Customer Reviews

The Trouble with Africa

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

 

 

Though this artist is, first and foremost, a talented painter; much to my delight, he is also an excellent writer. His writing is vivid, thoughtful, and candid; his stories, fascinating. Lucky for us that this painter tried his hand at writing and shared the Africa he knows with us!

I have read several non-fiction books that have to do with Africa, mostly about the wildlife there. ( All of the Born Free series, Cry of the Kalahari and others by the Owenses, Soul of A Lion, The Elephant Whisperer, etc.) and I guess I was expecting for this book to be along the lines of the ones I just mentioned. Not quite. It is a volume of several short stories of life in the bush, at a safari camp in Zambia. The author is also a painter and includes several of his paintings in the book, and they are very lovely. However, I found myself becoming a little upset at some of the things he wrote about and decided to include in this book. There was one chapter in particular that I found somewhat offensive; the chapter where he tells the reader about a guide named Cliff. I found myself thinking if I ever do go on another safari, I would not want to stay at this camp. I also didn't like the section where his wife tries to travel across the border with a wild Civet ( her newly aquired pet ) hidden in her bag. She gets away with it, but once they reach the destination of a family member's house, the Civet is killed in one bite by the family's Great Dane. I found myself shaking my head a bit too much while reading this book. After reading books by Mark and Delia Owens, George Adamson, Lawrence Anthony, I suppose I was hoping for more of that genuine, bona fide animal lover/conservationist thing. I didn't feel that with this book. However, perhaps it wasn't meant to be that kind of book in the first place. Just a collection of stories from life in the African bush; some interesting, and some not so interesting.
I wish I could give it more than 2 stars, but I don't think I can.