Don’t let the title deceive you this book has nothing to do with cannibals or the sex lives of anyone, don’t let that deceive you either because this book is well worth the read. I’m not quite sure why Troost choose the title but it did catch my attention when I was exploring the bookstore, and once I saw the synopsis on the back of the book I knew that I just had to check it out.
Maarten Troost is the author and the main character. In this novel he starts of confused, lost, and selfish. Living off of anything he can get his hands on while doing nothing with his life the author is looking for something more, something that offers adventure without the fee. His girlfriend and him soon start searching for jobs around the world where they can help out others while getting away from things back home in the states. Soon enough his girlfriend Sylvia gets a phone call to take a job at a place called Kiribati, which is not pronounced that way, they take it in a heart beat and off to the far corners of the earth.
As soon as they get they enter a world so different from their own it seems as if they have walked on to a different planet. The island is so small is can just about contain the population, then there is the concern of trash and fecal waste that is deposited into the ocean forming a reef right along side the island. Maarten does such a great job getting the attention of the reader with his highly descriptive use of words. Although there is no need to try and get the attention with the author with similes and metaphors because the stories are just so ridiculous that it is even hard imagining living on the island let alone actually staying there. The struggles faced by Maarten as he learns to adapt to the world around him is turned into a comical outlook of the way of life the islanders have lived in for centuries. All the hardships he face allow him to become a better person and a great comedian looking for a joke out of every sort of situation he encounters.
Deprived of electric, news, water, food, and almost ever thing that comes to us in America so simple, life suddenly becomes an epic battle to live. There is no need for movies or cheap entertainment on this island, everyday is interesting and worth getting up for as Maarten is sure to note. The island and novel are full of mysterious characters, crazy adventures, and events that are hard to even imagine. If you find yourself allured to tropical islands with their mystic qualities, and adventurous books this is the one for you. Maarten does a great job making a parody of his life and failures to adopt at first to the culture around him. This book contains tons of knowledge from the world beyond ours. The curious lifestyle that soon takes place for Maarten and Syliva is by far one of the most interesting topics I have read to this date. This is a summer book if I have ever seen one.
The author goes on a journey of self-exploration trying to find himself, and before the book concludes he not only finds himself but ends up with much more in his life than he could ever have expected. This book gets a 4.5 out of 5 because the title was misleading and the author gets a little intense with his use of vocabulary words at times. Overall the book is a great read and to miss out on it would be missing out on a world that is unknown to the rest of us. Trust me on this you have got to check it out. The reason I loved it too, was that as an American with confusion floating all around and not sure what to do with my life as well as knowing what I can and can’t do, I related completely to the author. Check it out because its worth every page.
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