Daren
Orwell has been interviewed about this book and given slightly different explanation about the accuracy of this book, presented as autobiography. It is somewhere between 'all the events in the book happened' and 'most of the events are factually presented', which is ok for me. Dervla Murphy writes a very good introduction in my edition, where she explains this and other background.
When he originally tried to publish the Paris section of the book it was rejected, as too short, so he added the London section. The two work well together, but Orwell mentions nothing about his returning to his comfortable family home from Paris before setting out to live in the dosshouses of London. Again, that is fine. I would have ruined the flow of the narrative to have a holiday of luxury I expect. Ultimately Eric Blair decide he would publish under a pseudonym, choosing George Orwell - he was not sure how his family would feel about how he had been living, and wanted to offer separation to those who he wrote about (he changed their names too).
What to write about a book with over 8000 reviews on GR?
Well, I will keep it brief, and although when I read it I thought every second page was quotable, I noted down none, and spent 10 minutes looking for something only to come up short.
I loved this. 5 stars.
Well perhaps not that brief.
The two sections of the book both examine poverty. In the case of Paris, poverty of the hard workers at the bottom of the rung. The lowly dishwasher, or plongeur in a Parisian hotel. In the case of London, it is the tramps without jobs and without the prospect of a job, trapped as they are in the system of the boarding lodges, where they must have no money to stay, and they cannot stay in the same house more than once in a month, meaning perpetual moving from one area to another, removing the hope of finding work.
In Paris, teaching English and pursuing authorship, Eric Blair ends up without work and with very little money, in a poverty spiral. Being robbed of his cash, he ends up with great experiences to write of!
I thought the descriptions were excellent, my nose screwed up at the description of the smells; I cringed at stepping on the rubbish and waste he described on the floor; my skin itched as the bedbugs and other vermin were described. I felt sick for the guests of the hotel when Orwell described what the staff were doing, or even just their lack of hygiene. Some of the things described were foul beyond imagination, the lack of kitchen hygiene, safe handling of food, etc. Makes this reader reassured at the modern health inspectors, who notoriously do a poor job, but something is better than no checks and balances, right?
Orwell's whole relationship with the Boris the Russian refugee is hilarious and was inevitably a downward spiral based on the Russian's eternal optimism and Orwell's constant hunger and eking out of a few centimes to live on.
In London, having previously read the short essay The Spike I knew what was coming. This was a more leisurely telling of Orwell's experiences though, and again the descriptive writing was great. Orwell makes a great play at explaining the system traps those within it by its rules making it near impossible to ever fight their way back out of the system. More than in Paris, in London Orwell is voluntarily exploring life as a tramp. He has a a job lined up upon leaving Paris, as a caregiver for a mentally ill man, but the family go off on holiday for a month leaving Orwell at a loose end! Poverty tourism? Think of it as research I guess. He pawns his serviceable clothes for rags more in keeping with he fellow vagrants. A diet of bread and butter, shuffling from one spike to another, I think filling in days is the best description for his life for this period.
OK at risk of needing to go back and edit the bit about keeping it brief!
Orwell has been interviewed about this book and given slightly different explanation about the accuracy of this book, presented as autobiography. It is somewhere between 'all the events in the book happened' and 'most of the events are factually presented', which is ok for me. Dervla Murphy writes a very good introduction in my edition, where she explains this and other background.
When he originally tried to publish the Paris section of the book it was rejected, as too short, so he added the London section. The two work well together, but Orwell mentions nothing about his returning to his comfortable family home from Paris before setting out to live in the dosshouses of London. Again, that is fine. I would have ruined the flow of the narrative to have a holiday of luxury I expect. Ultimately Eric Blair decide he would publish under a pseudonym, choosing George Orwell - he was not sure how his family would feel about how he had been living, and wanted to offer separation to those who he wrote about (he changed their names too).
What to write about a book with over 8000 reviews on GR?
Well, I will keep it brief, and although when I read it I thought every second page was quotable, I noted down none, and spent 10 minutes looking for something only to come up short.
I loved this. 5 stars.
Well perhaps not that brief.
The two sections of the book both examine poverty. In the case of Paris, poverty of the hard workers at the bottom of the rung. The lowly dishwasher, or plongeur in a Parisian hotel. In the case of London, it is the tramps without jobs and without the prospect of a job, trapped as they are in the system of the boarding lodges, where they must have no money to stay, and they cannot stay in the same house more than once in a month, meaning perpetual moving from one area to another, removing the hope of finding work.
