Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu

by J. Maarten Troost

With The Sex Lives of Cannibals , Maarten Troost established himself as one of the most engaging and original travel writers around. Getting Stoned with Savages again reveals his wry wit and infectious joy of discovery in a side-splittingly funny account of life in the farthest reaches of the world. After two grueling years on the island of Tarawa, battling feral dogs, machete-wielding neighbors, and a lack of beer on a daily basis, Maarten Troost was in no hurry to return to the South Pacific. But as time went on, he realized he felt remarkably out of place among the trappings of twenty-first-century America. When he found himself holding down a job—one that might possibly lead to a career—he knew it was time for him and his wife, Sylvia, to repack their bags and set off for parts unknown.

Getting Stoned with Savages tells the hilarious story of Troost’s time on Vanuatu—a rugged cluster of islands where the natives gorge themselves on kava and are still known to “eat the man.” Falling into one amusing misadventure after another, Troost struggles against typhoons, earthquakes, and giant centipedes and soon finds himself swept up in the laid-back, clothing-optional lifestyle of the islanders. When Sylvia gets pregnant, they decamp for slightly-more-civilized Fiji, a fallen paradise where the local chiefs can be found watching rugby in the house next door. And as they contend with new parenthood in a country rife with prostitutes and government coups, their son begins to take quite naturally to island living—in complete contrast to his dad.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Humor, Memoir, Audiobook, Adventure, Biography

239 pages, Paperback

First published June 13, 2006

About the author

Jan Maarten Troost (known professionally as J. Maarten Troost) (born 1969 in The Netherlands) is a Dutch-American travel writer and essayist.

J. Maarten Troost is the author of The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific. His essays have appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, the Washington Post, and the Prague Post. He spent two years in Kiribati in the equatorial Pacific and upon his return was hired as a consultant by the World Bank. After several years in Fiji, he recently relocated to the U.S. and now lives with his wife and son in California.

Reviews

[Kofi Opam · Rating 1 out of 5]

incredibly racist.

[Lili · Rating 1 out of 5]

The title alone, no need to read this garbage.

[Aaron Padgett · Rating 1 out of 5]

Everything wrong with West-centric travel writing.

[Jillian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Savages?..... really? 🙄

[Sharon Orlopp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kava. Cannibalism. Centipedes. Cyclones. Circumcisions. Cannabis.

J. Maarten Troost's book, Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu grabs the reader and takes them along for a wild ride. I listened to this on audiobook, and it is narrated fabulously by the author.

The book opens with Troost's experience drinking kava. The kava root is ground up and mixed with water and served in a communal bowl. The drink is served in halved out coconut shells. Kava quickly numbs the tongue as well as other senses. It is similar to alcohol or pot. I drank kava last year in Figi and found myself continually thinking about pandemic protocols and how kava did not seem to meet any health or hygienic standards. While shopping in Figi, shop owners would insist that I sit down and drink kava before shopping. That helped increase the shop's sales!

Troost, excited to experience kava drank five bowls of it and lost track of what happened for two days! Troost's self-deprecating humor, sense of adventure, and vivid descriptions are engaging, and you feel like you are buckled in for an intense, roller coaster ride.

After drinking kava, Troost sets out to understand cannibalism and to meet people who have eaten other people. Along the way, he encounters centipedes that are twelve inches in length with 300 legs, and a heavily armored body. He describes these centipedes as the Darth Vader of insects.

Vanuatu has 80 islands. Troost shares a story about Captain Cook and what he and his men did when they arrived on one of the islands. One of Captain Cook's men pointed to the ground and gestured/asked the indigenous people, "What is the name of this place?" The locals responded Tanna, and the island was named and is still named Tanna. Tanna means "ground" in the local language.

Celia Phillips, a Goodreads friend, told me about a Goodreads challenge called Around the World. The challenge is to read a book from the list of approximately 200 countries. It took me several days to research books on each country and to select a book for each country. This challenge may take me a few years to complete, but if the majority of the books I selected as are fabulous as Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu, I will have many memorable adventures.

Emily Dickinson said it best, "To travel far, there is no better ship than a book."

Highly recommend!

