Daren
Carrie Vaughn's Graff #4 available from tor.com for free.
This was was just a background filler, structured as a flashback to a mission on which Dr Ell accompanies Graff to visit an asteroid that is all mined out and due to be destroyed. The mission is to "retrieve off-network data and tissue samples from a lab in 67B’s office section', except that tissue sample isn't a thing in a Petrie dish...
It is a bit of a cutesie romantic story, it is when Graff fell in love with Ell, and while it was 'not the most romantic thing' the flashback setup manipulates to to be, a bit.
This one didn't reach the expectation based on the more solid action of the previous stories in the series. Hoping the next (at this point last, although here's hoping for more) ramps back up the action.
2.5 stars
Carrie Vaughn's Graff #4 available from tor.com for free.
This was was just a background filler, structured as a flashback to a mission on which Dr Ell accompanies Graff to visit an asteroid that is all mined out and due to be destroyed. The mission is to "retrieve off-network data and tissue samples from a lab in 67B’s office section', except that tissue sample isn't a thing in a Petrie dish...
It is a bit of a cutesie romantic story, it is when Graff fell in love with Ell, and while it was 'not the most romantic thing' the flashback setup manipulates to to be, a bit.
This one didn't reach the expectation based on the more solid action of the previous stories in the series. Hoping the next (at this point last, although here's hoping for more) ramps back up the action.
2.5 stars
Added to listDigitalwith 117 books.
Added to listUsa Authorwith 562 books.
Added to listFictionwith 1107 books.
Added to listFiction Short Story Ieswith 231 books.
No other readers of this on GR, so fair to say it is a bit obscure. Published in 1962, it is the story of ten months the author spent in the Amazon, presumably in the few years prior.
It is a bit difficult to make out exactly what this book wants to be. The title sells it as an adventure story of a fortune hunter in the Brazilian Amazon, and it is, to a point. The author appears British without specifically saying, and he is in Brazil to find his fortune. He tells a dramatic story, in chapters that jump about a bit, of first, seeking semi-precious aquamarine stones from deep in the Amazon. The main problem here is he must travel far in a hired native canoe with guide and men who he never fully trusts, knowing that they know he travels with large sums of cash with which to but the aquamarine!
His ordeal becomes more about self doubt and lack of trust, compounded by not sleeping for fear of having his throat cut... the narrative is all about the journey, is encounters with beasts and jungle monsters (anaconda and another river creature which we never really get to the bottom of), only to arrive at his destination to be told he didn't make the money he though he would, and his new venture was cedar wood harvesting in the Amazon!
So next we go through the elaborate process of securing land to begin harvesting the timber. At least he does achieve the timber harvesting in this part of the narrative, but again we divert into stories about other white men and how they run their workers, his crazy neighbour, Dona Julia who rules through terror (whom he never meets), and how he gets all caught up in macumba rites because of a woman he can't resist getting involved with... Macumba being the religions brought from various parts of Africa by slaves which evolved to combine in a mix of African, Catholic and indigenous beliefs, which the author characterises as black magic.
It's hard to say how much of this book he has embellished, or whether he was in as much danger as is expressed in the narrative. He plays it up pretty hard.
There are numerous black and white photographs within the book, ok quality for the age of the publication. Most relate generally with the narrative, but not all are adequately explained in context.
3 stars
No other readers of this on GR, so fair to say it is a bit obscure. Published in 1962, it is the story of ten months the author spent in the Amazon, presumably in the few years prior.
It is a bit difficult to make out exactly what this book wants to be. The title sells it as an adventure story of a fortune hunter in the Brazilian Amazon, and it is, to a point. The author appears British without specifically saying, and he is in Brazil to find his fortune. He tells a dramatic story, in chapters that jump about a bit, of first, seeking semi-precious aquamarine stones from deep in the Amazon. The main problem here is he must travel far in a hired native canoe with guide and men who he never fully trusts, knowing that they know he travels with large sums of cash with which to but the aquamarine!
His ordeal becomes more about self doubt and lack of trust, compounded by not sleeping for fear of having his throat cut... the narrative is all about the journey, is encounters with beasts and jungle monsters (anaconda and another river creature which we never really get to the bottom of), only to arrive at his destination to be told he didn't make the money he though he would, and his new venture was cedar wood harvesting in the Amazon!
