| Stories of the Sea By Jen Chaney washingtonpost.com Staff Writer Thursday, February 14, 2002 | ||
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 Author Jamaica Kincaid is a native of Antigua, where her novel "Annie John" is set.(File Photo) |
Even if the forecast does get frightful, you can easily take a trip to the Caribbean without leaving the confines of your neighborhood. Just curl up with a good beach book and you'll start smelling the cocoa butter in no time. It may be better in the Bahamas, but it's almost as good to be in the Bahamas in your mind.
"Don't Stop the Carnival" by Herman Wouk: This is the quintessential novel about ditching the grind of the working world and hitting the beach. Wouk, a Pulitzer Prize winner, tells the story of Norman Paperman, a New York publicist who leaves the Big Apple and buys an old hotel on a Caribbean island. Wouk and singer-author Jimmy Buffett recently collaborated on a "Don't Stop the Carnival" musical, which premiered last year in Paradise Island. For now, you'll have to be satisfied with the prose version.
"A Pirate Looks At Fifty" by Jimmy Buffett: While we're on the subject of Mr. Buffett . . . if you're a Parrothead, then you're probably already familiar with this autobiographical tale of the Margaritaville-man's travels through the Caribbean and South and Central America. If you're not, you may still enjoy absorbing Buffett's views of the scenery and on life. For extra enjoyment, eat a cheeseburger while you read.
"Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys: Rhys was born in Dominica, and her appreciation of the Caribbean's beauty comes through in this haunting novel, a twist on Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" that's predominantly set in Jamaica. At less than 200 pages, it's a quick as well as compelling read.
"Annie John" by Jamaica Kincaid: This story of a young girl coming of age takes place in Antigua, which just happens to be the island where Kincaid was born. "Annie John" transports your mind to the Caribbean, and also takes it back to the angst of adolescence.
"Omeros" by Derek Walcott: Playwright, poet and Nobel Prize winner Walcott, a native of St. Lucia, crafted this epic poem, which borrows from "The Odyssey" and "The Iliad" to explain Caribbean history. This will enlighten and educate, but probably won't fool you into thinking you're on vacation.
"Tales of St. John and the Caribbean" by Gerald Singer and others: If St. John is your ultimate paradise or if you simply desire authentic stories about the islands, then give this collection a shot. Each writer who contributed to the anthology lives on St. John, and the yarns they spin range from autobiographical recollections to folk tales.
"The Beach: The History of Paradise on Earth" by Lena Lencek and Gideon Bosker: This nonfiction work takes a thorough look at the history and customs associated with beaches all over the world. Though it's not specific to the Caribbean, "Beach" should give you a more-educated appreciation of sun and shore.
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