Congo Journey (Penguin Celebrations) |
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Redmond O'Hanlon
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Pages: 480 (Paperback)
ISBN: 0141035110
Pub: Penguin Books Ltd
Pub date: 2007-09-06
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 43821
Reader Reviews:
NOT a comedy! (0/0 people found this helpful)
One of the most terrifying, depressing journeys into the heart of darkness. That there are human beings on earth that still behave like some of the congolese in this book is frankly ming-boggling. Very relevant in light of the current unstable situation in this part of the world. O'Hanlan is a brilliant writer and a noble man, but this book is not the one to start a stampede of mass tourism to central africa!!
a good read spoiled. (1/1 people found this helpful)
Almost a great read, however far! to! many! annoying! punctuation mistakes-glibly passes over death and illness of native africans whist focussing on the nipple size of a picked up doxy. Buy and read "Dark Star Safari" by Paul Theroux instead. A much more perceptive commentary with more humanity.
Vivid (4/4 people found this helpful)
Many of the reviews on this book's cover talk of Redmond O'Hanlon as the funniest travel writer. This book then comes as a real surprise. This is not comedy but a vivid, at times disturbing and moving account of life down the Congo river. O Hanlon captures the beliefs, hardships and almost hopeless plight of the people as well as any book on sub saharan africa i have read. His descriptions of the wildlife and vegetation are alive and detailed as well but for me it is the people that make this stand apart in travel literature.
Very funny, meticulously detailed account of tropical travel (5/5 people found this helpful)
Having travelling in tropical rainforest myself, I could identify with some of the trials and tribulations encountered in this book. It is one of the few books I have ever read which I began again as soon as I had completed it. Redmond's ability to recall events in devastatingly amusing detail will compel me to read anything else he publishes.
one of the few books to stick in the memory.... (14/15 people found this helpful)
Compulsive readers, as I have found to my own cost,while being immensely satisfied, educated and entertained by the book they have just read, often remember little of it even after a few months. People like myself, with a system - namely keeping subject matter varied, and never visiting similar ground too frequently - simply forget the finer points, the pearls of wisdom, and the sheer style and skill of the writing. It is now perhaps two years since I read Congo Journey, and it is perhaps the only book that I can remember and still admire after that time. In brief, the elements that make up classic travel writing - the journey itself, the characters and the observations along the way - are all dealt with with such skill, sensitivity and enjoyment, that it is hard not to be sucked into this journey, and the Congo, which let's face it, few of us will ever experience. Travel writers can be arrogant, sarcastic and boorish types. Or they can produce work like this. A rare treat, for anyone with the desire to read - and become involved and immersed in, a book of this type. Brilliant.
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Books -> Subjects -> Travel & Holiday -> Travel Writing
Books -> Subjects -> Travel & Holiday -> General
Books -> Special Features -> Search Inside!
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
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