Boy He Cry: An Island Odyssey
Roger Averill
![Boy He Cry: An Island Odyssey](https://thumbs.readings.com.au/YkrfzP2UYH1MW8nQy_WVHF1b9fk=/0x500/https://readings-v4-production.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/fbf/e09/fc2/fbfe09fc28ecc03cae06fcbd9fad28dc83ef3cd1/978098046167120210514-4-4y0gyp.jpg)
Boy He Cry: An Island Odyssey
Roger Averill
Two young Australians arrive unannounced on a remote Melanesian island and ask its residents if they can live with them for a year. Granted this request, cut off from the outside world, living without electricity, telephones, running water, two-way radios or even access to an ocean-going boat, Roger Averill and his anthropologist partner adapt to life in a subsistence culture and find themselves overwhelmed by the generosity of their hosts. Treacherous sea voyages, cyclones, a drug-induced psychotic episode and encounters with maverick American missionaries all add to the adventure. As the health of the couple steadily deteriorates from repeated bouts of malaria, their relationships with the islanders intensify to form deep and lasting bonds. In this way, amidst stories of love and detective magic, shape-changing witches, playful tree sprites, dwarf’s hair and a dead merman, the most amazing transformation in Boy He Cry remains the way these people from vastly different cultures start out as total strangers but quickly become friends, even family.
Rare, precious and beautiful, Boy He Cry is a spiritual odyssey into the heart of a remote culture.
Review
Kate Lockett, freelance writer and reviewer
Shelley, an idealistic young PhD anthropology student and her partner Roger, a writer, arrive on a remote Papuan island for 12 months without any housing, furniture or friends. The islanders agree to accommodate the couple and willingly pitch in to build them a house, assign them family members and attempt to coach them in the islanders’ intricate dialect.
Averill’s memoir shows a genuine love for the people he lived with so intimately for so long on an island with no electricity, two-way radio or boats larger than dug-out canoes, and also reveals his own personal struggles with enforced Christianity, lingering colonial racism and perceptions of poverty. Were the Nuakatans poorer for having a shorter life expectancy and non-existent health services, or richer for having time to forge real family ties, friendships and communal events? Averill’s self-deprecation emphasises that he’s no K2-climbing adventure hero, which only serves to make his writing more human and able to reveal the strong bonds he made with the islanders, their culture and their country.
An engrossing and touching account of an unforgettable experience.
This item is not currently in-stock. It can be ordered online and is expected to ship in 5-9 days
Our stock data is updated periodically, and availability may change throughout the day for in-demand items. Please call the relevant shop for the most current stock information. Prices are subject to change without notice.
Sign in or become a Readings Member to add this title to a wishlist.