Rating: 
Summary: Average Telling of Anthro-like Tale
Review: A fairly pedestrian travel/adventure bio about an English woman who decides, after viewing 'The Bounty', to learn about the island of Pitcairn and scheme to get there. This small, isolated island is where the original mutineers of the Bounty eventually landed and began a community which has since dwindled to number in the 30's. The packaging is somewhat misleading, not only in its description of how many people had gone to Pitcairn before, the author was not the first, but also in its setting expectations that the island would be considerably more rudimentary. Without regular external contact, I suppose I wasn't expecting electricity through generators, island natives running about on four-wheel ATVs, and passing the time watching videos. Typical anthropological biases come into play especially with her romanticizing the situation, condescension towards the natives and their customs, and her stand-offish isolation at times. Her amusing attempts to rationalize a sordid encounter w/ the island's resident lothario, provide a mild distraction from an otherwise unremarkable narrative. For a similar, much more elegant treatment of daily survival in a society, see 'Shipwrecks' by Yoshimura, or Dr. Sack's 'Island of the Colorblind'.
Rating: 
Summary: serpent in paradise
Review: A great read, very insightful as to how an isolated society can be. The book kind of makes you nervous about goingto Pitcairn. But, it is better to know. The author spared us an idyllic account,and I found that much more interesting than the usual voyage book. SHealso gave a lot of very interesting facts about the religion, food, work, government, etc,. In fact, I saw most of the people she named on the Pitcairn shopping mall on the Internet, so she was telling the truth about their handicrafts, anyway, I felt like I knew them all.
Rating: 
Summary: Childish and immature writing
Review: A real disappointment, poorly written,started off well but quickly went down hill from there. A naive writer who quickly lost my interest.
Rating: 
Summary: Soap Opera in Paradise!
Review: After reading some of the more negative reviews of this book, I was nearly persuaded not to purchase it. However, my curiosity about this author's tabloid-worthy experiences on the infamous island of the Bounty Mutineers got the better of me, and I waited with much impatience for this book to arrive!Like a lot of Pitcairn enthusiasts, my interest (rather new, I admit) in this tiny, unique community was sparked by a movie interpretation of the Bounty story. In my case it was the 1984 version with Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson. Dea Birkett saw this version too, and it was one written line at the end of the film about the descendents of the mutineers still living on Pitcairn today that got us both. While I have worn out my eyes reading histories on the internet, Birkett took her fantasies of this storied place to their ultimate realization, and she wrote this account of her extended stay with the isolated islanders. This is a real page-turner. Birkett delves into the everyday lives of her hosts with a vigor that, at times, seems reckless. She wants so badly to become a part of these people, to live like them, work like them, and think like them - all the time oblivious to the fact that she can never become a true Pitcairner since she was not born there and does not share their blood. She reports on the failures of other longtime non-native residents and guests to "fit in", disdainfully speculating that they must have done some secret thing wrong, and she does not entertain the idea that she may likely have the same fate befall her. Meanwhile, Birkett sees nothing wrong with indulging in Carlsbergs with the island's rebellious younger set - or even with having illicit relations with one of the men - while knowing her devout host Irma would be furious at these transgressions against both her Adventist faith and her hospitality. The most outrageous thing about Birkett's frame of mind, however, is that she thinks on an island of 48 people she'll never be found out! I can't judge Birkett for her actions; lord knows we all make mistakes in this life. But so many of her actions - indeed, the very action of writing this book! - seem to be of selfishness. She has put the private lives and most intimate moments of a small group of people up for public display while knowing of their disdain of all written accounts about them. Reading this book does feel, at times, like voyeurism, and I felt a little bad peeking into the private lives and pecadillos of people whom I will most likely never meet and certainly never get to know well. They were unwillingly put in this position (writers are severely shunned on Pitcairn to prevent documents just like this very book from being written; Birkett lied on her landing application about her reason for visiting), a fact which smacks of unfairness and even disrespect. But you won't want to put this book down. I have to echo the sentiments of a few reviewers here by agreeing that old Dea's got some issues, but she knows how to write a good story. Her descriptions of the island put you solidly there, and the Pitcairners themselves emerge as the complex, fully real people that they are. I admire Birkett's tenacity in fulfilling her fantasies of getting to Pitcairn, and perhaps most acutely, I admire her willingness to present her all-too-human flaws to the world in this fascinating account. It's a satisfying, if somewhat guilty, read!
