This is the title of Herman Wouk’s first novel and it is a must read for those that love the Caribbean experience!
When anyone is about to have an adventure in the Caribbean, they need to immediately order “Don’t Stop The Carnival” by Herman Wouk. In fact, this is the book I would suggest is required reading for ANYONE interested in the Caribbean lifestyle! This was Herman Wouk’s first book! It is a book about escaping middle-age crisis that takes place on a fictional island of Amerigo. An excerpt of the novel describes Amerigo as;
“Kinja was the name of the island when it was British. The actual name was King George III Island, but the islanders shortened that to Kinja. Now the names in the maps and guidebooks is Amerigo, but everybody who lives there still calls it Kinja. The United States acquired the island peacefully in 1940 as part of the shuffling of old destroyers and Caribbean 
real estate that went on between Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Churchill. The details of the transaction were, and are, vague to the inhabitants. The West Indian is not exactly hostile to change, but it’s not much inclined to believe in it. Meantime, in a fashion, Amerigo was 
getting American-ized; the inflow of cash was making everybody more prosperous. Most Kinjans go along cheerily with this explosion of American energy in the Caribbean. To them, it seems a new, harmless, and apparently endless carnival.”
One of my favorite Caribbean characters is Jimmy Buffet. He bought the rights to “Don’t Stop The Carnival” in 1996 and wrote an operetta using the story line as his inspiration. It did not have a very long stage life, but I loved it! You may not remember, but Jimmy Buffet is an amazing writer, not just a concert icon! He has compiled a list of the books he would require if he were stranded on a Caribbean island. Here goes;
- Follow the Equator - Mark Twain
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
- Don’t Stop the Carnival - Herman Wouk
- Winds of the Carolinas - Robert Wilder
- One Writer’s Beginnings - Eudora Welty
- The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
- A Gift from the Sea - Anne Morrow Lindbergh
- The Fables of La Fontaine - Jean de la Fontaine
- West with the Night - Beryl Markham
- A Collection of Poems - Pablo Neruda
- The Road Less Traveled - M. Scott Peck
- No One Writes to the Colonel and Other Stories - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
So, as I look at turning 60 in two weeks I found these comments for me to consider, “We are indeed the people our parents warned us against! Our generation, the Boomers, have been through a lot - some of it joyous, some of it painful. We are now approaching the second half of our years. Part of that stage of life is reflecting on what we have done and what we will do with the time we have left. Jimmy Buffett does that in his best-selling book, A Pirate Looks At 50. Jimmy turned 60 in December. We are growing older, but not growing up.” I am turning 60 in February. Here are some quotes I am focused on during the start of the second half of my life;
- Never mistake motion for action. Ernest Hemingway
- No one gets out of this world alive, so the time to live, learn, care, share, celebrate, and love is right now. Dr. Leo Buscaglia
- Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time. Sir J. Lubbock
So, if you are on your way to the Caribbean, pick up Don’t Stop The Carnival. If you are about to be stuck on a Caribbean island for an extended period of time, buy the rest of the books. And, memorize the three quotes. You may need them someday soon. Until next time…