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lizzy_balmain's review against another edition
5.0
This exploration of geography, culture and human interactions is extremely important. There is something about how Kapuscinski captures and expresses his experiences which draws you in to them, until you're so close you could almost touch them; smell them. An unsung masterpiece.
larryerick's review against another edition
5.0
This book was very much like finding a hidden treasure for me. From the very beginning paragraphs, I could already sense something very special. The author had an uncanny ability to let all your senses activate from his narrative descriptions. Not only could you "picture" the settings, you smell the dust, feel the humidity, even hear the silences. The book covers a great many parts of Africa over a series of years. Despite having already read some books about traveling across Africa and having watched several movies about bicycle and motorcycle treks across much of Africa, this book was a total revelation beyond what those other sources had provided. It's impossible to mention a favorite vignette. The bus ride where passengers have to counter lean together to avoid sliding off into an abyss? The hotel room literally pulsating with bugs? The town economy built on constantly and repeatedly rescuing motor vehicles from the depths of a mud hole? Or the many stories about the scalding hot Africa sun that makes your hands sweat just reading about it? Without question, I will reread this book before traveling to Africa...and I will undoubtedly take it along the journey to reread again along the way. Very highly recommended.
gracegimon's review
5.0
Enjoyed it very much. A voyage in time and to many places across the continent.
My main takeaway is we have so much more in common than I ever imagined.
You may learn about the ways of living,the vastness, the notion of time, the importance of communities, fears, myths, nature and how it sharply shapes the destiny of people.
My main takeaway is we have so much more in common than I ever imagined.
You may learn about the ways of living,the vastness, the notion of time, the importance of communities, fears, myths, nature and how it sharply shapes the destiny of people.
margyly's review
5.0
This book is on the list recommended for Meg to read before her trip to Ghana. It’s a collection of travel essays about Africa, starting with the author’s arrival as Poland’s first on-the-ground journalist in Africa and ending 40 years later. It’s a bit of a miscellany, as he jumps from country to country, but it’s a fascinating introduction to life and politics in post-colonial Africa.
heychomy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
dozylocal's review against another edition
3.0
I wouldn't typically read something like this, but I did find it interesting and it was beautifully written (if a little wordy at times). Some parts were insightful whereas other claims I felt may have been a little presumptuous - particularly when this Polish visitor to Africa was trying to explain certain African cultures and belief systems. If nothing else, he certainly managed to describe the extremes of our continent and the impact ignorant Westerners and colonisation had on the complicated social fabric - an impact which is still felt in the on-going wars to this day. Give it a try. It might surprise you.
eviereads124's review against another edition
4.0
I’ve been so lucky to visit Africa quite a few times throughout my childhood, so I have a soft place in my heart for this continent and fond memories of the place and the people. This book is a brilliant memoir-type novel encompassing historical narratives and personal experience across a host of countries, including Ethiopia, Uganda, Nigeria, Sudan, and Liberia. Some of the stories made me laugh as it bought back memories (there is no such thing as on time in Africa), as well as some more serious and unbelievable situations the author found himself in. It is a brilliant resource of information to understand Africa in all its complexities, histories, and delights.
evelikesbooks's review
4.0
This book is a series of interesting vignettes about the author's experiences in various countries in Africa, from the 1960s through the early 2000s (I think). I wish he wouldn't talk to much about "African" ways of life or ways of thinking, since Africa is full of different cultures, but perhaps in all his years as a foreign correspondent he saw some common threads. I need to read more books by actual African people, though.