Quick! - going to Jamaica

[melv]

and I want a good book to take along for the plane and when I'm relaxing on the beach.

Suggestions?

[BlueEyedSon]

1. "Whats the matter with Kansas"

[donco6]

2. For a fun read:

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown.

[Wickerman]

3. Russell Banks, book of Jamaica

I can't imagine a better place to read this well written book about class struggle, cultures, self revelation and marijuana.

from Amazon.com.

The plot of this early Bank's novel revolves around a vacation to the seductive island of Jamaica by a college professor and his wife. They rent a home with patio and swimming pool on the outskirts of Port Antonio. Servants come on each day to cook and clean. The couple is protected from the turbulence of the island's cultural and political life by a fence made of both wire and social class (not to mention race). But the professor, the narrator of this tale, soon finds himself enjoying the company of the locals; in particular a young Rastafarian who has plenty of powerful Jamaican ganja he is very willing to share. Sure enough, before too much time has elapsed, the professor is smoking all the day long and providing transportation in his rental car to a small group of Marroons and Rastas that stay locally for short periods of time but live up in the mountains where they have their marijuana fields and live in villages with their families.
There are several trips back to the island after the narrator's life is completely transformed by his experiences during the first. His wife no longer accompanies him however as their marraige was one of the first casualities of his abrupt new fascination with Rastfarianism, Marroon culture, and ganja. You can imagine! But what starts out as an adventure full of promise, unfortunately follows an inevitable course ending in sorrow and not a little horror.

[ernstbass]

6. Wow that book sounds good!

[Wickerman]

7. Russell Banks is a brilliant author

he WRITES. Most of what I have read has affected me on much more than a surface level. Its certainly worth checking out.

[Richardo]

4. "Skinny Dip" by Carl Hiaasen - now in paperback

A tropical farce for the tropics. Hiaasen in classic form :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[mark11727]

5. Never mind that... bring me back a case of Red Stripe, mon.

[melv]

8. Cool, thanks everyone.

I have a short list to head to the library with tomorrow! Do you know if they let you take books out of the country? I might need to go to the bookstore instead.

[pitohui]

9. your library won't mind if you take books out of the country

occasionally i take a library book on my travels tho i used to do it more a few years ago when i was young and strong and could carry more weight in my bag

more often i take cheap used paperbacks so i can leave them behind for someone else when i finish reading

but it's ok to take library books as long as you will be back home by the due date

I take multiple books, some light suspense trash for when i am jet-lagged or can't concentrate, something deeper to hold my attention when i'm more alert, plus guide books

carl hiaissen or kinky friedman are fun fast reads, a more disturbing vacation read might be the cloud atlas by david mitchell

[yellowdogintexas]

10. Hiassen, Evanovich, Carole Nelson Douglas, Harlen Coben

Jeffrey Deaver are all good escape fiction writers.

[babylonsister]

11. "How Stella Got Her Groove Back"! What happens

in Jamaica doesn't necessarily stay there! Or was that Acapulco?:silly:

[elehhhhna]

12. Look for something from Dandicat. Or just grab some Grahame Green.

[Kire]

13. 'No Telephone To Heaven' by Michelle Cliff

One might expect a novel about Jamaica to be typical beach fare ("Come to Jamaica"), but Cliff depicts the island paradise as a powder keg. Clare, a light-skinned native, moves to New York City as a child, but her mother soon goes back home and dies shortly thereafter. Rebelling against her father's urgings to "pass" for her own good, Clare spends several rootless years in the States and studies Renaissance literature in England. Fascinated by her mother's and grandmother's culture and their reluctance to leave Jamaica despite bleak prospects, Clare returns as a young woman to a Jamaica she barely remembers. Not a romantic homecoming, Clare's experience is as unsettling as the Jamaica of the travelogues is lyrical. A glossary of Jamaican terms helps clarify the rich text. For wide-ranging fiction collections. Mary K. Prokop, CEL Regional Lib., Savannah, Ga.

Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

[Kire]

14. Don't relax on the beach.

Go to the mountains and learn about national hero Paul Bogle's resistance in Morant Bay and the indigenous Arawak people, and their struggle with the colonists.

[msrbly]

15. Two great ones for beach reading . . .

"The Beach" by Alex Garland. I read this one on a deserted beach in Michigan (yes, we do have them) and it was a great light read. Also, "Replay" by Grimwood. One of my all time favorites. I suppose it's science fiction and I'm not a science fiction fan but I love this book.