediate illustration of Bali and Lombok.

While the practical references are a bit truncated (foreign embassies listed are only Australia and USA; hotel & restaurant listings are scanty), the cultural & special interest tips are excellent.

The guide works its magic by tying photos to text. The reader can zero in on an image and immediately see the relevant text. This is a highly practical format, leaving no mystery as to whether some place or item may be of real interest to the individual reader. Therefore, reader can figure out what he/she wants to see & do without slogging through chapter upon chapter of text.

I spend a lot of time in Bali and I think this is probably the most useful guide for the average traveler to Bali & Lombok. It has quite a few entries....

If you have a limited amount of time in Bali, and an even more limited amount of time to prepare for it, this guide will suit you very well indeed!

Bali and Lombok are just two islands in the Indonesian archipelago... and one of the most popular tourst destination. This book is crammed with wonderful information as well as photographs by well known photographers, maps, drawing etc... of Bali and Lombok. I found it very wonderful that it covered both aspects of Bali and Lombok's culture regarding religion, music, dance etc... The book is much different from Lonely Planet with maps in colour with icons regarding the village and what the villages are well known for. For example the village of Taro in central Bali in Gianyar Regency is famous for it's white breed of Cattle and there is a little bit of information talking about that village. The book covers all of Bali as well as Lombok.

Denpasar Bali's capital contains many sections like the Museum... the market and so many places of interest. For Kuta its beaches which are popular with many Australians and well known for the surfs... Gianyar regency in central Bali was well known for it's cultural and artistic creation. The famous village of Sebatu and Peliatan are famous for their Legong Kraton dancers... wonderful and graceful like butterflies or heavenly nymphs... Klungkung regency in east Bali was home to the powerful rulers with the title of "Agung Dewa" and most revered... Klungkung was a historical city and site where the golen age of Balinese history began the mass exodus of many Hindu-Javanese fleeing Islam came to the royal court bringing their traditions and tansplanting it in Bali while the ancient art form disappeared from the island of Java as a whole...

Lombok hasn't been developed to tourism yet but it is slowly starting to. The island is very lovely with it's lush green rice fields and wonderful people who are of Balinese race and Sasak origin... They produce wonderful crafts like clay jars, pots, weaving etc... If you want to know more you will need to read or grab hold of the book yourself...

There is even a section on food and the types of food eaten with lovely photographs of food and things to buy in Bali... This is great and I guess it is too good to be true too... Excellent work and research I must say went into making this book...

I grew up in California, and continue to love the scenary and the people there. I thought it was the best place on earth, until I made it to Hawaii. Wow! Do I love Hawaii! I was convinced it, too, was the greatest, until I arrived in Tahiti. Now there's a really awesome place!! When I got back, I spoke with my cousin, the world traveler. She said, "You'll really love Bali, it's much more beautiful than Tahiti." So far, I haven't been able to test her views, but this book certainly helped me to see the many beauties of Bali and the neighboring island of Lombok (which she didn't tell me about).

The scenery, animals, arts, temples, crafts, costumes, and dance are vivid, colorful, intricate, and involved. This guide to the two islands features over 700 color photographs that give you a sense of this beauty in very many ways. Even the smallest images are crisp and distinct.

The book is also a good size to slip into a pocket while traveling, so that you don't have to be burdened with excess weight or bulk. That will help, because this guide has many details of streets, restaurants, and the insides of temples that you will wish to refer to when you are in Bali or Lombok.

This guide has the details of all of the festivals on the two islands, which are reportedly a high point of any visit there. You also get lots of detail on local history and traditions (which will be unfamiliar to many in the United States).

The book breaks the two islands into regions so you can get a flavor of how being in one area compares to another. For example, you can go as an eco-tourist, as a cultural tourist, a scuba tourist, or a plain old beach tourist (but there is good surf for those who like surfing and wind surfing). Bali offers lots of variety for those with different tastes and preferences, and the guide makes it clear how to plan for each. Golf has even made its way to Bali.

I was also glad to see that the book contained many website addresses to obtain additional information.

I cannot report on the accuracy of what is here, because I have not been to Bali. On the other hand, the information made sense in terms of what I know about other islands, and Hindu and Moslem countries.

