The Mosquito Coast

by Paul Theroux

Book Overview

Winner of the Stanford Dolman Lifetime Contribution to Travel Writing Award 2020

The Mosquito Coast - winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize - is a breathtaking novel about fanaticism and a futile search for utopia from bestseller Paul Theroux.

Allie Fox is going to re-create the world. Abominating the cops, crooks, junkies and scavengers of modern America, he abandons civilisation and takes the family to live...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140060898
• ISBN13: 9780140060898
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Length: 383 Pages
• Weight: 0.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

An Alienated Mechanical Genius New Englander in the Nixon Era Takes Family To Back Wilds of Honduras

A story told by 13 year old son who turns 14 during the passage from Massachsetts to last stop upriver Honduras and survives numerous mad exploits of mad genius Father. The son is driven to dreams of parricide to save brother, Mother and twins from Father's self destructive schemes. His so brief romance with daughter of missionary family, and his Mother's drive and courage save group from grim death which meets Father at end of wildly imagined misadventure Teenagers and their parents should find this classic a page turner and epic conversationpiece!

Very good book

I have never in my life HATED a character as much as I HATED Allie Fox. He was nothing more than a narcissistic jerk (to put it mildly) with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. That being said, he was what made the book as good as it was. I rooted for the children throughout the whole book and kept wondering why Mother did not do more to protect her family. Very beautifully written

A Story of Courage

I found Allie Fox to be magnetic. There is no doubt he is somewhat mad, but in his madness lies a fair amount of truth. In some ways I find myself wondering if perhaps Allie was right. He sees the modern world as ugly, dependent on manufacturing and pollution and religion, lost in it's own technololgy. He is trying to rescue his family from a desctruction that he believes is inevitable. Contrary to other reviews I have read I have no feelings that Mother is weak or unable to stand up on her own. She believes in this remarkable man and his ability to make something out of nothing. Her reluctance to go against him comes from her true love for his strength of character and her desire to provide for her children. We are the ones who are stuck thinking survival means money and material goods. They were happiest with their simplicity, their basic needs and their faith in their father. This story is tragic and beautiful, it is thought provoking and full of life. In the end, I am not so sure who the real savages are.

Extraordinary Character Study

Paul Theroux's novels generally feature carefully etched characters, but he surpasses himself with Allie Fox, the protagonist of the Mosquito Coast. Allie is a husband and father of four, but he seems to care far more about his "inventions" and radical social ideas than he does about their welfare. To act out his ideals, he moves his family to Central America to start a utopian society, unencumbered by traditional materialism. Some of his contraptions work and the community begins to flourish, until his plans become grandiose. Although the reader can see the tragedy that is to come, Theroux constructs an intriguing plot that keeps the reader drawn into the novel. Some readers may be greatly off-put by Allie and his behavior; however, he is undeniably a magnetic and fascinating force. Fortunately, the book is narrated from the point-of-view of the teenaged son, Charlie, which allows the reader some distance from the sometimes repugnant Allie. Other readers may be disappointed by Allie's wife. She plays a relatively small role in the proceedings, and she seems to blindly go along with Allie, even when she suspects detrimental effects on her family. However, a man like Allie probably would be married to such a woman, as he likes to be in charge and assert himself on others strongly. Overall, the Mosquito Coast is a one-of-a-kind literary experience, with a fantastic main character embedded in a rollicking-good story. Most highly recommended.

Inimitable Novel

I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a novel with unique characters and an unpredictable plot. This story is told from the point of view of Charlie Fox, son of Allie Fox. Allie is a selfish man who is fed up with American society. He improves upon the "imperfections" of the world with his ingenious inventions. He moves his family to the South American jungle to escape the defective society and create a suitable town of his own. Charlie relates his father's actions through admiring eyes at first, but he soon sees the flaws in his father's civilization. The family suffers many losses and eventually realizes that Allie is not saving them from a faulty society, but he is squelching them from thriving. This is a very well written, detailed novel that has a great deal of suspense. While the story is unique, all can relate to the feelings and thoughts of the characters in this exciting, thought-provoking novel.

Hubris in a jungle hell

Paul Theroux never repeats himself and what he chooses to present in each book is quaranteed to surprise anyone who has read any of his other books. In this novel, part travelogue/adventure and part American social critique, the chief character is one of the most fascinating and least likeable figures I have encountered in recent fiction. An American genius with no patience for the opinions of anyone else and a hatred for most of modern life, determines to take his family into the jungles of South America, where he sees himself becoming something of a saviour to the natives - bringing them a few simple forms of technology that will uplift and transform their lives. Instead, he plunges himself and his family into a hell of conflicts that he doesn't even try to understand.The story, told from the point of view of his initially adoring (and fearful) son, follows the decline in the family's fortunes until it is clear that it is the father himself who is their real enemy. A tragic and deeply moving tale, this book stays in the mind - not always pleasantly - long after it has been read.

the dark side of self-reliance

_The Mosquito Coast_ manages to be both a great story and a moving critique of good old-fashioned American self-reliance. Allie, the practical yet passionate father, leads his family into the jungles on a mad quest: he wants to strike out on his own, survive by his ingenuity. and leave behind the mindless consumerism of mainstream life.I thought all these things were virtues before I picked up this book. What Theroux shows is that there is a human cost to genius--Allie's quest to perfect his work leads him to destroy everyone and everything around him. Self-reliance and authenticity sometimes are not compatible with kindness, happiness and humaneness.A tremendously well-crafted, marvelous book.