So next we go through the elaborate process of securing land to begin harvesting the timber. At least he does achieve the timber harvesting in this part of the narrative, but again we divert into stories about other white men and how they run their workers, his crazy neighbour, Dona Julia who rules through terror (whom he never meets), and how he gets all caught up in macumba rites because of a woman he can't resist getting involved with... Macumba being the religions brought from various parts of Africa by slaves which evolved to combine in a mix of African, Catholic and indigenous beliefs, which the author characterises as black magic.
It's hard to say how much of this book he has embellished, or whether he was in as much danger as is expressed in the narrative. He plays it up pretty hard.
There are numerous black and white photographs within the book, ok quality for the age of the publication. Most relate generally with the narrative, but not all are adequately explained in context.
3 stars
Added to listAustralian Authorwith 299 books.
Having read Chris Stowers' second travel autobiography Shoot, Ask...and Run recently, and finding that excellent, I looped back to read this one - the first!
Firstly - this one was a lot shorter, less than 200 pages, and was a far quicker read. It still contained a number of black and white photos, but some were of lesser quality, as Stower's was still a traveller taking photographs, as opposed to his second book when he was primarily a photographer travelling.
After a chapter called 'The Tipping Point' which explains when, in 1986, Stowers quits his motorcycle courier job in London and goes travelling, this book charts two sections of travel with chapters at an approximate ratio of 2 to 1. In the primary travel narrative, Stowers is in Indonesia in August 1988 where he meets up by chance with a group of Frenchmen (and a Swiss) who are negotiating to buy a traditional Bugis spice ship from a local captain with the plan to sail back to Europe - the first leg being as far as Singapore. After hanging about with them, and sailing as far as Tanah Jampea (an Indonesian island north of Sulawesi) with the boat's owner and crew, where the purchase is to be made, Stowers commits to joining the crew.
The sea voyage exposes their lack of experience, they have plenty of issues and hardships they need to overcome with repairs, their stores and the like, but this section of the book is quite enjoyable.
Intertwined with this is the second narrative, travel that occurred a little over a year before the commencement of the first narrative (say, early 1987) in Tibet. This narrative is linked to the first by the fact he runs in to Charly (another Frenchman) in Indonesia, with whom he travelled after Tibet, who triggered his thoughts back to the earlier time.
In Tibet, Stowers is with a German girl, Claudia and explains the time he spent in Lhasa. When they both need to move on from Tibet, she heads for Nepal, and he into China, and on this journey in China he pines for her to a point where she is mentioned over and over. It is on this leg of the journey he travels a while with Charly (as above). This second narrative is less strong than the first, and taken up with stowers continual thinking back to Claudia. It quietly peters out before the conclusion of the Bugis ship to Singapore.
So while for me, this didn't live up to the heights of the second book, it was a worthwhile read, and filled in some of the experience gaps for Stowers. I guess it also shows Stowers' development as an author. Stowers refers to the two books as volume 1 and volume 2 of The Diaries of a Western Nomad, so I look forward to the third volume in due course.
3.5 stars
Having read Chris Stowers' second travel autobiography Shoot, Ask...and Run recently, and finding that excellent, I looped back to read this one - the first!
Firstly - this one was a lot shorter, less than 200 pages, and was a far quicker read. It still contained a number of black and white photos, but some were of lesser quality, as Stower's was still a traveller taking photographs, as opposed to his second book when he was primarily a photographer travelling.
After a chapter called 'The Tipping Point' which explains when, in 1986, Stowers quits his motorcycle courier job in London and goes travelling, this book charts two sections of travel with chapters at an approximate ratio of 2 to 1. In the primary travel narrative, Stowers is in Indonesia in August 1988 where he meets up by chance with a group of Frenchmen (and a Swiss) who are negotiating to buy a traditional Bugis spice ship from a local captain with the plan to sail back to Europe - the first leg being as far as Singapore. After hanging about with them, and sailing as far as Tanah Jampea (an Indonesian island north of Sulawesi) with the boat's owner and crew, where the purchase is to be made, Stowers commits to joining the crew.
