This is the second Michener I've read. I hated 'Space' because in it Michener decided to fictionalize the space program. I found it an un-necessary gimmick. It seems like this is Michener's modus operandi. He does the same thing in 'The Drifters'. He takes the late '60s and then fictionalizes a couple of locations (such as the former British colony in Africa, the improbably named Vwarda) and then populated them with uninteresting, self-important windbags for characters. It's like Michener painted a pair of earrings on the Mona Lisa and then proclaims it his masterpiece.Honestly, I could forgive the slightly tweaked reality if the writing, characters and plot (such as it is) weren't so weak. Here's an example of what the book is like:I'm Britta. I'm from Norway. All my life I've dreamed of going to Ceylon. Then one day I walked past a travel agency and saw a poster for Torremolinos. I instantly knew that this was the Most Magical Place in the World. When I asked the owner of the travel agency how much it cost to go to Torremolinos, he told me it would cost $100. I told him I didn't have that much.'Well, it's obvious that you are the Most Beautiful Girl in the World, Britta, so you must go to Torremolinos! ''It looks like the Most Magical Place in the World!''It is! Can you afford $75?''No.''How about $50?''No.''How about $25?''No.''How about $14?''Yes!''Well, then it just so happens we have a few seats that we reserve for special young people because we know how important it is for you to go and find yourself. Since you are the Most Beautiful Girl in the World, I can sell you a full vacation including flight, hotel and all meals for $12'A few weeks later I pulled into Torremolinos. I instantly knew that I could never go back to Norway and that I had to find a job to stay in Torremolinos, the Most Magical Place in the World.After checking in to my room, I put on my bikini and went down to the beach. While there, I spotted the Most Beautiful Girl in the World. She was British and said her name was Monica. I asked her how long she'd been in Torremolinos.'I've been here for ages, but I am getting ready to leave for Mozambique soon.''Mozambique? I hear it's the Most Magical Place in the World!''It is! How long do you plan on staying in Torremolinos?''I'm booked for two weeks but it's obvious that Torremolinos is the Most Magical Place in the World -''It is!''Do you think I will be able to find a job here?''Beautiful girls come here from all over the world and line the main square five deep trying to get jobs in Torremolinos. But since you are the Most Beautiful Girl in the World you won't have any problem finding a job. Let's go to the Alamo and I'll introduce you to the gang.'A little later Monica and I walked into the Alamo. Monica introduced me to the American bartender, Joe. He had long hair and a beard, very much the Jesus look that was popular with all the young men these days. I immediately decided that I would have an affair with him.'Hi. I'm Joe. Britta tells me you are looking for a job?''Yes. I am although I have no skills and no experience.''That doesn't matter since you are obviously the Most Beautiful Girl in the World. Would you like a place to live to go along with your job? I share a house with the Cato, the Most Interesting Man in the World, and Monica, the Most Beautiful Girl in the World.'The whole book is like this. Every character is the smartest/hippest/most beautiful/handsome boy or girl in the world. Everyone is a dropout from a Harvard or Yale or Duke or Michigan. Everyone immediately recognizes how hip and cool they all are. Yet at the same time they are all walking cliches. Joe, draft dodger. Cato, black radical. Monica, rich, spoiled slut dope fiend (thankfully she ODs and dies - the high point of the book). Yigal, tough, smart, little Jew.I suppose if I am being charitable I can see how a young reader (who hasn't read very much yet) or a reader who hasn't traveled very much might really enjoy this book. Otherwise, it's just pompous bloviating. It's like Michener took a correspondence course on the '60s from East Panhandle State and then decided to write a novel about them. I have a really bad habit of plowing through books even when I am not enjoying them. I trudged through 750 pages of this book and I really should have quit about 650 pages back. I think I am off Michener. I wish Goodreads would allow negative stars.
This book explores the culture, politics, views on the Vietnam Nam war, changes in music, sexual freedom, racism, and drugs in late 1960's and early 1970's. The Drifters was published in 1972. The narrator is a 61 year old man, Fairbanks, who feels close to six young people who travel through Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Mozambique during the Vietnam Nam era. There are three female 'drifters': one an American university student who worked on Eugene McCarthy's presidential campaign and then supported Bobby Kennedy, another from a Central African Republic where her father had been a British government official, and a girl from northern Norway craving summer climes. The three men were an American draft dodger, a young black American man, and a 17 year man of dual Israel/American citizenship who fought in the Israel war against Egypt. All were wandering for different reasons explained in the first part of the book. They are disillusioned with government and rebelling against parents and are in search of truth, drugs and pleasure. Fairbanks,age 61, frequently drops in on the six young people, often accompanied by another older man, Hunt. Their conversation and arguments from both sides of the generation gap. Is a plot device which gives us some insight into the ideas of the time. The older men give advice, mostly ignored or ridiculed. They try to understand the youths' morality, music, drug taking and their individual beliefs. This plot device gives us much insight while they argue into much which was going on in the counter culture of the late 1960's and early 1970's. This seems like a relic of a time very long ago. My greatest enjoyment was realizing how much the world has changed for better and worse, and not in the wayspredicted by the characters in the book.. The young black American expresses that change and power will only come for his people through their conversion to Islam and armed rebellion with the help of the Jews. A South African Boer official plans to make apartheid even more stringent and to work to keep South Africans of British descent out of any political power. South African blacks discuss the need for armed revolt. A Rhodesian couple predict that the white settlers will control the country for at least a hundred more years. In a world before El Qaida and ISIS it seemed the greatest danger in Arab countries was death by heroin overdose, or a drug addled young girl going off with several native men for sex and being sold into white slavery. I was aware of these ideas, events and philosophy at the time, but had only a minimal part in that era. I probably envied my contemporaries who could travel the world so freely until I read about these experiences and the futility for most, as expressed by Fairbanks. As the saying goes, "those who remember the 60's were never a part of it." This is a long 720 page book, but very readable.
