Paradise Lost... Or Found?

Alex Garland’s debut novel, The Beach, highlights and depicts the excitement and the horror of backpacking in Thailand. He incorporates the highs, lows and real truths of backpacking. Richard, the protagonist, who is an English youth, sets out for Bangkok with nothing more but his backpack and his travellers cheques. He does so with the intent of ‘getting away from it all’ after a broken relationship at home in London. But something particularly unexpected happens to him that takes him further away from ‘it all’ than he ever imagined, only to end with a shockingly dark apocalyptic twist.

The story is narrated retrospectively from Richard’s perspective, after he has returned to England; therefore the novel is written from his memory. Even though Richard is recounting his story from memory, as it happened two years ago, overall, he is a reliable narrator. He prides himself in not carrying a camera, or writing a travel journal ‘anymore’, as it only allows him to remember those specific moments. Richard’s narrative is very detailed and intricate with a smooth flowing plot that is aesthetically pleasing to read, building up to a climatic episode with a gruesomely shocking revelation.

Richard continuously talks about the difference between ‘tourists’ and ‘travellers’; seeing himself as the latter in this binary opposition. He briefly mentions, almost gloatingly, his previous travels to India. Richard does come across in the ‘traveller’ like way, as opposed to the almost detested package holiday tourist he describes, and later the other backpackers of Koh Pha Ngan, who he ultimately sees as the ‘enemy’ and far worse than their previous tourist and even traveller or backpacker status. It is obvious that Richard does not associate himself with the ‘tourists’ from the unimpressed way he depicts his arrival on the Koh San Road; he calls it a ‘halfway house between East and West’.

Yet irony does cross the reader’s mind at this point, as Richard is obviously on the Koh San Road; the most beaten of all beaten tracks. Perhaps if he was the true traveller he thinks he is, he would be in an unknown guesthouse off the beaten track; not on the most well known tourist designated road in Bangkok that is loosely situated somewhere between the Western world and Thailand. Although Richard sets out on the usual tourist trail and is on the Koh San Road, it is clear from his attitude towards it, and from his decision to follow the mysterious map that he is not the ordinary traveller that he may at first appear.

 His first night gives him the poignant and pivotal hours of darkness that gives direction to his disorganised travels. The events after this night changes him from the typical tourist to the divine traveller that he already thinks he is.

Richard meets a ‘beautiful French couple’, Etienne and François, from the room next door in the Bangkok guesthouse after he has been given the unexplained map by a mysterious stranger. After hearing them talk about ‘the beach’, and their bored experiences of tourists trekking in Chang Mai, he feels they can be trusted and reveals the map. The three of them courageously make plans to find the mythical paradise that the map promises. If anyone was in doubt about Richard’s identity as a traveller, this plunge into the unknown sweeps away all uncertainty.

The traveller V the tourist debate consist of the traveller being the more authentic of the two. They are associated with visiting far off ‘exotic’ distances away from the Western world. There is something about making the actual journey hard and long that constitutes this idea of ‘travelling’ that has been concocted and surrounds the debate. Also, a fellow traveller smokes marijuana, as Richard can tell Daffy is doing in the room next to him. There is then a fine line between this and the hippy heroin addicts that also inhabit the Koh San Road.

 Etienne emphasises the fast paced, ever changing ‘traveller scene’ when he remarks that his guidebook is over three years old.  The revelation of the guidebooks, namely Lonely Planet makes travel easier, yet they become the victim of their own success; in ruining the beautiful secret hideaways they depict. The ‘travellers’ are therefore not the victims, but the pioneers of globalisation of tourism. Their ‘anti-tourist attitude’ is heightened when Richard and his new travelling companions ignore their guidebook by metaphorically going back in time and relying on their lovingly hand drawn map…by a dead man.