The sea voyage exposes their lack of experience, they have plenty of issues and hardships they need to overcome with repairs, their stores and the like, but this section of the book is quite enjoyable.
Intertwined with this is the second narrative, travel that occurred a little over a year before the commencement of the first narrative (say, early 1987) in Tibet. This narrative is linked to the first by the fact he runs in to Charly (another Frenchman) in Indonesia, with whom he travelled after Tibet, who triggered his thoughts back to the earlier time.
In Tibet, Stowers is with a German girl, Claudia and explains the time he spent in Lhasa. When they both need to move on from Tibet, she heads for Nepal, and he into China, and on this journey in China he pines for her to a point where she is mentioned over and over. It is on this leg of the journey he travels a while with Charly (as above). This second narrative is less strong than the first, and taken up with stowers continual thinking back to Claudia. It quietly peters out before the conclusion of the Bugis ship to Singapore.
So while for me, this didn't live up to the heights of the second book, it was a worthwhile read, and filled in some of the experience gaps for Stowers. I guess it also shows Stowers' development as an author. Stowers refers to the two books as volume 1 and volume 2 of The Diaries of a Western Nomad, so I look forward to the third volume in due course.
3.5 stars
Published in 1984, this is a collection of travel articles previously published in The Observer from 1976 to 1983. I am fond of Clive James, I always found him funny and clever.
Unfortunately this book has dated poorly. While it still has some amusing parts, some wry asides and some good sarcasm, it related to events or current affairs that were topical at that time and people who were in the media at that time. The vast majority are not familiar to me, and most of the events pre-date my awareness. Some of the anecdotes still fall into line, the style is still amusing, but for the most part it didn't work for me.
2 stars
Published in 1984, this is a collection of travel articles previously published in The Observer from 1976 to 1983. I am fond of Clive James, I always found him funny and clever.
Unfortunately this book has dated poorly. While it still has some amusing parts, some wry asides and some good sarcasm, it related to events or current affairs that were topical at that time and people who were in the media at that time. The vast majority are not familiar to me, and most of the events pre-date my awareness. Some of the anecdotes still fall into line, the style is still amusing, but for the most part it didn't work for me.
2 stars
Published in 1984, this is a collection of travel articles previously published in The Observer from 1976 to 1983. I am fond of Clive James, I always found him funny and clever.
Unfortunately this book has dated poorly. While it still has some amusing parts, some wry asides and some good sarcasm, it related to events or current affairs that were topical at that time and people who were in the media at that time. The vast majority are not familiar to me, and most of the events pre-date my awareness. Some of the anecdotes still fall into line, the style is still amusing, but for the most part it didn't work for me.
2 stars
Published in 1984, this is a collection of travel articles previously published in The Observer from 1976 to 1983. I am fond of Clive James, I always found him funny and clever.
Unfortunately this book has dated poorly. While it still has some amusing parts, some wry asides and some good sarcasm, it related to events or current affairs that were topical at that time and people who were in the media at that time. The vast majority are not familiar to me, and most of the events pre-date my awareness. Some of the anecdotes still fall into line, the style is still amusing, but for the most part it didn't work for me.
2 stars
British textile designer Sarah Hobson, at age 23 in the early 1970's decided to travel to Persia (Iran if you prefer) not only to explore the country but to study Persian designs and crafts.
Even in the 1970's travelling alone as a women was to present challenges. Whilst the Shah was still in power (pre the 1979 revolution) and there were some personal freedoms in Iran, Hobson decided to disguise herself as male for her travels. Ultimately this gave her significantly more freedoms to move about by herself and to communicate with people. From the few times that her sex was discovered it was apparent that the young men of Iran were not pleasant for her to be around.
So to the travel - as 'John' - with hair cut short, wearing a compression wrap over her breasts, hunching forward a little and by pretending to be only 19, Hobson managed, for the most part, to get away with being male. She had to accept she wasn't a very masculine male, and was thought of as a bit of a weakling, but it was only when authorities requested her passport that she was busted. There were inevitably people around her at these times, so generally she had to move on to a new town. The hassles she received were awkward and not pleasant to read about, let alone experience - men wanting to kiss her, offering her money to sleep with them (saying, but you must want to, all western women sleep with anyone, etc). It is either not clear, or I may have missed it, whether the author had previous abilities with Farsi (or Persian, as it is sometimes referred to) or picked it up as she travelled, but she had reasonable fluency - enough to communicate on a day to day basis, hold theological discussions, etc.
