[ book tip by Emily Bullock ] As a reader I have a problem with child narrators in general. So rarely do writers strike a convincing note using instead child prodigys to speak their words. I don’t know about you readers but my childhood compositions were filled with insightful phrases such as ‘it was fun’. However, Paul Theroux has created a protagonist, Charlie, who is both believable and innocent in his worship of his father. The family go on a journey fit to terrify the crew in Heart of Darkness. The father is recreated as a svengali figure but as a reader I just wanted to shake the boy and tell him to wake up and see his father’s madness. But what Theroux vividly creates is that pack instinct, the family turn on each, comfort each other, fight each other, love each other. A family under pressure but without a child genius is sight.

As I would expect from Theroux the landscape and travels are realistically captured and painted for the reader to experience. But if you’re looking for a travelogue then this book isn’t for you. This is a rites of passage story, you have to follow the child protagonist and trust that he will guide you through. If you can stick with the story for the first few chapters, in which the father is almost pantomime in his grotesqueness, then enjoy the journey, although it won’t be a comfortable ride.

[ book info ] Theroux, Paul: The Mosquito Coast. (Book language: English) Penguin, 1982 (1981). ISBN: 0-140-06089-8.