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Summary: River Journey
Review: I loved this book, and was especially moved by its dazzling style and realistic ending. For anyone who reads travel lit or cares about modern Africa, this is the book for you. A wonderful journey -- like none any of us will most likely ever take -- awaits you. Long after closing this book, you will care, too, about the Colonel, Desi and all the others Tayler met along the arduous way of the river.
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Summary: so much for the romance of travel
Review: I was deeply impressed by the honesty of this writer. Jeffrey Tayler embarked on a journey that he seemed to recognize from the outset as being one primarily of self-discovery. Adventure, certainly, plays a role in his story--whoever thinks that opportunity for danger and exploration ceased sometime in the late 19th century should read this book--but it was Tayler's struggles with his rationale for taking the trip, his efforts to relate to people he meets and travels with, and his remarkably objective take on his place as a comparatively wealthy white man in the midst of desperately poor people with a long history of abuse and oppression by European cultures that really make this book stand out. I know of nothing more uncomfortable than being seen as an opportunity for material advancement (perhaps not so different from how women must feel at times), particularly when there is some truth to the situation--any western traveler in a developing country, no matter how "shoe-string" your budget has so much more than the majority of the people around you. Tayler gives a better, and more honest, sense of this sensation than any other travel writer I've read. Writers like Chatwin or Theroux were/are remarkable observers, but there's an honesty that seems to be missing from their accounts about what it's really like. Tayler has this honesty in spades.
Rating:
Summary: A fool's errand
Review: In 1991, the Zairean military, unpaid for months, began rioting in the large cities, making it difficult, if not impossible, to obtain medical care, or communicate with the outside world. The U.S. government evacuated all non-essential personnel, including all Peace Corps volunteers, of which I was one. Against all odds and good sense, Tayler goes to Zaire in the mid-1990s, after "les pillages", and manages to equip himself and travel quite a distance down the Congo in a pirogue (dugout canoe). Zairois/Congolese don't understand the mondele (white person) desire for adventure; life alone is mpasi (hard); why tempt fate? I found the premise of this adventure crazy, having lived in the country, but we Westerners often travel to remote and dangerous places (where locals are trying to eke out an existence) in search for meaning and illumination. Heck, that's probably why I went to Zaire, too. Tayler's portrayal of the Congo and its people is accurate--it is a harsh place, full of illness and extreme poverty. But it is also a humbling place, where people who have nothing will help you find your way, and will share with you what little they have. I feel like I have taken a trip back to my old home, and I'm thankful to have read the book.
Rating:
Summary: A fool's errand
Review: In 1991, the Zairean military, unpaid for months, began rioting in the large cities, making it difficult, if not impossible, to obtain medical care, or communicate with the outside world. The U.S. government evacuated all non-essential personnel, including all Peace Corps volunteers, of which I was one. Against all odds and good sense, Tayler goes to Zaire in the mid-1990s, after "les pillages", and manages to equip himself and travel quite a distance down the Congo in a pirogue (dugout canoe). Zairois/Congolese don't understand the mondele (white person) desire for adventure; life alone is mpasi (hard); why tempt fate? I found the premise of this adventure crazy, having lived in the country, but we Westerners often travel to remote and dangerous places (where locals are trying to eke out an existence) in search for meaning and illumination. Heck, that's probably why I went to Zaire, too. Tayler's portrayal of the Congo and its people is accurate--it is a harsh place, full of illness and extreme poverty. But it is also a humbling place, where people who have nothing will help you find your way, and will share with you what little they have. I feel like I have taken a trip back to my old home, and I'm thankful to have read the book.
Rating:
Summary: Up and (part way) down the Congo river
Review: In the 1980's Helen Winternitz wrote "East Along the Equator" which chronicled her journey from Kinshasa to Kisangani by river barge. This stretch of the Congo river was probably first written about in "Through the Dark Continent" by Henry Morton Stanley, who, in the employ of the King of Belgium, laid the foundation of the Congo Free State which inspired Conrad to write "Heart of Darkness" and the disintegration and aftermath of which became the subject of V. S. Naipaul's "A Bend in the River" and Barbara Kingsolver's "The Poisonwood Bible". Now, Jeffrey Tayler in "Facing the Congo" tells the story of his attempt to recreate Stanley's voyage down the Congo river. He begins as did Winternitz, taking a barge up the river in the mid 1990's. As there are virtually no roads in the Congo region these river barges are the only transportation available to the average Congolese. They function as floating villages, filled with merchants who trade manufactured goods for forest products along the river route. As if that isn't enough for a book, Tayler then buys a pirogue (canoe), hires a guide, and attempts to paddle back down to where he started. "Facing the Congo" is an excellent record of his trip. He is a thoughtful and thought-provoking writer and as is the case with most good travel writing the book is not only a record of his voyage, but also a record of self-discovery. Especially interesting are his interactions with the Congolese people he encounters along the way: people who usually can't fathom why a foreigner would be travelling the way he is. Other writers might simply depict such encounters in a comical or stereotypical fashion; Tayler makes an honest attempt to see their world through their eyes. He even manages some sympathy for the military and secret police officials that block his path. A good choice for any armchair traveler or anyone interested in Central Africa.
