Reviews for Robert Louis Stevenson in the Pacific

The average rating for Robert Louis Stevenson in the Pacific based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-12-30 00:00:00 Adrian Avalos This book is precious, something special to read. This is the story of a man, Poldek,a victim of the Nazis who was saved by Oskar Schindler and eventually, in "California, Beverly Hills" had a very good business in handbags and briefcases. His life's mission was to have a book, then a film, made about his hero and saviour whom he called his own personal Jesus Christ. A chance meeting with the Australian-Irish author Thomas Keneally who was in the store looking for a replacement briefcase, brought it about. Truly it's a story of how Poldek introduced Keneally to the great humanitarian Schindler and induced him to write about it. How the two travelled through the US, Europe and Israel putting the book together. Then, once it was written, getting it made into a film, a more than decade-long undertaking. As Poldek said right from the beginning, he wanted 'an Oscar for Oskar' (with the Booker Prize along the way). The story of the writing of the book and making of the film is interlayered with Keneally's life in Australia and California and in Eritrea too. The passages where he is both a reporter and later election observer in war-torn Eritrea do have a certain resonance with the main story of the awful inhumanity that was the Holocaust. The book, personalising this period with names, pictures and the updated, often successful lives of those, who thanks to Schindler, were survivors, makes the Holocaust more real and more horrific than the pictures of living skeletons and the piles of bodies of the documentaries. In the book there is a small story of Ralph Fiennes, a fine actor and a man much greater-spirited than myself. Keneally had met him in the bar where the film people were gathered one evening and had signed a copy of Searching for Schindler for him. Not knowing that Ralph was pronounced Rafe, he had heard Ray and written the dedication accordingly. Ralph Fiennes said nothing and later, when Keneally found out he went and apologised for his gaucherie. Years ago I had worked briefly for Ralph Fiennes famous explorer cousin, Ranulph Fiennes, and when I left he presented me with a book he had signed for me. My name was spelled wrong. I said something.... After all these years, reading the greater generosity of Ralph Fiennes has made me embarrassed all over again. The five stars I've rated this book, should be golden and twinkling, like beacons of light in a dark and overcast sky.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-04-22 00:00:00 Wally Majors I read Schindler's List more than twenty years ago; long enough ago that the title was Schindlers Ark. Like many people, I knew that Keneally first heard about Oskar Schindler when he bought a briefcase from a luggage retailer in Los Angeles. I didn't know much more than that, though, and this memoir fills in the details of that particular story. It covers in some detail Keneally's initial encounter with Leopold (Poldek) Pfefferburg and his wife, his meetings with other Holocaust survivors who were on "Schindler's List", the research, writing and publication process of the novel, and the ultimate adaptation of the novel into the award winning film. The memoir also covers other aspects of Keneally's life, before, during and after writing the novel that gave him an international reputation. This includes his experiences in Eritrea, which led to the writing of To Asmara. The memoir's at its best when describing the process of researching and writing "Schindler's List" and most particularly when the dynamic and irrepressible Poldek is present. I also found interesting Keneally's account of his travels in Eritrea. However, I found the detailed account of the film-makng process somewhat less interesting, although I can understand how fascinating it would have been for Keneally. I listened to an audiobook edition of the book, which was capably narrated by Humphrey Bower. Keneally's distinctive voice is reasonably well-known to many Australians, and while Bower doesn't imitate him, he does manage to inject Keneally's characteristic enthusiasm into the narration. I gather there are photographs in the regular edition. However, it's easy enough to find photographs of the main players with a quick internet search, so for me the convenience of listening outweighed the disadvantage of having to look for the photographs elsewhere. Overall, a worthwhile experience and one that will almost certainly make me re-read Schindler's List.