John Gimlette

Another great Gimlette travelogue, topsy-turvy with his usual obtuse perspectives and a fractured structure which recalls his excellent At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig. His way of looking at the American experience in this theater of World War II is one you will not encounter elsewhere. Gimlette's great qualities are a tremendous power of observation, an equally strong ability to record these observations, and most importantly, the bravery and willingness to follow his own path not only in show more terms of actual travel but in terms of the extraordinary angles at which he comes to the things, cultures, and people he meets. show less

One-country travel histories don't come any more immersive or impressive than this. The author finds the perfect balance between anecdote and exposition, between the sweep of history and the vignette. We meet Paraguayans from across the wildly attenuated social spectrum, many of them ridiculous but mostly not objects of ridicule. The writing is punchy, brisk - often I was left wanting more, as with the story of the British nurse providing basic medicine to 18,000 natives in the Chaco. show more Gimlette relishes the savagery of the Paraguayan state of nature, and the irony of its adoption by various Utopians and lost tribes. And the country's exceptionally bloody history is splattered in bright colours throughout the book.

The first section, covering the author's time in the capital and the Stroessner regime, struck me as a little disjointed. The book really coheres in its second part, with the narrative of Marshall Lopez and Madame Lynch framing a wild tour of the country's east, and the final part on the Chaco I thought was brilliant and insufficient. show less

Being an Australian my interactions with Sri Lanka have been through cricket, Sinhalese university friends, hearing about the Civil War and what Arthur C. Clarke may have been doing with young boys. Thanks to Elephant Complex, I now know far, far more about the country, its history and its customs and far, far more than I really needed to know about one of the most vicious cil wars imaginable and what many western men were doing with young boys.

Gimlette can write lyrically and evocatively show more and I often stopped reading to admire a turn of phrase. His connections to the great and the good of Sri Lankan society gave him access to many places barred to the hoi polloi so we get guided tours of Civil War era torture chambers and the like. In all, a fascinating, if not deeply unsettling read, even if Gimlette's distaste of cricket was baffling. show less

"At the tomb of the inflatable pig" was my introduction to John Gimlette, who quickly became one of my preferred writers. Part travelogue/part history, this is one of those books that makes you realise that an otherwise-little thought of nation, region or people has played a much more interesting role in history than previously imaginable.

Gimlette wanders through Paraguay, name dropping figures like Josef Mengele, who arrived here not long after the war and happily found Paraguay completely show more unconcerned about his past, to the Jesuits of the film "The Mission", to the absolute lunatic dictator who managed to kill off about 90% of his male population fighting an unwinnable war. Also noted is the more recent dictator Stroessner and his rule, which must serve as the model for all aspiring dictators. And who can not like "New Australia", the Socialist Utopia set up in the Paraguayan jungle? show less