DrJoe 2008-06-19
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
This book explores the character of a father who takes his family to several remote locations in Honduras to escape what he sees as the evils of mid-20th century America. The father is believable and finely drawn, and although readers may not like him, they may well empathize, as the father's motives and actions are all too understandable. The novel does a fine job in describing the dangers a man faces, and how dangerous to others that man can be, when he becomes alienated, albeit for good and defensible reasons, from society.
A minor criticism is that the father's inventions are described in detail, but the author does not seem to have much understanding of such things. Thus, glasses of water freeze in the space of a short conversation in the father's novel refrigerator (what would the temperature have to be to do this, -60 degF or so?). There are brackets, levers, pumps, gears, and pipes galore throughout the book, all of which never quite seem to combine into anything understandable. Maybe it's the former engineer coming out in me, but if you don't understand technology it's best to dwell elsewhere in your writing (and maybe it's best to dwell elsewhere even if you do).
I originally became interested in the theme of "Mosquito Coast" while reading "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver, in which a father takes his family to the Congo for similar but more religiously motivated reasons. I was especially interested in gaining insights into the character of such a person. Unfortunately, in that book, the father is sketched as a parody and his character is flat. Instead of character development, the author devotes herself to amateurish left-wing political speculation, an often incorrect recounting of historical events in Africa, and a transparently feminist agenda. If you think literature and politics are best left separate, or if you want sophisticated political analysis, don't waste your time on "The Poisonwood Bible."
