Inanely Brilliant

Dark Star Safari, A Review (sort of)

I just finished reading Paul Theroux's Dark Star Safari.  And by 'just', I mean that I finished it during lunch today.  My brother had sent me the book for my birthday, and it took me forever to read, not because it wasn't good, but because I had intended to finish Don Quixote before starting it.  Alas, I got very bored of the good knight, and gave up.  I started in on Dark Star when K and I got back from Tbilisi, so I guess you could say I read it in about a month.  It's a pretty long book, a bit less than 500 pages, so all things considered, it didn't take me that long.

The book, whose subtitle is Overland from Cairo to Cape Town, is a travel memoir of the author's trip through Africa in 2002 (I think) which was published in 2004.  How cool is that that this old white guy travelled through Africa without using airplanes?  Towards the end of the book, one of the people he meets with along the way repeatedly says, "He came from Cairo - by bus!" or something similar whenever she introduces him to someone.  The book takes an interesting look at foreign aid, as well as giving you a colorful picture of the people and politics of the continent.  Overall, I enjoyed it, but there were times when he was just a bit self-centered.  For instance, he talks about being a Peace Corps Volunteer in Malawi, and when he goes back to visit, it seems almost as if he expects people to remember him and praise him for what great things he did.  Then there was the time when he was on a train and thought two missionaries had recognized him, and were talking about him.  It turns out they were talking about the apostle Paul. 

It's an easy read, and enjoyable, especially if you like travel narrative.  If you have more time than I did, you can probably finish it in less time than it took me. 

posted by MelissaJ @ 4:45 PM