Tonga: the Friendly Islanders. A story of Queen Salote and her people
Whitcomb’s New Zealand Book Of The Month, July 1967.
New Zealand Women’s Weekly Book Of The Week, July 1967.
"A book to buy for keeps, it is an example of modern ‘book beauty.’" The Bookman, London
"It gave me real pleasure. The best book on Tonga that I have ever read." R.W. Robson, Publisher, Pacific Publications, Sydney
"A delightful blend of fact, folklore and fantasy, with a stimulating vein of humour throughout. I could read it all over again." Jack Hackett, Public Relations Director, Fiji
"Urbane, witty and judicious, it will form an indispensable part of our permanent South Pacific literature." Lindsay Verrier, MLC, Fiji
"Much of the charm and gentle humour of Sir Arthur Grimble’s ’Pattern of Islands.’ An authoritative work with an underlying effervescence that appeals." Irish Times
"Richly comic with a pleasantly detached irony and felicity of style." New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation Book Review
"Told with a wealth of appreciation and humour." Church Times, London
"A book to be proud of." News of the World, London
"Hilarious anecdotes, breezily related. A beautifully written, informative work and all so—well—friendly." The Star, Johannesburg
Preface:
"CONTEMPORARY Tonga is a study of custom in transition. It has the trappings of a modern constitutional government in a Christian state; and it may now be on the brink of the great tourism breakthrough. Side by side with this is a semi-feudal social structure, with traditional obligations and inhibitions, the origins of which are lost in the shadows of the past. The structure is complete and self-contained. The non-Tongan fits in as best he can.
Superimposed on this is a history of battle and bloodshed leading to the acceptance of Christianity, and of sectarian bitterness and fragmentation thereafter. The emotions aroused in the early days of Christian evangelism are still reflected today in parts of the Tongan law. Add the racial traits and pride of the Polynesian, and you have an intricate social and national pattern.
The executive machinery of the Tonga Government has not yet reconciled what some regard as the irreconcilable; and the stranger can be confused and frustrated by difficulties he does not understand and which may never be adequately explained to him. It is easy to criticise the ineptitude of others when you have neither responsibility for decision nor understanding of the processes which lead to it. It is tempting to dismiss the unfamiliar as wrong; and to regard subjectively conditioned standards as sacrosanct. To do so in Polynesia is to fall into error.
This book is neither an anthropological study nor a comprehensive analysis of present-day Tonga. If it reflects the many faces of Tonga, it could be read as a cautionary tale for young administrators, as I was, and for superficial commentators, which I hope I am not.
If I have laughed, I would wish to have laughed with the Tongans and not at them. For, had it not been for their innate sense of dignity and restraint, they would have had occasion to laugh, many a time, at me."
Kenneth Bain
1113642772
New Zealand Women’s Weekly Book Of The Week, July 1967.
"A book to buy for keeps, it is an example of modern ‘book beauty.’" The Bookman, London
"It gave me real pleasure. The best book on Tonga that I have ever read." R.W. Robson, Publisher, Pacific Publications, Sydney
"A delightful blend of fact, folklore and fantasy, with a stimulating vein of humour throughout. I could read it all over again." Jack Hackett, Public Relations Director, Fiji
"Urbane, witty and judicious, it will form an indispensable part of our permanent South Pacific literature." Lindsay Verrier, MLC, Fiji
"Much of the charm and gentle humour of Sir Arthur Grimble’s ’Pattern of Islands.’ An authoritative work with an underlying effervescence that appeals." Irish Times
"Richly comic with a pleasantly detached irony and felicity of style." New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation Book Review
"Told with a wealth of appreciation and humour." Church Times, London
"A book to be proud of." News of the World, London
"Hilarious anecdotes, breezily related. A beautifully written, informative work and all so—well—friendly." The Star, Johannesburg
Preface:
"CONTEMPORARY Tonga is a study of custom in transition. It has the trappings of a modern constitutional government in a Christian state; and it may now be on the brink of the great tourism breakthrough. Side by side with this is a semi-feudal social structure, with traditional obligations and inhibitions, the origins of which are lost in the shadows of the past. The structure is complete and self-contained. The non-Tongan fits in as best he can.
Superimposed on this is a history of battle and bloodshed leading to the acceptance of Christianity, and of sectarian bitterness and fragmentation thereafter. The emotions aroused in the early days of Christian evangelism are still reflected today in parts of the Tongan law. Add the racial traits and pride of the Polynesian, and you have an intricate social and national pattern.
The executive machinery of the Tonga Government has not yet reconciled what some regard as the irreconcilable; and the stranger can be confused and frustrated by difficulties he does not understand and which may never be adequately explained to him. It is easy to criticise the ineptitude of others when you have neither responsibility for decision nor understanding of the processes which lead to it. It is tempting to dismiss the unfamiliar as wrong; and to regard subjectively conditioned standards as sacrosanct. To do so in Polynesia is to fall into error.
This book is neither an anthropological study nor a comprehensive analysis of present-day Tonga. If it reflects the many faces of Tonga, it could be read as a cautionary tale for young administrators, as I was, and for superficial commentators, which I hope I am not.
If I have laughed, I would wish to have laughed with the Tongans and not at them. For, had it not been for their innate sense of dignity and restraint, they would have had occasion to laugh, many a time, at me."
Kenneth Bain
Tonga: the Friendly Islanders. A story of Queen Salote and her people
Whitcomb’s New Zealand Book Of The Month, July 1967.
New Zealand Women’s Weekly Book Of The Week, July 1967.