In Paris, teaching English and pursuing authorship, Eric Blair ends up without work and with very little money, in a poverty spiral. Being robbed of his cash, he ends up with great experiences to write of!
I thought the descriptions were excellent, my nose screwed up at the description of the smells; I cringed at stepping on the rubbish and waste he described on the floor; my skin itched as the bedbugs and other vermin were described. I felt sick for the guests of the hotel when Orwell described what the staff were doing, or even just their lack of hygiene. Some of the things described were foul beyond imagination, the lack of kitchen hygiene, safe handling of food, etc. Makes this reader reassured at the modern health inspectors, who notoriously do a poor job, but something is better than no checks and balances, right?
Orwell's whole relationship with the Boris the Russian refugee is hilarious and was inevitably a downward spiral based on the Russian's eternal optimism and Orwell's constant hunger and eking out of a few centimes to live on.
In London, having previously read the short essay The Spike I knew what was coming. This was a more leisurely telling of Orwell's experiences though, and again the descriptive writing was great. Orwell makes a great play at explaining the system traps those within it by its rules making it near impossible to ever fight their way back out of the system. More than in Paris, in London Orwell is voluntarily exploring life as a tramp. He has a a job lined up upon leaving Paris, as a caregiver for a mentally ill man, but the family go off on holiday for a month leaving Orwell at a loose end! Poverty tourism? Think of it as research I guess. He pawns his serviceable clothes for rags more in keeping with he fellow vagrants. A diet of bread and butter, shuffling from one spike to another, I think filling in days is the best description for his life for this period.
OK at risk of needing to go back and edit the bit about keeping it brief!
The blurb: "In 1890, two American college graduates set out to travel around the world on a then-new invention, the modern bicycle. In 1893 they returned, have covered over 15,000 miles, at that time the "longest continuous land journey ever made around the world." This is their account their trip across Turkey, Persia, Turkestan and northern China. It described their adventures traveling along through regions few outsiders ever visited."
That is a reasonable summary. Although they travelled for three years, and this book covers only a portion of their journey. The preface says they took some 2500 photos - a selection of which are reproduced in this book. While the quality aligns with expectation from this era, they are interesting and help with the descriptions shared in the narrative.
The writing style is informative, but not excessively detailed. The two authors share a voice - it isn't clear how they contribute to the narrative, but I will use 'they' in my review for the authors. Interestingly, we learn almost nothing of the authors - they share very little of themselves in this book.
Initially they share details of how their bicycles are viewed - with trepidation often, panic sometimes, and crowded jostling occasionally. After a time these reactions become commonplace to them, and they skip over this - so by the midpoint the reader can take for granted that these men were travelling on practically unique machines in these parts of the world. They do seem to run out of descriptive energy as the book progresses. Every aspect and detail in Turkey is gifting line space, but by the halfway point it becomes far more muted on detail. China receives a significant amount less attention that did Turkey, although this is probably reflective of what they recorded in their diaries.
I read a digitised version of this, on my phone, over a period of a couple of months, as such the details came and went for me, but my overall view is that the authors did well to describe all they saw, those they met and their journey in sufficient detail, but without being too bogged down in the rigours of daily life, or in deep analysis of something they were experiencing in passing. Thankfully they avoided in depth political analysis (which seldom ages well in a travelogue) or details of individuals beyond common interest.
They share their hardships without playing martyr or pretending they were worse off than others. They extoled the virtues and shortcomings of their bicycles, the running repairs and the spares they arranged for delivery enroute. The roads of course were not set up for cyclists, so there is plenty of angst about the road conditions throughout. The side trip to climb Mt Ararat is also worthy of a mention.
Perhaps this suffers from my infrequent and fragmented reading, but it fell a little short of my expectations (or perhaps hopes) for such a promising title.
3 stars
The blurb: "In 1890, two American college graduates set out to travel around the world on a then-new invention, the modern bicycle. In 1893 they returned, have covered over 15,000 miles, at that time the "longest continuous land journey ever made around the world." This is their account their trip across Turkey, Persia, Turkestan and northern China. It described their adventures traveling along through regions few outsiders ever visited."
