No More Gas

by James Norman Hall, Charles Bernard Nordhoff

The Tuttles came originally from New England, but after three generations of intermarriage with Polynesians, their Yankee thrift and industry have given way to a delightful Tahitian indolence.

340 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1940

About the author

An American author best known for the novel Mutiny on the Bounty with co-author Charles Nordhoff.

Reviews

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun view of another lifestyle, though I felt sorry for Dr. Blondin. The Tuttles of this world do not change.

[Laura Roden · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cringe.
Tried and tried to finish but all the cringing got in my way.
The authors obviously loved/ made their lives in Tahiti so I hope to believe that they honestly found the derelict, irresponsible, desultory, ethically sloppy behaviors they write about here ... charming?
Having lived in the tropics myself and seen some of these "types," I can tell you it is not charming.
Hall and Nordhoff were well educated, intelligent, perceptive, observant... how could they celebrate the degeneracy which leads - in the book as well as real life - to catastrophe over and over?
So I don't get it: maybe it was satire? That would be sad also, for these two revered adopted sons of Tahiti to satirize its shortcomings.


.

[Irene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing much happens in this book. This is not a book about things happening. This is a book about people and the effect that colonialism had on native people and the families that came from the marriages between the Tahitians and the colonisers. A really interesting look at how people work, what they prioritise and why, and how neglecting the knowledge and traditions of the place where you live to hold on to some shred of status is a terrible idea.