Cannonball Read 13

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Search This Site

| Log in
  1. Follow us on Facebook
  2. Follow us on Twitter
  3. Follow us on Instagram
  4. Follow us on Goodreads
  5. RSS Feeds

  • Home
  • About
    • About CBR
    • Getting Started
    • Cannon Book Club
    • Diversions
    • Fan Mail
    • Holiday Book Exchange
    • Book Bingo Reading Challenge
    • Participation Badges
    • AlabamaPink
  • Our Team
    • Leaderboard
    • The CBR Team
    • Recent Comments
    • CBR Interviews
    • Our Volunteers
    • Meet MsWas
  • Categories
    • Review Genres
    • Tags
  • Fight Cancer
    • How We Fight Cancer
    • How You Can Donate
    • Book Sale
    • CBR Merchandise
    • Supporters and Friends of CBR
  • FAQ
  • Contact
    • Contact Form
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Follow Us
> FAQ Home
> Genre: Fiction > The Mosquito Coast – Paul Theroux (1981)

The Mosquito Coast – Paul Theroux (1981)

The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux

February 18, 2021 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

The movie version of this novel came out when I was a kid and for whatever reason we watched it as a family when it was on tape. I am not saying my dad is the same as the dad in this book (played by Harrison Ford in the movie, and by Justin Theroux, nephew of the author Paul Theroux, in an upcoming series), but they have some similarities. The dad here is officious, and maybe brilliant, clearly intelligent, seemingly a dry-drunk, paranoid, racist, some kind prepper and man-of-adventure, and unfortunately for all of them, he happens to have four children. The oldest child is our narrator for this novel (and I honestly don’t recall enough of the movie to weigh in) but this novel needs a first person narrator. The plot itself is already too similar to Saul Bellow’s Henderson the Rain King to allow for the dad to be our narrator, and too similar to other novels and films to stand outside. We need to know what someone both in sheer terror and complete thrall of this dad feels about the story for us to really proceed.

We have a dad, a very American dad, and he and his family are living out in the middle of nowhere along the Connecticut River valley near the border of Massachusetts border. He has strong beliefs in self-determination (although he supports the president), being self-made, not being a clear part of society, and not being observed. He’s monomaniacal toward a specific vision of leaving it all behind to start anew somewhere. He sees humanity’s biggest curse as the 20th century, which has stripped down existence into artificial chunks. He abhors electricity and computers, even if he feels he understands them. And what does he have to offer up? A kerosene-fueled ice making machine.

So he and the family trek off to Honduras, by boat, in order to live amongst a small town up river and build a giant ice-making plant to deliver ice to other villages. The scattered vision of this man would be bad enough for the villagers there, but he also has his family in tow, and he hates the uncomfortable comparison he finds (holding up a mirror, so to speak) of an American missionary family whose paths he seems to cross numerous times. You might guess that his plan has unforeseen (by him) complications.

This is one of the most American characters I’ve read in a long time, and I still can’t believe my family wanted to see this movie, and how uncomfortable that might have been had I understood it at the time.

(Photo: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/130520.The_Mosquito_Coast)

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: paul theroux, the mosquito coast

vel veeter's CBR13 Review No:71 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: paul theroux, the mosquito coast ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

About vel veeter

CBR13 participantCBR12 participantCBR11 participantCBR10 participantCBR  9CBR 8

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/69444656-vel-veeter View vel veeter's reviews»

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.



Recent Comments

  • esme on CBR Diversions – It’s Never too Late to Have a Happy ChildhoodWhat a treat! /s It is a fabulous book and movie, but good god, is it good for kids to experience that depth of grief...
  • jomidi on CBR Diversions – It’s Never too Late to Have a Happy ChildhoodI know I was a voracious reader, but I don't remember books from when I was very little. I do remember reading stuff like The...
  • andtheIToldYouSos on CBR Diversions – It’s Never too Late to Have a Happy Childhoodthey had to end our school day early after showing us that movie. you know, "as a treat" after we all barely survived the novel....
  • Nart on “You had to hand it to the Patrician, he admitted grudgingly. If you didn’t, he sent men to come and take it away.”What adaptation? If I don’t acknowledge it, it doesn’t exist.
  • KimMiE" on CBR Diversions – It’s Never too Late to Have a Happy ChildhoodI have never read this book, and thanks to all your warnings, I don't think I shall start now!
See More Recent Comments »

Want to Help Out?

CBR has a great crew of volunteers, and we're always looking for more people to help out. If you have a specialty or are willing to learn, drop MsWas a line.

  • How You Can Donate
  • FAQ
  • Shop
  • Volunteers
  • Leaderboard
  • AlabamaPink
  • Contact

Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo
  3. Google Pay
© 2021 Cannonball Read | Log in