That is a reasonable summary. Although they travelled for three years, and this book covers only a portion of their journey. The preface says they took some 2500 photos - a selection of which are reproduced in this book. While the quality aligns with expectation from this era, they are interesting and help with the descriptions shared in the narrative.
The writing style is informative, but not excessively detailed. The two authors share a voice - it isn't clear how they contribute to the narrative, but I will use 'they' in my review for the authors. Interestingly, we learn almost nothing of the authors - they share very little of themselves in this book.
Initially they share details of how their bicycles are viewed - with trepidation often, panic sometimes, and crowded jostling occasionally. After a time these reactions become commonplace to them, and they skip over this - so by the midpoint the reader can take for granted that these men were travelling on practically unique machines in these parts of the world. They do seem to run out of descriptive energy as the book progresses. Every aspect and detail in Turkey is gifting line space, but by the halfway point it becomes far more muted on detail. China receives a significant amount less attention that did Turkey, although this is probably reflective of what they recorded in their diaries.
I read a digitised version of this, on my phone, over a period of a couple of months, as such the details came and went for me, but my overall view is that the authors did well to describe all they saw, those they met and their journey in sufficient detail, but without being too bogged down in the rigours of daily life, or in deep analysis of something they were experiencing in passing. Thankfully they avoided in depth political analysis (which seldom ages well in a travelogue) or details of individuals beyond common interest.
They share their hardships without playing martyr or pretending they were worse off than others. They extoled the virtues and shortcomings of their bicycles, the running repairs and the spares they arranged for delivery enroute. The roads of course were not set up for cyclists, so there is plenty of angst about the road conditions throughout. The side trip to climb Mt Ararat is also worthy of a mention.
Perhaps this suffers from my infrequent and fragmented reading, but it fell a little short of my expectations (or perhaps hopes) for such a promising title.
3 stars
Added to listDigitalwith 120 books.
Added to listFictionwith 1127 books.
Added to listFiction Short Story Ieswith 235 books.
Added to listUkwith 362 books.
Added to listUk Authorwith 1415 books.
Added to list4 Starwith 779 books.
A short story from DH Lawrence, published in 1926. I have read this before, although I can't track down where.
Paul is a boy whose parents are always short of money - his mother says they are unlucky. Paul himself thinks he is lucky, and God has told him so, and what Paul can do is predict the winner of various horse races. He partners with the gardener who puts on the bets for him, although his secret is discovered by his uncle, who wants in on the action. But winning some money is never enough, there is never enough money, more can always be won. But what is Paul's sacrifice for knowing the winner.
No more story, it is too short.
Greed for money over health is the moral in this story.
A good short read.
4 stars.
A short story from DH Lawrence, published in 1926. I have read this before, although I can't track down where.
Paul is a boy whose parents are always short of money - his mother says they are unlucky. Paul himself thinks he is lucky, and God has told him so, and what Paul can do is predict the winner of various horse races. He partners with the gardener who puts on the bets for him, although his secret is discovered by his uncle, who wants in on the action. But winning some money is never enough, there is never enough money, more can always be won. But what is Paul's sacrifice for knowing the winner.
No more story, it is too short.
Greed for money over health is the moral in this story.
A good short read.
4 stars.
A re-read, by accident. This was sitting in an 'unread' section of my shelves, and on perusing it, I recognised several of the short story names, but assumed this was just because I have read several of his collections of short stories. By the time I got halfway through I realised I had read it in its entirely before, but because I was quote enjoying it, I finished it off. My original review below stands up to the second reading.
---
Twelve short stories selected by the author himself for this publication. The stories date from between 1923 and 1990, and are set in various locations. For me this wasn't necesarily Greene's best, I found the stories a bit hit and miss.
