Scan barcode
A review by jacki_f
Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd
3.0
I quite enjoyed this book about Hope Clearwater, a woman working in Africa on a chimpanzee research project, but I didn't love it. The fact that I didn't love it is not connected to my lack of interest in chimpanzees (it overcame that very successfully). It's a book that showcases not only what is terrific about William Boyd's writing, but also all the things that I don't like about it.
The positives: it feels very real. If you told me that William Boyd spent three years working in Africa, I'd probably believe you. Not just the details about chimpanzees and research projects but also the chaos that civil war brings. The tension that builds as Hope's observations conflict with the narrative of the research team is very real. And Hope is an interesting character, whose scientific training has resulted in the cold and detached way that she observes the people around her.
But it's her very cold and detached personality that ultimately means you don't like the book very much. She has many of the personality flaws of Amory Clay, in Boyd's "Sweet Caress". A pre-occupation with herself and a lack of empathy for anyone else. An obsession with penises. She doesn't feel like a real woman, but like a male writer's idea of a real woman. I also found the sub-plot about her marriage and how that fell apart significantly less interesting, and not really tied back to the main storyline.
The positives: it feels very real. If you told me that William Boyd spent three years working in Africa, I'd probably believe you. Not just the details about chimpanzees and research projects but also the chaos that civil war brings. The tension that builds as Hope's observations conflict with the narrative of the research team is very real. And Hope is an interesting character, whose scientific training has resulted in the cold and detached way that she observes the people around her.
But it's her very cold and detached personality that ultimately means you don't like the book very much. She has many of the personality flaws of Amory Clay, in Boyd's "Sweet Caress". A pre-occupation with herself and a lack of empathy for anyone else. An obsession with penises. She doesn't feel like a real woman, but like a male writer's idea of a real woman. I also found the sub-plot about her marriage and how that fell apart significantly less interesting, and not really tied back to the main storyline.