This guide is so rich in photographs and detail that I can have quite a few "trips" just by reviewing the material here. So even if I don't make it to Bali for a few more years, I will have enjoyed some of the wonders of this wonderful island. I hope you will have the same opportunity.

After you finish enjoying this delightful guide, I suggest that you think about where else you know little about and might like to see. If your time and budget do not permit much travel, you could perhaps use these DK Eyewitness Travel Guides to provide pleasant diversions in the meantime. Then, when you are ready to go to a new place, you'll have an informed view of which one to pick.

Grasp the potential all around you, with all of your senses!

Australian travel writer Michael Moran boned up, so to speak, before his leisurely sweep through the cannibal islands. The cannibals are mostly Christians now, of somewhat puritanical bent, but not so strait-laced that they do not tease tourists about who's for dinner.



Nevertheless, this is more ambitious than the usual drool of travelogues, and consequently somewhat disappointing in that it shoots high but hits low too often.



Moran has lived in Poland and knows Polish and German, useful because he wants to explore the present in the context of the recent past -- the colonial era of Germany, Russia, Japan and Australia. Polish comes in because Poles did, especially the anthropologists Bronislaw Malinowski and the Russian Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay, who introduced the concept of living at length among one's subjects. Moran has unlimited admiration for him.



For the missionaries, his feelings are mixed, as they should be.



Having packed his boxes of 19th century books, Moran then visits Port Moresby, in 2000 and still one of most dangerous places. Moran explains he will not visit the Highlands, even more dangerous, and he is glad to get out of Moresby for the eastern or island provinces: Massim, New Ireland, New Britain, Buka, (very briefly) Bougainville, the Trobriands.



It was hot.



Moran tries, not too successfully, to keep three balls in the air: flashbacks to the early years of white contact, meetings with Melanesians, meetings with `expatriates.'



The theme of the book becomes, "the beautiful children of Melanesia." These are contrasted with the fierce (but usually amiable once introduced) older men and the sullen, resentful young ones.



These, in turn, are contrasted with expats, who are either like Moran or, more often, western rejects, drunks, liars, con artists.



It's all a little too pat and somewhat skimpy on the Melanesians.



The attempt to analyze Papua New Guinea politics is interesting and may even, who knows?, be fairly accurate. That trying to impose parliamentary democracy on the sons of headhunters, people so poor that even the chiefs buy cigarettes one at a time, was a mistake seems obvious. But parliamentary democracy has failed in places with much stronger claims to be part of the modern world than Melanesia.



Melanesia is a violent place these days. But it always was. Whether it is more violent is a question Moran does not ask.



"Beyond the Coral Sea" is beautifully written; no other contemporary travel writer I know is in the same league. (I would have to go back more than half a century to Vincent Cronin's "The Golden Honeycomb" to find its equal.)

The isolated islands of the Coral, Solomon and Bismarck Seas were the last to be explored by Europeans, leading author Michael Moran to delve into the magic of these largely unspoiled colonies. BEYOND THE CORAL SEA travels the footsteps of some of the early explorers of the Coral Sea islands, considering history, cultural changes, and anthropological facts.

As a traveller who has spent a total of about 18 months in and around the island regions of Papua New Guinea, I found this book to be just what I look for before and during a trip to any area. Moran's trip illustrated exactly what a traveller will experience while in the country and also gives the historical background so that time is not wasted trying to discover how a culture or area has come to be what it is.

While looking over the harbor of Rabaul and seeing the Duke of York Islands and the southern end of New Ireland, I felt as though I could feel the history taking place. Even Moran's encounters with modern day expatriots in airports and towns ring so true to my experiences that I felt he was writing about my trip without me knowing it.

It is my goal to gain this insight for every country I visit but it is hardly realized. This book fulfilled that goal for Papua New Guinea and raised the bar for my travel reading in the future.

This is the first book on the Island Provinces of Papua New Guinea rather than the Highlands for a hundred years and what a brilliant book it is! Finely-written with beautiful photographs (particularly of children and island landscapes) as well as excellent maps.

Clearly a product of extensive research, this book gives the reader a balanced insight into a vanishing world in a way that is both informative and hugely entertaining. The islands are still almost pristine and 'stone-age' in character but not for much longer I fear. The stories the author tells of characters both historical and modern are almost beyond belief - often hilarious - obviously the apex of European eccentrics vsited New Guinea.

