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A review by simonfay
The Last Train to Zona Verde: My Ultimate African Safari by Paul Theroux
3.0
Paul Theroux was a bit lost on this one. I know because he complained about it every other page. 'Why am I here?' is a constant question that pads the text, just as often substituted with, 'What's the point?'
It's fair to say that doubt, both in himself and civilisation as a whole, is a theme that occupies the majority of the book, and though he paws around the dirt to find some answers, in most cases he can only come up with half-hearted justifications for why he would suffer a journey in which he seems to have absolutely no interest. It doesn't make for a compelling read.
Then he arrives in Angola.
I imagine any travelogue requires a certain balance between the writer's subjective experience and a more objective outline of what was seen. Paul Theroux has always been happy to tip that balance towards his personal views, a quality that was rather mundane on this occasion, but in Angola, a country that's rife with injustice, landmines, social inequality, corruption, Chinese opportunists, colonial scars, outrageous characters and decades of war torn misery, in Angola he manages to get out of his own way to create a lucid portrait of madness that makes it a necessary purchase for anybody interested in the refuse of global capitalism.
Just remember, if you do pick up a copy, I don't think you'll be missing out on much by skipping ahead to Chapter 10.
It's fair to say that doubt, both in himself and civilisation as a whole, is a theme that occupies the majority of the book, and though he paws around the dirt to find some answers, in most cases he can only come up with half-hearted justifications for why he would suffer a journey in which he seems to have absolutely no interest. It doesn't make for a compelling read.
Then he arrives in Angola.
I imagine any travelogue requires a certain balance between the writer's subjective experience and a more objective outline of what was seen. Paul Theroux has always been happy to tip that balance towards his personal views, a quality that was rather mundane on this occasion, but in Angola, a country that's rife with injustice, landmines, social inequality, corruption, Chinese opportunists, colonial scars, outrageous characters and decades of war torn misery, in Angola he manages to get out of his own way to create a lucid portrait of madness that makes it a necessary purchase for anybody interested in the refuse of global capitalism.
Just remember, if you do pick up a copy, I don't think you'll be missing out on much by skipping ahead to Chapter 10.