Robert Louis Stevenson: His Best Pacific Writings, compiled by Roger Robinson

Robert Louis Stevenson: His Best Pacific Writings
(UQP, 2004)

This anthology is interesting because it documents customs, characters and politics of many Pacific Islands from a historical perspective.  I always thought he'd only visited Tahiti and then settled in Samoa, but he also spent time in the Marquesas, Kiribati and New Caledonia, and spent countless weeks rolling around on boats between islands. This anthology contains Stevenson's essays, poems and short stories all about the Pacific Islands. Much of his essays are densely written and a little hard to follow, due to the old fashioned style of prose. I found the 'Battle on the Beach' and 'The Hurricane' particularly difficult to fathom but his short stories are delightful. There are prayers and poems at the end which are also moving. His essays about the leper colony and secondly his Gilbertese friends were fascinating. This book gives great insight into the character of Stevenson. He a great listener and loved to mix with islanders and learn from their oral traditions.