The story parodies the likes of Joseph Conrad’s The Heart of Darkness, and William Golding’s The Lord of The Flies, but modernises its plot by employing backpackers and the exotic flavour of the month destination; Thailand. All the protagonists are in search for that untouched land, where rules and regulations are void and where one can remain in a paradise-like realm; away from the ‘world’. They all want something extra that life at home cannot offer them. Yet the initially once utopian land inevitably turns into a dystopia.

Garland was born in England in 1970, and attended the University of Manchester where he studied Art History.  Even though Garland in unschooled in the art of writing, he has still managed to create a new genre of travel fiction; imaginative travel writing, which he has been praised for. Garland travelled to Asia himself whilst still at school, and based a lot of Richard’s character on his 18 or 19 year old self.

The novel is based on time that Garland spent living in the Philippines, but sets the novel in Thailand as Garland sees it as more of the idealised ‘Mecca like journey’ that young backpackers flock to.

However, after considering the novel at depth, The Beach is not about Asia or Thailand; it is a satirical backpacker’s tale, which is strikingly ironic, as Garland bases it on his own experience. Garland sets out to criticise and mock backpackers, not celebrate them. He presents the Thai guards on the island as 2D, almost animalistic like as they do not speak English, and are only recognised by their ‘sing-song chatter’. But this presentation represents the way backpackers see the Thais; through the ‘tourist gaze’. The backpackers would not appreciate the Thai language or culture, and only see them as a threat.

Garland is intelligent in his tactics of overlapping travel writing and travel fiction. He cleverly keeps away from the travelogue writing style by neither giving very little description of Thailand nor delving into the culture. The novel only presents backpacker hang-outs like Koh San Road.  Therefore, Garland merely uses the setting of Thailand and the French couple as companions as an exotic backdrop for his satirical story; a tragedy set in a far off land, reminiscent of Shakespeare.

One of the underlying sub-plots of the novel is its parody of the Vietnam War. With Keaty’s Game Boy obsession which mirrors Garland’s passion for video games, and Richard’s delusion, turning him in to what he thinks is a soldier, the text is full of War, ironically set in ‘Paradise’. The Thai guard’s personal marijuana plantation on the plateau becomes Richard’s very own Vietnam. He also uses numerous soldier acronyms such as FNG, (fucking new guy) and DMZ, (demilitarized zone). Even though Garland claims he is very much against the Vietnam War infatuation, there is no denying Richard’s feeling of ‘missing out’ on the Vietnam War by being born twenty years too late. He considers being moved from his fishing detail to his role as look out, along with the trials and tribulations that come with it, as his compensation.

Richard is a child of the 90s, raised on computer games and television, and is quite likely, another facet of Garland embedded within the protagonist’s personality. He is a pure product of post modern culture which reflects the new genre of novel that Garland has created. It is a shared passion between Richard and Daffy that gets them initially talking; smoking cannabis. This is ultimately the catalyst for Richard obtaining the map which sets off a chain reaction which ends with the destruction of paradise.

It is without doubt that after Keaty supplies the poisoned squid by accident, that tensions in the camp change. This catalytic event becomes the gateway for some of the beach inhabitants to show their true colours. This is the stimulus that sparks off the nightmare that the beach is to become; bringing death, craziness and finally escape. Little did Richard know, this was all Daffy’s intent once he had given Richard that ‘Treasure Island’ map.

The book urges the reader to read on, which is assisted by the constant cliff hangers. The structure maintains the fast pace of the novel with shorter chapters within the main chapters, almost subconsciously encouraging the reader to read on.

Garland’s obsession with travel shines through this text, and it is clear to anybody else with a passion for travel that Garland knows what he’s talking about. He depicts the Koh San Road down perfectly and paints an idyllic picture of the beauty in store in Thailand at the beach. His authenticity will not go unappreciated, even to someone who has not been; it will only make them want to go.

Let’s hope this imagined world does not spur tourist/travellers to turn Thailand upside down in search of this secret beach, but it is obvious to say, Garland has put Thailand on the map in more than one way.

