Jeffrey Tayler – ~*LunaSea*~

Tayler, Jeffrey. Facing the Congo: a Modern Day Journey into the Heart of Darkness. Ruminator Books, 2000.

Reason read: read in honor of Mobutu’s birthday in October. He was Zaire’s first and only president.

What began as a discovery of V.S. Naipaul’s novel, A Bend in the River became an adventure of a lifetime. Jeffrey Tayler takes a hand-carved pirogue down the Congo River, much in the style of Henry Morton Stanley’s journey one hundred and twenty years before. The 1990s were different times, and for his safety, Tayler must bring a guide who turned out to be an essential addition to Tayler’s expedition. Desi was a strong pilot and could handle the pirogue better than Tayler. He added to their comfort aboard the pirogue by making proper tea and building sturdy shelves for their belongings. Desi cooked the meals and set up shelter when they camped. Tayler needed Desi for protection as Tayler’s white skin was a sign of the devil and the natives didn’t trust him. Sometimes Desi could speak the language of the natives they encountered. Other times he had to communicate by holding a gun high. While Facing the Congo makes for a thrilling adventure story, I could not help but think Tayler was naïve about his abilities, in denial about his safety, and completely selfish when it came to needing the people around him. No matter how many times he was warned about the various dangers, he ignored them all.

Author fact: despite being born in the United Stated, Tayler makes his home in Moscow, Russia.

Book trivia: Facing the Congo has a smattering of black and white photographs. As being the one with the camera, Tayler is not in many of them.

Playlist: Bob Marley and “Amazing Grace”.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Congo: From Colonialism to Catastrophe” (p 69). Also in More Book Lust in the chapter called “True Adventures” (p 223). As an aside, Tayler is spelled wrong in the index. Pearl has it right in the body of the text.

Tayler, Jeffrey. Angry Wind: Through Muslim Black Africa by Truck, Bus, Boat, and Camel. Houghton Mifflin Co., 2005.

Reason read: so this is a stretch, but there is a sand castle building competition during the month of June somewhere in the world. I can’t remember why I know that. Sand is needed to build a castle and there is a lot of sand in Angry Wind.

I am always reading about the journeys of foreigners deliberately visiting war zones because, as they say, they’ve “always wanted to visit the area”. Never mind that the country in question is under rebel attack or that the natives hate “you people”. With the help of drivers, translators, and fixers, these fearless authors describe how they reluctantly hand over bribes along with precious passports, visas, and other important documents as if they trained a lifetime for such a vulnerable event. I am always reading from the perspective of the cavalier authors who have to wait for permissions to be granted, roadblocks and barriers to be cleared, bribes to be bestowed upon the greedy; all to be allowed safe passage. These people who somehow just know things will work out in their favor. I am never on the other side where the viewpoint is of the bandit, the enemy, or the political bigwig with all the power and hatred to let a traveler pass. However, I thoroughly Tayler’s description of getting past these same people. Some of the episodes are funny. As an aside, I loved the white-out people. Dab, dab, dab.
Tayler has a keen eye for society, no matter how archaic. The tradition of slavery: the Bellas being captive but not. Female circumcision as a tradition of misconception that cannot be logically argued away. The varying cultures make everyone suspicious of one another. I was relived when Tayler recognized he couldn’t change these cultures, but he argued against them just the same.
Confessional: an army of people helped Tayler cross five countries. I was pleased when he recognized all the people who had helped him as kind and generous.

Book travesty – someone decided to mark up a library copy of Angry Wind. I get the impression this person didn’t like Tayler’s opinion of Bush, especially when describing how the President came into power by force and manipulation. The notations are almost like a one-sided conversation, daring Tayler to say more. He or she actually calls Tayler a nitwit at one point! The more the writing went on, the more taunting the scribbler became.

~~Lines I liked, “My barren eschatological speculations left me with no hope of…” and “But the desert is really about….”.~~ Oops. I don’t have permission to quote these remarkable lines. I take them back.

Author fact: Tayler also wrote Facing the Congo, River of No Reprieve, Glory in a Camel’s Eye, and Murderers in Mausoleums. All of these books are on my Challenge list. And! And. And, I just have to say, when I first saw Tayler’s author photo I thought I was looking at Simon Cowell.

Book trivia: I was hoping for some photographs….

Playlist: Stevei Wonder, “Silent night”, “O Come All Ye Faithful”, “Feelings”, and “Hey, Jude”.

Nancy said: Pearl said Angry Wind is “a thoughtful description” and Tayler writing is powerful, fluent, and meaningful.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “The Sahara: Sand Between Your Toes” (p 192). As an aside, I don’t always make mention of this, but Angry Wind is the first book I am reading for this chapter.