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ssofia_reads's review against another edition
3.0
Kirjan perusta oli kiinnostava: Tohtori Livingstonen kuolema Afrikassa ja hänen ruumiinsa matka mantereen halki kerrottuna hänen mustien matkakumppaniensa näkökulmasta. Ennen kirjan lukemista en tiennyt mitään Livingstonesta tai hänen tutkimusmatkoistaan.
Kertojina ovat Halima, Livingstonen kokki, sekä Jacob, länsimaisiin tapoihin koulutettu, oppinut mies, jonka unelma on päästä lähetyssaarnaajaksi. Kirja lähti vahvasti käyntiin Haliman eloisasta näkökulmasta, jota kesti ensimmäisen kolmanneksen. Jacobin päiväkirjamerkinnät sen sijaan koostuivat suurilta osin uskonnollisista ja filosofisista pohdinnoista ja hidastivat tarinan kulkua tylsyyteen asti.
En yleensä lue käännettyä kirjallisuutta, jos pystyn lukemaan alkuperäiskielellä ja tämä kirja oli valitettava poikkeus, sillä kirjan lopussa olikin selitetty eroja Haliman ja Jacobin käyttämässä kielessä heidän erilaisten taustojensa vuoksi. En huomannut näitä eroja suomenkielisessä käännöksessä ollenkaan ja koska kuuntelin teoksen äänikirjana, yksittäisten afrikkalaisten sanojen kirjoitusasut jäivät myös huomaamatta. Minua jäi mietityttämään, miten paljon nämä seikat olivat syynä keskinkertaiseen lukuelämykseen.
Kertojina ovat Halima, Livingstonen kokki, sekä Jacob, länsimaisiin tapoihin koulutettu, oppinut mies, jonka unelma on päästä lähetyssaarnaajaksi. Kirja lähti vahvasti käyntiin Haliman eloisasta näkökulmasta, jota kesti ensimmäisen kolmanneksen. Jacobin päiväkirjamerkinnät sen sijaan koostuivat suurilta osin uskonnollisista ja filosofisista pohdinnoista ja hidastivat tarinan kulkua tylsyyteen asti.
En yleensä lue käännettyä kirjallisuutta, jos pystyn lukemaan alkuperäiskielellä ja tämä kirja oli valitettava poikkeus, sillä kirjan lopussa olikin selitetty eroja Haliman ja Jacobin käyttämässä kielessä heidän erilaisten taustojensa vuoksi. En huomannut näitä eroja suomenkielisessä käännöksessä ollenkaan ja koska kuuntelin teoksen äänikirjana, yksittäisten afrikkalaisten sanojen kirjoitusasut jäivät myös huomaamatta. Minua jäi mietityttämään, miten paljon nämä seikat olivat syynä keskinkertaiseen lukuelämykseen.
solhibou's review
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
esessa's review against another edition
4.0
I have mixed feelings about this book. I appreciated the way the story was told, from the perspective of the African characters supporting Livingstone's expeditions, but it felt simultaneously too short for such a rich subject matter, while it also dragged frequently and felt longer than its number of pages. I would have liked a deeper dive into the relationships and people, both the Africans and Europeans - everything feels very on-the-surface, and you don't get to know any of the people well, or in a way that would really help you understand their motivations or what's going on between them.
margaret21's review against another edition
3.0
We all know something about David Livingstone. He was the Victorian explorer who was determined to learn the source of the Nile River He was also was a physician and missionary who hoped to use his influence to stop the east African Arab Swahili slave trade. This book is the story of the mainly ex-slaves who after his death, as the expedition was still questing for the Nile's elusive source, decided to bury his heart where he had died, and transport his body to the coast so that his bones could be buried back in England. It's told in two voices: That of his cook, Halima, and of the Christian Joseph Wainwright, also born into slavery. Halima is garrulous and not always easy to stick with, whereas Joseph, though self-righteous and opinionated, is a more engaging read. This is the story of an extraordinary journey, bringing a dead man who they had learnt to respect if not love through wild and dangerous conditions, often experiencing animosity in the villages they passed through. It's the story of people who were largely disregarded and disrespected by the white people they encountered, and hints at the legacy of slavery and colonialism which would Africa for many decades after. A powerful story of courage, loyalty, resilience and of all-too human failings
ccallan's review
3.0
I very much enjoyed this book, as I did her earlier collection, An Elegy for Easterly: Stories. A talented writer whom I'll be returning to again.
This was an odd book. I was surprised to see a number of comments here talking as if it was an account of the end of Livingstone's sojourns in Africa. There are many of those accounts, mostly written by white people. Instead, this is an attempt by Gappah to imagine what it was like for the Africans who surrounded the revered doctor, and to give them faces, names, personalities, ambitions, etc. And in that it comes off well. No one is a saint, the main characters are actually both admirable and annoying at the same time, and no one is a paragon of good behavior or symbol of evil, as often happens in historical accounts.
It seemed to me that she was not quite able to figure what to do with these fascinating characters she imagined, but overall it worked well, and is a needed corrective to the tales of derring do and courage in Deepest Darkest that have dominated the field up to now.
This was an odd book. I was surprised to see a number of comments here talking as if it was an account of the end of Livingstone's sojourns in Africa. There are many of those accounts, mostly written by white people. Instead, this is an attempt by Gappah to imagine what it was like for the Africans who surrounded the revered doctor, and to give them faces, names, personalities, ambitions, etc. And in that it comes off well. No one is a saint, the main characters are actually both admirable and annoying at the same time, and no one is a paragon of good behavior or symbol of evil, as often happens in historical accounts.
It seemed to me that she was not quite able to figure what to do with these fascinating characters she imagined, but overall it worked well, and is a needed corrective to the tales of derring do and courage in Deepest Darkest that have dominated the field up to now.
lostinthepaigeofabook's review
I’m not going to star this book as I feel it would be unfair to the book. As writing goes I think it was written well however this was just not the book for me. The last 50 pages or so were pretty good however I was super bored most of the time. It was my book club book otherwise I would have stopped reading after the first page. If you like reading non-fiction style historical fiction books you’d enjoy this.
geckoedit's review against another edition
5.0
Actually laughed out loud at some points. Spectacular work.
I am not sure how Jacob Wainwright managed to march across Africa with such a big stick up his rear.
Really enjoyed reading history that does not ignore the contribution of non-whites,but rather puts it in the foreground.
I am not sure how Jacob Wainwright managed to march across Africa with such a big stick up his rear.
Really enjoyed reading history that does not ignore the contribution of non-whites,but rather puts it in the foreground.