The Buddha lured by a photo

Buddha in the Attic sadly recounts the way Japanese women were tricked into leading better lives in America during the early 1900s through being ‘picture brides’ and the troubles they faced acclimatising to this foreign country.

Young woman were encouraged by their families and social peer pressure to marry ‘rich good-looking’ American men. Little did they know, they were the victims of a sad scam. They wrote to their betrothed and recieved photos of the men, albeit taken probably 15 years prior. Men wanted young women, but American women wouldn’t have them. Japanese women wanted a better life than the one they knew in the Promised Land in Post World War I society.

American author, Julie Otsuka narrates through the voice of all Japanese women. ‘We’ is the group term used at the beginning of every sentence to incorporate the hardship that every tricked and deceived woman went through. Long unfurling linked paragraphs detail the woman’s woes and disappointment. While the ‘we’ appears to hold the characters at a formal distance, that reticence infuses their stories with powerful emotion. Yet each situation is still voiced through the plural as even though not every woman may have had the exact same experience from beatings to rape to the silent treatment, every single Japanese hopeful felt the pain of each woman’s mistake.

As the string of vignettes proceeded, the questions they asked, the observations they made, the illusions they cherished created a bond with the reader. With their sometimes uncomfortably familiar hopes and fears, Otsuka’s characters emerged as particular individuals even as their concerns took us far beyond the particulars of the Japanese-American experience. In these nameless people, we confronted our own uncertainties about where we truly belong, where our loyalties lie, where we should place our trust.

Highlighting a perhaps under representing story Ostuka brings to light the shear sadness of the situation, full of hope women diminished to worse lives that they previously led and would have grown up into at home.

Otsuka’s second novel, after her widely acclaimed When the Emperor was Devine, The Buddha in the Attic is, in a sense, a prelude to Otsuka’s previous book, revealing the often rough acclimatization of a generation of farm labourers and maids, laundry workers and shop clerks whose husbands would take them for granted and whose children would be ashamed of their stilted English and foreign habits.

Shea shame of their culture were the only factors keeping them from returning home to their loving families and ‘better’ life. Religion keeps the women sane and is their hope and saviour along with one another in their imprisoned lives. Women were required to keep their Buddhist religion at bay, and when forced to leave, one woman leaves a tiny laughing Buddha high up in the corner of the attic, hence the title.

The questioning of the ‘strange’ American culture provides entertainment that will always prevail between cultures, especially east and west from wearing shoes in the house to what they see in the moon. Otsuka uses evocative descriptions of the land, the women and the families that draws in the heart of the reader

Soon, once women had given birth to their hybrid children, who were second generation American citizens. On becoming teenagers their heritage was lost on them. Thinking of their mothers as old fashioned and embarrassing, they broke the women perhaps more so then the men raping and beating them had initially done.

Meeting half way and becoming more American themselves, the Japanese women’s efforts are shattered after World War II breaks out. The women are second class citizens and families are forced to leave their homes, jobs and friends. The plural ‘we’ at the end of the novel sadly shifts to the Americans, ‘the Japanese have left us’. 

A book that no review or film can do justice to, but simply must be read.

Before any pre-concieved assumptions arise, this review is actually after re-reading it. I initially found this book in a hostel in Christchurch NZ. I read it, and fell in love with it. I insisted on re-reading it before seeing the film earlier this year. This book re-connected me with reading and with literature.

In my first year of university on my English Literature course, during our first seminar we were asked to tell the class our favourite book and why. I chose this. My tutor had never heard of it and belittled me. I now hope Kate Hex has read it and enjoyed it.

Life of Pi is a fantasy tale about Piscine Patel (named after his uncles favourite French swimming pool), the son of a zoo keeper, who becomes a zoologist and is a Christian, a Hindu and a Muslim. He retrospectively recites the story of his life as a young child in India who emigrates to Canada with his family where the cargo ship sank during the crossing. ‘Pi’ was the only survivor of his family. Divided into three logical and chronological sections, Pi re-tells his story as if you are the only one listening.

