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White Shadows in the South Seas Frederick O'Brien 9781493752140 Books

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White Shadows in the South Seas Frederick O'Brien 9781493752140 Books

A fellow Amazon reviewer, Bob Newman, enjoys reading about the more remote “nooks and crannies” of the world. I noted his reviews a decade ago when reviewing the photographic books of Sabrina and Roland Michaud on Afghanistan, which were published in the 1970’s, yes, AVANT the catastrophe that has befallen the country and its people for the last four decades. Even today, we are the only reviews, or one of the few, on the books “Caravan to Tartary” and “Afghanistan.” Thus, when I was notified that he had recently reviewed this book, I decided it was worth an initial perusal, which resulted in a rapid send to my Kindle.

Embarrassingly, given my own fondness for obscure, I had never heard of the Marquesas Islands, which are part of French Polynesia, still administered from Tahiti, which is 900 miles away, towards the southwest. The Marquesas are approximately 11 degrees south of the equator; Tahiti is 17 degrees south. The author, Frederick O’Brien, whose background was that of a journalist and a vagabond, lived in the islands for about a year, just before the First World War, in 1913. He published this account in 1919. In part, O’Brien writes about the influence of these islands on two famous individuals: Paul Gauguin, the French artist, whose paintings reflect the vivid colors on the island, and Herman Melville, a one-time sailor who visited the islands and would write the book “Typee,” which is now on my list of required reading. Gauguin is buried on the island.

Also buried on the island, but not mentioned in the book (since he was born after its publication) is the French poet, Jacques Brel. Thor Heyerdahl, the Norwegian, famed for his book “Kon Tiki”, lived on the islands for a year. Robert Lewis Stevenson also visited and wrote “In the South Seas” as a result. And Aldous Huxley would use these islands as a place of exile, for those who “marched to the beat of a different drummer,” in his classic, “Brave New World.” The islands that have stirred the imagination of many, and clearly influenced many others, have a population of only 9,300 people, with the largest island in the group having a circumference of 70 miles. They were first claimed by Spain, via Peru, in around 1600, almost became American thanks to Captain Porter during the War of 1812, but eventually would be under French dominion, commencing in 1842.

O’Brien writes well and has produced a fascinating, “meaty” account of these islands and their people just before the catastrophe of WWI. He is not a trained ethnologist, anthropologist, public health advisor, et al., and his insights might well be all the better for it since he is not fitting his observations into a pre-determined academic framework – or refuting that framework. It is, as it is. O’Brien’s range is wide, virtually all inclusive, and he wears no “rose-tinted” spectacles. Before the white man came, the islands, well-populated, were not paradise. Due to their isolation, and the vagaries of the weather, famine would engulf the islands. Cannibalism, even of one’s own children would sometimes be the result. But even during the “good times,” in warring of peoples in different valleys, the victors would frequently consume the vanquished, in celebration. Thus, these islands had a reputation for cannibalism, but to O’Brien’s credit, he mentions that it was not unheard of in the West, from the Donner Party, back to the Illiad.

On the cusp of WWI, O’Brien states the catastrophe that hit these islands: “A hundred years ago there were a hundred and sixty thousand Marquesans in these islands. Twenty years ago, there were four thousand. Today I am convinced that there remain not twenty-one hundred.” The precipitous declined in population was caused by the importation of diseases for which the natives were not immune: Consumption (tuberculosis), leprosy (from China), and smallpox. Drugs were also imported, namely opium and alcohol, and they too contributed to the decimation of the population.

He tells many a wonderful anecdote about the humans on the island and, at times, his interactions with them. He is offered a child as a bride, and must diplomatically not refuse the offer, but adopt her as his “sister.” There is an old woman who can walk, unsupported, high up in a breadfruit tree. He visits the island of Nuka-hiva, 70 miles to the north taking open canoes to see a “real saint”: Pere Simeon Delmas. He is preparing for the Fete of Joan of Arc, a “miracle” produces a white horse, and he has nurtured a native virgin girl to play the part. In another story, climbing over the ridge into the next valley, he is almost raped by an “Amazon” of a woman. There is a happy Swiss who has lived in one location for 20 years, and reminds O’Brien that Kant was not very peripatetic either. And the hermit, Hemeury Francoise’s image will remain with me a long time, having survived a sailing vessel that was carrying coal from Boston to San Francisco. And then there are the descriptions of the flora and fauna, including shark hunting.