The Last Word - Set in the future, after religion has been abolished, this story explains why an elderly man with no memory of his past is taken to meet The General, and his vague but comforting relationship with God. 4/5
The News in English - Set during the second world war, Lord Haw-Haw is off the air, and a new man is broadcasting from Germany in his place. (Lord Haw-Haw was a nickname applied to the Second World War-era broadcaster William Joyce, who made pro-German propaganda broadcasts that opened with “Germany calling, Germany calling”, spoken in an affected upper class English accent.) His wife, listening from home is initially distraught at his traitorous behaviour, but notices her husband appears to be passing a message. 4/5
The Moment of Truth - A waiter makes a bond with some regular customers. 3/5
The Man who Stole the Eiffel Tower - An absurd story about the theft and reinstatement of the Eiffel Tower. 3/5
The Lieutenant Died Last - A minor invasion of an English village by Germans takes everyone by surprise, and it is left to an old poacher to save they day. 4/5
A Branch of the Service - A food critic who is recruited into the secret service, but must retire because he has lost his appetite for food. 4/5
An Old Man's Memory - A terrorist attack on the opening of the Channel Tunnel train changes the future of the rail link. 3/5
The Lottery Ticket - A man visiting Mexico wins a lottery and discovers he can't take the money out of the country. He decides to make a charitable donation, but things don't turn out the way expected. 4/5
The New House - A tale of an architect and his change of opinion. 2/5
Work Not in Progress - Play script about bishops, Not for me. 1/5
Murder for the Wrong Reason - A murder mystery, but it felt far to long and didn't hold my attention. 1/5
An Appointment with the General - Set in Chile, a French female journalist meets and interviews a military dictator. I think I might have missed the point of this one. 1/5
Overall far more hits than misses, but some of it felt a little dated.
Overall 3.5 stars, rounded down.
A re-read, by accident. This was sitting in an 'unread' section of my shelves, and on perusing it, I recognised several of the short story names, but assumed this was just because I have read several of his collections of short stories. By the time I got halfway through I realised I had read it in its entirely before, but because I was quote enjoying it, I finished it off. My original review below stands up to the second reading.
---
Twelve short stories selected by the author himself for this publication. The stories date from between 1923 and 1990, and are set in various locations. For me this wasn't necesarily Greene's best, I found the stories a bit hit and miss.
The Last Word - Set in the future, after religion has been abolished, this story explains why an elderly man with no memory of his past is taken to meet The General, and his vague but comforting relationship with God. 4/5
The News in English - Set during the second world war, Lord Haw-Haw is off the air, and a new man is broadcasting from Germany in his place. (Lord Haw-Haw was a nickname applied to the Second World War-era broadcaster William Joyce, who made pro-German propaganda broadcasts that opened with “Germany calling, Germany calling”, spoken in an affected upper class English accent.) His wife, listening from home is initially distraught at his traitorous behaviour, but notices her husband appears to be passing a message. 4/5
The Moment of Truth - A waiter makes a bond with some regular customers. 3/5
The Man who Stole the Eiffel Tower - An absurd story about the theft and reinstatement of the Eiffel Tower. 3/5
The Lieutenant Died Last - A minor invasion of an English village by Germans takes everyone by surprise, and it is left to an old poacher to save they day. 4/5
A Branch of the Service - A food critic who is recruited into the secret service, but must retire because he has lost his appetite for food. 4/5
An Old Man's Memory - A terrorist attack on the opening of the Channel Tunnel train changes the future of the rail link. 3/5
The Lottery Ticket - A man visiting Mexico wins a lottery and discovers he can't take the money out of the country. He decides to make a charitable donation, but things don't turn out the way expected. 4/5
The New House - A tale of an architect and his change of opinion. 2/5
Work Not in Progress - Play script about bishops, Not for me. 1/5
Murder for the Wrong Reason - A murder mystery, but it felt far to long and didn't hold my attention. 1/5
An Appointment with the General - Set in Chile, a French female journalist meets and interviews a military dictator. I think I might have missed the point of this one. 1/5
Overall far more hits than misses, but some of it felt a little dated.
Overall 3.5 stars, rounded down.
Twelve short stories selected by the author himself for this publication. The stories date from between 1923 and 1990, and are set in various locations. For me this wasn't necesarily Greene's best, I found the stories a bit hit and miss.
