Word: theroux
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Mosquito Coast, Paul Theroux...
...newest book. The Mosquito Coast, departs from the style of the "I" travelogue on which Theroux has made his reputation. His story is that of a testy central Massachusetts farmer so disenchanted and disgusted with the colossal wasteland he finds in America that he ups and leaves for Honduras. There, he intends to raise his children according to the virtues of hard work and discipline...
...probably to Theroux's credit that he's picked up on an idea everyone's recognized for a long time--that something's wrong with America. It's probably more to his credit that he doesn't attempt to find it out on the open road like Kerouac. The country's illness, as diagnosed by protagonist Allie, stems from the uppity attitude people have towards work and education. ("Can't find a Harvard graduate who can change the tire on his car.") In Central America Allie thinks he will find an unspoiled land, untainted by the wretchedness of sloth...
...their father's control on reality wither under the hot sun of the jungle, and as the realization comes to all that life in America really wasn't all that bad, the family goes on weathering emotional storms skin to those of the original pilgrims in their native Massachusetts. Theroux shows remarkable discipline throughout the narrative. Telling the story through Charlie, the 14-year-old oldest son. Theroux ineluctably cases into an intelligent, but effortless simplicity. Some scenes have tremendous appeal, especially those where the children, left on their own, take refuge in recalling the luxuries of the life they...
...THEROUX'S NOT A BAD writer, and judging from the bestseller lists the story told in The Mosquito Coast, if not the explicit allegory, has quite an appeal to modern audiences. But if Theroux had really been interested in probing the soul of America, it would have been more revealing to explain how a character like Allie Fox managed to survive the ravages of an undisciplined society. To understand what's wrong with America. John Uplike's probably a better bet. His latest, Rabbit is Rich, stays within the society of inflation that Theroux can only deal with by escaping...