THE HAPPY LAGOONS

by Jorgen Andersen-Rosendal ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 27, 1960

Travel tales from far away places have a stronger accent on people than on scenes and sights for this Danish newspaperman- writer's wanderings in the South Seas follow through on stories begun aboard ship on his way to his destination. Queen Salote's disregard on the rain at Elizabeth's coronation sparked the idea of going to her tiny kingdom of the Friendly Islands but his route to Tonga went off the course more than once. From Denmark to the Lalona and her intriguing passengers with their gossip, he makes his first stop at Papeete, gets his early experiences in the lack of privacy, the Fiji Islands and Suva bring knowledge of witchcraft and cannibalism, the leper island of Makogai and its promise of arrested cases; the mystery of the 70 ton motor ship Joyita's five weeks disappearance- and the more mysterious questions of the fate of her passengers and crew- turns up; Samoa and Apia and Pago Pago teach him that villages are the place to go and that rain can be an enemy. And finally to Tonga where his time is spent in many ways (lecturing and translating among them) before he gets his audience with the Queen and where he finds his own desert island -- but not to stay forever. Along the way he attracts ""cosmics"" and their concentration on outer space; he rounds out the case of the Joyita; he has revealed to him the secret of Father Cicero's ""happy island""; he discovers the goodness of flamboyant Polly Thompson; he is present at the unhappy end of young Rudy. A good humored account keeps a rollicking pace which stay at homes (and most travelers) might prefer to read about rather than live through. Entertaining.

Pub Date: Feb. 27, 1960

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Holt, Rinehart & Winston

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1960

Categories: NONFICTION