The Last Word - Set in the future, after religion has been abolished, this story explains why an elderly man with no memory of his past is taken to meet The General, and his vague but comforting relationship with God. 4/5
The News in English - Set during the second world war, Lord Haw-Haw is off the air, and a new man is broadcasting from Germany in his place. (Lord Haw-Haw was a nickname applied to the Second World War-era broadcaster William Joyce, who made pro-German propaganda broadcasts that opened with “Germany calling, Germany calling”, spoken in an affected upper class English accent.) His wife, listening from home is initially distraught at his traitorous behaviour, but notices her husband appears to be passing a message. 4/5
The Moment of Truth - A waiter makes a bond with some regular customers. 3/5
The Man who Stole the Eiffel Tower - An absurd story about the theft and reinstatement of the Eiffel Tower. 3/5
The Lieutenant Died Last - A minor invasion of an English village by Germans takes everyone by surprise, and it is left to an old poacher to save they day. 4/5
A Branch of the Service - A food critic who is recruited into the secret service, but must retire because he has lost his appetite for food. 4/5
An Old Man's Memory - A terrorist attack on the opening of the Channel Tunnel train changes the future of the rail link. 3/5
The Lottery Ticket - A man visiting Mexico wins a lottery and discovers he can't take the money out of the country. He decides to make a charitable donation, but things don't turn out the way expected. 4/5
The New House - A tale of an architect and his change of opinion. 2/5
Work Not in Progress - Play script about bishops, Not for me. 1/5
Murder for the Wrong Reason - A murder mystery, but it felt far to long and didn't hold my attention. 1/5
An Appointment with the General - Set in Chile, a French female journalist meets and interviews a military dictator. I think I might have missed the point of this one. 1/5
Overall far more hits than misses, but some of it felt a little dated.
Overall 3.5 stars, rounded down.
Twelve short stories selected by the author himself for this publication. The stories date from between 1923 and 1990, and are set in various locations. For me this wasn't necesarily Greene's best, I found the stories a bit hit and miss.
The Last Word - Set in the future, after religion has been abolished, this story explains why an elderly man with no memory of his past is taken to meet The General, and his vague but comforting relationship with God. 4/5
The News in English - Set during the second world war, Lord Haw-Haw is off the air, and a new man is broadcasting from Germany in his place. (Lord Haw-Haw was a nickname applied to the Second World War-era broadcaster William Joyce, who made pro-German propaganda broadcasts that opened with “Germany calling, Germany calling”, spoken in an affected upper class English accent.) His wife, listening from home is initially distraught at his traitorous behaviour, but notices her husband appears to be passing a message. 4/5
The Moment of Truth - A waiter makes a bond with some regular customers. 3/5
The Man who Stole the Eiffel Tower - An absurd story about the theft and reinstatement of the Eiffel Tower. 3/5
The Lieutenant Died Last - A minor invasion of an English village by Germans takes everyone by surprise, and it is left to an old poacher to save they day. 4/5
A Branch of the Service - A food critic who is recruited into the secret service, but must retire because he has lost his appetite for food. 4/5
An Old Man's Memory - A terrorist attack on the opening of the Channel Tunnel train changes the future of the rail link. 3/5
The Lottery Ticket - A man visiting Mexico wins a lottery and discovers he can't take the money out of the country. He decides to make a charitable donation, but things don't turn out the way expected. 4/5
The New House - A tale of an architect and his change of opinion. 2/5
Work Not in Progress - Play script about bishops, Not for me. 1/5
Murder for the Wrong Reason - A murder mystery, but it felt far to long and didn't hold my attention. 1/5
An Appointment with the General - Set in Chile, a French female journalist meets and interviews a military dictator. I think I might have missed the point of this one. 1/5
Overall far more hits than misses, but some of it felt a little dated.
Overall 3.5 stars, rounded down.
I tried to enjoy this, I wanted to enjoy this and in isolated spots I did, which is why I gave it three stars. For the most part however it was dry and dense and went too far into politics and complexities that didn't hold my interest.
The entire book is frames around 'short walks' for each chapter (pretty much) he ends up on a walk somewhere, and his narrative fans out from that - perhaps the people he meets, the person accompanying him, the history of the location etc. Sometimes more than one string to the chapter.
Supposedly this is Colombia after it evolved from the narcostate, when it is more tourist friendly, when it is on the rise. For all that Feiling finds plenty to be grim about and plenty to wrote about the cocaine trade, even if it is the former cocaine trade! It is largely a series of grim tales and continues to focus on the experiences of the past, not the future as promised. People he meets include former guerilla's, former paramilitaries and loads of other random people with stories to tell. He delves into history - recent and the times of the conquistadors.
I skimmed in parts, the density wore me down, made it hard to immerse in the read. The sidelines he sets off on don't always feel relevant to the narrative (in fact for me the narrative is hard to identify for too much of the book), and it becomes that hard to enjoy combination of dense and disconnected.