This is travel writing of the highest quality about a place most readers are highly unlikely to visit. The account of the great Polish anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski in the Trobriand "Islands of Love" is both penetrating and enlightening. Moran is one of those rare travel writers who respects what he sees and communicates this to the reader with dry humour and deep understanding. As a missionary tells him, life in Papua New Guinea can be both "terrible and wonderful" by turns. Moran steers us through this difficult cultural labyrinth with brilliance. I am looking forward to the Polish edition next year!

"Beyond the Coral Sea" will become the standard work and required reading for anyone contemplating a trip to Papua New Guinea - even those who are not.

What an amazing book. Using the original source materials--Bligh's diary, the transcript of the Bounty Court Martial, Fletcher Christian's brother's defense of the mutineers, and other materials--the Editor R.D. Madison has put together a book which is impossible to put down. Indeed, the book leaves the reader wishing it were twice as long. Madison refuses to take sides in the Bligh v. Christian debate, and lets the record speak for itself. Since the record is contradictory and nobody is unbiased, the effect, in cinematic terms, is more like "Roshomon" than either of the two Bounty movies. William Bligh comes across as an incredibly brave man with an indomitable will--yet he has a tendency to whine, and worse, he stoops to securing affidavits which do not even pass the smell test. Fletcher Christian comes across as a 23-year old hothead who lets the men talk him into leading a mutiny--and can't control the situation after the mutiny. Christian petulantly refuses to have dinner with the Captain on the eve of the mutiny. Clark Gable, he clearly ain't. The moral world of the Bounty is painted entirely in shades of gray; the men of the Bounty are imperfect and all too human.

Not only is the reader treated to a great detective story, but it is a story with an absorbing and instructive sequel. The book ends with a contemporary account, first published in the 1830's, of the subsequent history of Pitcairn's Island as told by the last survivor of the Bounty, "John Adams" (an alias). Adams described a harrowing descent into mayhem and murder by the mutineers who made it to Pitcairn's Island along with their native friends. The disputes began with a dispute over--you guessed it--who would possess a native woman. Except for Adams, Fletcher Christian his gang were all killed, along with the native men. In the end, John Adams sets up a harmonious society based on Biblical principles.

I have been scratching my head for two whole weeks since finishing this book, pondering its meaning. And that is a high recommendation, indeed.

This book is a collection of early documents relating to Fletcher Christian's mutiny against William Bligh in 1789 on the HMS Bounty. The editor claims to have gathered together for the first time "the relevant texts and documents" related to this famous event that has intrigued readers for 200 years. In all, ten documents whose publication dates range from 1790 to 1870 are included. The first four documents make up the body of the book and consist of a series of published statements by William Blight and responses by Edward Christian, Fletcher's brother. Fletcher Christian died on Pitcairn Island and never put his story in print. These four sections are followed by six Appendixes. The first Appendix contains a transcript of Bligh's orders and a botanical description of the breadfruit that the Bounty went to Tahiti to obtain. The remaining five Appendixes are narratives of the lives of those who stayed on the Bounty after the mutiny.

All of these early texts are preceded by a delightful and informative Introduction by the editor that relates the early lives of both Bligh and Christian and discusses their relationship leading up to the mutiny. It describes the mission of the Pandora to seek out the Bounty and bring back any mutineers they can find. Also covered is the trial and disposition of those sailors brought back from Tahiti. Lastly, the Introduction goes on to summarize the history of Bounty documentation and scholarship, from Bligh's first published account right on through the famous fictionalized Bounty trilogy by Nordhoff and Hall. The Introduction is followed by a one page listing of suggested further readings.

The first section of the book is Bligh's 1790 account of the mutiny and subsequent voyage of he and 18 crew members in the ship's 23 foot boat. He quickly recounts the details of the mutiny on the first four pages and then spends the remaining 62 pages on his heroic and epic voyage across 3,600 miles of the South Pacific that took about a month and a half. Bligh depicts himself as a dedicated leader who saved the lives of all but one crew member in this fascinating and arduous journey.