Whilst still in India in the mid 1970s, Piscine bravely re-names himself after the constant embarrassment his name brings him in class. He is now known as Pi, an abbreviation of his name and the mathematical endless irrational number of 3.17 recurring. His father, a practising and faithful Hindu, encourages the boys to interact with the animals catalysing a fascination with Richard Parker, a 450 pound Bengali tiger.

16 year old Pi survived 227 days alone at sea. Finding a lone lifeboat, Pi unwillingly becomes accompanied by a struggling zebra, a female orang-utan floating on a large bunch of bananas, a squawking hyena and a Royal Bengal tiger. Becoming boat-mates, Pi must fend for himself after several die and leave him fending for his life at one end of the lifeboat.

Martel dexterously prepares us for the seafaring section in the first part of the book. Pi’s life in India, growing up as a zookeeper’s son and becoming part of several religions is the core of the first section.  His life and what his father teaches him about animal behaviour - flight distances, aggression, social hierarchy is later translated to Pi's survival tactics on the lifeboat. Like a lion tamer in the circus ring, Pi must convince the tiger that he is the super-alpha male, using toots on his whistle as a whip and the sea as a source of treats, marking the boundary of his territory on the boat with urine and fierce and quaking stares.

Part two is Pi’s narrative of his shipwrecked life. It closely mirrors his life in India as if it had all been planned out by one of the many Gods he prays to. At times, parts of the novel are strongly questionable, even as a reader, yet still magical and brilliant. Other parts are logically set out like the long list of items found in the survival kit that must all be logged, emphasising the boredom and continual need to occupy one’s mind when lost at sea. The never ending search for shade, continual fishing and repairing of the raft and trying to not be eaten are the day’s sole activities. Pi’ story becomes like a manual, God forbid, a warning to the reader if they may ever find themselves in a similar situation as Pi calls in, on trial.

Martel’s language is mesmerising. His words are delicate, but still have solid meaning. Lyrical sentences visualise the ocean, the animals’ feelings, Pi’s feelings and his breaking soul. Passages are so vivid, that the reader feels the ocean salt on their skin, the same way Pi does, and sees the sickness in the eyes of Richard Parker the same way Pi does. Martel writes with such convincing immediacy, seasoning his narrative with zoological verisimilitude and survival tips. Yan’s language stays light even in defeat. He incorporates slight comedy lightly into Pi’s story, ‘the fact I was a swimmer made no waves’. Even in Pi’s shear desperation clinging onto his life, Martel still allows him humour all rooting back to his unfortunate name.

Yan Martel a French mother tongue speaking Canadian, feels writing in English gives him the distance he needs to write the way he does. His philosophy degree is obviously present in his writing and ideals throughout the novel. He spent over a year living in India, immersing himself in Indian life through spending time at mosques, temples, churches and zoos – all key elements of Pi’s life. He spent a further two years reading religious texts and castaway stories which rings true in his understanding of each subject.

Life of Pi is Martel’s fourth book, and before his Man Booker prize success, he failed to reach high success with his first novel Seven Stories and later with The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios and Self in the 1993 and 1996. Reviewers were puzzled by his work and faintly dared to praise his words. Initially inspired to write a book about sharing a lifeboat with a large cat after reading a review of the novella Max and the Cats by Brazilian author Moacyr Scliar, his success was born.

Part three sees Pi being interviewed by Japanese officials after being found upon the shores of Mexico, shortly after his feared saviour, Richard Parker bounds off into the jungle without a mere growl or sentimental look back. Pi retells his story with the animals and his endurance. The officials listen but ask for the truth; he tells the story but each animal he encountered is replaced by a family member or crew member of the ship that sunk.

So which story is true? Is it just a hallucination of Pi’s, or did it really happen. The sad part is that the Japanese officials can’t see beyond the end of their noses. For official reports to work, they must write the report with the story without the animals – the one that ‘makes more sense, but is not the better story’.