Feiling's The Candy Machine
was excellent, but it had focus. It was also dense, but it ploughed a straighter line.
3 stars
I tried to enjoy this, I wanted to enjoy this and in isolated spots I did, which is why I gave it three stars. For the most part however it was dry and dense and went too far into politics and complexities that didn't hold my interest.
The entire book is frames around 'short walks' for each chapter (pretty much) he ends up on a walk somewhere, and his narrative fans out from that - perhaps the people he meets, the person accompanying him, the history of the location etc. Sometimes more than one string to the chapter.
Supposedly this is Colombia after it evolved from the narcostate, when it is more tourist friendly, when it is on the rise. For all that Feiling finds plenty to be grim about and plenty to wrote about the cocaine trade, even if it is the former cocaine trade! It is largely a series of grim tales and continues to focus on the experiences of the past, not the future as promised. People he meets include former guerilla's, former paramilitaries and loads of other random people with stories to tell. He delves into history - recent and the times of the conquistadors.
I skimmed in parts, the density wore me down, made it hard to immerse in the read. The sidelines he sets off on don't always feel relevant to the narrative (in fact for me the narrative is hard to identify for too much of the book), and it becomes that hard to enjoy combination of dense and disconnected.
Feiling's The Candy Machine
was excellent, but it had focus. It was also dense, but it ploughed a straighter line.
3 stars
Added to list5 Starwith 205 books.
Added to listNauticalwith 184 books.
Published in 1999, when Severin had almost reached 60 years old by which time he probably decided to put his long sea voyages in replica's of ancient ships to one side. This is a slightly different approach from him. He looks at a historic character still, but a literary one - Moby Dick. He looks at Moby Dick's author Herman Melville, and how his experiences fed into the great novel. Also where his experiences fell short and his information was gathered from other sources. But most of all, he looks at the whale - whether a white whale was pure invention, a historic cultural legend or really accurate.
Melville acknowledged that he read a book by the survivor of a ship wrecked by an aggressive bull whale (Owen Chase, of the whaleship Essex) on which he based parts of the general story. Severin wants more though validation - white whales - do they exist?
To find out his answers, Severin decides to visit the last remaining aboriginal hunters of whales - they have regular contact with whales, they have historic contact with whales, they have legends and beliefs associated with whales. And so the story takes him to Nuku Hiva (where Melville spent time, albeit less time than he purported), in the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia; to Pamilacan near Bohol in the Philippines; to Tonga and to Lamalera, a remote coastal village on the southern coast of Lembata Island in Indonesia.
In each of these locations Severin spends time with the current whale hunters, as well as the elderly men of the villages, he goes out on boats and sees their traditional hunting methods, learns their many stories and experiences.
I don't want to spoil this excellent book for other readers, so I won't share what Severin finds, but I will say this is an engaging read. There are some nice colour photos of the places he visits, reproductions of lots of black and white paintings and the like as well as some original whale art by Trondur Patursson, a man who accompanied Severin on several of his expeditions, is from the Faroe Islands and therefore is well connected to Whales, and who also visits Severin in Lamalera to share some of the Whaling experiences.
I like all Severin's books, this is certainly no exception, despite it being different from his earlier fare - in that it is more travelogue than expedition and as much a literary investigation as a historical one.
Recommended for Severin fans, for Moby Dick fans, and I expect it will work for those who enjoy the recent literary genre of historical shipwreck non-fiction.
5 stars
Published in 1999, when Severin had almost reached 60 years old by which time he probably decided to put his long sea voyages in replica's of ancient ships to one side. This is a slightly different approach from him. He looks at a historic character still, but a literary one - Moby Dick. He looks at Moby Dick's author Herman Melville, and how his experiences fed into the great novel. Also where his experiences fell short and his information was gathered from other sources. But most of all, he looks at the whale - whether a white whale was pure invention, a historic cultural legend or really accurate.
Melville acknowledged that he read a book by the survivor of a ship wrecked by an aggressive bull whale (Owen Chase, of the whaleship Essex) on which he based parts of the general story. Severin wants more though validation - white whales - do they exist?
To find out his answers, Severin decides to visit the last remaining aboriginal hunters of whales - they have regular contact with whales, they have historic contact with whales, they have legends and beliefs associated with whales. And so the story takes him to Nuku Hiva (where Melville spent time, albeit less time than he purported), in the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia; to Pamilacan near Bohol in the Philippines; to Tonga and to Lamalera, a remote coastal village on the southern coast of Lembata Island in Indonesia.
