Brazilian Adventure

Rating:
Summary: Engaging, witty and a must read!
Review: Every so often I have to buy a new copy of Brazillian Adventure because I lend my copy to someone and they flatly refuse to return it again. This is one of the most engaging and good-humoured travel books ever. It was Fleming's first adventure and his first book - yet it became a classic work going into several editions early on and being used in schools as a study piece. It is seriously well written, and seriously engaging.

It starts with his blandly describing how he got involved in the expedition in the first place- answering an advertisement in the paper to go on a 'Fawcett hunt" (as he later called it). He thought he would go on a grand expedition to find the missing explorer Colonel Fawcett and get a little hunting done at the same time. There have been numerous books and studies done on the disappearnce of Fawcett in Brazil in the 1920's - to this day no one quite knows what happened to him, and as it turns out the expedition that Fleming was joining was not going to throw new light on matters either.

In fact the trip deteriorated badly the moment they hit Brazil, and Fleming's dry wit turns it all into a hilarious read - although it must have been desparately uncomfortable for them all. The expedition Leader was incompetent, the expedition split into two warring factions and they all ended up in a race back down the Amazon to try to get the banks in time.

Peter Fleming, in case you didn't know, is the brother of the 'James Bond' author Ian Fleming - a talent for writing seemed to run in the family. Peter continued his travels and writing career but I think this first book is the best of them all. There is also a wonderful biography on his life available but I think that is now out of print.

Rating:
Summary: British subtlety
Review: I brought this book for my Brazilian trip this past Dec. I found this book slow and boring in the beginning. This may be due to the fact that the author used lot of what I assume to be late 19th and early 20th century references which I have no idea about and the British writing. But after half way through, I learned to read past the subtle British writing and concentrate on the story and this make the book more enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: a wonderful read
Review: I can't believe nobody else has reviewed this book- it is a classic travel book and a wonderful read. It was his first book and very much a young man's piece of writing- a humorous, true account of an expedition to locate the famous explorer Col. (or was it Major?)Fawcett who vanished in the Amazon. I can't really do the book justice- just read it for yourself! Trivia: Peter was Ian Fleming's brother, Fawcet was the inspiration for Doyle's "The Lost World".

Rating:
Summary: Funny Exciting Travel
Review: Imagine a book co-written by Redmond O'Hanlon and Noel Coward: Funny, exciting, literate, a period piece that still works. Flemming, a young corespondant for the London Times, goes on a half-baked expidition to the heart of Brazil with a group of men both over- and underprepared for the adventure. I enjoyed the book immensely, although his light tone occasionally got to me.

Rating:
Summary: Funny Exciting Travel
Review: Imagine a book co-written by Redmond O'Hanlon and Noel Coward: Funny, exciting, literate, a period piece that still works. Flemming, a young corespondant for the London Times, goes on a half-baked expidition to the heart of Brazil with a group of men both over- and underprepared for the adventure. I enjoyed the book immensely, although his light tone occasionally got to me.

Rating:
Summary: Good Old Fashion Adventure Still Works
Review: This is contemporary American adventure: buy an SUV, watch game shows based on Lord of the Flies, try the risotto recipe Martha Stewart used on her ascent in the Himilayas. Please! Brazilian Adventure is the real thing for those who don't own their own snowshoes. Sure, the author and his companions set off with pith helmets worthy of Ralph Lauren and more elaborate gear than they'll ever use; true, Fleming is something of a good old boy circa 1932 Oxford style. Skin to be shed. When reality hits, which it does early in the adventure and continues to the bedraggled end, he rises to the occasion. The narrative is suffused with clear-eyed wit, honesty and optimism. I hope there are other Peter Fleming books out there.