The second section of the book is the proceedings of the court martial of those brought back to face charges of mutiny, published in 1794 by Edward Christian in an attempt to exonerate his brother. This text consists of a written statement by Bligh, a series of interrogations of the Bounty crew regarding the events of the mutiny, and an Appendix by Edward. A picture of Bligh as a tyrant emerges from this testimony. It is 86 pages long and somewhat repetitive, but still an interesting document to read. The 20 page Appendix at the end of is Edward Christian's attempt to show that his brother had cause for his actions. Although he does not try to justify his brother's actions, he tries to show the state of desperation that his brother was driven to by Bligh's actions. Bligh was at sea when this was published and, when he returned home, he published in 1795 "An Answer..." to the statements of the Appendix which is included as the third section of this book. To this Edward Christian wrote and published a "Short Reply..." that is the fourth section of this book. This interchange in writing between Bligh and Edward Christian is wonderful to read because it presents both sides of the story in a very balanced and fair manner. Without having Fletcher Christian to defend his own actions, this set of documents is the next best thing we have to a fair presentation of both sides of the case.

The above documents alone would have made a wonderful and enlightening book. The editor goes on to present in the Appendixes documents that tell the story of those men who followed Fletcher Christian to Tahiti or Pitcairn Island. The first Appendix is a copy of Bligh's orders to go to Tahiti and a description of the breadfruit he was to bring to Jamaica. The second Appendix is an 1870 retelling of a journal kept by one of the sailors who was taken by the Pandora from Tahiti as a mutineer. It tells of the harsh treatment these 14 received aboard this ship and how four died when the ship sank. The next two Appendixes are accounts written by crew members of a ship that visited Pitcairn Island 19 years after the mutiny in 1808. They tell the story of the crew that landed there with Fletcher Christian and their history and families. By this time only one of the nine members of the original Bounty crew that landed on the island remained alive. The last two Appendixes are the story of one of the Tahitian women who married a Bounty crew member and the story of the last surviving crew member himself.

Altogether these various documents pieced together tell what we can know of the Bounty mutiny. They make fascinating reading, more interesting than the fictional accounts. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in tales of the sea.

What an amazing book. Using the original source materials--Bligh's diary, the transcript of the Bounty Court Martial, Fletcher Christian's brother's defense of the mutineers, and other materials--the Editor R.D. Madison has put together a book which is impossible to put down. Indeed, the book leaves the reader wishing it were twice as long. Madison refuses to take sides in the Bligh v. Christian debate, and lets the record speak for itself. Since the record is contradictory and nobody is unbiased, the effect, in cinematic terms, is more like "Roshomon" than either of the two Bounty movies. William Bligh comes across as an incredibly brave man with an indomitable will--yet he has a tendency to whine, and worse, he stoops to securing affidavits which do not even pass the smell test. Fletcher Christian comes across as a 23-year old hothead who lets the men talk him into leading a mutiny--and can't control the situation after the mutiny. Christian petulantly refuses to have dinner with the Captain on the eve of the mutiny. Clark Gable, he clearly ain't. The moral world of the Bounty is painted entirely in shades of gray; the men of the Bounty are imperfect and all too human.

Not only is the reader treated to a great detective story, but it is a story with an absorbing and instructive sequel. The book ends with a contemporary account, first published in the 1830's, of the subsequent history of Pitcairn Island as told by the last survivor of the Bounty, "John Adams" (an alias). Adams described a harrowing descent into mayhem and murder by the mutineers who made it to Pitcairn Island along with their native friends. The disputes began with a dispute over--you guessed it--who would possess a native woman. Except for Adams, Fletcher Christian his gang were all killed, along with the native men. In the end, John Adams sets up a harmonious society based on Biblical principles.

I have been scratching my head for two whole weeks since finishing this book, pondering its meaning. And that is a high recommendation, indeed.

This is my first review. I feel that some of the 'rave reviews' I read for this volume did not adequately describe several flaws that I feel need mentioning.

I bought this book because I wanted to read the contemporary accounts of the Bounty mutiny to gain an understand of both sides of the issues involved, and to make a personal decision on what happened and why. This edition was touted as allowing me to do just that. However I found that the editor, in his introduction, tries to do some of my thinking for me. I feel that, in a book of this sort, the editor should not be telling us his version of the story, particularly at the beginning of the book. Mr Madison may well believe that Captain Bligh was the villian in this tragedy with Mr Christian the poor sensitive victim, but I wish he would keep it to himself and limit himself to background and supplemental material.