O’Brien is strongest in his moral observations: “The whites taught the men to sell their lives, and the women to sell their charms.” “The Marquesan saw that Jesus had small influence over their rulers. Civilization lost its opportunity because it gave precept, but no example.” His concluding paragraph is also worth a quote: “Some day when deeper poverty falls on Asia or the fortunes of war give all the South Seas to the Samurai, these islands will again be peopled. But never again will they know such beautiful children of nature, passionate and brave, as have been destroyed here. They shall have passed as did the old Greeks, but they will have left no written record save the feeble and misunderstanding observations of a few alien visitors.” Using the “Michelin standard” for a place of such interest that it is worth a journey, O’Brien’s work in opening my eyes deserves 6-stars.

Product details Paperback Publisher Createspace Language English ISBN-10 1493752146

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White Shadows in the South Seas Frederick O'Brien 9781493752140 Books Reviews

We think we’re civilized. We think we have culture, while those poor primitives out there used to kill and eat each other. They get tattoos, they fight with sharks, they eat dogs, cats, and sea centipedes, and they go around half-naked. Sheesh, what savages! Of course, our rivers do catch on fire occasionally, we pollute everything we touch, people are eating dog food come wintertime, thousands die of addictions every year, and we can wipe out whole villages from 35,000 feet up, and can threaten the whole planet if occasion demands. Yes, well, have you ever seen a white shadow? I was wondering what that was before I read this book, based on a stay in the Marquesas islands of the South Pacific back in 1913. Well, I don’t think I’m spoiling much if I drop the answer right here. “White shadows” refers to us, the people of the West—Europe and America---whose whalers, traders, and slavers arrived in the South Pacific like a bunch of crazy, murderous, drunk, kidnapping pirates who claimed to be civilized. Compared to what?.....is an excellent question.
OK, maybe Frederick O’Brien used some language that wouldn’t rank among politically-correct phrases today. Maybe also he still held some weird 19th century ideas about sunken continents and Polynesians as being actually Caucasians. But for his time, he was right on. He didn’t play the Great White sahib/bwana/tuan, but lived, ate, and played with the locals and he didn’t act superior in any way. Of course, he enjoyed “white privilege”, but that phrase wasn’t even invented then. He just did his best to fit in, accepting what was given and not looking down on anyone. He met various foreign castaways and hermits, he met tattooed old cannibals and recorded some of their (rather horrific) stories, he learned how to surf, climbed up the steep, green valleys, and admired the local girls, but (at least in print) did not succumb to their wiles. He wrote a fine book about the lifeways and beauties of the remote archipelago that perhaps half a century before had had 100,000 people, but by 1913 had only 4,000. What I especially liked about this book is the sense that runs through the whole thing that such a disaster was entirely avoidable had people acted differently, that the supposedly civilized Westerners had caused this near-genocide, bringing disease and culture-collapse. Like many people back over a hundred years ago, O’Brien thought that the Marquesans were doomed to disappear. People used to write that about the Native Americans, Ainu, and Hawaiians too. They did not disappear after all, but in the case of the Marquesas, they never recovered, their culture was shattered, and the survivors lived most dispiritedly amongst the luxuriant fruit, flowers, ferns, and rugged mountains surrounded by the Pacific. It's good to remember idyllic scenes of long-gone South Seas islands, but it's also good to recall the more sombre realities.
we bought this as a gift and our friend really enjoyed it! beautiful book and I'm probably going to get a few more! Cathy
Not a travelogue, it is the account from a keen observer of humanity of an extended sojourn among the people of the Marquesas Islands and ultimately his reflections on the devastations among the population resulting from the culture shock of encounter with Western civilization. Brief quotation from his reflections “…changes in the customs of every race must come from within that race or they will destroy it. The essence of life is freedom.”
I give it a 4 even though I did not finish reading it. It was very decent writing but I have recently been through a LOT of old South Sea authors and wasn't quite ready for more at this point. I can't add much more to this comment than that.
This account of the Marquesas in 1919 holds one's interest, but is not something for one sitting. I picked it up in an inn furnished with old books and had to ferret it away (don't tell!). The Marquesans have interesting names (in translation) Malicious Gossip (f), Exploding Eggs (m), Vanquished Often (f), Seventh Man Who is so Angry he Wallows in the Mire (m), etc Maybe something we should adopt for our public figures.
A fellow reviewer, Bob Newman, enjoys reading about the more remote “nooks and crannies” of the world. I noted his reviews a decade ago when reviewing the photographic books of Sabrina and Roland Michaud on Afghanistan, which were published in the 1970’s, yes, AVANT the catastrophe that has befallen the country and its people for the last four decades. Even today, we are the only reviews, or one of the few, on the books “Caravan to Tartary” and “Afghanistan.” Thus, when I was notified that he had recently reviewed this book, I decided it was worth an initial perusal, which resulted in a rapid send to my .

