A review by larryerick
The Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuściński

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.