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ruruari's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
pepper_mind's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Vomit, Violence, Sexual assault, and Excrement
martin_books's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
gorecki's review against another edition
4.0
Boyle’s imagination is inexhaustible and the stories he weaves are finely and masterfully detailed and entertaining. I am not a fan of comedy books and funny literature, I prefer my reads full of drama, crying, and misery – the darker the better. But this one made me chuckle, shiver, and then contemplate on how high a price people sometimes pay in order to achieve their biggest dreams.
T.C. Boyle tells the story of Mungo Park, a Scottish doctor and explorer set to map the river Niger, suffering through numerous diseases and fending off constant attacks in Africa of the 1800s. In parallel, we read the story of the fictional character Ned Rise – a con-man, fraud, and body snatcher, out of luck since forever. The story is very fast paced and full of events, but with great attention to details. It switches between stories and characters masterfully, juggling with events the way a prestidigitator would pull tricks at a traveling carnival. There’s a lot of sex, grime, dirt, and inappropriate humor in this one, but in a light and entertaining way. It definitely took my mind off things and gave me a breath of fresh air. I’ll be looking out for more Boyle for sure!
T.C. Boyle tells the story of Mungo Park, a Scottish doctor and explorer set to map the river Niger, suffering through numerous diseases and fending off constant attacks in Africa of the 1800s. In parallel, we read the story of the fictional character Ned Rise – a con-man, fraud, and body snatcher, out of luck since forever. The story is very fast paced and full of events, but with great attention to details. It switches between stories and characters masterfully, juggling with events the way a prestidigitator would pull tricks at a traveling carnival. There’s a lot of sex, grime, dirt, and inappropriate humor in this one, but in a light and entertaining way. It definitely took my mind off things and gave me a breath of fresh air. I’ll be looking out for more Boyle for sure!
booksaremysuperpower's review
3.0
A hysterical, inventive, exotic, thought provoking, and wildly entertaining novel for about three quarters of the book, but it ultimately ends on a bit of a sour note. After having read "The Women", "Water Music" is the second T.C. Boyle novel that I've tackled this past year, and while I absolutely love his writing style and whimsical use of language to describe and accentuate his story ("an out of sorts baboon", "even the sailors- the elder of whom once rode out a typhoon off the Marquesas- have to concede that this takes the cake", "inspired, the explorer attempts a sort of grand jeté, springing across the room like an antelope"), both novels seem to go from high comedy to high despair, and I always leave the book feeling slightly depressed. I'm not sure if Boyle does this on purpose, or if he really struggles with tone in his novels.
If you are a fan of the written word and all the possible ways it can be manipulated and tweaked in delightful ways- Boyle makes up terminology and slang and uses anachronisms with abandon- then I recommend this book to you. I am always astounded by his use of language, so much so that I often want to cry with frustration and beat my fists against the wall in admiration, awe, and something akin to envy. Why can't I write this well?!! But alas, a bundle of clever bon mots does not a complete story make. The first third of the book feels much like a short story collection with no real through-line, and indeed, Boyle wrote several of the "chapters" as short stand-alone pieces that were published previously in various magazines. Eventually he attempted to compile all the pieces to form a novel. It only partially works. The two main characters- Ned Rise and Mungo Park- often lead separate lives for much of the book (it's somewhat difficult to see how the two relate to each other since they are strangers) and only come together towards the end. We follow Ned as he struggles to survive and con his way to wealth and happiness in 1790s London and at the same time we follow African explorer Mungo Park (a real historical figure) as he attempts to be the first European to sight and navigate the Niger river. In various points of the novel, we follow minor characters- Ailie Anderson, Mungo's wife and Fanny Brunch, paramour to Ned Rise- but they are never fully flushed out as either Mungo or Ned.
Again, as I mentioned above, I found the first 3/4 or so of the novel to be a good read, even if it did feel like two separate stories combined into a disjointed single narrative. Reading about Park's adventures- he's portrayed here as a highly ambitious dreamer and incompetent fop- was utterly entertaining. Ned Rise's adventures in London were equally entertaining, but somewhere around the midway point, the story starts to sag and flounder. Ned escapes death- again. Mungo goes back to Africa- again. Mungo's guide Johnson, who is eaten by a crocodile in the first half, turns out to not be dead. Ailie is abandoned and wonders what to do with herself- again. Somewhere halfway into the novel a reset button was pushed and we are again plunged into very similar trials and travails that the characters experienced in the first half of the novel.