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last summer I read The Sex Lives of Cannibals, which I reported to be about neither sex nor cannibals (although, a good book nonetheless). The sequel, Getting Stoned with Savages, IS about getting stoned, and, ironically, is very much about cannibals. Go figure with the titles... I guess they just sound catchier this way.

I listened to both books and would heartily recommend it if you can get them on audio. The whole time I listened to them, I forgot that it was not the author who was reading, as the narrator had the right nuances to really bring out the humorous writing. Turns out they're read by Simon Vance, an extremely talented narrator whose accent I've fallen in love with, and who can properly read every character's voice without being the least bit annoying, in their proper accents no less!

The book is the true account of the author's time living in the Pacific Islands of Vanuatu and Fiji. It's very funny, reads like fiction, and despite all the not-so-nice things you learn about the islands, still makes you long to be there!

[Connie G · Rating 4 out of 5]

The South Pacific is not totally the paradise one might imagine from travel posters. J. Maarten Troost has written a humorous travel book where he tells of primitive transportation, corrupt governments, harrowing cyclones, huge venonous centipedes, and traveling to the rim of an active volcano. He is fascinated with the history of cannibalism, and learns about the missionaries and rival villagers who were victims to the practice. As the title suggests, he enjoys getting stoned with a native drink called kava which is especially strong in Vanuatu. When his wife gets pregnant, they move from Vanuatu to Fiji where there is better medical care available. The Fijians were especially warm with babies, and their infant son was passed from one loving pair of arms to another.

This is a witty account of the years the author spent on Vanuatu and Fiji as a writer while his wife worked for the Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific. I wish it had a little more detail about the everyday lives of the native people on the islands. The strength of the book was that the author was an excellent storyteller. His tales were entertaining, keenly observant, and laced with humor.

[Miz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh it just annoyed me! Right from the start of the title it was frustrating ... So I gave it a go, got to 13% of the way and then promptly realised that the book reads like the title so stopped reading it. Ta da!

There are MUCH better books set in the South Pacific. Being in New Zealand, this is so so true.

[Jamie · Rating 1 out of 5]

More arrogant and self-centered than his first novel. It was very easy to put down.

[Delia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Racist. Racist. Racist.

[Frankie · Rating 1 out of 5]

A shitshow of a book written by a white dude who is romanticizing and misrepresenting pacific countries.
I literally couldn’t even finish this book. And that is significant coming from a book finisher like myself.

Instead of reading this janky narrative about a white man’s experience on indigenous lands, read any book written by Sia Figiel. Figiel is a gifted pacific scholar who paints Samoan life with vibrance

[Jon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a collection of travel essays that lack the tension or detail to benefit anyone other than the author.

Troost swam in shark infested waters. He sought out living cannibals. He lived in third-world conditions and allegedly was treated as a local. All exciting stuff--or it should be.

What you get is a long lead up to swimming, taking a swim, and later finding out that the waters were dangerously shark infested. That makes a good anecdote at a cocktail party, but on paper, it's not a story at all because it lacks tension. There's a long lead up to...nothing. It's hacking your way through the jungle and ending up at a convenience store where you buy a Slurpee and drive home.

And then on to the next chapter which will be a long lead up to nothing on another topic.

Troost swam with sharks, stood on the rim of an active volcano, and accidentally insulted a room full of warlords. Did he take part in an adventure? Yes, no doubt. But will you get any sense of that adventure by reading his account? No, not really. And it's too bad.

[Kressel Housman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew this was the book for me from the very first page. The author self-deprecatingly calls himself "an escapist," and goes on to describe his mind-numbing office job. Since I'm stuck in a boring job myself, it felt all too familiar when he reiterated the wisdom of the world: "How else do you expect to get ahead?"

"The question altogether misses the point," writes the author. "The escapist doesn't want to get ahead. He simply wants to get away."

Now THAT is a man after my own heart.

The author gets an advance to write a travel book about some exotic subtropical island, so naturally, he ditches the office job. The main ritual item and recreational activity on this island is centered around one of its native fruits. The fruit has psychedelic properties, so people make a juice from it and drink it. Talk about getting away! As you'd expect, a big comedy of errors follows, most notably because the juice is brewed differently between localities, so once the author thinks he's finally gotten used to the stuff, he visits a new town and ends up taking a much more potent dose than he was prepared for.

