Brazzaville Beach

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There’s the wonderful detail in the characters and settings and he’s a bit like Hope’s husband in the way he can present what is commonplace in new ways that make it a pleasure to get to know people and place. The book includes a segment where the unstable politics of the Congo intrude dangerously on the lives of the scientists in the form of actions by a revolutionary faction. Compared to the murder of gorilla researcher Dian Fossey in Rwanda, the events included in this narrative are restrained, but frighteningly realistic. The charming rebel leader featured, Dr. Amilcar, deflates Hope’s sense of the importance of her scientific work by exclaiming “You value a monkey more than a human” and by concluding “You think that if you know everything you can escape from the world. But you can’t.”

In the meantime, they live in semi-liberty in their natural habitat while they (re)learn survival skills like foraging and climbing. Most of the gorillas were orphaned at a young age when poachers killed their parents. The first two, Kebu and Fubu, came from a zoo in the UK. They currently live together in a large fenced-in area and will eventually be released into the wild. I suppose that the message of this book is how ironic it is that humans avidly study chimpanzees, presumptiously thinking that they are less intelligent than themselves, only to find, on closer inspection, (see the mad scientists, the ridiculous wars, the wanton cruelty), that humans, while maybe more "intelligent," are by no means "better" creatures. Hope Clearwater tells her story while she sits on the terrace of her cottage on Brazzaville Beach. As a student in England, she was Hope Dunbar, but then she caught sight of John Clearwater and knew she had to have him. The story is anything but linear. Sometimes we get the story of Hope and John, though better than half of the story takes place in Africa. Most of the Africa parts are at a primate research station in a national park, where Hope's job is to observe chimpanzees and record what she sees. Instead, they encourage their students to expand their own creativity and originality. Currently, there are 7 professional painters working here and about 20 students who tend to come and go.Make sure the staff at the reserve know that you’re only coming for the day, so that they will wait until you arrive to do the morning feeding. You will need to leave Brazzville very early to arrive in time for the feeding. We left at 6 am, but a 5 am departure would have been better. Places to Avoid in Brazzaville

First of all, it IS engaging. I didn't want to stop listening. It is full of information. It keeps you thinking, and it doesn't necessarily provide answers. Definitely four stars.Speaking of statues, between the train station and Nabemba Tower is a quiet street lined by busts of important figures in Congolese history. I must admit that I’d never heard of most of them, but I’m curious to know more about them. The Congo River is most definitely Brazzaville’s best feature and makes the city what it is. There are a number of well-placed bars and restaurants right on the riverbank where you can enjoy a drink or a meal. Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.