Rating: 
Summary: A long, dark trip
Review: This book provides an excellent, eye opening look at Africa through the lens of the author's long journey from one end of the continent to the other. The conclusions he reaches are somewhat disturbing and depressing, as it seems that much of the continent is in chaos or decay or both. On the other hand, it's an interesting travelogue of an incredible, hands on journey from the north to the south. The author has good journalistic skills, as he shares a number of entertaining and amusing anecdotes about what he sees and who he meets along the way. This book will give readers a fresh and unflinching look at Africa, and will perhaps generate more discussion on this complex subject. Avery Z. Conner, author of "Fevers of the Mind".
Rating:
Summary: A large look at a huge continent
Review: "All news out of Africa is bad. It made me want to go there . . " Most of us will never have the opportunity to start at the top of an immense continent such as Africa and make our way to the other end, chatting with everyone we meet and recording our impressions along the way, interwoven with a vast knowledge of local history and literary references. We are lucky to have Theroux do it for us. Approaching his sixtieth birthday, he still prefers to travel close to the ground, engaging those around him in both light banter and discussions of tough issues - in this case, whether or not government policies have brought about any progress since he was last there as a teacher in the Peace Corps in the 1960's. Dark Star Safari begins in Cairo, but really takes off when he leaves the city behind and roams from town to town describing the sights, the pleasures and hazards of travel and forming his own opinions about such topics as subsistence farming and international aid efforts. Those unfamiliar with Theroux's writing should know that it is these personal reactions and the immediacy of his narrative that provide the pleasure in reading one of his books. He speaks some of the local language and makes himself comfortable in a broad variety of settings. If you are seeking an in-depth look at the political scene to the exclusion of everything else, then Dark Star Safari might not be the book for you. It covers a lot of ground fast (if 500 pages can be said to be fast), yet provides enough lingering looks at such a variety of residents and lifestyles that you feel as though you know a lot more about Africa than when you started.
Rating: 
Summary: Are return trips always the most painful?
Review: I have read and enjoyed most of Mr Theroux's travel books, not to mention novels and short stories. I enjoy the way that he observes the world around him, but also his own reactions to it. And he has such a lively sense of humour and sense of place. Well, in 'Dark Star Safari' I certainly got the sense of place as usual - but where was the humour? We read in this book about Mr Theroux's milestone birthday and it occurred to me that, not only did he flee home and family where it might have been celebrated, but also that he returned to places and journeys of his youth. Perhaps the lack of humour has something to do with his being depressed about aging? And in the light of this I wonder if Africa's decline is quite as severe as he portrays in this book. I don't doubt that it is rough - and in places dangerous - but I wonder if the Tanzania and Uganda described by Mr Theroux have fallen quite so far as it appears from this book. It also interested me that he chose to retrace the paths of earlier explorations he took in Africa, rather than venture out in new exciting directions where the freshness of his view might have displaced his apparently persistent sense of decline. There is also the matter of aid to Africa which Mr Theroux blames for the decline he sees in the country. In this he convinces me. So perhaps the decline is as he observes, and that it is not mixed up in the decline that aging is bringing to himself. My final observation is a testament to how powerful I see Mr Theroux's observations, how uncompromising and revealing. It happens that I had two trips to Johannesburg in 2000 myself and as I read 'Dark Star Safari' of Mr Theroux's journey towards South Africa it suddenly occured to me that when Mr Theroux reached Johannesburg I might suddenly find myself reading about myself! This was rather exciting and a bit daunting too. How would he see me? As remorselessly as he sees himself? Perhaps I was disappointed, perhaps I was relieved, but we didn't meet - or I was just too dull to be included! Read this book for a great view of the variety of Africa and even more of the people of Africa. Like the big continent that Africa is, this is a big book, but Mr Theroux does not make it a labour to read - even though it does tend to be a bit gloomy.
Rating: 
Summary: African Portraiture
Review: Paul Theroux draws words into colorfull, detailed portraitures of black Africans in Black Africa, from Cairo to Cape Town. His encounters along the way with natives, tourists, citizens, politicians, social workers, old friends from his past, plus many more, make this journalistic narrative a dazzling cultural disseration, and an entertaining social extravaganza revealing what the real African political, economic, cultural and social retrogression Africa has been experiencing over the past forty years. I read half the book and put it away for one month. At first I was depressed reading it, placing too much emphasis on the HIV epidemic among all Africans, feeling sorrow for their depressed enonomy; Black Africans without jobs, with little food, wearing shredded clothing. Then Theroux explained in his comedic manners that Africans are not motivated or empowered to improve their lives, or do anything or go anywhere. They are disengaged in their own affairs. He wrote, "In a place where time seemed to matter so little, there existed a sort of nihilism that was also a form of serentiy and a survival skill." I picked Dark Star Safari back up after one month delay and again felt priviledged enjoying reading it to its end. Engagingly written, this story was educational, entertaining and offered insight into the African community without contaminating your physical body. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Marvelous, simply marvelous
Review: I found Dark Star Safari to be one of the best books I have read in a long time. Theroux's sometimes cynical view of Africa is simply delightful. While I must admit that I know very little about Africa, Dark Star Safari has fully dissuaded me from ever visiting or giving to any charities that might operate there. I was prepared for the standard blindly-optimistic evaluation of charities in Africa and I found Theroux's experiences, criticism and realistic assesments to be both sobering and refreshing. In addition to being an engaging travel book, Dark Star Safari is also a thought-provoking journey into the causes, conditions and inevitability of African poverty and misery. I highly recommend this great literary work to anyone with the least interest in Africa, the charities and people there, or anyone else who just likes a good book.