Though none of the book quite measured up to the high expectations set by the first page, it was definitely a fun read. Think Bill Bryson on psychedelics. Like Bill Bryson, he has comedic encounters with strange and scary new animals, too.

I can see why this book wouldn't be for everyone, but if you're willing to laugh and mind-expansion and the brick wall of human limitation, you might really enjoy this book.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

In his follow-up to The Sex Lives of Cannibals, Troost seems to have found his voice and rhythm. He picks up where he left off, overwhelmed by the constraints of the corporate life in Washington DC, until he decides that he and his wife Sylvia are ready for another sojourn in their beloved South Pacific. This time, instead of landing on a desolate atoll, they spend time in Vanuatu and Fiji. It is in Vanuatu that Troost discovers the wonders of kava, a local intoxicant, and regales his reader with stoner stories (Chapter 3 cracked me up). His encounter with giant centipedes left me giggling and his experiences with mudslides and cyclones were highly entertaining.

What sets this travelogue apart from its predecessor is Troost's foray into fatherhood. His contemplation of his impending status, his son's birth in a Fijian hospital, and the island method of childrearing are humorous without being overly sentimental. Considering I don't typically read the genre as popularized by Paul Theroux (whom Troost venerates at the start of Chapter 3), I find Troost's writing amusing and engaging

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a funny enough travel read, and definitely fits the genre of "writer and family moves to new place, has funny adventures". It was a great location to read about, although I've read more compelling discussions of a place and its people.
I especially liked the discussion of escapism and what wanderlust means. Another reviewer quoted his passage about the search for paradise and how real life always catches up. Calls into question my own current streak of armchair traveling. Also, I like his ability to show how being elsewhere allows you to see home both more clearly and more the way others see it.

[Darla Ebert · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am getting kind of over books that brag about drinking, alternating with bragging that is thinly disguised as regret and which ultimately translates into more bragging. I should have known from the title but honestly thought it was a play on words. Sort of. The life of the kind people of Vanuatu surely should have included much more positive descriptions and anecdotes than what is within this book.

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall not as funny as the author thinks or wanted it to be, but it had its moments. A little blatant on the torment of the writing process. Still, a look into a different world I wouldn't have otherwise gotten. But I don't need to come back for more.

[Books Ring Mah Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some time ago, I read Troost’s The Sex Lives of Cannibals, and found it a pleasant and humorous read. Desiring a quick, fun read, I did not hesitate to scoop up Getting Stoned with Savages. Troost does not disappoint.

After spending some time in Kiribati, the basis of his other book, he and his wife return to the United States, only to become bored by the rat race. Soon, they decide to try life in another South Pacific locale, the islands of Fiji and Vanuatu.

As they had lived in the tropics before, the unrelenting heat was not a surprise, nor was the concept of island time. No need to worry about those deadlines here!

However, Troost is surprised by the powerful punch of Kava, an intoxicating and vile tasting drink. Other island highlights include the time he spends time running from aggressive prostitutes, and a giant, toxic centipede. He survives a cyclone. He writes of these misadventures with humor and humility.

Obsessed with the history of cannibalism on the islands, he takes a harrowing journey by plane to a small island, hiking through the sweltering jungle to meet with locals who have feasted upon human flesh in his lifetime. He likens cannibalism to taking the Eucharist, a comparison I have made myself. Granted, at least the Eucharist is taken in wafer form, but either way, the idea is that you are consuming body and blood of another human being; the thought leaves a curious taste in the mouth. He speaks with the locals to try and understand the driving force for cannibalism, and is underwhelmed with their reasoning: lots of men, not lots of food.

A great read for those who love a little travel and adventure.

[Chrisl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Troost's entertaining book showed a side of Vanuatu that I would liked to have experienced, maybe. While there I didn't have my usual sense of freedom to wander about.

The French freighter ($212 ticket) that I rode from Sydney to Panama in early 1969 stayed in the New Hebrides for four days to load copra. That was before the island nation of Vanuatu was formed. When the islands were still a dark, dangerous colonial victim of European nations.

Other than the army checkpoints on Panama's cross country highway, I have no stronger memory of apprehension about people than gained while walking the port streets, and along a jungle dark road that tapered to a trail ending in a swamp.

Soon after the ship began steaming toward Tahiti, copra beetles arrived in passenger cabins. In copious numbers.