Another disappointment is that apparently, the chapter titled "Minutes of the Proceedings of the Court-Martial held at Portsmouth, August 12, 1792." is not the real minutes at all, but a partial transcript provided by Edward Christian (Fletcher's brother). I'm not sure I understand why the actual court transcript was not available and what is missing in the version we have. I do know we have to rely on a version published by the 'defendant's" brother. Is that really conducive to getting an objective picture?

That said, the book is still interesting and does give the reader a fairly comprehensive picture of the events of that spring morning in 1789.

After being yanked from high school and all her friends when her mom takes an assignment in Australia, Rowena (Ro) is naturally lonely. Her heart's cry is heard by a strange young man who is literally beyond description and lands on her balcony. Although she can never remember what Patrick looks like and can't even say or write his name to tell anyone about him, Ro finds herself falling in love. It makes no sense at all, but he gives her all her dreams. When Patrick is around, time stands still and she can walk in the clouds. Is he a dream or an angel? Though he claims to be real, and even gives her roses that people can actually see, there is something mysterious about Patrick. Maybe he is not a ghost or angel, but he definitely is hiding something spooky.

**** I am almost reluctant to categorize this as young adult; it has a depth that you will only understand after reading it, but a magical quality that perhaps you must be at least a child at heart to grasp. Everyone needs a Patrick in there life, even if it's only in print. ****

When Dr. Craig is hurt in a stateside car accident, his agent needs a viable substitute to provide the series of lectures in Down Under. He chooses another client Dr. Mold to provide the talks. Dr. Mold takes her teenage daughter Rowena "Ro" Maven with her.

In Sydney, Ro finds herself totally bored until a strange teen Patrick Carroll falls from the sky. He begins to take her places that she can only dream of, a departure from the Roach Hotel that is Ro's reality. With a blink they are alone on secluded beaches and though he seems ephemeral, his kisses are realistic. With her best friend too far away in the states to help her, Ro has her first boyfriend, who no one else can see or even mention him to anyone. When she finally does he vanishes leaving Ro to learn who is the enigmatic Patrick and where did he go for she does not want to be without him?

This young teen romantic fantasy provides readers with an intriguing tale as the audience will wonder if Patrick is just a figment of a lonely girl's imagination and if not who and what is he. Readers will enjoy the "dating" of Patrick and Ro as he escorts her to isolated places and never is seen by anyone but her. Teen readers will want to join Ro as she seeks to solve the mystery of the BOY DOWN UNDER that she cares about.

Harriet Klausner

Have you ever tried to explain something but you can't? Maybe you can't find the right words or maybe you don't really even know what happened. When Rowena (Ro) and her mother move to Sydney, Australia, Ro runs into a guy named Patrick Carroll. Actually, he jumps onto her balcony. Right away, Ro feels at ease around him, and she is having the time of her life. Everyday when she and Patrick go on a walk they end up in the most exotic places like, gorgeous gardens, outstretching deserts, and beautiful white sanded beaches. Wherever Ro goes, she sees Patrick. Ro is so excited about Patrick but scared at the same time. One day Hallie, Ro's friend from the United States, calls her. Hallie tells Ro she will be able to come to see her during Spring Break. Ro is ecstatic. She tries to tell Hallie about Patrick but her mouth won't let her. She is just not able to say his name to anyone. When Spring Break comes, Hallie goes to Australia to visit Ro. The first thing Hallie wants to do is meet Ro's unexplained boyfriend. While Hallie is in town, things begin to go wrong between Ro and Patrick.
I loved this book. It kept me wanting to turn the page and find the resolution to Ro's problem. The lesson is, if something is making you happy, other people won't necessarily share your happiness. This book takes you to the most exotic places while sitting your favorite chair.

