australia and oceania

There are two ways I can describe this book: as an assigned essay on "How I Spent My Vacation," in which it might receive a passing grade in High School; or as a visit by your brother-in-law, the one you never really liked but tolerated for your sister's sake, who shares his superficial ideas as if they were deep insights. I suppose there are people who will voluntarily submit to either, but I'm not one of them. The author (he can only be called a writer in the most literal sense) has no insight to speak of, is manifestly incompetent at background research, and lacks any useful power of description. He really should look up the meanings of words like "masquerade" and "circumvent" before he uses them. . . The real mystery is how something like this ever gets published.

Truman uses words like an artist uses paint to create a colorful masterpiece. He not only gives the reader a deep understanding of Australia, New Zealand and Tahiti's multi-tiered eco-system, but he also captures the souls of the people who call the Islands their home. It's an exotic mix filled with historical and geographical background. "Sunday Islands" is also very, very funny! This is must reading for anyone who's been or plan on visiting these southwest Pacific locales, and if the reader doesn't have an urge to travel, "Sunday Islands" will transport them to the lush Pacific locations he so eloquently describes. One can only hope Truman will write a second edition with illustrations to accompany his vivid description of life "down under".

There are tourists and there are travelers. Both visit other lands, but tourists make no attempt to learn about the people and culture, preferring to view everything from their own perspective. Travelers try to learn as much as possible about the places they visit and appreciate the cultural differences. In "Sunday Islands: New Zealand, Tahiti, Australia," Harold Truman shows that he is a traveler as he offers his impressions of the South Pacific gleaned during visits to the region from 1994 to 2000. Truman is not the stereotypical "ugly American" on his journeys. He never loses the awareness that he is a guest in other people's homeland and is careful to show respect for their customs - even if those customs are totally foreign to Americans. He also shows his sense of humor in recounting his own misadventures, such as his first attempt to use an outrigger canoe and learns it's not as simple as it appears. Even when playing the tourist, Truman remains the traveler. Most tourists going out on a fishing excursion would concentrate on landing a big one, but Truman gets to know the boat's captain, learning more about the country and its people in a few hours of conversation than anyone could learn from reading thousands of travel brochures. Throughout his journeys, Truman demonstrates a keen sense of observation of people and places. Thanks to his narrative, which flows like poetry, and his descriptions of people and places, we are more than readers of his travel journal, we are his friends accompanying him on his journey.