Purple passion in Palau

In these trying times so often filled with superfluous seriousness, we seem literally inundated with scholarly works claiming to deliver the “truth” about the Pacific Islands, and it is thus an exceptional and extremely pleasant surprise to discover a bright new book about the Pacific which wants primarily to entertain us with a tale of suspense and intrigue.

Former LIFE magazine staffer P.F.

Kluge, in his first work of fiction entitled The Day That I Die, skilfully draws the reader into a tangle of murder and conspiracy which begins in the Western Caroline Islands of Micronesia with the mysterious death of a failed hero of World War 11. A burnt-out ex-marine named Red Elwell returns to the island of Peleliu after an absence of many years to re-live in fantasy the battle which made him a national hero. For Elwell, fantasy turns quickly into a horrible reality in a brief encounter on Orange Beach where he is slashed to death amongst the rusted relics of his life’s only triumph.

What follows is a tightly-plotted and well-executed series of twists and turns, ineluding a gripping account of a second battie of Peleliu orchestrated and conducted by an obsessed Marine colonel who is willing to sacrifice everyone and everything to prove his theory that there really are murderous Japanese stragglers at the end of the tunnels beneath the infamous Bloody Nose Ridge.

The author, who has worked with both

the Trust Territory Government and the Congress of Micronesia, demonstrates a properly sceptical attitude toward officials and heroes of all types, whether they be of the officially-proclaimed military variety, or self-proclaimed island heroes of the peo pie. His characterisations of the American civilian and military personnel sent to govern the Micronesians are clearly and crisply drawn with large measures of humour and irony, and his portrayal of the island pseudo-leader, Kintaro, is devastating, and unfortunately right on target.

The trip through the excitibg maze of The Day That I Die is guided by the book’s central character, Marshall Booker, an enterprising, but not overly-energetic jour nalist. Through Booker’s investigation of the murder the reader is treated to a series of historically-accurate and thoughtfully developed political and social insights about the Americanisation of Micronesia which enhance and support the story and successfully transcend the limits of the suspense genre. The tough-minded tension of the storyline holds well throughout, but fails to hide the affection that the author clearly holds for the islands and their peo pie.'Even his lighthearted and somewhat sexist presentation of the two island ladies in the story reveals a deeply held respect for them, and an understan ding of the predicament they face in main taining themselves on islands suddenly grown too small.

In the final unravelling of the mystery, Booker and the beautiful Ponapean half cast Inez are trapped on one of Palau’s magnificent rock islands in a scene of violence and beauty that rivals for excite ment the scenes in many classic island tales.

The genuine feeling of island life, the tone and colour, the very ethos of the islands still comes to us as it has traditionally, through the story, the yarn, the tale well told. In this category. The Day That I Die stands as a new and most welcome entry. yVoe/ Grogan (THE DAY THAT I DIE By P F Kluge, published by the Bobbs-Merrill Company, New York, 1976.

US$7 95).

Maritime

Bits

And Pieces

Just when I think that 1 must have read every article in the Mariner’s Catalog through about five times, a new edition arrives on mv desk.

Editors George Putz and Peter H. Spectre have once again collected an imposing array of maritime bits and pieces, enough to keep any sailor or shiplover well enthused until the next edition arrives.

The Mariner’s Catalog is far from just entertainment however. It is a where-to-get-it book and an ideas book and a worry book, for spouses who expect to see a 30 ft folding schooner or a Mississippi houseboat sprouting from the front lawn at any moment.

The very popular section intro duced in the last volume; “Quick and Dirty Boats’’ has been continued and . . . would you believe a boat (?) built from a bundle of brush and a square of old canvas!

Another section is devoted to the growing enthusiasm for classic small boats such as skiffs, dorys etc and

the intriguing sprit-sail rig.

Of course no boat can be built without tools, and like the other two editions, this year has its full com plement, I could go on for hours—suffice to say that Volume 3 of the Marin er’s Catalog is superb, a bedtime book for sailors par excellence— John Collins.

(The Mariner’S Catalog, Volume 3.

Edited by George Putz and Peter H. Spectre.

International Marine Publishing Co, Camden, Maine, USA. $U55.95).