All-American girl, Rowena - Ro - Maven, isn't completely excited when her Mother, Dr. Mold, informs her that the two of them will be heading to Sydney, Australia for a year, so that she can conduct a series of lectures in the great Down Under. However, Ro knows that she can try to make the best of it. After all, there are sure to be tons of hot guys with abs of steel, who surf daily along the beach in the bright sunshine. But boy is she wrong. In fact, everything in Aussie is completely boring - or gross, meaning the Roach Hotel she's forced to stay in - until she meets Patrick Carroll, who sppears out of nowhere one day. Soon, Ro has her very own boyfriend, but there's something strange about Patrick. In the blink of an eye the two of them are transported to secluded areas where they exchange ethereal kisses. But the strangest fact is that no one but Ro can even see Patrick, and she can't tell anyone about him, making her think that she could be imagining his presence completely. Then she does the ultimate wrong-doing. She tells her best friend Hallie, and suddenly he's gone. Leaving her to do nothing more than guess about where he could possibly have gone.

Sally Odgers is a wonderful new author to join the team of Smooch YA, as her vivid descriptions, and unique, yet magical situations and plotlines, are utterly unbelievable, and will draw readers in left and right. BOY DOWN UNDER is a lovely tale of first love, filled with a bit of paranormal phenomena, that will capture the hearts of romantics young and old within the first chapter. An absolute must-have for all.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

Ah the island life...a wonderful memoir of a more nostalgic time. Great read.

The Confessions Of A Beachcomber is the fascinating autobiography of a man who left a high-stress, dead-end career to live the simple live of a beachcomber on Dunk Island off the northern coast of Queensland, Australia. An avowed disciple of Thoreau, Banfield sough as simple a life as possible and maintained that life on his tropical island for twenty-five years. He involved himself in observing the flora, fauna, and aborigines of the island, and through the publication of The Confessions Of A Beachcomber became one of Australia's highly regarded literary figures. Now available to an American readership through this Dixon-Price edition, The Confessions Of A Beachcomber is especially recommended reading for any one who has ever felt like chucking so-called "modern life" and return to a simpler, more basic existence in harmony with the environment and all that nature has to offer the contemplative life.

Under inauspicious circumstances -- failing health -- Banfield arrives on Dunk island off of Australia's northeast coast. But as island lovers everywhere know, more often than not islands have a way of reintroducing vitality to the soul and regenerating failing health. Consider Robert Louis Stevenson! Such was the situation of Banfield when he arrived on Dunk Island.

Banfield's greatest skill within this book is his journalistic training and keen powers of observation. His descriptions of island birdlife, in particular, present detailed glimpses of behavior and how individual birds interact with the rest of the island. "With the aid of a good telescope and a compact pair of field glasses, birds may be studied and known far more pleasurably than as stark cabinet specimens," he writes. It's no surprise to find out later that Banfield eventually persuaded -- similar to Thoreau and Muir in America -- the Australian government to set aside Dunk Island as a protected wildlife area.

Banfield also turns his attentions to other island life, such as the coral reef and fishes surrounding the island, and including Aboriginals living on Dunk Island. While sounding condescending now, nearly a century later, his observations offer interesting insights into times past.

Banfield's book reminded me of a non-political, "Desert Solitaire"-esque Edward Abbey turning his attention to a tropical island, in that the location is both a background and a source of detailed information. I enjoyed reading about the behavior of all island life and appreciated Banfield's obvious patience and skills as an observor. Being an island aficionado myself, I felt like I was enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells of some of my favorite places revisited.

Overall, an excellent book to add to your library, whether travel, island, bird, or environmentally related.

Under inauspicious circumstances -- failing health -- Banfield arrives on Dunk island off of Australia's northeast coast. But as island lovers everywhere know, more often than not islands have a way of reintroducing vitality to the soul and regenerating failing health. Consider Robert Louis Stevenson! Such was the situation of Banfield when he arrived on Dunk Island.

Banfield's greatest skill within this book is his journalistic training and keen powers of observation. His descriptions of island birdlife, in particular, present detailed glimpses of behavior and how individual birds interact with the rest of the island. "With the aid of a good telescope and a compact pair of field glasses, birds may be studied and known far more pleasurably than as stark cabinet specimens," he writes. It's no surprise to find out later that Banfield eventually persuaded -- similar to Thoreau and Muir in America -- the Australian government to set aside Dunk Island as a protected wildlife area.

Banfield also turns his attentions to other island life, such as the coral reef and fishes surrounding the island, and including Aboriginals living on Dunk Island. While sounding condescending now, nearly a century later, his observations offer interesting insights into times past.