Rating:
Summary: A lesson on Africa and Growing Up
Review: It took a long time for me to finish Dark Star Safari. I bought it because I've enjoyed some of Theroux' previous books. I read about 20 pages and then laid the book down. Same old Theroux carping and whining, I thought. The same sniveling that kept me from finishing Pillars. But I finally picked it up again, after 6 months, and jumped to the third chapter where he is on the road and no longer bickering with stuffy officials. The book finally caught me and I loved reading it. There is a not-so-fine line between gushing "Africa is the homeland of all mankind" stories that are so prevalent and the Conrad-style dangerous dark continent pish. Theroux finds that broad path and follows it the length of the great continent.
What make Dark Star enjoyable are the comparisons that Theroux draws between Africa of today and the Africa of 40 years ago when he was a Peace Corps volunteer there. He is able to draw upon experience in each country and relay how it differs from the others (Uganda is peaceful and beautiful, Kenya is trashed) and how each country has changed during the last four decades.
Also, as is usual in a Theroux book, we hear much of his internal dialogue and how his own life has changed since he left Africa.
This is an insightful book both on the countries of Africa and on the subject of growing older and wiser with dignity. Well done.
Rating: 
Summary: Arrogant Relativist
Review: Like another reviewer here, I too felt his book spiral down in the latter chapters. The penultimate insult was when the young lady in Mozambique said she would pray for him and he had the audacity to basically say.."F Off" in so many words. I never finished the book after that...I Burned it.
Rating:
Summary: Disappear into the dark heart of Africa
Review: "Out of touch in Africa is where I wanted to be." Theroux says and that is exactly what he did during this trip. No schedule, no contacts with the outside world, with the exception of an occasional message to his wife letting her know he is still alive. Theroux makes the pages jump alive with vivid descriptions of Africa's landscape and people. Rather than a safe, travel agency prescribed, tour Theroux flies into Cairo with nothing but a plan, to go on a journey by road to Cape Town.
Before I go into the many things about this book which I enjoyed, I think it is necessary to touch on the one thing I did not like, Paul Theroux's ego. He goes into Africa believing that he is the most civilized and intelligent person on the continent (he doesn't say that directly but it is obvious through his writing). During his travels through Africa he lets his experience with aid workers, who treat him poorly or don't give him a ride, set a stereotype, to an extent, on all people of the sort in Africa. Theroux also seemed to believe that he was in extreme danger in public places. For example, he would dress in shabby clothes and would never carry any money because if he did he would be immediately robbed. Despite having no travel experience of my own in Africa, I believe that Theroux went overkill in these situations. Overall I believe this to be a very good book; however it is important while reading it, to realize that some of the opinions the author has have been influenced by bad experiences on his trip.
However, this book has many more strengths than weaknesses. His travel, for the most part, shows a realistic view of Africa that many people have never seen before. He reveals the blatant corruption of the foreign aid industry and the governments of many of the countries he visits. He also relates current Africa to the Africa he knew 40 years ago when he worked for the Peace Corps in Uganda. This past experience in Africa lets readers see how dramatically Africa has changed. The image I remember most is his description of an area called The Bat Valley, an area that 40 years ago was swarming with bats, which now has not a single bat in sight, because of people moving into the area. This is a unique book, filled with unforgettable experiences, from sleeping outside a pyramid in the Sudan to running from bandits in Kenya, this book is a must read for any travel enthusiast.
Rating:
Summary: How Dare I Ever Travel to Africa
Review: Evidently, no one is morally fit to travel to Africa other than Mr. Theroux. Unless one is going for reasons deemed appropriate by this author, one is bound to do nothing but harm to those Africans Mr. Theroux chose to care about. Never mind that tourism is a potentially sustainable and renewable resource with a price tag that is far more reliable than the price of the coffee grown all 'round the equitorial belt. Never mind that tourism can be one of many impetouses for African nations to pay heed to the conservation of thier wild lands and animal species (No, not at the expense of Africans, Mr. Theroux- Please read David Western's "In the Dust of Kilimanjaro."). Paul Theroux annihilates the effect of his many thoughtful observations with his pompous, intellectual elitism. As one one of the sunburned, broad-hatted Westerners who has loved the African continent, I beseech Mr. Theroux to get over himself. It might surprise him to know that while I have been to the Ngorongoro Crater (and enjoyed it), I have also spent untold hours in my Alaskan home reading books on Afrian political history, natural history, and cultural history. By the way, I intend to visit Bwindi and Mgahinga next January, and I intend to enjoy it.
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