And, for all the campiness and whimsy present in the first half, the novel starts to take a definite grave turn towards the end. It made me wonder what this book was really about. I admire that Boyle turned a much beloved and well-known British explorer's adventures into a sort of comedy of errors exploration of Africa, but what was the point of the story as a whole? And what of Ned Rise, whose own story only slightly parallels Park's until the last quarter of the book? Was this about the folly of ambition? Beware the naive egoist? Sad tales of the white man's ignorance and treatment towards Africans? A satirical account of the dismal class system and out of touch government in early 19th century Georgian England? It could have been about all of the above, but the story never really grasped onto a clear and definite theme. It came down ultimately to tone. Was this a comedy or drama? Ned Rise's London certainly couldn't be compared to the niceties and social graces portrayed in a Jane Austen novel. His London is foul, corrupt, abysmal, and just plain gross. Yet for all the dirt and grime, we are still laughing. Same thing with Mungo Park- he's ignorant, inept, and completely disrespectful towards African culture, but it is all played for a farce. By novel's end, I'm more puzzled than enlightened.
I will still keep reading Boyle. His novels never fail to astound and confound me, but I'm not giving up! If for nothing else, read the book for the history of early British exploration of Africa and the truly horrific conditions in England at the time. I found this the most eye-opening!
If you are a fan of the written word and all the possible ways it can be manipulated and tweaked in delightful ways- Boyle makes up terminology and slang and uses anachronisms with abandon- then I recommend this book to you. I am always astounded by his use of language, so much so that I often want to cry with frustration and beat my fists against the wall in admiration, awe, and something akin to envy. Why can't I write this well?!! But alas, a bundle of clever bon mots does not a complete story make. The first third of the book feels much like a short story collection with no real through-line, and indeed, Boyle wrote several of the "chapters" as short stand-alone pieces that were published previously in various magazines. Eventually he attempted to compile all the pieces to form a novel. It only partially works. The two main characters- Ned Rise and Mungo Park- often lead separate lives for much of the book (it's somewhat difficult to see how the two relate to each other since they are strangers) and only come together towards the end. We follow Ned as he struggles to survive and con his way to wealth and happiness in 1790s London and at the same time we follow African explorer Mungo Park (a real historical figure) as he attempts to be the first European to sight and navigate the Niger river. In various points of the novel, we follow minor characters- Ailie Anderson, Mungo's wife and Fanny Brunch, paramour to Ned Rise- but they are never fully flushed out as either Mungo or Ned.
Again, as I mentioned above, I found the first 3/4 or so of the novel to be a good read, even if it did feel like two separate stories combined into a disjointed single narrative. Reading about Park's adventures- he's portrayed here as a highly ambitious dreamer and incompetent fop- was utterly entertaining. Ned Rise's adventures in London were equally entertaining, but somewhere around the midway point, the story starts to sag and flounder. Ned escapes death- again. Mungo goes back to Africa- again. Mungo's guide Johnson, who is eaten by a crocodile in the first half, turns out to not be dead. Ailie is abandoned and wonders what to do with herself- again. Somewhere halfway into the novel a reset button was pushed and we are again plunged into very similar trials and travails that the characters experienced in the first half of the novel.
And, for all the campiness and whimsy present in the first half, the novel starts to take a definite grave turn towards the end. It made me wonder what this book was really about. I admire that Boyle turned a much beloved and well-known British explorer's adventures into a sort of comedy of errors exploration of Africa, but what was the point of the story as a whole? And what of Ned Rise, whose own story only slightly parallels Park's until the last quarter of the book? Was this about the folly of ambition? Beware the naive egoist? Sad tales of the white man's ignorance and treatment towards Africans? A satirical account of the dismal class system and out of touch government in early 19th century Georgian England? It could have been about all of the above, but the story never really grasped onto a clear and definite theme. It came down ultimately to tone. Was this a comedy or drama? Ned Rise's London certainly couldn't be compared to the niceties and social graces portrayed in a Jane Austen novel. His London is foul, corrupt, abysmal, and just plain gross. Yet for all the dirt and grime, we are still laughing. Same thing with Mungo Park- he's ignorant, inept, and completely disrespectful towards African culture, but it is all played for a farce. By novel's end, I'm more puzzled than enlightened.
I will still keep reading Boyle. His novels never fail to astound and confound me, but I'm not giving up! If for nothing else, read the book for the history of early British exploration of Africa and the truly horrific conditions in England at the time. I found this the most eye-opening!
fallinginreverse's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
orangecardboard's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0