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Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart
written by Tim Butcher
Studio : Grove Press
by Grove Press
Publisher : Grove Press
Released : 2008-10-01
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780802118776
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 12 reviews)
List Price : $25.00
Our Price : $14.84
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Product Description |
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Published to rave reviews in the United Kingdom and named a Richard & Judy Book Club selection—the only work of nonfiction on the 2008 list—Blood River is the harrowing and audacious story of Tim Butcher's journey in the Congo and his retracing of renowned explorer H. M. Stanley's famous 1874 expedition in which he mapped the Congo River. When Daily Telegraph correspondent Tim Butcher was sent to Africa in 2000 he quickly became obsessed with the legendary Congo River and the idea of re-creating Stanley's legendary journey along the three-thousand-mile waterway. Despite warnings that his plan was suicidal, Butcher set out for the Congo's eastern border with just a rucksack and a few thousand dollars hidden in his boots. Making his way in an assortment of vehicles, including a motorbike and a dugout canoe, helped along by a cast of characters from UN aid workers to a pygmy-rights advocate, he followed in the footsteps of the great Victorian adventurers. An utterly absorbing narrative that chronicles Tim Butcher's forty-four-day journey along the Congo River, Blood River is an unforgettable story of exploration and survival. |
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As good as the best suspense novel -- but it's non-fiction... |
"In August 2004 I booked a flight from Johannesburg to the Congo, wrote my first will and kissed Jane goodbye."
On that note, Daily Telegraph reporter Tim Butcher set off on what can only be described as one of the most quixotic expeditions imaginable. In the early years of the 21st century, he had somehow fixated on the idea that he should follow in the footsteps of a former Telegraph reporter -- 19th century explorer and colonialist Henry Stanley (he of "Dr Livingstone, I presume" fame) -- and travel overland and on water the length of the Congo river, thousands of miles to the point where this massive river finally reaches the Atlantic.
Easier said than done. To start with, there is the fact that for the last half century or so, Congo is a country that people try to get out of rather than into. (At one point, a resident of Kisangani tries to persuade Butcher to take his four-year-old son back with him to South Africa, because there is no future for him there.) Aid workers and diplomats thankfully leave the day their postings expire, while members of the UN mission (the longest-running of its kind) exist in tiny airconditioned enclaves in the equatorial jungle and similarly count down the days. Almost the only non-Congolese who seem to enjoy life in the country are those who have come to exploit its mineral assets -- cobalt, diamonds and gold, among other products. They, as Butcher shows, live in protected compounds in Kinshasa.
Indeed, it's that legacy of "asset stripping" -- which Stanley helped ignite -- that Butcher chronicles as he somehow manages to battle his way from one community to the next along his pathway. From the Arab slave traders who raided from Zanzibar in the East to the horrific Belgian colonial regime (read King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa for more of that ugly saga), and later to the excesses of Mobutu, Congo's post-colonial dictator, the scores of tribes that collectively make up what we know as the Congo have had little chance to prosper from the growth in global wealth. On the contrary, as Butcher shows repeatedly and eloquently, with every year that has passed since the first eruption of post-colonial war in the 1960s, they have less and less contact with the rest of the world. Jungles have taken over hospitals that once were leaders in tropical medicine and grown over railroad tracks so completely that it is impossible to see where they once led. Highways have become tracks that barely accomodate bicycles laden with mountainous loads of palm oil, that vendors will push for a 600 km, six-week long round trip in exchange for a $50 profit. Only imported ornamental plants show where once the comfortable villas of the Belgians once stood.
Indeed, the value of Butcher's adventorous yarn (and it's so suspenseful, it's almost impossible to put down) is to show us what happens to people that the rest of the world exploits and then ignores. The plight of the Congolese is worse than if Stanley had never mapped the Congo in his famous expedition; today, any vestiges of a rule of law (whether colonial or tribal) has vanished and anarchy rules. Even subsistence has become nearly impossible. Butcher notes the absence of animal sounds from the jungle canopy; there aren't enough animals in the jungle to satisfy the need for meat and protein, however, and the staple diet of Cassava leaves the Congolese emaciated, he notes.
The story of this starvation and abandonment of any hope; of the violence lurking just around the next bend in the river or the jungle pathway; should serve as just as much of a call to arms as did the famous reports of Morel and Casement a century ago. (Their denunciations of Belgian King Leopold's horrific regime led to public pressure forcing him to turn over what had been his personal fiefdom to the country as a formal colony.) Everyone Butcher encounters is stunned that he has been able to cover the terrain he has. "It took me a while to convince him I was not lying," he says of one such meeting. In some cases, the reader can detect, lurking just beneath the surface, a sense of astonishment at what they may view as a self-indulgent Western journalist embarking on some esoteric historical project at a time of such chaos.
Thankfully, Butcher himself is alert to the danger that his white face may mean for the aid workers and locals who help him along his way. In one town, he is ushered out even before daylight, as the priest who shelters him for a few hours tells him that the mai-mai (or armed gangs) will learn of his presence. And with this book, and its moving look at the life of a country that is actually reversing the course of progress, he has, in my opinion, transformed what may have started as just a foolhardy and self-centered expedition into something more valuable. With the publication of this book, there is no excuse for the horrors of today's Congo to continue to go unnoticed in the global community. |
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a wonderful but painful read |
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Following in the footsteps of Henry Morton Stanley, British journalist Tim Butcher traverses the DRC - one of the wildest and most lawless countries on earth, and presents an almost unimaginable vision of despair and deprivation. Yet amidst all the local suffering he encounters, he finds glimmers of hope in the form of many exceptional Congolese and expats who ease his clearly gruelling journey and provide both insight and friendship. While Butcher often seems incredulous that such conditions exist in the 21st century - and he clearly suffers from the heat, humidity, insects, uncertainty and frustrating officialdom - he avoids the temptation to complain and instead presents the Congo in an honest and well-written treatise. The book is probably padded with a bit more history than necessary, but for some, that will be a plus factor. In my opinion, this book is definitely worth the price and the time it takes to read. |
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Disappointed |
The author's premise is intriguing. A lone white man will journey through the horrific darkness of the modern Congo, tracing the steps of Henry Stanley's legendary trek recorded in 1876.
Mr. Butcher's account however falls flat with a resounding thud.
The descriptions of his journey are wooden, unedifying, and whiny. "I got bitten this morning by a mosquito!" "I became hungry after noon having gone without breakfast!"
The author bails out half-way through his mission and finishes the last 1,000 mile leg of his quest to the Atlantic virtually non-stop by freighter and helicopter, (hint: first 300 pages describe about 1,000 miles: last 20 pages describe the next 1,000 miles).
It seems that the author became bored with his own tale and journey.
Prospective readers hoping for new insights into central Africa may enjoy about twelve pages of this book. I would advise others to avoid the seductive promise of adventure here.
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A Journey - Not a History |
November 2008, Kindle Version
Positives: The journey he takes is difficult and the people he meets live in extraordinary conditions. Through it all I felt I was traveling right next to the author. At the end of the book I didn't sense I read a story but had memories.
Deltas: I agree with R.M. Peterson's point #2 (see his previous review) that the writing was a bit ordinary. To me - minor irritation.
Overall: A book I am pleased to have read, especially considering the current events (Fall 2008) in the Congo. |
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incredible read |
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Wow!! This was a moving and incredible read that weaves history and current events in a tumultuous part of the world. I'd been looking for a book that tackled some of the history but ties it in with what's happening today. this is the ticket! |
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