Hobson travelled much of the country - there is a small map in the book, as well as various black & white photos. There were a few places she stayed longer, built closer relationships and used these places as a base to travel further afield. In other places she stayed a few days and moved on. For a time she hired a moped, but it was near its end of life to before it broke down she returned it and took to the bus system again.
There is a certain amount of guilt the author shares in misleading these people, pretending to be male and obtaining entry to mosques and the like. This is especially hard with those who are incredibly hospitable, providing accommodation and sharing food etc, but the outcomes when she is identified as a woman prove this disguise can be justified.
Other reviewers have suggested the book is superficial, disjointed and the disguise not being noticed lacking credibility. I didn't really have these issues (perhaps a little of the last), and found the author did a good job of sharing her experiences without too much duplication. She didn't get bogged down in details the reader didn't need to know, but shared interesting aspects of the food, the way people dressed, the conversations, the places she visited, etc. Hobson introduced light history when it was needed for context, but didn't attempt to write the history of Persia! Ultimately I think it took a lot of nerve to travel the way she did, and I enjoyed her telling of this.
4 stars
British textile designer Sarah Hobson, at age 23 in the early 1970's decided to travel to Persia (Iran if you prefer) not only to explore the country but to study Persian designs and crafts.
Even in the 1970's travelling alone as a women was to present challenges. Whilst the Shah was still in power (pre the 1979 revolution) and there were some personal freedoms in Iran, Hobson decided to disguise herself as male for her travels. Ultimately this gave her significantly more freedoms to move about by herself and to communicate with people. From the few times that her sex was discovered it was apparent that the young men of Iran were not pleasant for her to be around.
So to the travel - as 'John' - with hair cut short, wearing a compression wrap over her breasts, hunching forward a little and by pretending to be only 19, Hobson managed, for the most part, to get away with being male. She had to accept she wasn't a very masculine male, and was thought of as a bit of a weakling, but it was only when authorities requested her passport that she was busted. There were inevitably people around her at these times, so generally she had to move on to a new town. The hassles she received were awkward and not pleasant to read about, let alone experience - men wanting to kiss her, offering her money to sleep with them (saying, but you must want to, all western women sleep with anyone, etc). It is either not clear, or I may have missed it, whether the author had previous abilities with Farsi (or Persian, as it is sometimes referred to) or picked it up as she travelled, but she had reasonable fluency - enough to communicate on a day to day basis, hold theological discussions, etc.
Hobson travelled much of the country - there is a small map in the book, as well as various black & white photos. There were a few places she stayed longer, built closer relationships and used these places as a base to travel further afield. In other places she stayed a few days and moved on. For a time she hired a moped, but it was near its end of life to before it broke down she returned it and took to the bus system again.
There is a certain amount of guilt the author shares in misleading these people, pretending to be male and obtaining entry to mosques and the like. This is especially hard with those who are incredibly hospitable, providing accommodation and sharing food etc, but the outcomes when she is identified as a woman prove this disguise can be justified.
Other reviewers have suggested the book is superficial, disjointed and the disguise not being noticed lacking credibility. I didn't really have these issues (perhaps a little of the last), and found the author did a good job of sharing her experiences without too much duplication. She didn't get bogged down in details the reader didn't need to know, but shared interesting aspects of the food, the way people dressed, the conversations, the places she visited, etc. Hobson introduced light history when it was needed for context, but didn't attempt to write the history of Persia! Ultimately I think it took a lot of nerve to travel the way she did, and I enjoyed her telling of this.
4 stars
Having read Chris Stowers' second travel autobiography Shoot, Ask...and Run recently, and finding that excellent, I looped back to read this one - the first!
Firstly - this one was a lot shorter, less than 200 pages, and was a far quicker read. It still contained a number of black and white photos, but some were of lesser quality, as Stower's was still a traveller taking photographs, as opposed to his second book when he was primarily a photographer travelling.
