Bored with his teaching job, Michael Moran gives it up to travel.
In a rapidly shrinking world, he seeks remoteness and is drawn to
the islands of Papua New Guinea for their combination of isolation,
beauty, and peace; there too he will find ancient cultures and
traditions, some scarcely changed since the Stone Age but now under
threat from the invasions of the outside world. The very names of
the places he visits reflects the variety of those invaders, among
them eccentrics, explorers, missionaries, traders, anthropologists,
aid workers, soldiers and romantics, and he has many riveting,
hilarious and often tragic tales to tell of this great cast of
characters. Independent Papua New Guinea covers a vast area. Over
800 of the world's languages are spoken here: they reflect the
cultural diversity of an artificially created political 'unity' and
Michael Moran gives the reader an idea of the difficulties involved
in introducing democratic measures acceptable and intelligible to
all. Clashes are inevitable: in the Highlands disaffected young men
are unemployed and violence is common; the activities of Westerners
often exploit and inevitably sit uneasily alongside the
expectations of native Papuans with their wholly different
attitudes to time and property. In Beyond the Coral Sea, in which
scenes of ravishing wild natural beauty and celebrations are often
contrasted with the squalid and impoverished areas of human
habitation, Michael Moran gives us a vital insight into a vanishing
world in a way that is both instructive and entertaining. This is
travel writing of high quality, for he respects what he sees and
helps us to respect it and to understand why, as a missionary he
interviews says, life there can be both terrible and wonderful.
(Kirkus UK)
East of Java, west of Tahiti and north of the Cape York peninsula
of Australia lie the unknown paradise islands of the Coral, Solomon
and Bismarck Seas. They were perhaps the last inhabited place on
earth to be explored by Europeans, and even today many remain
largely unspoilt, despite the former presence of German, British
and even Australian colonial rulers. Michael Moran, a veteran
traveller, begins his journey on the island of Samarai, historic
gateway to the old British Protectorate, as the guest of the benign
grandson of a cannibal. He explores the former capitals of German
New Guinea and headquarters of the disastrous New Guinea Compagnie,
its administrators decimated by malaria and murder. He travels
along the inaccessible Rai Coast through the Archipelago of
Contented Men, following in the footsteps of the great Russian
explorer 'Baron' Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay. The historic
anthropological work of Bronislaw Malinowski guides him through the
seductive labyrinth of the Trobriand 'Islands of Love' and the
erotic dances of the yam festival. Darkly humorous characters, both
historical and contemporary, spring vividly to life as the author
steers the reader through the richly fascinating cultures of
Melanesia. 'Beyond the Coral Sea' is a captivating voyage of
unusual brilliance and a memorable evocation of a region which has
been little written about during the past century.
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