The author of The Sex Lives Of Cannibals and Getting Stoned With Savages turns his attention to China in his forthcoming book
I love travel books, but I find a lot of them hard going - lightness of touch is something that's missing in many travel narratives. As such, when I discovered J. Maarten Troost's irresistably titled Getting Stoned With Savages earlier this year, it was a delight to find out the prose actually matched the promise of the title. Conventional wisdom has it that Stoned is not as good as Troost's debut, the equally attention grabbing The Sex Lives Of Cannibals, but I'd disagree: his description of the rites of drinking Kava on Vanuatu and Fiji - and documenting the hallucinogenic, blackout-inducing aftermath - is some of the funniest travel writing I've encountered, full stop. Either way, it doesn't matter - both books are definitely worth reading and the news that he has a new book about China about to come out so soon after I've just read the other two is deeply pleasing.
Lost On Planet China - J Maarten Troost
See all books by J Maarten Troost at
Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com
Troost does a great job of passing himself off as being absolutely bewildered by pretty much everything that goes on around him. Indeed, it's almost like he shouldn't be there - for the first two books, spending 2 years in Kiribati and then another 2 in Fiji and Vanuatu, Troost was only there because his wife had NGO postings to both places. He was meant to be writing the Great Dutch Novel (as that's his homeland) but, as is usually the case, spent all his time doing anything but.
While there are plenty of facts and fascinating, usually blood-soaked, history weaved into his narrative, Troost does a great job of conveying the sheer strangeness of living day to day in these remote places with superb comic timing, usually involving his own incomprehension rather than the standard "these locals are crazy" tactic. Indeed, Troost is at pains to try and fit in, despite his usual incapacity for doing so - losing three days after his first bout of kava drinking being a prime example. It's this bumbling but sincere enthusiasm to try and understand the culture and history of the people around him that makes him an endearing narrator to follow, because he describes every cockup without fear of looking a fool, and it's that honesty that powers his humour.
Getting Stoned With Savages - J. Maarten Troost
See all books by J. Maarten Troost at
Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com
As a case in point of trying to fit in, check out the strapline of the new book, Lost On Planet China -- it reads "The Strange and True Story of One Man's Attempt to Understand the World's Most Mystifying Nation, or How He Became Comfortable Eating Live Squid". I'm not sure if he actually went and lived in China, so this one might have a more traditional travel tourist narrative to it - but I am pretty sure it will be worth the price of admission.
The Sex Lives Of Cannibals - J. Maarten Troost
See all books by J. Maarten Troost at
Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com
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