Michener revisited

In providing a little history, as he does throughout Getting Stoned with Savages, Troost reminded me of a book I either read in college, but don’t remember…or perhaps it was yet another that I intended to read but never got around to reading, Michener’s Tales of the South Pacific.   The title comes up as Troost is explaining the origins of one of the three main population groups in Vanuatu:  followers of John Frum.  The island of Santo, among others, was used as a staging area by the United States Navy during WWII, and all the cargo brought in essentially proved to those who believed in the Frum Movement that John Frum was right when he encouraged them to ignore the white missionaries and return to the “old” ways – celebrating ceremonies, dancing and drinking kava.  He claimed they would be rewarded with precious cargo if they did so.  Of course, all the cargo brought to the island by the U.S. soldiers confirmed Frum’s words in the minds of the native peoples.

In any case, being a sucker for “island” stories, almost as much as being a sucker for “end of the world” stories (stay tuned for tomorrow’s post), I’ve decided that before summer is over, I’m going to get my hands on a copy of Tales of the South Pacific for my personal book shelf.  Now, whether I actually get to reading it is another story entirely.