The Mosquito Coast

Upon deciding to spend a year in Honduras, I thought it wise to read up on the place. This has mainly involved reading Honduran related news, but has also included a helpful dose of historical scholarship on my host nation. Most of my reading, from both the journalists and academics, has been highly pessimistic. Honduras, despite its sunny weather, has an unfortunate history that has left a legacy of crime that dominates the headlines today.

Satisfied with my new knowledge of Honduras if unexcited about its bleak content, I turned to reading a novel set in Honduras.  Now I was not sure that this would exist, but one noteworthy piece of fiction stood out from the pack. The Mosquito Coast, by Paul Theroux, fulfilled my minimalist requirements of being an English-language novel set in Honduras, but also stood out for a couple of reasons. First, Theroux is a fairly acclaimed writer who has written a number of best-selling travel memoirs. Second, he comes from a family of writers, and is the uncle to Justin Theroux, who starred in Mulholland Drive and wrote Tropical Thunder and Iron Man 2. The younger Theroux is also dating Jennifer Anniston. I obviously deduced from this that anyone cool enough to have a nephew who picked up Brad Pitt’s sloppy seconds must be a good novelist. But then I, um, read the book.

The Mosquito Coast, to my initial concern, began in Massachusetts, before transitioning to Baltimore, a cargo ship, and finally Honduras. The novel, despite Theroux’s background as a travel writer is not about any one of these places. There are plenty of details about Honduras which immediately stuck out to me though; the terrible condition of the dogs in the country, the ubiquity of bananas and other cheap fruit, and of course the ever-present and always thirsty mosquitos scavenging for their next meal.

The focus of the book is the father-son relationship at its corps. Charlie, our narrator, is a perceptive 13 -year old boy. Like most kids his age, he is embarrassed and proud of his father. In comparison to other American teenagers, Charlie probably has more reason to feel this way. Charlie’s father is a genius inventor who knows everything. He can quickly rebut an agriculturalist on growing crops, or even challenge a preacher on scripture. When it comes to quirky inventions, no one top Charlie’s pa, called by his wife, Ally. But the man is also an eccentric, often rambling about politics or the end of America to innocuous observers.

The book is about Ally’s descent into madness. Or was he always crazy? He moves the family from its home in the United States to Honduras, where he brilliantly begins his own jungle civilization. But things go awry, and it seems that Ally’s mind follows. 

The Mosquito Coast is entertaining, but it falls far short of reaching the great novel plateau. The book’s largest problem stems from its central conflict: Ally’s fall from the reader’s grace. This could have been accomplished tragically (by emphasizing the impact it has on the family), hilariously (what’s funnier than insanity), or been suspenseful (will he get the family killed?). Theroux attempts all of these elements, but ultimately comes up short on all counts. The result is a readable novel, if not a particularly deep or funny one.