The novel serves both as an allegory for truth and fiction and as an edge of the seat adventure. Faith and science meet in this fantastically imagined and exotically told story of a brave Indian boy and a sea-sick tiger lost at sea. 

Gatsby... money, romance, secrecy and debauchery

Money, romance and beauty wrapped up in secrecy and debauchery. A social satire all cast under the sparkling canopy of the fabulous jazz era in the roaring American twenties. The Great Gatsby peels away the layers of the glamorous twenties in America to display the coldness and cruelty at its heart.

The Great Gatsby is everything you want it to be, and more. Widely renowned as Fitzgerald’s’ magnum opus, the plot unfolds in a dazzling manner from old rooted relationships to new and uncouth lusts with plenty of parties, lies and money to draw you in along the way.

Nick Carraway, the subdued narrator, moves to the affluent West Egg of Long Island and soon realises he is the neighbour of a mysterious character known as Gatsby. Vicious and jealous rumours surround Gatsby and his more than affluent and desirable lifestyle.

Gatsby is the epitome of the jazz age, throwing the biggest and most lavish parties that are known throughout the state. Men want to be him and women want to be with him; he is idolised beyond anything. Sadly enough, it comes to light that these parties are all in vain of the hope that the tragically beautiful débutante Daisy Buchanan will attend. Gatsby’s love for Daisy represents the only truthful bone in his body. Yet it is the downfall of both of them and everyone else who is supposedly lucky enough to be within their radius.

Fitzgerald’s’ story is also regarded as a cautionary tale in regards to the renowned American Dream. It is a memorable tale, reminding us that money cannot buy everything, least of all happiness and love. It is a merely a cloak to disguise one’s true self.

Gatsby’s ironic cautionary theme is reminiscent of Thomas Hardy’s poem, ‘The Convergence of the Twain’. An opulent cruise ship sinks and only the ugly sea creatures snaking in between the ornate mirrors and surroundings are now able to enjoy it.

The flowing, incandescent prose is entrancing. Fitzgerald is a natural storyteller and his literary prowess has encapsulated his readers for decades. Fitzgerald immaculately crafted phrases ensure eyes are glued to pages. His writing is unassailably magnificent, as he paints a grim portrait of shallow characters that manoeuvre themselves into complex situations. 

The parties Fitzgerald attended himself in 1920s America inspired Jay Gatsby’s parties in West Egg. Nick largely resembles Fitzgerald himself, making it a semi autobiographical novel. It is easy to see why this novel is now an American Classic and a twentieth century literary milestone.

Travel writing at its best

When Peter More got bored with living the dream as a young Aussi subsiding in South London, the most obvious release of boredom to him was an overland journey from London back home to Sydney, and why not. Apart from the costs, long unyielding journeys on rickety  vehicles, hard to gain visas, almost impossible to cross borders and not to mention potential and live war zones to face. His book, published in 1999 opens with the physical visionary of Peter’s journey, which to any travel addictied person would be enough not to have to read the introduction titled ‘Why?’.

Instead he wants to follow the once worn ‘hippy trail’ across the continent and overland to home. A mixture of London boredom and hippie envy - hippies had the best music, they had the best drugs, they had the best sex. But most of all, they had the best trips - Moore’s answer to the frequently asked question as to why he decided to embark on such a trial. He writes vividly about his adventure and with practically laugh out loud humour. So much so that as soon as the last page is turned, you feel this inaudible sense of inexplicable compulsion to pack a bag of some description and board a bus from Victoria; destination unknown.

Peter Moore, born in Australia has visited more than 101 countries and written truthfully in an extremely down to earth style about his passion for travel which has led him on some outrageous trips. On a thrilling journey that takes Moore through 25 countries, many of which are still ravaged by war, Moore recounts his experience, through sight, sound and smell and the people he meets. He describes the places and the people he encountered there with a mixture of awe, irreverence and self-deprecation. Striking a chord with all those travellers, young and old, who have stood where Moore stood. The sights he sees in a relatable and entertaining way.