After a chapter called 'The Tipping Point' which explains when, in 1986, Stowers quits his motorcycle courier job in London and goes travelling, this book charts two sections of travel with chapters at an approximate ratio of 2 to 1. In the primary travel narrative, Stowers is in Indonesia in August 1988 where he meets up by chance with a group of Frenchmen (and a Swiss) who are negotiating to buy a traditional Bugis spice ship from a local captain with the plan to sail back to Europe - the first leg being as far as Singapore. After hanging about with them, and sailing as far as Tanah Jampea (an Indonesian island north of Sulawesi) with the boat's owner and crew, where the purchase is to be made, Stowers commits to joining the crew.
The sea voyage exposes their lack of experience, they have plenty of issues and hardships they need to overcome with repairs, their stores and the like, but this section of the book is quite enjoyable.
Intertwined with this is the second narrative, travel that occurred a little over a year before the commencement of the first narrative (say, early 1987) in Tibet. This narrative is linked to the first by the fact he runs in to Charly (another Frenchman) in Indonesia, with whom he travelled after Tibet, who triggered his thoughts back to the earlier time.
In Tibet, Stowers is with a German girl, Claudia and explains the time he spent in Lhasa. When they both need to move on from Tibet, she heads for Nepal, and he into China, and on this journey in China he pines for her to a point where she is mentioned over and over. It is on this leg of the journey he travels a while with Charly (as above). This second narrative is less strong than the first, and taken up with stowers continual thinking back to Claudia. It quietly peters out before the conclusion of the Bugis ship to Singapore.
So while for me, this didn't live up to the heights of the second book, it was a worthwhile read, and filled in some of the experience gaps for Stowers. I guess it also shows Stowers' development as an author. Stowers refers to the two books as volume 1 and volume 2 of The Diaries of a Western Nomad, so I look forward to the third volume in due course.
3.5 stars
Having read Chris Stowers' second travel autobiography Shoot, Ask...and Run recently, and finding that excellent, I looped back to read this one - the first!
Firstly - this one was a lot shorter, less than 200 pages, and was a far quicker read. It still contained a number of black and white photos, but some were of lesser quality, as Stower's was still a traveller taking photographs, as opposed to his second book when he was primarily a photographer travelling.
After a chapter called 'The Tipping Point' which explains when, in 1986, Stowers quits his motorcycle courier job in London and goes travelling, this book charts two sections of travel with chapters at an approximate ratio of 2 to 1. In the primary travel narrative, Stowers is in Indonesia in August 1988 where he meets up by chance with a group of Frenchmen (and a Swiss) who are negotiating to buy a traditional Bugis spice ship from a local captain with the plan to sail back to Europe - the first leg being as far as Singapore. After hanging about with them, and sailing as far as Tanah Jampea (an Indonesian island north of Sulawesi) with the boat's owner and crew, where the purchase is to be made, Stowers commits to joining the crew.
The sea voyage exposes their lack of experience, they have plenty of issues and hardships they need to overcome with repairs, their stores and the like, but this section of the book is quite enjoyable.
Intertwined with this is the second narrative, travel that occurred a little over a year before the commencement of the first narrative (say, early 1987) in Tibet. This narrative is linked to the first by the fact he runs in to Charly (another Frenchman) in Indonesia, with whom he travelled after Tibet, who triggered his thoughts back to the earlier time.
In Tibet, Stowers is with a German girl, Claudia and explains the time he spent in Lhasa. When they both need to move on from Tibet, she heads for Nepal, and he into China, and on this journey in China he pines for her to a point where she is mentioned over and over. It is on this leg of the journey he travels a while with Charly (as above). This second narrative is less strong than the first, and taken up with stowers continual thinking back to Claudia. It quietly peters out before the conclusion of the Bugis ship to Singapore.
So while for me, this didn't live up to the heights of the second book, it was a worthwhile read, and filled in some of the experience gaps for Stowers. I guess it also shows Stowers' development as an author. Stowers refers to the two books as volume 1 and volume 2 of The Diaries of a Western Nomad, so I look forward to the third volume in due course.
3.5 stars
