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Summary: If you've got adventure in your blood... you'll LOVE IT!
Review: If you ever catch yourself sitting in your office and daydreaming of abandoning everything to embark on something really big and stupid then this is the book for you. Once I started i couldn't put it down. I agree that the writing style has something to be desired, although in a way i think it adds to the book. Remember the author is a kayak salesmen not a professional writer. Bottom line is I can't remember the last time i read a book that really inspired me to do something. Those of you with any adventure in your blood will surely be planning your next outdoor excursion by the time you finish this book, and just maybe you'll try something bigger and stupider than you ever thought yourself capable of...
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Summary: Macho kayaking; this is no "vision quest"
Review: If you had a word-search program you could connect to this book, I wonder how aften yo'd come up with the word "Klepper". My first qualm is that it reads like a 410-page ad for Klepper Kayaks. Paul Theroux, in his "Happy Isles" book also uses a Klepper kayak but he mentions it so discreetly that only the interested reader will know it's a Klepper. I realize that the difference was that Klepper was one of Stiller's sponsors, but this could have been mentioned in the acknowledgemnts section of the book. Secondly, as I kayaker myself, these two characters are not "couragous" as a reviewer suggests, but foolhardy as best. Trying to log as many kilometers as possible each day they often decide to make landfall way past dusk, often in the dark of night squinting to see where they can see lighter shadows that will indicate sandy beaches. Dog-tired and weary, they also think nothing of launching in stormy seas, and risk capsizing several times. Where is the courage in this type of behavior? Sea kayaking magazines are full of accident stories of kayakers such as these who don't understand "reckless endangerment". And thirdly, what is irritating is that Stiller, a New Yorker, picks up Australian slang and from about the 3rd chapter onwards, peppers the text with words such as "mate", "dosh" (money), brekky (breakfast), "tucker" (food), and there's more. There's not much introspection as one would expect for such a long journey but rather much gnashing-of-teeth as Stiller pines for his N.Y. girl friend who eventually ends up by finding someone else, as well as near-constant arguments between himself and his Australian kayaking partner. The focus of every stop is a mad dash to the post office to see if there are letters from Nicole. The entire journey reads like a race; launch, paddle-or-sail-as-fast-we-can-go to the next point on the map, eat, sleep, repeat. The best part of the whole book is when they cross the Gulf of Carpentia, a trip that takes them five days and is an epic unto itself. Not for the fainthearted.
Rating:
Summary: A pleasure
Review: Just the general plot of the story should be enough to grab the reader's attention...circumnavigate Australia in a kayak. When I first heard about the story, I wanted to read just to see the types of hardships Eric and Tony encountered. I imagined reading about 20-foot seas, paralyzing ocean creatures and physical stress. Though Stiller did not fail to document these accounts, he also detailed the episodes of humor and gut-wrenching journeys. It is a delight to see a novice writer express his experiences so colorfully. In Stiller's case, telling his tale in words was natural. I know words can't do justice to Eric and Tony's experience, but the book does its best to fit you in the kayak with them.I, too, know Eric Stiller. I had the opportunity to meet him after reading his book. Though he never completed his first mission, I am looking forward to reading about his next journey.
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Summary: You Thought Backpacking in Europe w/ Your Roommate was Tough
Review: Keep Australia on Your Left is a very interesting book on a number of accounts. People who travel with friends in foreign lands know the inevitable strains that traveling in unfamilar territory places on a relationship. Couple that with the harrowing experiences that Eric and Tony encounter daily in their kayak, Southern Cross, and you've got an adventure that is not only taxing on the body, but also the psyche. To me, a non-kayaker, the fact that the trip was made in a kayak is irrelevant. It is interesting because it is about traveling in a foreign land, travelers finding themselves in dangerous circumstances, and the strain of travelers extracting an irreparable toll on the travelers' relationship. Unlike a couple of my fellow reviewers, I do not know Eric Stiller. But based solely on what I have read, I have to say that the one major issue that I have with the book is that I don't exactly like Eric! I commend him for his honest feelings throughout the book, but I found him to be extremely self-involved, quite unrepentant, and for lack of a better phrase, "smarter than thou." And I question how much he has learned or has changed as a result of his experiences. I feel for Tony's having had to endure this for the duration on the trip under life-threatening circumstances. That said, I enjoyed the book and commend both of them for making it as far as they did.
