Posted on: Sunday, May 16, 2004
BOOKMARK
Hawai'i adventure stories lack depth
"PERILS OF PARADISE" by Rita Beamish; Bess Press, paper, $11.95
Publisher Benjamin "Buddy" Bess is a fan of adventure tales, that genre of books characterized by Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" and Joe Simpson's "Touching the Void." It has always interested him that Hawai'i, so benign on the surface, can be so dangerous — a slip on our crumbly volcanic rock trails, an encounter with a rogue wave or a hungry shark, and a sunny day descends into a dark nightmare.
Bess asked writer Rita Beamish to explore the subject; she is a longtime Associated Press reporter who moved to Hawai'i when her husband got a job here. Although the harrowing tales themselves command attention, the writing doesn't rise to the Krakauer level, nor does the telling provide much insight or delve into the lonely mysteries that are the heart of adventure and survival stories. These are straightforward journalistic retellings, relying heavily on previous newspaper and book reports. The essays would have been greatly strengthened by a more personal voice, more quotes and some assessment from the survivors on how the experience changed them and how they've made sense of it.
