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Black Coconuts, Brown Magic

Joseph Theroux

4.9/5 (19051 ratings)

Description:Silas Wicklowe, a 35-year-old doctor and Vietnam vet, arrives in Samoa (from Hawaii) for a three-month stint at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Tropical Medical Center. Silas is amused/appalled by his administrative boss there: Swanson Ape, a Mormon Samoan who doesn't believe in bacteria (""Cherms? I don't believe in that. . . . I never see a cherm"") and who seems to have a violent streak. He ... More is charmed/ shocked by the Samoan patients, who display a surprising range of illnesses and who say ""Thank you for your love"" when leaving Wicklowe's office. He is pursued by estranged wife Betty--a psychobabbler (""Be upfront and honest, give everyone space for their heads"") who shows up uninvited, fails to arouse impotent Silas, and takes up instead with a foul journalist. And he is intrigued by traditional Samoan sorcery/medicine--eventually attending an exorcism presided over by earthy witch-doctor Ellie (she calls Betty ""No-Tits""), one of the several uninhibited, quirky Samoan-earth-mother types on display. But most of all Silas is haunted--by Vietnam-medic memories, by nightmares, by the violent ""dark side of himself"". . . and by a long-ago family mystery: when Silas was two, his Navy father, stationed in Samoa, apparently murdered his mother by hurling coconuts at her--soon leaving Silas an orphan. Thus, Silas has returned to Samoa ""to discover his lost childhood,"" talking to the judge in his father's murder case; and, after he's killed a shark and attempted suicide, his inner demons are finally exorcised. . . with some erotic help from one of those Samoan women. First-novelist Theroux (brother of Paul and Alexander) doesn't successfully blend the two primary strands here--the wry satire/comedy and the murky, even weepy soul-journey. And, with subplots at every turn (there's also the murder of a favorite patient), the effect is often both messy and contrived. But some nice (if cheap) laughs are gotten from the Samoans' fractured English--and the intriguing glimpses into Pago Pago life (Theroux is a resident there) help to make this an uneven yet stylish, modestly impressive debut.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with Black Coconuts, Brown Magic. To get started finding Black Coconuts, Brown Magic, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

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ISBN: 0385279477

Description: Silas Wicklowe, a 35-year-old doctor and Vietnam vet, arrives in Samoa (from Hawaii) for a three-month stint at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Tropical Medical Center. Silas is amused/appalled by his administrative boss there: Swanson Ape, a Mormon Samoan who doesn't believe in bacteria (""Cherms? I don't believe in that. . . . I never see a cherm"") and who seems to have a violent streak. He ... More is charmed/ shocked by the Samoan patients, who display a surprising range of illnesses and who say ""Thank you for your love"" when leaving Wicklowe's office. He is pursued by estranged wife Betty--a psychobabbler (""Be upfront and honest, give everyone space for their heads"") who shows up uninvited, fails to arouse impotent Silas, and takes up instead with a foul journalist. And he is intrigued by traditional Samoan sorcery/medicine--eventually attending an exorcism presided over by earthy witch-doctor Ellie (she calls Betty ""No-Tits""), one of the several uninhibited, quirky Samoan-earth-mother types on display. But most of all Silas is haunted--by Vietnam-medic memories, by nightmares, by the violent ""dark side of himself"". . . and by a long-ago family mystery: when Silas was two, his Navy father, stationed in Samoa, apparently murdered his mother by hurling coconuts at her--soon leaving Silas an orphan. Thus, Silas has returned to Samoa ""to discover his lost childhood,"" talking to the judge in his father's murder case; and, after he's killed a shark and attempted suicide, his inner demons are finally exorcised. . . with some erotic help from one of those Samoan women. First-novelist Theroux (brother of Paul and Alexander) doesn't successfully blend the two primary strands here--the wry satire/comedy and the murky, even weepy soul-journey. And, with subplots at every turn (there's also the murder of a favorite patient), the effect is often both messy and contrived. But some nice (if cheap) laughs are gotten from the Samoans' fractured English--and the intriguing glimpses into Pago Pago life (Theroux is a resident there) help to make this an uneven yet stylish, modestly impressive debut.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with Black Coconuts, Brown Magic. To get started finding Black Coconuts, Brown Magic, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

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Black Coconuts, Brown Magic

Black Coconuts, Brown Magic

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