With the thrill of knowing that his overland journey from London to the East circa 1967 was going to be more than difficult, only pained more by his slowly demeaning funds (which were barely existent to begin with ) and the difficulty of passing through countries such as Iran and China being more than slim, the story is brought to life with excitement. He does not glamorise travel, neither is he over cynical or hideously negative towards it. Just plain truth and great entertainment.

The Wrong Way Home is notoriously thought of as Moore’s ‘classic’ and essential guide to long term travel. Yet it is travel writing in a modern way, it is more of a novel and far less of a continual journal like list. However, you could still easily follow Moore’s footsteps as he has detailed his journey well with acute observations, especially his border crossings which appear to have been the bane of his travelling life.  

One of Moore’s greatest talents was to be respectful of all people and cultures, and simply want to learn which is perhaps the definition of the ultimate traveller. He points out the ironies and idiosyncrasies of his own and other cultures. Take the example of the cling-on koala he gives to a Chinese friend in Lanzhou as a token of thanks--he makes sure he removes the "Made in China" label first. Or the ‘low key’ traditional Aussi goodbye to Keith, the one traveller who he could actually imagine having a beer with at home – which he actually does when he bumps into him in Sydney nine months later.

He seemed to keep calm and collected and at times, rather cheeky in physically and emotionally difficult situations which is endearing. The book is peppered with cartoon-like characters that Moore meets on his journey; the Czechs with matching haircuts, the spitting Chinese, the drunken Australians. Juxtaposed with his acidic observations Moore writes movingly of his experiences in war-torn Bosnia and the visit to his grandfather's grave in Singapore. It is a little disappointing he didn't get into some more debunking of myths and misconceptions of the Middle East. It is a shame that he seems to spend less time telling the reader about the larger countries such as India and China as opposed to the detail he goes into whilst in Europe and we only hear about the physical journey and less about the actual country he is in. Perhaps this is representative of the difficulties he faced whilst traversing these huge countries. It is understandable that China is a harder country to travel due to less people speaking English, but it is roundabout here in his journey that it appears he is now embarking on more of a race to get home as opposed to the fun trail it started off as.

What better way to lodge a specific memory firmly in its place that to partner it with music. Even the first line of a tune can take you back years and miles to refresh your memory like it was merely yesterday. Moore partners every new country with a soundtrack specific of that time to which he was listening to on his walkman whilst travelling. Another contemporary relation is Peter’s mentioning of the Simpsons and Star Wars. Peter relates certain experiences back to his life at home, his childhood, his family and time spent in London. These anecdotes build a bridge between the reader and Peter and give us a rounder version of Peter and remind us  that he is not trying to be a slightly annoying ‘wise’ all knowing travel writer or a tight wadded, young bored and slightly mad Australian with nothing better to do than to attempt near impossible journeys.

The novel is perfectly rounded off at the end with a flight, which Peter is nothing but overjoyed to get on in order to make that last little (comfortable) journey back to Sydney. After travelling for eight months and crossing more countries than one can keep count of, Peter became nostalgic and realised his home country in all its vastness and wide open spaces has much more to explore and sets off doing so. However, Moore had been, in my opinion an extremely lucky traveller with the people he meets, the invaluable information they give him and the things they offer him. In my experience this is rare, but perhaps that’s one of the many benefits of a lone traveller. An ironic yet pleasing end to a fantastic tale. More than entertaining and alarming for the experienced traveller as well as the armchair travellers. 

Make your world yellow

Imagine the worst that can happen to you; losing your job, getting divorced… how about losing a limb or battling cancer all though your childhood. Well that’s what happened to one boy; Albert Espinosa. This is his story and self proclaimed non self guide book to his life and his tips, advice and anecdotes about how to survive cancer and what it is like really dealing with these unimaginable atrocities that actually strike more than once.

