A somewhat forced landing on the great Indonesian archipelago by British travel writer Lewis (A Goddess in the Stones, 1992, etc.). In his visit, first to the northern tip of Sumatra, then to the former Portuguese colony of East Timor, the scene of ``this century's most ferocious small war'' after it was invaded by the Indonesians, and finally to the highlands of Irian Jaya, Lewis unfortunately labors under several disadvantages: he doesn't know much about Indonesia, he doesn't speak any of its 250 languages, except for a smattering of Portuguese, he found the guides either terrified or overly tactful, the conversation bland, the food uninteresting, and the scenery, at least in Sumatra and East Timor, not all that he might have hoped. There is another problem, of which he is aware, in combining ``the pleasant commonplaces of travel'' with a description of the war in East Timor, where, according to some reports, one-third of the people have been massacred, and where Lewis' account, though a good deal of it is second-hand, is chilling. The result is an uneven one, relieved by Lewis' humor: ``...[A]t five yearly intervals the nation goes into a paroxysm of excitement over elections which infallibly return Golkar, the President's party, to power. Innovations in the electoral process have included Golkar's advance notice of the overall majority that it expects to get, which is always correct....'' Of headlines in the Indonesian press, ``[i]ncorrect reports on security in Aceh,'' which purported to repudiate foreign accounts of trouble in North Sumatra, he notes dryly, ``No more convincing evidence of trouble could have been offered.'' His account is also enlivened by a sympathetic and interesting description of the life lived by the Stone-Age Papuans, where men are naked except for curving yellow penis-guards, and where, since warfare was outlawed, they engage in elaborate and sometimes dangerous warlike rituals. Lewis writes well, and it should be entertaining, but the whole is somehow less than the sum of its parts.
Pub Date: April 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-8050-1960-X
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1994
A former head writer for ``Late Night with David Letterman'' satirizes popular ``happiness materials'' (books, calendars, etc.) with her own entertaining (self-) investigations. Markoe (What the Dogs Have Taught Me, not reviewed) treads somewhere between the absurdism of Dave Barry and the intricacies of Henry Alford, with her own L.A. female spin. Each of her 33 brief chapters begins with a ``happiness hint,'' followed by her own efforts to follow the advice. So ``extend a social invitation to someone you've always been afraid to approach'' leads, natch, to dinner—courtesy of a TV Guide assignment—with the famous-chested Fabio, who bravely annotates his publicity photos for Markoe. Following the counsel of doyenne Martha Stewart on selecting a party theme, the author determines that, given her chaotic table settings and decorations, her theme should be ``the breakup of the Soviet Union.'' Deciding to take a new class, Markoe ends up at a session for would-be dominatrixes (``I realize I'm not in Comp. Lit. anymore''). Her muse guides her through a Medieval Times dinner, a meditation on pets, a close analysis of answering machine messages, and a visit with a psychic interior decorator. Markoe's targets are within the safe maw of mainstream pop culture; only occasionally does she exhibit real bite: when analyzing Madonna's book Sex, she tags la Ciccone as ``the world's first self-employed centerfold,'' and after going to see the play The Real Live Brady Bunch, she observes, ``All that binds us is shared dopey media experience.'' Well, that's a good reason to make fun of it, and for Markoe to try harder when a few efforts—like a satire on the Amy Fisher movies and a tour of movie star homes—go limp. Chuckleworthy in small doses—and a strong argument for caution. (Author tour)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-670-85332-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1994
A fascinating and vital, if lopsided, record of an important conflict in British military history.
Intimidatingly researched, Kenney’s absorbing account of the Falklands War’s iconic Battle of Goose Green manages the weight of its subject with sobriety and pathos, if not consistent objectivity.
Twenty-five years after the Falklands War, Kenney’s meticulous rendering of this strategically pointless battle illuminates with minute detail the hows, wheres and whos, if not the whys, of a war that most historians agree should not have occurred. The author’s passion for the subject is palpable, and his factual legwork impressive. Gathering a broad array of sources, Kenney determinedly sets the stage for the central conflict between Thatcher-era Britain and junta-led Argentina. The account begins with past Falklands conflicts, trots out the major players and sheds light on the messy political obsessions leading up to the war. With as much detail as Kenney packs into the pages–in addition to seven chapters, the book contains five appendices, comprehensive chapter notes, a 12-page bibliography and an index–readers may expect the tone to favor data over author presence, but that’s not the case here. Kenney adulates Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Jones, commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, as the emblematic British war hero, and General Leopoldo Galtieri, the military president of Argentina, draws the author’s full scorn, especially in a disdainful afterword. When the Battle of Goose Green and Darwin Hill arrives halfway through the narrative, Kenney renders British casualties with equal parts deep respect for heroism and clear frustration at its futility. By this point, it becomes evident that the hardscrabble soldiers of 2 Para–the “Toms,” here given voice through painstakingly footnoted source material–merit a greater share of the attention that the author distributes to Jones.
A fascinating and vital, if lopsided, record of an important conflict in British military history.Pub Date: April 3, 2006
ISBN: 0-9660717-1-9
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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