In each of these locations Severin spends time with the current whale hunters, as well as the elderly men of the villages, he goes out on boats and sees their traditional hunting methods, learns their many stories and experiences.
I don't want to spoil this excellent book for other readers, so I won't share what Severin finds, but I will say this is an engaging read. There are some nice colour photos of the places he visits, reproductions of lots of black and white paintings and the like as well as some original whale art by Trondur Patursson, a man who accompanied Severin on several of his expeditions, is from the Faroe Islands and therefore is well connected to Whales, and who also visits Severin in Lamalera to share some of the Whaling experiences.
I like all Severin's books, this is certainly no exception, despite it being different from his earlier fare - in that it is more travelogue than expedition and as much a literary investigation as a historical one.
Recommended for Severin fans, for Moby Dick fans, and I expect it will work for those who enjoy the recent literary genre of historical shipwreck non-fiction.
5 stars
Added to listOwnedwith 2823 books.
From the end of the Preface I thought the humour in this book would fit me perfectly.
"My immediate relations have been of enormous assistance in compiling this volume; without their help it would probably have been published six months sooner."
Also worth mentioning from the Preface is a note as follows: "I am not an authority of anything. This little book is not the history of a life-work in Africa, not is it the diary of an expensive shooting expedition. It is just a simple record of things that actually happened to a casual young man who absentmindedly wandered into Central Africa, travelling very much 'on the cheap' unhampered by friends 'influence,' or letter of introduction."
And the first 20-30 pages of the book lives up to this. Mason is self deprecating and amusing. He is no glory seeker, or seeker of trophies. I marked a few more quotes in the first 20 or so pages - some examples:
P10 "It was very hot, both on body and feet. We walked many miles, but made no secret of preferring to ride. George, in mistaken compassion for his small donkey, used to get off its back and cadge rides on my camel. I would wait until he was out of sight, and, bestriding the pampered moke, smite it firmly down the girth with the ropes end; realising that it must make the best of things, the foxy little brute would trot merrily along with no signs of tiring under my fourteen stone odd, though it had drooped and stumbled beneath George's twelve stone of misguided sympathy."
P18 "Some people will wait till they have measured the horns of some slaughtered creature and compared them to the record book before they decide they have enjoyed their day. The difficulties surmounted, the craft brought into play, the wariness and beauty of the quarry, the long waits while it feeds and moves about unaware of danger - surely these things are worth more than the triumph of its being an inch larger in size than the one killed by So-and-so."
P20 "That country is full of the giant baobab trees... One of these struct me as unusually large, so I measured its girth scientifically. I was checking my result by pacing around its bole when I stepped in a nest of furious wild bees... Wishing to photograph it, I told Ibrahim to go and stand against the trunk to make a contrast. He objected that he would be stung by the bees. In a foolish moment I said, "Very well, Ibrahim, I will give you one piastre for every sting you get." The words were barely out of my mouth before he rushed at the tree and , leaping in the middle of the bees did his upmost to provoke their wrath by stirring them up with both his feet and a spear handle. When I had taken the picture I had to call him away twice, and he came up, covered in stings and smiles to collect about seven shillings for what, I really believe, afforded him no physical discomfort whatever."
But it wasn't too long before the amusing asides fell away and the casual racism (typical of the era) came to the fore. Mason repeats his view that negroes are lesser beings, lack intelligence etc etc. I can separate the views of the time from the author, but this is very repetitive. That aside, the book rolls out to describe his time in Africa (Sudan, Uganda, Kenya and Tanganyika (Tanzania now)) undertaking general travel and hunting expeditions. For the Sudanese journey he accompanies a Colonel he meets by chance on a train, in other places he hunts alone or joins up with other white men he encounters.
He shares an interpretation of the different tribes, some of their cultural beliefs and way of life. He explains about the animals he tracks and often shoots, but not always, sometimes being content to stalk and just watch, or take photographs, which is not so common of the era.
Mason is quick to shares his errors and faults, but also equally quick to expose others mistakes, but not in a vindictive way, just to move the narrative along.