At the age of 14, Albert was a ‘normal’ boy. He played with his friends and loved football until cancer stole his youth and Albert endure losing a leg, a lung and part of his liver. He learnt to walk four times and, underwent chemotherapy a gruelling 83 times.

Albert was finally cured by the age of 24, after missing out on some of the best years of his life, but perhaps a lot wiser, as he claims cancer enlightened his life. He wrote this book El Mundo Amarillo, The Yellow World.  It is how he sees the world and not a self help, but how to live your life; or more specific, how cancer taught him to live his life. Take one look at the cover and then the title, and you know already Albert’s simple life philosophy; yellow. To him, the world is yellow.

The yellow world is a world that's within everyone's reach, a world the colour of the sun. It is the name of a way of living, of seeing life, of nourishing yourself with the lessons that you learn from good moments as well as bad ones.

Albert writes extremely mater-of-factly, which is something I am not used to. Little is it surprising though when he is talking about something that he successfully managed to battle for ten years from such a young age. His writing is also slightly shocking at time, as he reveals his affectionate nicknames for fellow teen cancer patients as ‘eggheads’ (little explanation needed) for whom he promised to take on part of their lives once they died, thus finally leaving hospital with 3.7 lives equally shared out between him and other eggheads.  But how can he be judge when this was his life. It is only an outsider’s view of anyone who has not had a similarly torturous experience that may not understand the lovingness of this nickname.

The book is written light heartedly and throughout attempts to make cancer comical; to make it relatable to the common reader. I think this is quite important, and to many people, ‘cancer’ is a fierce word that terrifies. He describes what happened to him in these ten years with in an insightful and original manner. Black humour is in abundance in this book. He leaves us wondering  whether  to laugh or cry at such moments as having a goodbye party for the leg he is about to lose. But his strength of personality shines through and he is able to put a positive spin on this dreadful situation that he faces (as he appears to with everything) that he now literally has one foot in the grave.

However, Espinosa’s style does go on to tend to preach to the reader about the way life should be led, well in his eyes anyway. It is more than inspirational how he coped, but too many forced  ‘23’s’ come into play after the’ 23 Discoveries’ and the connection between him and the reader loosens as his suggestions become wilder such as to change one’s laugh every two years. He uses lots of lists, bullet points and questions in his writing which makes it less like a novel and perhaps at times, more like a guide, although I prefer thinking of it as more of a collection of anecdotes. The average reader will not have the same outlook on life as him and thus not be able to see the world as yellow and follow his rules.

Although it was an inspirational story, at times I found it uncomfortable to read and disagreed with the outlook portrayed. I found that even though Espinosa did not want to write a self help and so strongly claims this book is not, I think it is undeniably so. The initial story could stand alone and shows how Espinosa created himself and surfaced with his scars proudly on display.

Whilst at Penguin Press in the publicity department, I met Albert. I laid out 60 of his hardback books for him to sign knowing very little about the book. I saw Albert come through the office and noticed he had a false leg. I was given a copy of his book to read. At the time, my Aunite had just been diagnosed with terminal cancer. It wasn’t until about two months later that I felt I was ready to read the book. I have tried to keep this book in mind, yet it is hard to take on board and practise the majority of what Espinosa preaches, except to be yellow.

My book of the year

Lawrence Hill’s novel The Book of Negroes is his fourth novel and the winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writer’s prize. Predominantly set in Africa, Hill takes us through a heartfelt physical, emotional and mental journey of a young girl’s horrifying life experience of the African slave trade in the 18^th century. The book opens in 1802 with the protagonist beginning her tremendous story of freedom to slavery and back again. Aminata Dallio’s remarkable voice tells the story of what happened between 1745 in West Africa and the present day. Hill, influenced by his parents' human rights work explores in his writing themes related to identity and belonging.

