Temporary time out. Thank you all who are reading, due to familial restraints we will be taking a brief time out  to conquer the pages at home. We look forward to posting in two weeks.
Jake, Matt and Ryan

The Lighthouse at the End of the World P. 158 Jake

I reccomended this boat based on a list from some mens magazine as one of the top 100 books for men. After reading approximately half of the book, I am not sure why it has made the top 100 list. That is not to say that I am bored, in fact I am enjoying the book very much. I am enjoying the simple language and the realness of the situation created. The circumstances may be over a century old, but the reality of piracy and terrorism are still a contemporary concern. The Lighthouse at the End of the World is a classic tale of good versus evil; and to that extent Verne has created an excellent arena for the battle to take place.
Vasquez, what a great man, he is a strong old salt, level headed and well liked, at least as far as we can tell. He was chosen from thousands of applicants to be the lead watcher for first three month hitch on the new lighthouse. Vasquez also had enough pull to get the two other men selected. All that being said, I feel that he is a little under-developed. I wonder if Jules Verne were to have lived longer would he have developed the characters a little more? The dreaded pirate Kongre seems to be just your run of the mill crafty pirate. The two main human characters are seemingly equal opposites. The only character that has been truly developed here is the island and the elements. I think that the detailed descriptions of Staten Island create the feeling of despair and aloneness that put me squarely in Vasquez's corner. At this point I have just discovered Davis and look forward to reading about he and Vasquez as they attempt to thwart the departure of the Maule.
I appreciate the fact that Verne has not cartoonized, not sure if that is an actual term, but I think you get the point. Both Vasquez and Kongre seem very human and the band of pirates are not all nincompoops. At this point Vasquez does not seem to have some super powers either. I do find it rather convenient Vasquez happens to speak English, not completely inconcievable, but fortunate. Verne could have just as easily had a Spanish ship crash the shores of Staten Island.
I hope you are all enjoying the story as much as I am.

Tourist Season, through the end

In response to Jake's question: Is Hiaasen Keyes? I would say no. Obviously, this novel strays fairly far from any actual events, and I would say that no one character is based entirely on any one real person. However, I would theorize that Hiaasen would more closely align himself with Wiley. I think that Wiley does some of the things that Hiaasen wishes he could do, but can't.
Wiley, like Hiaasen, is a home grown Florida native. Jake has seen the development of Maine, and I have seen the development of Nantucket, and that is but a taste of what Hiaasen has seen Florida. He has had to endure Florida being bulldozed, buried and paved for decades.
Wiley, like Hiaasen, is a fabulous and talented columnist. Both seem well cut out for the newpaper business, whereas the more sensitive Keyes is not.
Certainly, I would say that Hiaasen probably gave a little of himself to both characters, Wiley and Keyes, but I think the closer alignment is with Wiley. Whereas Hiaasen stops short of feeding tourists to crocodiles, I would guess the idea has appealled to him from time to time. While Wiley is free to commit murder and mayhem to save Florida, Hiaasen only has his writing, and he makes a compelling statement.

The Lighthouse at the End of the World

For the next novel, I have chosen something that is a little more closer to my chosen profession. Written in 1901 by Jules Verne, The Lighthouse at the End of the World, was published posthumously in 1905. Inspired by an actual lighthouse, Jules Verne spins a tale of survival. Three light keepers at the Isla de los Estados, or Staten Island Lighthouse, in Argentina are attacked by pirates, only one survives. The story centers on Vasquez, the light operator, who makes himself scarce and survives on the hidden stores of the pirates located in a cave. His only chance of survival is to wait for the return of dispatch boat which is not due for several months. Lucky for him, an american ship crashes on the island, due to the lack of an operational lighthouse, only the ships First Officer survives. The two men join forces to prevent the pirates from escaping and secure the safety of the island once again.
The Lighthouse at the end of the World is not one of Jules Verne's more popular novels, but I think we will enjoy it.
-Jake

Tourist Season, All Done- Jake

I would like to apologize for being so late to reply, I have been finished with the book for quite some time. I am also thinking of editing my bio to reflect the lack of free time that was once so abundant. Moving on, I will skip my review of the second half of Tourist Season and comment on what Matt and Ryan have said.
First, I agree with Ryan, I missed the symbolism of Viceroy meeting his maker in the end zone. I was too enthralled in the air boat action involving Tommy Tigertail, the Shriner's, and Kara Lynn. However, I don't think that there is much more than irony and it happens to be a convenient way for this character to meet his demise. I have to admit that I agree with Ryan, allowing Keyes and Garcia not to consider that the Orange Bowl Queen is to be at the football game does them a big disservice. In fact it kind of pissed me off that it was so over looked. On a side note I like how Hiaasen casually allowed Keyes to hook up with the beauty queen, I mean, I saw it coming,  but it wasn't over played. I know that being the last to post means that you two will not comment on this publicly, but do you think that Hiaasen is Keyes??
Has Carl Hiaasen done damage to his own cause?? No, I don't think so. Despite his many novels and popularity, I bet if we were to poll 100 20-35 year old only 15% would know anything about Hiaasen, and Striptease the movie does not count. I would argue that he has done more to raise awareness and increase activism than excite the greedy developers.
Despite being published more than twenty years ago, I do believe it has been the most topical novel to date. I have to admit that at times I had to agree with the desired outcome of the Nachos, although, their methods were a bit off. As a born and raised Mainiac, that is some one from Maine, I remember times when the area was not so developed and it makes me nostalgic for the past. Being that Maine has an entirely different climate zone, I know that we are in no imminent danger of turning into a megalopolis of say, Miami, but it is a habitat loss all the same. Hiaasen reminds us that our increasing population has to occupy a finite space and some of that space has been occupied by others for a much longer time than ourselves. How we chose to resolve these spacial issues will come to define us for eternity. To echo Ryan's thoughts mentioned earlier, the plot is outrageous and the characters are crazed, I find myself laughing out loud and looking around wanting to share the last line or scene with anyone who will listen. Hiaasen finely blends his politics with his comedy and what we get is a superb novel worth reading again.

Tourist Season - through the end - Ryan

As far as the significant's of Viceroy's demise - to be honest it didn't really dawn on me, in part because I was a bit dismayed by the fact that Hiaasen dropped the ball on the one yard line, when having Keyes and the rest of the Miami police department conveniently forget that the Orange Bowl queen made one last brief appearance during the game.  A bit far fetched for me, particularly given that both Keyes and Garcia were such compelling, competent figures, but given that it was the only minor gripe I had with the entire story, let's move on.  All in all, the ending, like the book in its entirety, had style, and I'm not trying to take anything away from that.

Hiaasen is a wonderful, inventive writer and I appreciate his environmental bent - and I'd agree that his works draws you in - although I'm not prepared to lay any blame at his doorstep in connection with the continuing exploitation of Florida...I recently spent some time in Key West (a business trip of sorts), and being that I was far more sober than during my last visit, it got me thinking about how much better Key West probably was before it became the spring break destination for coeds, but then again it wasn't all that long ago that we were the drunk coeds down there, not giving much of a thought to things like this.

I suspect that Hiaasen probably doesn't get the credit, but I'm not ready to give him the type of accolades Matt's been advocating.  I like that his novels are fun, easy to read and well-crafted, but also littered with important messages that I can get behind.  For me, that's what sets him apart from some of the other writers who you might be just as talented, but stick to some contrived who-dunnits or my current bete noire, those involving terrorists.