Luuk
Five stars for the writing. Especially her descriptions of the effects a vast desert can have on a person traversing it slowly, and her criticism of the abuse and racism towards the indigenous population.
There is a big downside to this book though: the treatment of animals. It actually makes it hard to read sometimes. You keep wondering how she's able to, since she obviously cherishes them a lot. Some examples as a warning:
"He brought out all those instruments of torture. A cattle prod throws a huge number of volts, and this I pressed into [the camel]'s snapping lips while I beat him as hard as I could across the back of the head with the hobble chain."
"I had him tied to the tree by the legs now and I only hoped that all of it would hold. I then proceeded to bash that creature over the back of the neck with the wood, until it snapped, and then with the iron bar."
"[the camel]'s eyes had rolled with fear and I had to talk to him and pacify him until I knew he trusted me and wouldn't kick. [...] I found a tree a little further on, and beat the living daylights out of him."
Five stars for the writing. Especially her descriptions of the effects a vast desert can have on a person traversing it slowly, and her criticism of the abuse and racism towards the indigenous population.
There is a big downside to this book though: the treatment of animals. It actually makes it hard to read sometimes. You keep wondering how she's able to, since she obviously cherishes them a lot. Some examples as a warning:
"He brought out all those instruments of torture. A cattle prod throws a huge number of volts, and this I pressed into [the camel]'s snapping lips while I beat him as hard as I could across the back of the head with the hobble chain."
"I had him tied to the tree by the legs now and I only hoped that all of it would hold. I then proceeded to bash that creature over the back of the neck with the wood, until it snapped, and then with the iron bar."
"[the camel]'s eyes had rolled with fear and I had to talk to him and pacify him until I knew he trusted me and wouldn't kick. [...] I found a tree a little further on, and beat the living daylights out of him."