Customer Reviews

Mystery of the Nile

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read this book just prior to a trip to Egypt and a boat ride (as a lowly tourist) down the Nile. While I enjoyed most of it I found myself questioning whether or not I'd liked to have been on an expedition with these guys.

Although parts smack of rip-roaring adventure I feel that the author (written by Bangs with Scaturro's input) waivered off course a few too many times. I understand that the reader should know the motivation (and sometimes the personality) of the protagonist but there are too many chapters on Scaturro's other adventures, including rafting trips in Colorado and Idaho, the paralysis of his son and even climbing expeditions up Mt. Everest. I was looking for a straightforward tale of the first navigation of the entire Blue Nile. What we get is a treatise on the inner workings of the mind of a daring adventurer, working to overcome seemingly insurmountable problems as well as the demons from his past.

While the story is interesting (you find yourself asking how the heck they persevered) the individuals aren't exactly likeable. His companion, Gordon Brown, comes off as an unbelievable jerk. He assaults one of the Ethiopian crew members, throws fits and stubbornly insists on sticking with his kayak, no matter how much he jeapordizes the efforts of the team. At one point he disappears with his parents to go sightseeing in Luxor, at a very critical moment in the trip.

Scaturro, for someone with so much experience, seems to have started the trip a bit unprepared. He doesn't know Brown, he has no idea how he's going to cross the border into Sudan and, worse yet, decides to tackle the problem of navigating Lake Nasser, under strict Egyptian military control, by forcing his way across. Shouldn't these details have been worked out in advance? Sudan is, of course, problematic but the Egyptian government should have been consulted beforehand. The famous IMAX company should carry some clout. The entire undertaking was almost jeopardized due to a lack of prior permission from host governments.

None of this is to belittle what Brown and Scaturro accomplished. It's an amazing feat. The trials they overcame are incredible...being shot at by bandits, chased by crocodiles, threatened by hippos, intimidated by petty local officials, to say nothing of the life threatening and extremely dangerous rapids they traversed. I salute them for their courage and fortitude.

At times, however, I found myself wondering how Bangs, eight thousand miles away in the US, could have known what Scaturro was thinking or seeing at any given moment. They kept in contact by satellite phone and e-mail but descriptions of sunsets, Scaturro's self-doubt and flashbacks to problems faced on other expeditions come across as what historians call "re-thinking the thoughts." Either Bangs and Scaturro collaborated very closely or the writer did some imaginative filling-in of the blanks.

I'd recommend the book for what it is, a tale of the latest accomplishment of a professional adventurer. Personally, I prefer a more straightforward story, full of detail on what the team was experiencing at any given moment. That might have been accomplished if the person writing the book was actually on the expedition.

Pasquale Scaturro and Gordon Brown make the first "source to sea" expedition down the Nile. It is a splendid adventure that would make a great story. Unfortunately, the author spends nearly a third of the pages interjecting musings from himself (he wasn't there) and boring the reader with sideline stories that that have little if any connection with the current expedition. Just as the reader gets swept up in the adventure, the author interupts the scene with some left field factoid and destroys any sense of cadence. It's almost as bad as being in the grip of a televised Olympic event and having it interrupted by an inane story about the father of one of the athletes.

The author, Richard Bangs, wasn't on the trip but writes an almost first person narrative based on interviews with Scaturro and assorted other people. Inexplicably, he doesn't interview Gordon Brown who comprised a full 50% of the expedition. Instead he castigates Brown at every turn for being moody, violent, "silent for days", self-absorbed, etc., etc. At no point does the author offer any explanation why Brown might be behaving the way he does. The reader is left wondering why and a simple over-the-phone interview of Brown would have answered these questions.

In the final chapters Bangs decides (again, without talking to Brown) that Brown's anti-social behavior is linked to a brain cancer that has long-since been cured. Not only is it a convenient way for Bangs to avoid doing his homework and writing a definitive documentary; it's a blatantly cheap shot at Brown and any other person who has been challenged with a handicap - temporary or not.

This is a wonderful adventure that deserves an honest, accurate, and well rounded accounting by a first rate author who isn't afraid to dig for details and doesn't have some personal axe to grind.