"A book to buy for keeps, it is an example of modern ‘book beauty.’" The Bookman, London
"It gave me real pleasure. The best book on Tonga that I have ever read." R.W. Robson, Publisher, Pacific Publications, Sydney
"A delightful blend of fact, folklore and fantasy, with a stimulating vein of humour throughout. I could read it all over again." Jack Hackett, Public Relations Director, Fiji
"Urbane, witty and judicious, it will form an indispensable part of our permanent South Pacific literature." Lindsay Verrier, MLC, Fiji
"Much of the charm and gentle humour of Sir Arthur Grimble’s ’Pattern of Islands.’ An authoritative work with an underlying effervescence that appeals." Irish Times
"Richly comic with a pleasantly detached irony and felicity of style." New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation Book Review
"Told with a wealth of appreciation and humour." Church Times, London
"A book to be proud of." News of the World, London
"Hilarious anecdotes, breezily related. A beautifully written, informative work and all so—well—friendly." The Star, Johannesburg
Preface:
"CONTEMPORARY Tonga is a study of custom in transition. It has the trappings of a modern constitutional government in a Christian state; and it may now be on the brink of the great tourism breakthrough. Side by side with this is a semi-feudal social structure, with traditional obligations and inhibitions, the origins of which are lost in the shadows of the past. The structure is complete and self-contained. The non-Tongan fits in as best he can.
Superimposed on this is a history of battle and bloodshed leading to the acceptance of Christianity, and of sectarian bitterness and fragmentation thereafter. The emotions aroused in the early days of Christian evangelism are still reflected today in parts of the Tongan law. Add the racial traits and pride of the Polynesian, and you have an intricate social and national pattern.
The executive machinery of the Tonga Government has not yet reconciled what some regard as the irreconcilable; and the stranger can be confused and frustrated by difficulties he does not understand and which may never be adequately explained to him. It is easy to criticise the ineptitude of others when you have neither responsibility for decision nor understanding of the processes which lead to it. It is tempting to dismiss the unfamiliar as wrong; and to regard subjectively conditioned standards as sacrosanct. To do so in Polynesia is to fall into error.
This book is neither an anthropological study nor a comprehensive analysis of present-day Tonga. If it reflects the many faces of Tonga, it could be read as a cautionary tale for young administrators, as I was, and for superficial commentators, which I hope I am not.
If I have laughed, I would wish to have laughed with the Tongans and not at them. For, had it not been for their innate sense of dignity and restraint, they would have had occasion to laugh, many a time, at me."
Kenneth Bain
New Zealand Women’s Weekly Book Of The Week, July 1967.
"A book to buy for keeps, it is an example of modern ‘book beauty.’" The Bookman, London
"It gave me real pleasure. The best book on Tonga that I have ever read." R.W. Robson, Publisher, Pacific Publications, Sydney
"A delightful blend of fact, folklore and fantasy, with a stimulating vein of humour throughout. I could read it all over again." Jack Hackett, Public Relations Director, Fiji
"Urbane, witty and judicious, it will form an indispensable part of our permanent South Pacific literature." Lindsay Verrier, MLC, Fiji
"Much of the charm and gentle humour of Sir Arthur Grimble’s ’Pattern of Islands.’ An authoritative work with an underlying effervescence that appeals." Irish Times
"Richly comic with a pleasantly detached irony and felicity of style." New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation Book Review
"Told with a wealth of appreciation and humour." Church Times, London
"A book to be proud of." News of the World, London
"Hilarious anecdotes, breezily related. A beautifully written, informative work and all so—well—friendly." The Star, Johannesburg
Preface:
"CONTEMPORARY Tonga is a study of custom in transition. It has the trappings of a modern constitutional government in a Christian state; and it may now be on the brink of the great tourism breakthrough. Side by side with this is a semi-feudal social structure, with traditional obligations and inhibitions, the origins of which are lost in the shadows of the past. The structure is complete and self-contained. The non-Tongan fits in as best he can.
Superimposed on this is a history of battle and bloodshed leading to the acceptance of Christianity, and of sectarian bitterness and fragmentation thereafter. The emotions aroused in the early days of Christian evangelism are still reflected today in parts of the Tongan law. Add the racial traits and pride of the Polynesian, and you have an intricate social and national pattern.
The executive machinery of the Tonga Government has not yet reconciled what some regard as the irreconcilable; and the stranger can be confused and frustrated by difficulties he does not understand and which may never be adequately explained to him. It is easy to criticise the ineptitude of others when you have neither responsibility for decision nor understanding of the processes which lead to it. It is tempting to dismiss the unfamiliar as wrong; and to regard subjectively conditioned standards as sacrosanct. To do so in Polynesia is to fall into error.
This book is neither an anthropological study nor a comprehensive analysis of present-day Tonga. If it reflects the many faces of Tonga, it could be read as a cautionary tale for young administrators, as I was, and for superficial commentators, which I hope I am not.
If I have laughed, I would wish to have laughed with the Tongans and not at them. For, had it not been for their innate sense of dignity and restraint, they would have had occasion to laugh, many a time, at me."
Kenneth Bain
0.99
In Stock
5
1
Tonga: the Friendly Islanders. A story of Queen Salote and her people
Tonga: the Friendly Islanders. A story of Queen Salote and her people
eBook
$0.99
Related collections and offers
0.99
In Stock
Product Details
BN ID: | 2940012817860 |
---|---|
Publisher: | Panorama Partners |
Publication date: | 06/01/2011 |
Series: | Tonga: A Polynesian Trilogy , #2 |
Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
Format: | eBook |
File size: | 4 MB |
About the Author
From the B&N Reads Blog