Rating:
Summary: A bit naive, but most of us want an island paradise
Review: As an American living on a small, isolated, half-British, religious island, I thought it'd be interesting to see what parallels there are to life on Pitcairn, an even smaller, more isolated, and more religious half-British island than Bermuda. From the book there do seem to be quite a few similarities, different maybe only in scale. Like Birkett, I no longer have visions of an island paradise anywhere. If anything, small beautiful islands in the middle of the ocean are as much prisons as utopias. Probably more so. I also have a generally lazy impression of the locals as well, although I think that's actually the reality, not just the impression, on my island. No Bermudian would ever consider painting their courthouse, harvesting bananas, or digging for arrowroot. Much less actually building their own house. (Unlike Pitcairn, however, this is a wealthy, modern little island. With a lot more than 38 people. But I digress...) I'd agree with most reviewers that the writer is a bit clueless as to why she came to be shunned by the Pitcairners. If all 38 islanders can tell what's going on just by listening to the sound of each other's motorbikes, how can she possibly think she could keep an affair with one of her host's friends a secret? Nor should she be let off the hook for her treatment of Dennis, the guy who tries to woo her. Even though she constantly criticizes Pitcairners for never showing their true feelings, she never confronts Dennis about his obvious feelings for her. His love letter is the only piece of mail ever sent locally on Pitcairn. What does she do in response? Ask him how he feels about her, agree to meet somewhere to really talk things over? Nope, she goes and sleeps with one his friends. Typical. But I don't agree with their chummy assessments of Royal, the most venomous Pitcairner in the book. Not only was she constantly slagging off Dea every chance she got, but she hid nails (big ones, face up!) in her other neighbor's front yard because she thought he was stealing her bananas. This is on an island where everyone walks around barefoot, with no doctors for thousands of miles. Just because she hates Dea doesn't mean she's any prize herself. To sum it up, I wouldn't expect to hop off a ship and within a matter of months ingratiate myself with 38 islanders who hardly ever see the outside world. But I do think the writer makes some fair judgments about the duplicitous personalities of the Pitcairners. And I'm not sure she was necessarily critical of this. Towards the end she realizes that this is as much a survival tactic as anything else for such a small society. I, for one, am surprised they're not even crazier.
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating read marred only by the author's character
Review: As more people go to places that were previously remote, travel writing becomes more and more contrived resulting in books like "Across India by Elephant". Pitcairn Island, however, is probably one of the few places left on earth that is truly remote. Dea Birkett not only gets there (no mean feat in itself) but manages to stay for several months and gets to know the islanders. The book is fascinating as a study of a community that is truly unique; less than 40 people, almost all related to each other, living thousands of miles from anywhere and dependent largely on the kindness of random passing ships and distant dreamers. In that sense the book is pretty hard to put down. Unfortunately, the author's constant negativity soon becomes distracting. She has few kind things to say about anyone, and descriptions of the islanders, their words, their actions, either hint of disparagement or are outright critical. This is a bit galling given that she lied about her purpose to obtain permission to visit, and one of the families opened their house to a her, a complete stranger, for several months. As the book progresses, it becomes apparent that the islanders don't really mean anything to the author other than as a medium for her own experiences; as something to write about. Toward the end she has an affair with one of the islanders, a married man whose family is off-island. Although she denies it at least twice when confronted about it in person, she has no qualms about writing about it in her book. Classy, huh?
