Paradise by Larry McMurtry

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I read Paradise by Larry McMurtry while trying to recover from bronchitis a week ago. The recovery has been slow going.

The book was a short meandering travelogue of Larry's trip to Tahiti and the Marquesa Islands. He begins by recounting his parents' marriage falling apart some years ago, comparing (and contrasting -- one word: water!) the isolation of Texas to that of islands he's visiting, observing his fellow travelers on the ship, considering the effect of the extreme isolation of the Marquesas, and commenting on famous people's visits to the area, especially the painter Gauguin.

Several of the reviewers featured on Amazon.com didn't like the book at all because of its disorganization and slow pace, but I enjoyed it, and liked the eclectic content. It is a short book, and that helps -- many hundreds of pages of this style would become tedious. But this was nice.

I haven't read anything else by McMurtry, but Erin's read Lonesome Dove and a few of his other books, and I'm more interested in reading more of his writing now.

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