Embarrassingly, given my own fondness for obscure, I had never heard of the Marquesas Islands, which are part of French Polynesia, still administered from Tahiti, which is 900 miles away, towards the southwest. The Marquesas are approximately 11 degrees south of the equator; Tahiti is 17 degrees south. The author, Frederick O’Brien, whose background was that of a journalist and a vagabond, lived in the islands for about a year, just before the First World War, in 1913. He published this account in 1919. In part, O’Brien writes about the influence of these islands on two famous individuals Paul Gauguin, the French artist, whose paintings reflect the vivid colors on the island, and Herman Melville, a one-time sailor who visited the islands and would write the book “Typee,” which is now on my list of required reading. Gauguin is buried on the island.

Also buried on the island, but not mentioned in the book (since he was born after its publication) is the French poet, Jacques Brel. Thor Heyerdahl, the Norwegian, famed for his book “Kon Tiki”, lived on the islands for a year. Robert Lewis Stevenson also visited and wrote “In the South Seas” as a result. And Aldous Huxley would use these islands as a place of exile, for those who “marched to the beat of a different drummer,” in his classic, “Brave New World.” The islands that have stirred the imagination of many, and clearly influenced many others, have a population of only 9,300 people, with the largest island in the group having a circumference of 70 miles. They were first claimed by Spain, via Peru, in around 1600, almost became American thanks to Captain Porter during the War of 1812, but eventually would be under French dominion, commencing in 1842.

O’Brien writes well and has produced a fascinating, “meaty” account of these islands and their people just before the catastrophe of WWI. He is not a trained ethnologist, anthropologist, public health advisor, et al., and his insights might well be all the better for it since he is not fitting his observations into a pre-determined academic framework – or refuting that framework. It is, as it is. O’Brien’s range is wide, virtually all inclusive, and he wears no “rose-tinted” spectacles. Before the white man came, the islands, well-populated, were not paradise. Due to their isolation, and the vagaries of the weather, famine would engulf the islands. Cannibalism, even of one’s own children would sometimes be the result. But even during the “good times,” in warring of peoples in different valleys, the victors would frequently consume the vanquished, in celebration. Thus, these islands had a reputation for cannibalism, but to O’Brien’s credit, he mentions that it was not unheard of in the West, from the Donner Party, back to the Illiad.

On the cusp of WWI, O’Brien states the catastrophe that hit these islands “A hundred years ago there were a hundred and sixty thousand Marquesans in these islands. Twenty years ago, there were four thousand. Today I am convinced that there remain not twenty-one hundred.” The precipitous declined in population was caused by the importation of diseases for which the natives were not immune Consumption (tuberculosis), leprosy (from China), and smallpox. Drugs were also imported, namely opium and alcohol, and they too contributed to the decimation of the population.

He tells many a wonderful anecdote about the humans on the island and, at times, his interactions with them. He is offered a child as a bride, and must diplomatically not refuse the offer, but adopt her as his “sister.” There is an old woman who can walk, unsupported, high up in a breadfruit tree. He visits the island of Nuka-hiva, 70 miles to the north taking open canoes to see a “real saint” Pere Simeon Delmas. He is preparing for the Fete of Joan of Arc, a “miracle” produces a white horse, and he has nurtured a native virgin girl to play the part. In another story, climbing over the ridge into the next valley, he is almost raped by an “” of a woman. There is a happy Swiss who has lived in one location for 20 years, and reminds O’Brien that Kant was not very peripatetic either. And the hermit, Hemeury Francoise’s image will remain with me a long time, having survived a sailing vessel that was carrying coal from Boston to San Francisco. And then there are the descriptions of the flora and fauna, including shark hunting.

O’Brien is strongest in his moral observations “The whites taught the men to sell their lives, and the women to sell their charms.” “The Marquesan saw that Jesus had small influence over their rulers. Civilization lost its opportunity because it gave precept, but no example.” His concluding paragraph is also worth a quote “Some day when deeper poverty falls on Asia or the fortunes of war give all the South Seas to the Samurai, these islands will again be peopled. But never again will they know such beautiful children of nature, passionate and brave, as have been destroyed here. They shall have passed as did the old Greeks, but they will have left no written record save the feeble and misunderstanding observations of a few alien visitors.” Using the “Michelin standard” for a place of such interest that it is worth a journey, O’Brien’s work in opening my eyes deserves 6-stars.