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lwb's review against another edition
4.0
Remarkable journey up river, overland, and up mountain, done solo apart from native guides, in full Victorian garb (!). While she was engaged in collecting fish, her real interests were ethnographic and the contents reflect that. The prose was engaging, made even more charming by her playful wit.
theowinch's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
3.0
Super interesting account of a time gone by. Naturally, the informative style of the book means that sections were a real slog, especially in the 3rd/4. The ‘fishes’ and general adventure sections were fascinating where as the in depth descriptions of ‘fetishes’ could get rather boggy.
balletbookworm's review against another edition
2.0
We need an official DNF category on Goodreads, lol.
This was a Literature by Women selection for September 2007, I would never have picked it because travel memoir is not my bag (usually) and this is definitely not my bag. As courageous as Mary Kingsley was, I just have no inclination to finish this (that's right, I'm the group moderator and I couldn't finish...says a lot - it wasn't the most popular group).
This was a Literature by Women selection for September 2007, I would never have picked it because travel memoir is not my bag (usually) and this is definitely not my bag. As courageous as Mary Kingsley was, I just have no inclination to finish this (that's right, I'm the group moderator and I couldn't finish...says a lot - it wasn't the most popular group).
chouhelen27's review against another edition
2.0
Not sure how I feel about this book- some of her comments! But does provide an interesting account of English 19th century superiority
bookwormmichelle's review against another edition
3.0
Well, I finally finished this, reading bits and pieces between other books. I enjoyed Mary Kingsley's writing style and wit, but the endless jungle descriptions wore on me and I could not read a lot at a time while sustaining interest. I think Kingsley is more interesting than the West African jungle. :-)
lindiop's review against another edition
2.0
Racist, sexist and of its time. I found it an interesting read when I could get past her racist theorising. She has a fairly modern conversational style and a way of writing which makes it easy to accept her world view unthinkingly, only to find oneself suddenly reading the most outrageous racist slurs. I was interested in her story, a lone white woman surviving in Africa at the end of the 19th. by trading and living on her wits. I think I would rather have read a biography really but this was for 19thC Book Group.
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