Blood Red River - Josh White

Blood River - fascinating history and travel in the Congo

Advantages: Plenty of information conveyed in this book
Disadvantages: some might find it a long read or not be interested in the subject matter

Blood River is the most compelling, memorable, educational and insightful book I have read for a long time. It is in the travel category here, and yes it is an account of the author's journey down the Congo river, but the book is also a throughly researched and passionate expose of the troubled history of the country now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I was alternately gripped, horrified, astounded and shamed by this book. Gripped as the journey that the author made in 2004 to " the most troubled region of the world's most troubled continent" in the words of the author himself, was both amazing and insane, and shamed as at times I felt ignorant in the face of the information conveyed. According to the BBC website 5 million people have died in the Congo in the past decade. This helps to explain the title ...

azana 22.02.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart - Tim Butcher

Red Shoes, White Dress, Loads Of Blood

Advantages: A top notch Italian horror
Disadvantages: The movie will never get its full potential of viewers

movie, every aspect is well thought out and delivered, it's like a masterclass in the delivery of Suspense that not even Alfred Hitchcock could achieve. Tenebrae looks at focus to the motives that draw someone to murder, in flashbacks the killer sees a time from their past when they were not interested enough to become involved in a strange worship of a woman, as each flashback occurs we get to see a bigger chunk of the story, and although you could understand the killers anger I think that for this event to have driven someone to kill is well over the top. This flashback sequence for which I speak is by far the most artistic imagery you'll see in the movie, its use of colour red and white against the colour of the sand and sea, creates an image that you'll find hard to forget well after the movie has ended, the music (that is reminiscent ...

sghawken 06.09.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Tenebrae (DVD)

Sometimes, I wished he had got eaten on the way down the river

Advantages: I did learn things about the modern DRC and some of the history of the country
Disadvantages: The authors obsession got a bit boring, really

Blood River What is this book about? This is a factual account of a journey through the heart of Africa, crossing from side to side of the enormous country the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The author Tim Butcher is appointed as Africa correspondent for The Daily Telegraph and reads lots of material about the continent. Over the years, based in South Africa and flying off to report from whichever African country is the current hot stop, the author gets more and more obsessed with the idea of crossing the DRC from one side to the other, even though everyone he asks about it tells him it is impossible. He works to find contacts and routes that would allow him to cross this war torn and rife striven country which is the size of Western Europe. Butcher seems to have several reasons for wanting to cross the DRC, some ...

andyk910 13.11.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart - Tim Butcher