Water Music

You are all doing a great job of using the blog, and I can imagine this will be a great tool for when we start discussing the books set for the CAE. I suggest we decide on which one to read first (you can leave your preference as a comment here) and then agree on when to begin reading or finish reading.

In the meanwhile, I've also been reading and would like to tell you about a book that was pretty juicy. I read Water Music by T.C Boyle, who is always good for a juicy reading!

The book is set in the late 19th century and Africa is a place of mystery. A couple of explorers have already set out to find the source of the Nile, but have failed to come back due to sickness or other more human causes.

When Mr Mungo Park is asked to go in search of the source of the Nile, he goes with a native Moor, Johnson, who has been living in England long enough as a slave, and then free man, to learn to appreciate the written word, including those of Shakespeare and others. In other words, he has become very literate.

Parallel to this historical story (bent a bit at both ends for the sake of fiction), the story of Mr Ned Rise is blended in. This is a man who was born in the scum of London and, although he always reached for higher aims, kept falling back into the scum of which he was made.

It takes quite a while for their fates to cross, but both live very eventful lives (and deaths of various kinds).

I won't tell you anything else of the plot, but it is loosely based on the real explorer of the same name.

This story leads you into the depths of a very scary and malignant Africa, yet keeps you laughing at each bum turn Mungo or Ned takes. It is humor at its blackest, and even the renowned author Salman Rushdie claims it's better than getting drunk. I don't know if I agree with that statement, but it certainly is enjoyable.

Having said that, the level of English is quite high. If you decide to read it and start getting stuck on the language, then go for the German. It would be a shame to miss out on the irony of thes story.

If any of you have read this story, or another other that's been written about here for that matter, leave a message stating what you thought about the book.