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Summary: The Adventure of an adventure...
Review: Let me first start off by saying that I have a little more insight on this author. I lived next door to him most of my childhood. We played basketball, electric football, touch football and even street hockey. This book does not surprise me about him. Growing up, he was very intense. When Eric had an idea that got into his head, he took it upon himself to plan, re-plan and do whatever it takes to get the job done. My review title is a summary of what this book is really about. I too, had the opportunity to go one an adventure with one individual. Our transportaion were bicycles. I surely learned toleration, acceptance, frustration, compassion and any other feeling for the other person. The journey is only part of the story. There was a definite personality clash between the two and that is what finally did the trip in. This is real life. Not everything happens the way we want it to or ends the way we intend it. I give him major credit for even attempting this unfathomable journey. I know I surely wouldn't attempt it; not even with my wife, who is my best friend....
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Summary: Reality and the modern day adventurer
Review: Modern day team adventuring is perhaps as much about the relationship of the team as the goal and physical challenges at hand. Gone are the days of the desperate explorer conquering the elements because there was no other choice but to push on. In an age of adventure though television and Castaway with a box of buttered popcorn it was most refreshing to read a truthful detailed look at getting the job done in spite of physical and sometimes emotional pain. Pain from salt water sores, bleeding blisters, seasickness, lack of sleep, disgareements and distance from loved ones. In spite of traveling as a team it seemed as though it was a profoundly lonely trip for each paddler, lonely but difficult in dealing with one another. Solo and lonely is another often more manageable situation for the modern day adventurer. We must pick our adventure partners carefully and these two (Tony and Eric) should have never commited to a year in a 17 foot double kayak together. It is irrelevant that the 2 paddlers ended the attempt early. What is relevant is that they tried and accomplished much. Hmmpphh to the couch potato who talks a good adventure. Hats off to a couple of humans in a wood and skin kayak who took the chance. A chance to learn, a chance to succeed, a chance to fail. In this book I could feel the days crawl by as the two paddled and sailed north and west with the coast. The inner dialogue of mind over discomfort coupled with the actual dialogue of the paddlers provided me with a look at just how thrilling, peaceful, fulfilling and ugly life can be in a small boat at sea. If you collect stories of the sea or adventure this title is a must for your collection!
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Summary: Discovering Onomatopeoia
Review: No, that's not another name for Australia. It's the use of words whose sound suggests the sense. Mr. Stiller employs the technique ad nauseum. Never have I read a paragraph that consists entirely of the letters B (1 time), O (6 times), M (9 times), S (22 times), and H (5 times). You can imagine my suspense, which was only heightened by a paragraph on the next page, as follows: "Whoooowhhooooouuuuuouuuwhouuuuuuu." This goes on and on. There is a fascinating story underlying the poor writing style. The technique is bad, as is the failure to provide more insight into the effect of the journey on character development. Ultimately, these issues render the book nearly unreadable.
Rating:
Summary: Discovering Onomatopeoia
Review: No, that's not another name for Australia. It's the use of words whose sound suggests the sense. Mr. Stiller employs the technique ad nauseum. Never have I read a paragraph that consists entirely of the letters B (1 time), O (6 times), M (9 times), S (22 times), and H (5 times). You can imagine my suspense, which was only heightened by a paragraph on the next page, as follows: "Whoooowhhooooouuuuuouuuwhouuuuuuu." This goes on and on. There is a fascinating story underlying the poor writing style. The technique is bad, as is the failure to provide more insight into the effect of the journey on character development. Ultimately, these issues render the book nearly unreadable.
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Summary: Why not read Paul Caffyn's books ?
Review: Paul has paddled around the South Island of New Zealand in 1977. In 1979, he paddled around the North Island and Stewart Island. He went on to paddle around Great Britain in 1980 (in an English-built Nordkapp), Australia in 1982, Japan in 1985, and around the entire coastline of Alaska between 1989 and 1991. All solo. (...)
Rating:
Summary: I loved it!
Review: this book catches your attention, and from the very first page on, you can't put it down. The author does't bore you, yet he tells many details. There's humor, anger, fun, and much, much more. Even if you've never picked up a kayak paddle or don't even know what a klepper is, READ IT!
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