An engaging account of proudly going native, enduring and prevailing on a rugged road.
Travel writer and wilderness instructor Benanav crosses a thousand miles of desert.
It was sandy. And hot. And not an easy trip, either, traveling by dromedary through the Sahara. Starting a trek worthy of Indiana Jones, or perhaps the late Lowell Thomas, the author begins his adventure in Mali’s major metropolis, Timbuktu. His goal was to follow a camel caravan to the desert salt quarries of Taoudenni and back to Timbuktu before trucks took the place of these legendary ships of the desert. (He didn’t realize then that camels, more efficient in this trade than vehicles, are not likely to be replaced soon.) With his wise and faithful guide Walid, Benanav set out to find a caravan at Araouane, an outpost so remote that even Coca-Cola hasn’t found it. They pursued and missed connections, got lost and ate goat offal roasted over camel dung. Our roving tenderfoot walked miles in nomad sandals, recovered from saddle sores and rode miles more mounted on Lachmar, a faithful camel. He yearned to be, at least for a while, an azali, an inhabitant of the desert. The romance was enhanced by fellow travelers in full costume: for example, “a gray djellaba over a blue boubou, cinched around the waist with a rope into which was tucked a long sheathed knife.” The trek back in the company of salt-laden convoys was sleepless and miserable, evoking thoughts of death. But readers can rest assured that Benanav’s ordeal was worth the travail. In closing, the author waxes philosophical about East and West and humanity. The camels were okay, too.
An engaging account of proudly going native, enduring and prevailing on a rugged road.Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2006
ISBN: 1-59228-772-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Lyons Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2005
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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