[Israel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book will teach me to never again buy a book because it has the word 'stoned' in the title. What a self-indulgent piece of crap...don't waste your time like I did...

[Jennifer (wildling_manor) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Troost, while an acquired taste, never leaves me feeling down. This book follows him through Vanuatu and Fiji, while he and Sylvia decide to start a family.

[♏ Gina☽ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another winner of a travelogue by J. Maarten Troost. Troost is not a guy who is content to sit at a desk and work - he is a true traveler. When the road calls, he answers, and then he writes hilarious tell-all books about everything that happens - and does. This trip takes Troost and his wife to Vanuatu, where rumors of cannibalism may be more than rumors. If the giant centipedes don't make you turn tail and run, maybe the typhoons and earthquakes will? Nope. When wife Sylvia realizes there's a new little Troost on the way, they leave the islands of Vanuatu and head to a more sedate Fiji, where their new son arrives. Join Troost on another adventure. You won't be disappointed.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a travel writer, Troost has a very light and self-deprecating style but he also gives a clear, unvarnished view of life in the places he writes about. You feel you've been there, you're glad you saw it, and at the same time you feel like you never want or need to go there yourself. Here he's living in the South Pacific again, on two larger islands, Fiji and Vanuatu. He's become one of my favorite travel writers.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable, informative read-- a great choice if you want to learn about new places, but also want to be talked out of actually travelling to them.

Despite the racist title*, I continue to find Maarten's perspective and engagement with foreign cultures refreshing. This book, as the third one of his I've read, really made me feel like I have gotten to know Maarten as a person, in addition to becoming familiarized with the foreign places he lives/visits. As other reviewers have remarked, his writing is reminiscent of Bill Bryson with the wacky personal encounters interwoven with background history and facts, and I find it interesting that both men are "culturally American" but for large swaths of their life have lived abroad or travelled. In addition to providing more fodder for the foreign travel genre, I think this experience gives him a unique cultural perspective to write from as well as a refreshingly nonjudgemental, easygoing approach. Indeed, the most enjoyable parts of his books are not the fantastic, incredible things he sees (although the marriage/dancing ceremony was really cool), but the everyday observations of minor challenges/clashes and, especially, the collossal mishaps he faces. He doesn't have adventures, so much as misadventures, but this only makes the stories more interesting (and me glad I can't travel to where he goes).


*Calling tribal peoples savages envokes a long, colored history of oppression by Westerners. That said, Maarten is nothing but respectful of native populations in places he lives/travels, certainly more so than most of the other expats and Westerners he encounters abroad, and I get the deep impression he is entirely sincere in his recountings (not edited for the book). It's obvious he sees people as, well, people-- I like the story about them not having extravagent security at their house, unlike a friend's who was robbed, and his advice is for the friend is to visit his local kava bar instead of the expats' kava bar-- don't view people as part of the scenery but relate to them as community. Also, with the title I get what he was going for though, particularly as a sequel to Sex Lives of Cannibals-- it encapsulates his sense of humor (fuck it, I'll call it the most shocking and wacky thing I can think of so maybe someone might accidentally buy it), albeit with unfortunate word choice.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the author of The Sex Lives of Cannibals, another irreverent account of expat life in "developing" countries (for all of you poli-sci/IR/WS majors out there, one must turn off the filters of academia to enjoy this). The first couple of chapters evoked riotous laughter in describing the transition to working at the World Bank and the decision to return to equatorial life. Certain observations were dead-on (e.g. the necessity of the plot-driven novel in flights that last upwards of 12 hours). However, the end of book felt like it was completed to fulfill deadlines, like a grad student's efforts to churn out a paper just for the sake of finishing it.

[Петър Стойков · Rating 3 out of 5]

Цялото ревю: http://kaka-cuuka.com/knigi/getting-s...

Благодарение на тия безкрайно полезни мерки, хората в съответните държави си седят на ниво диваци и все още се изяждат един друг (съвсем буквално), племенните им вождове, които ги държат на това дередже забогатяват от хуманитарните помощи и фондове, а раздутата "хуманитарна" бюрокрация се гордее как "помага на нуждаещите се страни"...

