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A review by ruthie_the_librarian
Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart by Tim Butcher
1.0
Read for my WI book group (None of us liked it...)
I feel like I need a prize for having actually finished this book. There were many times I threw it down in disgust and felt I couldn't carry on. There's good historical research but that's about the most positive thing I have to say.
The first 80+ pages are basically people telling Tim Butcher not to do the journey, and not just any people, these are people who know the country and know what he's letting himself in for. Does he listen to them? No. He just blindly carries on, expecting help, and food, and water, and motorbikes from people that, I felt, had much more important things to be doing, such as Aid organisations, the UN, missionary workers etc. So, he goes against all advice to make this historic journey, emulating Stanley (who wasn't the nicest of blokes...) for what? I was never clear about why he was doing this. For fame? For a book deal? He certainly didn't help the country in any way. He didn't describe it particularly well. He just used the people, as others have used them over the years. Perhaps he is a nice and good man, but I'm afraid that wasn't the impression I came away with from reading this.
I was frustrated by the photos (where are all the people he meets and helps?) and the descriptions (severely lacking) and the real insights into those he speaks with. It felt cold and disconnected. I wanted to know more, and all I was given was more whining about the wait for a boat.
My ultimate throw-the-book moment came at Page 192, when Mr Butcher has just been speaking about an Italian aid worker who is very sick, and in the same paragraph speaks about all the bloody massacres in the country and how the bodies of the dead were thrown into the river. He then writes, in the next sentence, ''Most frustrating for me was the utter collapse of the ferry system...''!!!!! What an utter lack of compassion & understanding! This country, tormented by fighting, and his big complaint is the lack of a boat to take him where he wants to go?!
I continued to read in the hope that things would get better but, sadly, they didn't. When Mr Butcher gets a little ill he then gives up on the final part of his journey and takes a UN helicopter to complete the route. My respect was all used up at this point, and thank goodness the story ended soon after.
I can't believe how many people rate this book so highly. I wonder if everyone who says they read it actually made it all the way through. Award winning bestseller? Not for me. Disappointing, frustrating, and an empty, hollow book.
I feel like I need a prize for having actually finished this book. There were many times I threw it down in disgust and felt I couldn't carry on. There's good historical research but that's about the most positive thing I have to say.
The first 80+ pages are basically people telling Tim Butcher not to do the journey, and not just any people, these are people who know the country and know what he's letting himself in for. Does he listen to them? No. He just blindly carries on, expecting help, and food, and water, and motorbikes from people that, I felt, had much more important things to be doing, such as Aid organisations, the UN, missionary workers etc. So, he goes against all advice to make this historic journey, emulating Stanley (who wasn't the nicest of blokes...) for what? I was never clear about why he was doing this. For fame? For a book deal? He certainly didn't help the country in any way. He didn't describe it particularly well. He just used the people, as others have used them over the years. Perhaps he is a nice and good man, but I'm afraid that wasn't the impression I came away with from reading this.
I was frustrated by the photos (where are all the people he meets and helps?) and the descriptions (severely lacking) and the real insights into those he speaks with. It felt cold and disconnected. I wanted to know more, and all I was given was more whining about the wait for a boat.
My ultimate throw-the-book moment came at Page 192, when Mr Butcher has just been speaking about an Italian aid worker who is very sick, and in the same paragraph speaks about all the bloody massacres in the country and how the bodies of the dead were thrown into the river. He then writes, in the next sentence, ''Most frustrating for me was the utter collapse of the ferry system...''!!!!! What an utter lack of compassion & understanding! This country, tormented by fighting, and his big complaint is the lack of a boat to take him where he wants to go?!
I continued to read in the hope that things would get better but, sadly, they didn't. When Mr Butcher gets a little ill he then gives up on the final part of his journey and takes a UN helicopter to complete the route. My respect was all used up at this point, and thank goodness the story ended soon after.
I can't believe how many people rate this book so highly. I wonder if everyone who says they read it actually made it all the way through. Award winning bestseller? Not for me. Disappointing, frustrating, and an empty, hollow book.