The title of the book comes from the historical document of the same name that was kept by British naval officers in 1783 near the end of the American revolutionary war. The book was the only means of escape for over 3,000 black slaves who were considered loyalists and had worked for the King. If your name was not in the book, you were not able to flee Manhattan to Canada in 1783. Aminata was recruited to write the names into the book as she could understand the Africans and had the added benefit of being able to read and write English.

In America, Australia and Canada the book was ironically released under the title Somebody Knows My Name, which does not resonate with the novel as strongly as the original title. The novel is about names and identity being changed across the British colonies, which ironically is still happening as the novel cannot keep its original title. However, Aminata relies on the fact that if somebody knows her name, she exists,  yet the original title has much more impact and should not be offence as it was a real and very important document that should not be forgotten. Hill includes a copy of a few pages of the actual Book of Negroes at the end of the novel, which really reminds the reader this story is based on real events firmly placed in history.

Hill’s protagonist Aminata Diallo narrates her story in retrospective first person and is immediately likeable. She speaks wisely even as the 11 year old child she is when we meet her. Her tribe and family teach her the ways of the world and her mother delivers babies, which ultimately becomes one of the very skills that keeps Aminata alive and valuable to others throughout her life. Her skill of bringing life into the world saves her life many times.

Aminata is stolen from her village, family and tribe and separated from them all and forced endure the horrific walk hundreds of miles for three months to the huge wide open expanse of the sea in a coffle. For the first time in her life, she is humiliated, stripped, branded and worst of all, alone. Her father’s Muslim religion and tongue helps her survive and understand her captor’s language and forms a special bond with the boy who is tricked into helping the captors.

The realism that is brought to the attention of the reader whilst on the slave ship is almost unbearable. Hill paints a wholly descriptive picture of ‘life’ below deck. It is an amazing victory that Aminata is even alive, albeit weak, ill and practically near death. The lucky ones died; Aminata must live on to tell her story.

Aminata travels one last time to London to spend her last days telling her story with the hope that her life written in words, which she has learnt is so important, may lead to the abolishment of the slave trade. This story strongly echoes that of Olaudah Equiano who was a real man and documented his experience of the slave trade and is one of, if not the earliest, slave narrative. This brought fame and fortune to Equiano and eventually helped British abolonists bring an end to the slave trade in 1807.

There are major parallels between Equiano and Aminata’s story. Both are sold into slavery by fellow Africans, follow the middle passage, enslaved to work in Southern American states, sold to another master who teaches them to read and then are finally lured to the promise of a better life back in the home land, which does not work out.

The first half of Aminata’s story can be so strongly believed, not only by the parallels its draws to Equiano and the basis being a historical document, but it is obvious that he has dedicated so much time into researching the slave trade and depicts it so accurately. He uses many notes showing evidence of further reading and acknowledgements. This, along with Hill’s superb writing skills make this one of the most successful slave narratives.  

However, there are parts of the story from Nova Scotia onwards that let the novel down slight as they seem slightly inconceivable. Aminata’s near re-capture by the men who claim to take her back to her home town does not sit easy and is brief and uncomfortable to read. The consistent meetings between Aminata and her husband at times seem unbelievable. Hill also keeps Aminata’s pain emotional and not physical. She is only raped and beaten once, and due to her being a child when first captured, she remains relatively safe. Hill does appear to steer away from causing Aminata physical pain and consistently reminds us of her extraordinary beauty. Overall, the story captures you and brings you into a fascinating and depressing world full of suffering and one woman’s amazing survival.

Aminata’s attempt to return to her homeland after all she has endured is more than heart wrenching. After enduring the ship journey once more, albeit not in the same circumstances, but with the same notions and sights, she is left deflated as after so much time and the destruction of her village, she finds no one knows the name of it and it obviously ceased to exist the day everyone was stolen. She instead settles in Sierra Leon and is neither accepted as an African as she was born or as a white woman. She is forever left to live in a social limbo that no matter where in the world she is, she cannot escape.

I can’t help but say this is one of the best books I have read this year, and now one of my favourite books that I have recommended to everyone I know who loves reading.