No Mercy: A Journey Into the Heart of the Congo

Rating:
Summary: A grim look at modern Africa
Review: The author travels to the Congo, down tributaries of the Ubangi, to Lake Télé in search of Mokélé-Mbebé, possibly a living sauropod atavism. Accompanied by pragmatic, homesick Lary, an American; educated Marcellin, a government employee, torn between his Western education and the supernatural spirit world of Africa whose power he fears; gentle Manou; and wild-eyed, hard-drinking Nzé, he chronicles all he sees. This allows for observations of much flora and fauna, especially birds and apes, as well as meditations on human behavior. The Africa O'Hanlon "discovers" is a world of sorcerers, fetishes and tribal rivalries, where slavery exists in fact, diseases ravage whole tribes, and pragmatic Western ideas like gutters and medicines are absurdities rather than possibilities. It's a great book, full of humor and learning, equal parts natural history and the kind of insight into the foreign mind that the best travel writing can offer. It's a bit grim to think how mired in ignorance and the supernatural Africa still is, but funny scenes like one with a clingy baby gorilla keep the reader enthralled with O'Hanlon's trek.

Rating:
Summary: A grim look at modern Africa
Review: The author travels to the Congo, down tributaries of the Ubangi, to Lake Télé in search of Mokélé-Mbebé, possibly a living sauropod atavism. Accompanied by pragmatic, homesick Lary, an American; educated Marcellin, a government employee, torn between his Western education and the supernatural spirit world of Africa whose power he fears; gentle Manou; and wild-eyed, hard-drinking Nzé, he chronicles all he sees. This allows for observations of much flora and fauna, especially birds and apes, as well as meditations on human behavior. The Africa O'Hanlon "discovers" is a world of sorcerers, fetishes and tribal rivalries, where slavery exists in fact, diseases ravage whole tribes, and pragmatic Western ideas like gutters and medicines are absurdities rather than possibilities. It's a great book, full of humor and learning, equal parts natural history and the kind of insight into the foreign mind that the best travel writing can offer. It's a bit grim to think how mired in ignorance and the supernatural Africa still is, but funny scenes like one with a clingy baby gorilla keep the reader enthralled with O'Hanlon's trek.

Rating:
Summary: I want to go now
Review: This book gives anyone looking into searching for Mokele-mbembe proper discouragement before they can think twice about it. It was a fascinating study of sociology, history and nature. There was also a lot of useless irrelevant jabber about birds. It's amusing in that 'ha! British people are funny!' sort of way. It's worth reading, but only if you're committed to learning about the Congo, because this book is long and dreadfully boring in spots.

Rating:
Summary: I want to go now
Review: This book gives anyone looking into searching for Mokele-mbembe proper discouragement before they can think twice about it. It was a fascinating study of sociology, history and nature. There was also a lot of useless irrelevant jabber about birds. It's amusing in that 'ha! British people are funny!' sort of way. It's worth reading, but only if you're committed to learning about the Congo, because this book is long and dreadfully boring in spots.

Rating:
Summary: somebody tell Speilberg...this book should be a movie!
Review: This book is written in dialogue and description, I felt like I was there...and feel like I know the people very well. I believe it's much deeper than a first read justifies. The juxtapositioning of the African spirit world with other organized religious belief is fascinating (and respectful). I would love to know how Redmond and Lary are faring healthwise after this adventure...is Redmond spending a lot of time in his fetish house...and did the baby gorilla beat the odds. In other words, give me more, more, more!

Rating:
Summary: Journey To Nowhere
Review: This is a great book but it may be enitrely irreal. Following in the footsteps of many an intrepid African explorer the author takes us on a voyage into the heart of the African wilderness only to raise the question; can it really be that bad? If the answer is no, then the author is simply a self-serving liar. If, on the other hand, the answer is yes, then God help the Africans. Foreigners have always enjoyed tales of the jungle. This one is truly cautionary and very well wrought

Rating:
Summary: dark, troubling, unforgettable
Review: This is an extraordinary book. Beautifully written, funny, excruciatingly honest, it does indeed show no mercy. I've read it twice so far, and am troubled and haunted by it. Redmond goes too far in for comfort; he shows more than one can know and still rest easy. This is a truly great book.

Rating:
Summary: Tedious for the Layman
Review: This is one of those travel narratives that takes a real commitment, 450 pages of densely set type in a hefty book. Unfortunately, it is also one of those books which I wish I had stopped reading after the first 100 pages. The author, a British biologist (I think) with a special interest in birds, and his friend, an American animal behaviorist set out to travel up the Congo River to seek out an isolated lake where an unusual creature is reported to have been seen. Sounds promising, but isn't. There is some interesting interaction with the locals they have to hire, bribe and coerce to guide them and allow them passage, but not enough for the amount of space expended. There's quite a bit of material about life in the small villages along the river and the the spirit world that is the keystone of the belief system. It all gets a little too touchy-feely for me, although I'm sure others will love it, and the payoff isn't satisfying in the least. Like the travelers in this adventure, by the end I was exhausted.

Rating:
Summary: For anyone who has ever dreamed of adventure
Review: This is the first O'Hanlon adventure I have read. I certainly will read his others. The book is a swirling, mesmerizing account of his trek through the swamp forest in search of a legendary dinosaur, of the natural wonders of the Congo and of his fears, thoughts and dreams. I found myself totally emersed in the vivid detail provided while telling his tale. I could see, hear and sense what he did. It had me dreaming of adventure and of writing so well about it! An awesome adventure and recounting of it!

Rating:
Summary: I'm glad I wasn't with him!
Review: What a trip! The things O'Hanlon saw! The things he ate.... The things he drank.... The things he did that were really, truly disgusting.... This is a funny, intimate look at an exhilarating, sometimes frightening, sometimes despairing visit to a country that most people would have no wish to see, told in a lively voice by a naturalist who is all too human. I liked it so much that I detailed a particularly amazing and funny scene from it to my friends so they could laugh at it, too. O'Hanlon's experiences traveling with his (rightfully) nervous companion Lary (an American biologist) and wildly womanizing guide Marcellin (a Minister for the Conservation of Water and Forests) make for a great read. As I pored through the book, I was awfully grateful to be an armchair explorer, and not out there, hip-deep in a swamp of bees and flies and malaria-carrying mosquitoes (not to mention leopards, gorillas, crocodiles, and swarms of ants that can devour a chicken in a matter of minutes), wondering if I'd ever make it out again.

Highly recommended!