The casual racism did drop away about 2/3 of the way through, but the humour didn't really return. In the end I did enjoy the read as a detailed description of his travels and hunting, he told interesting asides and anecdotes about animals and African tribes, taking in a wide array of detail. Overall the rating was tainted by the unnecessary repetition of some of the generalisations and comments on Africans.
There were plenty of decent (for the time) black and white photographs throughout the book. There was also a pocket for a large map, which sadly was missing in my copy. The appendices contained an explanation of the Rift Valley and Volcanoes; a detailed comparative table for the native languages the author collected (very impressive to me at least); and a list of points for others to consider with regard to equipment to take or not take to Africa!
3.5 stars.
From the end of the Preface I thought the humour in this book would fit me perfectly.
"My immediate relations have been of enormous assistance in compiling this volume; without their help it would probably have been published six months sooner."
Also worth mentioning from the Preface is a note as follows: "I am not an authority of anything. This little book is not the history of a life-work in Africa, not is it the diary of an expensive shooting expedition. It is just a simple record of things that actually happened to a casual young man who absentmindedly wandered into Central Africa, travelling very much 'on the cheap' unhampered by friends 'influence,' or letter of introduction."
And the first 20-30 pages of the book lives up to this. Mason is self deprecating and amusing. He is no glory seeker, or seeker of trophies. I marked a few more quotes in the first 20 or so pages - some examples:
P10 "It was very hot, both on body and feet. We walked many miles, but made no secret of preferring to ride. George, in mistaken compassion for his small donkey, used to get off its back and cadge rides on my camel. I would wait until he was out of sight, and, bestriding the pampered moke, smite it firmly down the girth with the ropes end; realising that it must make the best of things, the foxy little brute would trot merrily along with no signs of tiring under my fourteen stone odd, though it had drooped and stumbled beneath George's twelve stone of misguided sympathy."
P18 "Some people will wait till they have measured the horns of some slaughtered creature and compared them to the record book before they decide they have enjoyed their day. The difficulties surmounted, the craft brought into play, the wariness and beauty of the quarry, the long waits while it feeds and moves about unaware of danger - surely these things are worth more than the triumph of its being an inch larger in size than the one killed by So-and-so."
P20 "That country is full of the giant baobab trees... One of these struct me as unusually large, so I measured its girth scientifically. I was checking my result by pacing around its bole when I stepped in a nest of furious wild bees... Wishing to photograph it, I told Ibrahim to go and stand against the trunk to make a contrast. He objected that he would be stung by the bees. In a foolish moment I said, "Very well, Ibrahim, I will give you one piastre for every sting you get." The words were barely out of my mouth before he rushed at the tree and , leaping in the middle of the bees did his upmost to provoke their wrath by stirring them up with both his feet and a spear handle. When I had taken the picture I had to call him away twice, and he came up, covered in stings and smiles to collect about seven shillings for what, I really believe, afforded him no physical discomfort whatever."
But it wasn't too long before the amusing asides fell away and the casual racism (typical of the era) came to the fore. Mason repeats his view that negroes are lesser beings, lack intelligence etc etc. I can separate the views of the time from the author, but this is very repetitive. That aside, the book rolls out to describe his time in Africa (Sudan, Uganda, Kenya and Tanganyika (Tanzania now)) undertaking general travel and hunting expeditions. For the Sudanese journey he accompanies a Colonel he meets by chance on a train, in other places he hunts alone or joins up with other white men he encounters.
He shares an interpretation of the different tribes, some of their cultural beliefs and way of life. He explains about the animals he tracks and often shoots, but not always, sometimes being content to stalk and just watch, or take photographs, which is not so common of the era.
Mason is quick to shares his errors and faults, but also equally quick to expose others mistakes, but not in a vindictive way, just to move the narrative along.
The casual racism did drop away about 2/3 of the way through, but the humour didn't really return. In the end I did enjoy the read as a detailed description of his travels and hunting, he told interesting asides and anecdotes about animals and African tribes, taking in a wide array of detail. Overall the rating was tainted by the unnecessary repetition of some of the generalisations and comments on Africans.
There were plenty of decent (for the time) black and white photographs throughout the book. There was also a pocket for a large map, which sadly was missing in my copy. The appendices contained an explanation of the Rift Valley and Volcanoes; a detailed comparative table for the native languages the author collected (very impressive to me at least); and a list of points for others to consider with regard to equipment to take or not take to Africa!
3.5 stars.
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