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Summary: Bill Byrson on the Congo
Review: It was very similar to a Bill Bryson book, which in my opinion is a good thing. It was easy to read, presented a lot of facts about Zaire, and was extremely descriptive when it came to dealing with the police, soldiers, custom officials, hotel accomodations etc. My only criticism is he tended to go on at length about his guide and his religious rantings. Toward the end it seemed as though he had written more about his guide and their relationship than he was about the country. Don't let that stop you from reading this book because it is full of facts which he has incorporated into his experience. I'll be ordering his other books to read them as well after reading this book. I think you'll enjoy it.
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Summary: You'll think twice about following his footsteps.
Review: Jeffrey Tayler's account of his journey to follow in the footsteps of the British explorer Henry Morton Stanley, who sailed down the Congo in pirogues in the 1870s, is a very detailed journal of his daily trials and hardships and realizations. The detail is a bit overwhelming at times although it does provide you with a very real look at everything he encountered along the way, especially the corrupt political and military personnel. This detail does serve to dissuade anyone in his right mind from wanting to follow in his footsteps. His use of French words, in many cases untranslated, is a bit annoying to those of us who don't know French and a bit distracting from the text. I enjoyed the story he tells but not particularly the way he tells it. However, it does serve to entertain and describe a world few "mondeles" have seen or will ever see, or after reading his account would care to see. Tayler does come to realize some very important things that those of us who have actually traveled the world and experienced the suffering and injustices that dominate so many "third-world" countries can appreciate. That the world is a wonderous place, not to be exploited as a playground on which to solve our own rich-boy existential dilemnas. At the same time he gains appreciation that there is much to be learned from living, even when the lessons prove to be deeply painful.
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Summary: Vivid portrait of a tragic country
Review: Jeffrey Tayler, an American ex-pat. living in Moscow, decided, somewhat on a whim, to be the first non-African since Henry Stanley,to navigate a treacherous and long stretch of the Congo River. A bit naively, he seemed to think that he could do this on his own. As soon as he arrived in Zaire, a barely functioning country, he quickly discovered that his journey could not be undertaken alone and would be far more demanding thean he ever dreamed. Facing the Congo is the story of Tayler's adventure in the country then known as Zaire .And what a story it is! Difficult to put down and exceptionally well written, this book, like the best of travel writing,both entertains and educates. You come away from this book with a feeling of profound sadness over the plight of the average Congolese and the tragic waste of the energies and talents of an entire generation of people in the Mobutu era. Tayler arrived in Zaire a rather naive young man and left much wiser and definitely more humble. The reader will do the same. This is really an excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: A good book
Review: Tayler's writing has hitherto (mainly in the pages of <i>The Atlantic</i>) dealt mostly with Russia. Now he is branching out and proving himself a worthy successor, if not to Conrad and Naipaul, to the Robert Kaplan's and Paul Theroux's of the world. This book essentially starts with the author's self-dare: What's the most dangerous, outlandish journey I could possibly make? How about a trip of the blood vein of the world's most dangerous and unstable region, Central Africa? This self-discussion is accounted for in the book, and it gives the book a buccaneer quality. But this is a real and honest account of what's really going on in Africa (namely in the waning days of Mobuto's Zaire, now known again as Conrad and the Belgians knew it, The Congo). It is sad to see a just how much as nation has degenerated in the 30 years since the end of colonization. But it is refreshing to see a young author treat the subject so honestly.
Rating:
Summary: An Honest Effort By Someone You'll Be Hearing More About
Review: Tayler's writing has hitherto (mainly in the pages of The Atlantic) dealt mostly with Russia. Now he is branching out and proving himself a worthy successor, if not to Conrad and Naipaul, to the Robert Kaplan's and Paul Theroux's of the world. This book essentially starts with the author's self-dare: What's the most dangerous, outlandish journey I could possibly make? How about a trip of the blood vein of the world's most dangerous and unstable region, Central Africa? This self-discussion is accounted for in the book, and it gives the book a buccaneer quality. But this is a real and honest account of what's really going on in Africa (namely in the waning days of Mobuto's Zaire, now known again as Conrad and the Belgians knew it, The Congo). It is sad to see a just how much as nation has degenerated in the 30 years since the end of colonization. But it is refreshing to see a young author treat the subject so honestly.
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