This book tells the amazing, almost unbelievable, story of two adventurers who navigate a hostile and souless river--through crocodiles, bandits, hippos, blinding sand storms, malaria, voracious insects, civil wars. In addition to the gripping and compelling adventure, the history of the Nile and the surrounding regions is explored, the politics of Africa are discussed (including the impact of US involvement), and the impact of poverty and big business on the environment is explored. For those who are fans of Everest adventures, their are lots of comments regarding past attempts on the summit. Don't miss the IMAX movie, either. It is amazing. For Christians, I must warn that this book contains strong humanist themes--"There they discover a mirror in which they see their own faces, and learn that the savior they sought was within themselves"--which are disquieting. However, I loved this book--it painted pictures in my mind that will remain forever.

Richard Bangs is an award-winning outdoor travel writer and adventurer, Pasquale Scaturro is a geophysicist who loves adventure. The two team up to provide the lively Mystery Of The Nile: The Epic Story Of The First Descent Of The World's Deadliest River. A blend of adventure story, travelogue, and history, Mystery Of The Nile provides a survey of Nile regional history and culture in the process of detailing the two-man expedition on inflatable raft from its mouth into the Mediterranean Sea near Egypt 114 days later. While the blend of memoir, history, and travelogue may prove difficult to neatly categorize, any with an affection for all of the above will relish the unusual saga.

I found this book full of adventure, very exciting and those who traveled this path should be commended. I couldn't do what they have done and I couldn't have written it better than Bangs even tho he wasn't along for the ride. Kuddos!

Richard Bangs' "Mystery of the Nile" takes the reader on a wild journey from the source of the Blue Nile in Ethiopia to the Mediterranean Sea. The story has all the elements of a great off-the-beaten-path adventure. You'll hear about Class VI rapids, obstinate government officials, ornery hippos, breathtaking scenary, and even the creepy intrusion of a tapeworm. The main problem with the book is that Bangs didn't actually make the journey. Rather, he relied on the journal entries and personal conversations with Pasquale Scaturro, an American outdoorsman who was the leader of this expedition.

Bangs can be forgiven for his vivid descriptions of scenes never seen. Poetic license, and all for the better. Where Bangs' dialogue grates is in his treatment of Scaturro's sidekick, Gordon Brown. Brown is raked over the coals for his irrational decisions and emotional tirades. Only at the end of the book does Bangs try to reconcile things by chalking up Brown's behavior to his cancer survivorship. There's no evidence that Bangs ever interviewed Brown following the adventure, nor attempted to come to terms with his side of the story.

Like watching a big-budget Hollywood movie, if you can ignore nit-picky things like gaping holes in consistency and reality, you'll certainly enjoy the experience all the more. There's a lot to like about "Mystery of the Nile", particularly if you're in it for the perils of the journey, not the personalities of those involved.

I bought this movie for my girlfriend after we'd been to the IMAX about three or four times to see it. Since then, we've probably seen it another nine or ten times. It really is a fascinating and exciting story about an expedition down the Nile.

This is a great movie for anyone interested in nature and adventrure!

I loved the IMAX film production of Mystery of the Nile, and decided to pick up the book that accompanied it after wanting to know more about it. The editor, Richard Bangs, pieces together personal recollections of the actual "adventure team" leader, Pasquale Scaturro, with his own personal anecdotes (though he was never actually part of the expedition) into an engaging story.

This expedition down the Nile River, from it's source at the White Nile to its ocean connection in Cairo, Egypt, is the first successful of its kind. The novel traces the hardships the teams faces while on the river, and off. In addition, it gives a good basic idea on the cultures and natural environments surrounding the Nile, but nothing very detailed. There were parts, however, that I found less than relative to the actual journey, which included blurbs on past adrenaline-exploits of Scaturro's to the point of slightly excessive, but interesting in its own accord. It has been over a year since I have read this book, and regret that I cannot summarize it in a more complete manner, but if you are looking for an easy, attractive novel to sit on the porch and read, give it a shot.

Unbelievable yet true and full of perspective. This story combines personal journey and triumphs with ancient civilizations and current political and environmental issues. See the IMAX film, too!

LK

While i very much enjoyed the book i cannot believe the way civilization exists in present day Africa. This continent seems to be still operating in a primitive existence. Why can't these people move into the 21st century with the rest of the world? Unvelievable!!