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Magic Island
Magic Island | W B Seabrook
4 posts | 2 read | 2 to read
The author's West Indian mail boat lay at anchor in a tropical green gulf. At the water's edge, lit by sunset, sprawled the town of Cap Haitien. Among the modern structures were the wrecked mansions of the 16th century French colonials who imported slaves from Africa and made Haiti the richest colony in the western hemisphere. In the ruins was the palace built for Pauline Bonaparte when Napoleon sent his brother-in-law with an imperial army to do battle with slaves who had won their freedom. All this was panoramic as they lay at anchor, but as night fell, it faded to vagueness and disappeared. Only the jungle mountains remained, dark, mysterious; and from their slopes came presently far across the water the steady boom of Voodoo drums.
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review
Michael_Gee
The Magic Island | William Seabrook
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Mehso-so

Seabrook‘s 1929 impressionistic travelogue of Haiti is enthusiastic, conversational, and never dry. He was an adventurer with a childlike excitement & curiosity who intensely wanted to connect & understand people different from himself, to learn abt unfamiliar cultures & represent them honestly. He may not have succeeded, but he tried.

Shmemilina Have you read The Abominable Mr. Seabrook? I randomly picked it up a few years ago without having read any Seabrook, but I thought it was a cool take on his life (in graphic form). 3y
Michael_Gee @Shmemilina YES YES YES! I loved it so much, actually. I read a Seabrook short story and his bio was obviously fascinating so I looked up his name and found that biography. This edition of Magic Island has all these intros and afterwards but it seems obvious that Ollman is the only one who has an understanding of Seabrook‘s life and work. I recently read Worthington‘s memoir of her time with him, too (Spurl has a beautiful republished edition) 3y
Shmemilina Adding it to the TBR! It‘s nice to meet a kindred spirit lol 3y
Michael_Gee @Shmemilina Same!! 😁 3y
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blurb
Michael_Gee
The Magic Island | William Seabrook
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Reggie I like the theme! 🖤 3y
17 likes1 comment
quote
Michael_Gee
The Magic Island | William Seabrook

There is nothing so stupid and pathetic as an orgy that doesn‘t quite come off.

blurb
Michael_Gee
Magic Island | W B Seabrook
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This author is in a fun little collection from “The Dennis Wheatley Library of the Occult: Uncanny Tales 3.” After reading Seabrook‘s short story I was curious about him and this is what I read on wikipedia. What! Turns out if you eat human flesh once you are labeled a cannibal forever. 🤷‍♂️