Beyond the Coral Sea: Travels in the Old Empires of the South-West Pacific |
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Michael Moran
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Pages: 432 (Paperback)
ISBN: 0006552358
Pub: Flamingo
Pub date: 2004-03
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 247026
Reader Reviews:
Inspiring stuff! (5/5 people found this helpful)
Moran's style and humour prevails throughout this compelling and meaningful book. From start to finish one is engulfed into a world so unlike anything that exists in the west. For that very reason, you cannot help but feel a sense of excitement and adventure. Add into that his dry (with an 'old world' British twist) sense of humour and it becomes captivating. It's clear that Moran's subjects are all very well researched. The depth and breath of knowledge of this obscure place and its people can only have come from someone who has a genuine interest in it, and enough passion in him to actually go there! It's this interest and passion that shines through, making it (in my opinion) one of the most unusual and offbeat travel books around today.
If you're bored with your humdrum life, and dream of flights of fancy in far away places, then this is the book for you. The concept of this book has actually inspired me to travel to far away places too. I left my boring life in London behind to travel the continent of South America for 2 years, and a lot of the impetus I needed to make that move was generated by reading "Beyond the coral sea". Thanks Michael Moran!
The classic work on the Island Provinces of Papua New Guinea (7/7 people found this helpful)
This is the first book on the Island Provinces of Papua New Guinea rather than the Highlands for a hundred years and what a brilliant book it is! Finely-written with beautiful photographs (particularly of children and island landscape) as well as excellent maps.
Clearly a product of extensive research, this book gives the reader a balanced insight into a vanishing world in a way that is both informative and entertaining. The islands are still almost pristine and 'stone-age' in character but not for much longer I fear.
This is travel writing of the highest quality about a place most readers are highly unlikely to visit. The account of the great Polish anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski in the Trobriand "Islands of Love" is both penetrating and enlightening. Moran is one of those rare travel writers who respects what he sees and communicates this to the reader with dry humour and deep understanding. Life in Papua New Guinea can be both "terrible and wonderful" by turns - Moran steers us through the cultural labyrinth with great talent. I am looking forward to the Polish edition!
"Beyond the Coral Sea" should become the standard work and required reading for anyone contemplating a trip to Papua New Guinea - even those who are not.
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Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> Travel & Holiday -> Countries & Regions -> Australia & New Zealand -> Australia
Books -> Subjects -> Travel & Holiday -> Countries & Regions -> Australia & New Zealand -> South Pacific
Books -> Subjects -> Travel & Holiday -> Guidebook Series
Books -> Subjects -> Travel & Holiday -> Travel Writing
Books -> Subjects -> Travel & Holiday -> General
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
Books -> Refinements -> Age (feature_two_browse-bin)
Books -> Refinements -> Format (binding_browse-bin) -> Paperback
Books -> Refinements -> Condition (condition-type)