Don't Stop the Carnival: A Novel

Really enjoyed this book and the way it was written. Fun reading it, and full of laughs and irony.

Classic

Clearly, Wouk is a fantastic writer. The story is fun, adventurous, and provides a humorous perspective on island life. As a man of approximately the same age Norman Paperman (the main character), and as a man who fantasizes about escaping the US and moving to the Caribbean, I was with the protagonist from the very first paragraph. It is as wonderful work of escapism, yet provides some very touching moments of reality added in at the right time. Like me, Paperman is a father and husband who struggles to balance his wants/desires with the responsibilities of fulfilling both roles.Because I found myself living vicariously through him, Paperman’s decisions at the end angered me; I loved the story until the last 7 pages. But that’s my problem, not Wouk’s. The book is a delightful read.

I had to keep in mind that this book was copywritten in 1965.The book had a strong, offensive undertone to it - the constant reference to a person was clearly written. Everyone was simply a person but for those characters that were termed "negro." There was a banker, a realtor, a lawyer. That was all the reader needed to know. Then there was a negro banker, a negro realtor, a negro lawyer. The constant reminding of which characters were and weren't was tiresome. Some of the social commentary and the exaggerations of island dialects were also deplorable.The story followed interesting developments and turns. I spent a short time in the USVI and made friends who have homes in these islands and found much that familiar in this book. So while it is true that island time is different than mainland, that attitudes are different and can be frustrating when you are fresh from a hurry-up-rush-rush-rush environment... it is still a strange book to read and seems to have a definite and antiquated feel to it.I did take time to look up singing star Maxine Sullivan and order a "greatest hits" CD of her tunes circa 1937. And I am always impressed by Edna St. Vincent Millay whose poetry is quoted within the book...Worth a read, but keep your perspective firmly in the present.

As entertaining a book that you will ever read, the challenges that Mr paperman goes through makes you want to laugh or cry. Fun book to read on a gloomy day.

entertaining book

I picked up this classic comedy set in the Caribbean Islands published in 1965 on a recent visit to St. Croix U.S.V.I. It is amazing how little the Island vibe and idiosyncrasies of the local people have changed in 50 years. Even though the Kinjans on Amerigo Island do not exist the setting and people seemed a very close facsimile to what I experienced on my holiday. A New York Jew arrives on the Island falls in love and decides to buy a hotel. The obstacles he runs into running any kind of business in an orderly way on the Island make up the slap stick comedy that prevails throughout the book. His style reminded me of Woody Allen. I expect they knew one another and frequented the same chic restaurants in New York. Excessive drinking seems to be part of this culture, or perhaps it was the times, but there was rarely a scene in the book that did not call for a drink. It is fun and funny, well-written with wonderful descriptions capturing people and place, but the ending is very sad to me. I seemed to me that Wouk didn’t like Amerigo or the Kinjans, rather he used the setting and the people as fodder for a back-handed satire.

Transported me to the Caribbean from my armchair. Oh the things that can go wrong in paradise! Reminded me of past trips to a beautiful, wonderful island in the Caribbean and the lovely guests I met and vacationed with. A treat.

Brilliant story about life, late middle age crisis, the yearn for a better, tropical life. Beautifully written, deep and at times hilarious. Especially for those with experience on any of the above and life in the tropics.

I first read this book years ago and fell in love with it. It is written by with true insight of what like is life on a small Caribbean island, and all the frustrations that can bring. If it can go wrong it will.It is very entertaining book and all the characters are brought to life.A lovely bitter sweet story that you don't want to end.

I read this book some three years ago and I will read it again. This is one of the most hilarious novels I ever read. Some books say on the cover: Hilarious novel, and they are not at all hilarious, not even just funny, but this book is. So don't you miss this book....!!!

Living in the Caribbean things can happen... but this many thing would be in 10 years, not a few months. Good read.. not quite a 5 star gripping read though!

Having worked in the Caribbean myself he could only have written it from experience. If only I could write about my experiences so eloquently and with such humour. It is a Bible to read for anyone thinking of going to live there.