Rating: 
Summary: Life: from beautiful to brutal - A monumental work!
Review:
They don't get any better than this. Ruark redefines the novel in this tale of lives bound up in Kenya's struggle for freedom. The last generation of English colonialism meets the first generation of free Kenya, who have nothing left to lose in their struggle.
It is all here: the African bush, the 'Safari' life, the strength of people both black and white,
passion, adventure, pain and joy.
If this book doesn't move you, then nothing will. It is an 'eleven'! I first read it about 15 years ago, and plan to re-read it annually!
Kurt Wagner, Hawthorne NJ
Rating:
Summary: Moscow on the Congo
Review: A brilliant work by perhaps one of America's finest authors. The most thought provoking aspect of this classic book was the truth that the Bolshevicks used the same tactics to subvert Kenya that they used before in the Congo and most lately in Peru with Shining Path. Find a down-trodden minority with a genuine reason to be angry in a country you want to de-stabilize, then use a bastarized version of their faith to bind them to your will and cut them loose on the majority you want to terrorize. Even raises questions about the 60's more violent activists in the good old USA and elsewhere. The film version with the brilliant Sidney Poitier and the abysmal Rock Hudson is still a film to rent and enjoy, but the book's power must be experienced first hand. For an old hippie from the 60's, it gave me a new way of thinking of of Jomo Kenyatta and certain other people I encountered in those days. "Uhuru" is the sequel. Ruarks's "The Old Man and the Boy" is probably my favorite book. "Horn of the Hunter" is probably the best pure hunting book by Ruark, who, sadly, drank himself to an early death.
Rating:
Summary: Moscow on the Congo
Review: A brilliant work by perhaps one of America's finest authors. The most thought provoking aspect of this classic book was the truth that the Bolshevicks used the same tactics to subvert Kenya that they used before in the Congo and most lately in Peru with Shining Path. Find a down-trodden minority with a genuine reason to be angry in a country you want to de-stabilize, then use a bastarized version of their faith to bind them to your will and cut them loose on the majority you want to terrorize. Even raises questions about the 60's more violent activists in the good old USA and elsewhere. The film version with the brilliant Sidney Poitier and the abysmal Rock Hudson is still a film to rent and enjoy, but the book's power must be experienced first hand. For an old hippie from the 60's, it gave me a new way of thinking of of Jomo Kenyatta and certain other people I encountered in those days. "Uhuru" is the sequel. Ruarks's "The Old Man and the Boy" is probably my favorite book. "Horn of the Hunter" is probably the best pure hunting book by Ruark, who, sadly, drank himself to an early death.
Rating:
Summary: Good story with historical significance
Review: I did thoroughly enjoy this book. I could not put it down easily after I got into it. I love Ruark's writing style in that it is like listening to a wild story at a party or a bar. You can almost see the scenery of Kenya as you progress along during the safari, and you can feel the fear as the rebellion of the Mau Mau begins. Like Ruark tells us in the introduction, it is not a "pretty" book, in that it is gruesome and bloody, but I like to think that men anywhere would rise to fight such circumstances.
Rating:
Summary: Psychological Assessment disguised as fiction
Review: I first read this book as a teen ager in the 1960's, and I've probably read it eight or nine times since then. This book introduced me to Robert Ruark and started my life-long appreciation of his works. Something of Value examines clash of civilization between the British settlers and the Kikuyu natives in Kenya after WWII during what became the Mau Mau Rebellion. It examines the causes and consequences of the conflict and how it affected both sides. As I became older, I began to understand the motivations of the characters and their actions. With each rereading, the book changed. It was not only a safari adventure story, but it was also a snapshot of history, a study of human psychology, and a search for recognition and justice. I know I'm paraphrasing, but the opening Bantu proverb, "If you do away with the traditions of the past, then you must first replace them with Something of Value" definitely and perfectly describes the book. When Ruark wrote about the conflict, he examined how people on both sides were torn from what they knew and had cherished in the past and were thrown unprepared into the future. He examines foreign and unfamiliar ideology, how it affects us, and what its consequences are. Finally, despite the cruelty, blood, and horror in the book, he examines the nobility of human beings and what it means to us. This book has changed the way I view the world because I now can appreciate both the view of the fox and the hound. If great writing enables us to finds new and deeper meaning with each rereading, then "Something of Value" is great literature.
Rating:
Summary: Psychological Assessment disguised as fiction
Review: I first read this book as a teen ager in the 1960's, and I've probably read it eight or nine times since then. This book introduced me to Robert Ruark and started my life-long appreciation of his works. Something of Value examines clash of civilization between the British settlers and the Kikuyu natives in Kenya after WWII during what became the Mau Mau Rebellion. It examines the causes and consequences of the conflict and how it affected both sides. As I became older, I began to understand the motivations of the characters and their actions. With each rereading, the book changed. It was not only a safari adventure story, but it was also a snapshot of history, a study of human psychology, and a search for recognition and justice. I know I'm paraphrasing, but the opening Bantu proverb, "If you do away with the traditions of the past, then you must first replace them with Something of Value" definitely and perfectly describes the book. When Ruark wrote about the conflict, he examined how people on both sides were torn from what they knew and had cherished in the past and were thrown unprepared into the future. He examines foreign and unfamiliar ideology, how it affects us, and what its consequences are. Finally, despite the cruelty, blood, and horror in the book, he examines the nobility of human beings and what it means to us. This book has changed the way I view the world because I now can appreciate both the view of the fox and the hound. If great writing enables us to finds new and deeper meaning with each rereading, then "Something of Value" is great literature.
Rating:
Summary: Something of Value
Review: I first read this book when a neighbor loaned it to me in 1972. I had difficulty in returning it! This not only made me Robert Ruark fan, it caused me to begin a collection of his first editions. It is a gripping story of a part of our planet that may never find peace. It is also a tremendous piece of writing, the like of which comes along only every few years. Ruark traveled in Africa during this challenging period and as a news correspondent, held pre-eminent qualifications to write the story. I have re-read it several times since John loaned it to me. Along with another borrowed book, Shackleford's story of Anarctica, I could start and end my library!
Rating:
Summary: Something of Value
Review: I first read this book when a neighbor loaned it to me in 1972. I had difficulty in returning it! This not only made me Robert Ruark fan, it caused me to begin a collection of his first editions. It is a gripping story of a part of our planet that may never find peace. It is also a tremendous piece of writing, the like of which comes along only every few years. Ruark traveled in Africa during this challenging period and as a news correspondent, held pre-eminent qualifications to write the story. I have re-read it several times since John loaned it to me. Along with another borrowed book, Shackleford's story of Anarctica, I could start and end my library!
Rating:
Summary: ONE OF MY FAVORITES
Review: I FIRST READ THIS BOOK WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER IN HIGH SCHOOL. I NEVER FORGOT IT AND CONSIDERED IT ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITES. I ALSO READ "UHURU" , AND EQUALLY ENJOYED IT. I JUST FOUND AN OLD BOOK CLUB EDITION IN A USED BOOK STORE AND AM QUITE EXCITED ABOUT THE PROSPECT OF READING IT AGAIN, 30 YEARS LATER.
Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: I have an original copy but I think it is a great story with just as much truth today as when it was written. When you take away something of value you must replace it with something that has meaning. .
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