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chalicotherex's review against another edition
5.0
Picked this up after hearing an interview with the author on CBC's The Current. Want to read his book on Rwanda now.
Brilliant. Does a great job of capturing life in the Congo. He finds the exciting side, as opposed to the dreary norm you get from so much reporting out of Africa.
Favourite bits:
– The pygmies who sold their forest for soap. They used to be able to make it themselves, but they've forgotten how. And their chief doesn't think the mining companies could possibly destroy their whole forest. Sad.
– Realization that ad buys skyrocket when fighting breaks out in Kinshasa.
– When the author spends a night hanging out with street children.
– The trip into the country by going up the river, if only because it avoided all those Heart of Darkness clichés.
Brilliant. Does a great job of capturing life in the Congo. He finds the exciting side, as opposed to the dreary norm you get from so much reporting out of Africa.
Favourite bits:
– The pygmies who sold their forest for soap. They used to be able to make it themselves, but they've forgotten how. And their chief doesn't think the mining companies could possibly destroy their whole forest. Sad.
– Realization that ad buys skyrocket when fighting breaks out in Kinshasa.
– When the author spends a night hanging out with street children.
– The trip into the country by going up the river, if only because it avoided all those Heart of Darkness clichés.
bucket's review against another edition
3.0
At first I was put off by Sundaram's lack of cultural sensitivity and entitlement, but later I really appreciated his honesty in writing about those aspects of himself. Most of us would be focused on self-preservation just as he was when so entirely out of our element. The two realms this book brings together (life in the Congo and life as a stringer) are ones I previously knew nothing about, so I enjoyed this dabble into them. Sundaram ultimately is sympathetic to the Congolese as he gains an understanding of their culture and lifestyle, and the problems they are dealing with. He juxtaposes himself a bit with another journalist, and it's easy to see the difference between them being immersed in Sundaram's perspective. However, I imagine that he probably seemed no different from the other journalist in the eyes of many of the Congolese people he met.
lnatal's review
3.0
From BBC Radio 4 - Book of the Week:
Anjan Sundaram's mesmerizing account of self-discovery in war-torn Congo
Anjan Sundaram's mesmerizing account of self-discovery in war-torn Congo
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