What do You think about The Drifters (1986)?
- Phần hay nhất của cuốn sách là phần trích dẫn lại những câu nói, cái mà là của người khác chứ không phải của tác giả.- Làm sao cha nội kể chuyện xưng "tôi" quen được 4 thằng từ lúc bé mà hàng chục năm sau đấy chúng nó cùng đến 1 nơi, cùng vào 1 quán, cùng 1 thời điểm. Viễn tưởng (fiction) này quá vô lý.- Đây như sách phê bình nghệ thuật và chính trị: kể về nhạc tác giả thích, ngôn ngữ tác giả học được, quan điểm của tác giả về các cuộc chiến tranh (quan điểm phiến diện 1 chiều), cổ vũ tình dục, thích ma tuý, tác giả như trẻ dậy thì. Sách dài và lan man lặp đi lặp lại vcđ, ví dụ với việc khen nhân vật Gretchen hát hay thì đã có khoảng 7 nghìn đoạn văn viết với nội dung hệt nhau kèm theo mỗi đoạn là 2 nghìn dòng lời bài hát. Tóm lại nội dung chính thì có thể tóm lược trong 1 trang giấy.- Thần thánh hoá nhân vật. Người trẻ giỏi vđ, đánh cả một đội xe tank 6 chiếc được nhưng sau đó không kiềm chế nổi bản thân mình.- Cha nội Joe có nói 1 câu với người kể chuyện đại ý là: "cuộc chiến của chú có kẻ thù còn cuộc chiến của cháu thì không." Cuộc chiến (war) nào chả có kẻ thù, nếu không nó đã không gọi là cuộc chiến. Với câu này thì tác giả biết hơi ít về chiến tranh Việt Nam. Không sao cả, có điều biết ít thì đừng nên nhắc đến.- Độc giả 70s có vẻ dễ bị lừa.- "Don't finish crappy books". Mình không kiên nhẫn đọc hết được.Viết mấy dòng để nhớ mà mấy năm sau có ý định tìm đọc lại thì biết mà tránh.
—Thanh Nguyen
This book made me want to travel! Michener paints many pictures of places I'd love to visit, but also does not leave out the grimy side of the 60s-70s. The ending is a particularly vivid reminder that the flower children were much more (and much less) than sunny, idealic people full of love. He does a great job of portraying this generation from many viewpoints so that the reader can gain an understanding of the vibrancy and excitement of embarking on this new path of freedom, but also shows the clashing of beliefs, ideals, confusion, and loss of direction. The mix of beauty and sadness witnessed through Michener's full perspective of a time endeared me as well as removed a veil of idealism I've heald for this generation and time in history. It also reafirmed my belief that you don't necessarily grow by traveling all over to new places, but more so by looking within yourself. I feel lucky to be living in a time when we have both the acceptance of freedom to opt out of the status quo, but also the wisdom gained through time of the value of combining this with responsibility. We have the luxury of building on the best that was gained in the 60s-70s, while leaving behind much of the confusion, anger, and lack of direction. I look forward to reading more of Michener!
—Helen Bothwell
I picked this up from the library about twenty years ago, read 150 pages in a sitting, and then for no particular reason gave up and returned the book. Recently I decided I would try to finish it.I read those same 150 pages very quickly - it's particularly the story of Britta that pulls me into the book. I liked the setting up of the six young characters. Unfortunately, once they all arrive in the same place and start interacting, the book begins to drag. I wasn't a fan of having the Fairbanks character narrate and interact with them, though I understand that he serves as a symbol of Michener's generation and their struggle to understand the youth of the late '60s. Predictably, Vietnam and drugs feature heavily in the book, and I thought the tragedy towards the end, while predictable, was poignant.I did wonder if Torremolinos was ever a hot spot for young people in those days, since it's more traditionally associated with older British holidaymakers drinking too much beer and getting sunburned (qv Monty Python's Travel Agent sketch).
—Red Heaven