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating read marred only by the author's character
Review: As more people go to places that were previously remote, travel writing becomes more and more contrived resulting in books like "Across India by Elephant". Pitcairn Island, however, is probably one of the few places left on earth that is truly remote. Dea Birkett not only gets there (no mean feat in itself) but manages to stay for several months and gets to know the islanders. The book is fascinating as a study of a community that is truly unique; less than 40 people, almost all related to each other, living thousands of miles from anywhere and dependent largely on the kindness of random passing ships and distant dreamers. In that sense the book is pretty hard to put down. Unfortunately, the author's constant negativity soon becomes distracting. She has few kind things to say about anyone, and descriptions of the islanders, their words, their actions, either hint of disparagement or are outright critical. This is a bit galling given that she lied about her purpose to obtain permission to visit, and one of the families opened their house to a her, a complete stranger, for several months. As the book progresses, it becomes apparent that the islanders don't really mean anything to the author other than as a medium for her own experiences; as something to write about. Toward the end she has an affair with one of the islanders, a married man whose family is off-island. Although she denies it at least twice when confronted about it in person, she has no qualms about writing about it in her book. Classy, huh?
Rating:
Summary: A flawed writer investigates a society in its death throes
Review: Dea Birkett became obsessed with Pitcairn Island, populated with 37 descendants of the 'Mutiny on the Bounty.' It has neither phones, nor a landing strip, nor even a harbor, so just getting there was a tale of perseverance in itself. Birkett thought she was going to a tropical paradise, but after three months, she began to fear for her physical safety. As other reviewers have pointed out, Birkett is, to put it mildly, a severely flawed person. She lied to get a visitor's permit, although her charade was so transparent, it's hard to believe she fooled anyone on Pitcairn. More serious was her habit of habitually lying and the conflict this created with Irma, her host/employer/landlady. Yet unfathomably, Birkett tells the truth about having sex with the island's sole policeman, a married man. Does she not care how this will affect his family when her book is published? Birkett is clueless about how badly she comes across to the reader. But she is on target in revealing that this isolated island of 37 people is no paradise. She correctly discovers that violent crime is a problem, and that law enforcement is nonexistent because even the island cop is concerned about retribution from anyone he arrests. Birkett herself eventually concludes her life is in danger. It is noteworthy that in late 2001, the British government announced it was prosecuting a large component of Pitcairn's male population for the widespread practice of adult males engaging in sex with female children. The Pitcairnese do not deny the allegations, but instead claim the British are insensitive to their unique cultural practices(!). The resulting trials may very well lead to the end of this society, which now appears to have been too isolated and too tight-knit for its own good. Birkett is a very flawed observer, but her book has a prophetic quality about it, knowing what we now know about how pathological this supposed 'island paradise' actually is. The end result is a travel narrative that is a fascinating page-turner, about a society that probably won't exist five years from now.
Rating:
Summary: Taking another view
Review: Dea Birkett has written a book about Pitcairn Island, a sure bet to be a good seller ... Pitcairn is a dream for so many people - but believe me when you live on a small island you come face to face with your own issues.
This is a mean spirited book that attacks a people that can't (and shouldn't have to) defend themselves.
People that come to visit Tahiti often say they'd like to settle here, with little understanding of life on an island, life in another culture, life being an alien to that culture. This is basically what Dea Birkett did on Pitcairn ... she came to Pitcairn under false pretenses and lied her way through her stay.
Afterwards she visited Norfolk Island (the same people as Pitcairn Island) wearing dark sunglasses so as not to be recognised and wrote a derogeratory article for an Australian Newspaper.
Perhaps she could continue her life and try to face her own issues rather than putting out other people's dirty laundry.
And perhaps to learn to respect another's culture even if one can't come to an understanding of it.
Rating:
Summary: unusual spellbinder
Review: Dea Birkett's adventures and sensitive approach to being a guest on Pitcairn were fascinating to read. I found it hard to put her book down, and her courage is admirable. Makes one want to read more exciting personal accounts of faraway places....
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