Banfield's book reminded me of a non-political, "Desert Solitaire"-esque Edward Abbey turning his attention to a tropical island, in that the location is both a background and a source of detailed information. I enjoyed reading about the behavior of all island life and appreciated Banfield's obvious patience and skills as an observor. Being an island aficionado myself, I felt like I was enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells of some of my favorite places revisited.

Overall, an excellent book to add to your library, whether travel, island, bird, or environmentally related.

A wonderful book to whet your appetite for exploration of The Barrier Reef. Television does a superb job with fleeting glimpses of moving images but this book allows you the opportunity to slowly absorb minute fractions of true beauty. Like a photo of a wave, you have the chance to stop time and look at nature as no human could do back through history before the invention of photography. As we explore space with the Hubble telescope we should remind ourselves of the beauty within our world before we step away like impatient teenagers to the next world.

This series of guides has a well-established format - so it is difficult to understand why they have made this particular guide so hard to follow.

The Great Barrier Reef is over 1,200 miles in length and, thankfully, the book does not claim to be a definitive guide. Refreshingly, therefore, it is exactly what is says it is - a "Guide to the Dive Sites of the Great Barrier Reef" and, generally speaking, it is a good one at that.

The book is divided into the accepted geographical sections of the Great Barrier Reef and commences each of these chapters with an informative introduction followed by brief details of a fair and representative selection of the best known dive sites.

So far so good, but then they go and "spoil the ship for a hapenth of tar." With very few exceptions, the photographs are generally very good and include some that are quite outstanding. They lose a "Star," however, for blatantly "touching" and "standing on" corals. No photograph showing such bad practises should have been included - and this book features more than one. Furthermore, diving inside the Yongala shipwreck contravenes the "Laws" of Queensland and I was saddened to find a photograph of a human skull is used to introduce Townsville on page 95.

In the English Language, we read from left to right whilst working our way from the top of the page to the bottom. It is, therefore, quite odd to find a book that sets out to do things in reverse order. This book commences in the south and works its way north. Altogether, over 150 dive sites are included - but each chapter commences with "Site No 1" whereas it would be far more useful had they been numbered consecutively from beginning to end. Most unusual of all, however, is the fact that every map shows these sites numbered from the bottom of the page up to the top. Eventually this really does become very awkward to follow. One might also be forgiven for thinking that it is all a very poor attempt to poke fun at Australia - you know, the country being upside down and all that... Maybe not, but another star lost.

In Summary; a rather good book, but in dire need of some serious rearranging. Nevertheless, all the information is there and, when compared to other books on the Great Barrier Reef, this is a good option.

NM

I thought this was a great book for a fresh diver to the reef. It has great pictures and covers a number of locations and dives sites. I found it useful to learn a few tidbits about the places I was seeing while on the boat between dives. Would recommend to anyone looking for a general book on the Great Barrier Reef.

This book does a nice job of detailing major dive sites throughout the Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea. Dive sites are rated for both scuba and snorkeling. The book also has information on resorts, dive operators and facilities servicing the various dive sites. Information on various types of underwater life is also sprinkled in throughout the book. If you plan to dive the Barrier Reef or the Coral Sea this is an excellent guide to lay out your diving plans.

VERY informative. Perhaps too much info. At times I felt I was overloading. Better to have too much though than not enough. This book eliminates the need for any other.

There are some guidebooks which make a local cringe in embarassment! Not this one. It covers pretty much everything that a visitor to this city would want to see and do, and even leads people a little (but not TOO far) off the beaten track. There are suggestions for walks along some of the coastal paths, for example, and it includes places farther afield like captain Cook's Landing Place.

Like all the books in this series, it is lavishly illustrated and the maps are good. I use it for inspiration for weekend activities. It is a good general guidebook, which could be supplemented by more specialised volumes if you want to concentrate on one aspect of Sydney - eg guides to walks around the harbour, or activities specially for children, guides to national parks etc. but this book seems to cover just about everything at least in an introductory sense.

I didn't find this guide as useful nor as interesting as others in the series but I suspect it's because Sydney doesn't lend itself to guidebooks in the same way London or Rome do. I left Eyewitness at home, carried Frommer's Sydney guide, and winged it the rest of the way. Eyewitness has the best maps by far, though.

This is absolutely the best guide to Sydney. You must choose this above all other books! Complete, detailed informaion complete with excellent, useful pictures and commentary. A must buy!