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Loading... Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Capetown (2002)by Paul Theroux
 cat-ballou | Apr 2, 2013 |  I so enjoy Theroux's writing, but this one goes beyond curmudgeonly. Read it for the descriptions of landscape and people, but ignore the opinions (as, at 7:47 in the audiobook, he appears to advocate for letting children starve rather than providing aid). As a reader, Thoroux makes you feel damned if you do, damned if you don't. Damned if you visit Africa, damned if you don't. Damned if you try to be helpful, damned if you don't. But definitely damned if you fly somewhere rather than take a bus. Damned if you look at "attractions" (unless you're Theroux). Damned if you generalize (unless you're Theroux). Damned if you're a white tourist, though non-white tourists seem to figure very little. Damned if you spoil his tourist experience by being in his way, asking questions, taking risks, or not taking risks. The impact of AIDS on national development is minimized. Everything was better when he was younger. The audiobook reader adds a pompous, sarcastic element to Theroux's already generally snide pontification. The print version may give less tonal offense. I may decide only to read older Theroux and his novels. This was rather tedious. (  )1  OshoOsho | Mar 30, 2013 | A must-read for any visitor to Africa or for those just obsessed by it. (  ) Penske | Feb 15, 2013 | Theroux is a kind of travel writing rock star, and he's great to read; besides that he's completely mad, having complete disdain for his own safety or comfort. Dark Star Safari shows Theroux to be occasionally brilliant, a quite jaded idealist, an aggressive travler, cynical, a harsh critic of 'development', the New Left, expats and non-profits. (  ) Tpoi | Aug 10, 2011 | Interesting travelogue as we goes over land, with all the difficulties and insights that kind of travel brings, from Cairo to Cape Town. At times there was a little too much Paul Theroux in his musings, but overall the book does a great job of bringing the real Africa to life. The perspective he brings in comparing Africa today to what it was like 40 years ago is very helpful. The cynicism seems earned in what he sees. A few areas he wears his own set of blinkers, but with the length of the book and the intimacy we gain with him through his travels, these are put out there honestly like everything else. Recommended, as a source of life in Africa and a great reading list for further experience. (  )1 lauranav | May 3, 2010 |
Theroux is often dour, although he finds hopeful signs that Africa will endure and overcome its present misfortunes in the sight, for instance, of a young African boatman doing complex mathematical equations amid “spitting jets of steam,” and in the constant, calming beauty of so many African places. Engagingly written, sharply observed: another winner from Theroux.
References to this work on external resources.
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(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:49:03 -0500)
The author recounts his odyssey down the length of Africa, from Cairo to South Africa, describing the bad food, many delays, discomforts, and dangers of his trip, along with the people and places of the real Africa.
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Two editions of this book were published by Audible.com.
Penguin AustraliaTwo editions of this book were published by Penguin Australia.
Editions: 0140281118, 0141037296
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Wikipedia in English (5)
to be fair, i liked this one slightly better than either of the others. he's still self-centered - this is much more a book about him traveling, than it is about where he's traveling - but the observations that he does make are keen. i don't agree with him on lots of points (aid workers in africa, for one), but his arguments are well-reasoned. i haven't been to africa myself; i don't have his more layered perspective. we'll just leave it at that.
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