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author never fails to humor, entertain, and educate me on things I would otherwise never be exposed to. This book was equally as enjoyable as Sex Lives of Cannibals, and I was able to recall the events referenced. I simply love Troost's memoir writing style, and would love to emulate it in a book of my own some day. A definite read for lovers of adventure, travel, humor and memoirs.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This hilarious, light-hearted travel memoir will not be the most important or profound book I've read this year, so why four stars? Four stars for me means this is a book I really enjoyed and that I will share with others. Maarten Troost is so witty--I laughed out loud numerous times in every single chapter. I look forward to reading his other books. They are fast and fun.

[Grace Staley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Escapists inquire! Extremely entertaining book. Be cautioned that it is nearly 20 years old and written by a white man exploring the pacific islands and their cultures. A few over-generalizations and misplaced snark, like the catchy and possibly offensive title, but a joy to read nevertheless.

[Rachel Hyland · Rating 4 out of 5]

READING THE TBR: DAY 4

I have no idea why it has taken me so long to read this book. I loved Troost's first quirky travel tome, The Sex Lives of Cannibals, which saw him and his then-girlfriend Sylvia spend two years on the small island of Kiribati, coming hilariously to grips with a whole new way of life and becoming one of the locals. Why, then, has their time in Vanuatu and Fiji lain unread so long on my shelf? Well, no, that's not true. Not unread. Partially read. I got a few chapters in, I picked it up to read more multiple times, but then just kept... not getting very far.

I even read Troost's later travel book, 2008's Lost on Planet China, which is excellent and also the only travel narrative I have ever read that has made me not want to go to a place, when I stumbled across it several years ago, but still, despite its reminder of how good a writer he is, and despite this earlier book glaring at me almost daily from the "started, need to complete" stack of books next to my bed (we all have those, right?), and coming away with me on several trips both interstate and international, I kept only inching forward in the book, a couple of pages here, maybe a whole chapter there, for YEARS.

Today, I decided to go back to the beginning, taking out the bookmark from page 57 (57! In nine years!) and reading it straight through in one sitting. 

Getting Stoned with Savages is a vastly enjoyable memoir. It is filled with Troost's singular humorous fatalism, a kind of "eh, the world is crazy, what are you gonna do?" amusement at all that is going on around him, as well as showcasing his natural charm and pleasing self-awareness. When Troost talks of "getting stoned" he is talking about his obsession with kava, the naturally occurring stimulant popular in the islands to which Sylvia's aid work has taken them. The passages in which he describes his gradual dependence on the stuff are subtle but stark; the parts of the book where he talks to locals on both Vanuatu and Fiji, explores their complex and colonialized histories -- the cargo cults of Vanuatu are particularly fascinating -- as well as going int depth about some of the more opaque vagaries of custom and society on the two island nations is both informative and entertaining, as the best travel writing should be.

(The part where he is writing a book in here, though... he's writing his book before this one, The Sex Lives of Cannibals. That hurts my head a little, in a meta, causality kind of way.)

So why did it take me so long to read this book? Why did I stop and start so much? Why did it take an act of will to actually complete it? There is no earthly reason for this in its contents, which are wry, erudite and at times even quite exhilarating, so I can only assume that the reason was me. The more I consider it, I think it's just that not having finished this book had become a habit with me. Having it constantly by my bed, or as my travel companion, was comforting somehow, as though it were a beloved stuffed toy. I have only realized this now that I have completed it and find myself filled with an unaccountable sadness--which, again, has nothing whatsoever to do with the contents of the book.

It's like, who even am I, if I am a person who has finished reading Getting Stoned with Savages? I have been in some kind of... of relationship with this book for nine years. And now it feels like this book and I just broke up. Happily for me, I've discovered that Troost has released two more books in recent years, 2013's Headhunters on My Doorstep and 2018's I Was Told There'd Be Sexbots. So perhaps I can buy those and have an equally problematic, semi-dependent, weirdly clingy attachment to them, as I proceed to not read them for almost a decade.

SCORECARD

TBR DAY 4: Getting Stoned with Savages by J. Maarten Troost
GENRE: Travel Narrative
PUBLISHED: 2006
TIME ON THE TBR: Almost 9 years. My "You purchased this item on" notification on the paperback's Amazon page tells me it was on January 29, 2010.
PURCHASED FROM: See above.
KEEP: Yes, of course.