Official Review: Lost in Tanganyika by Thomas Thorpe

[HalcyonFlower]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Lost in Tanganyika" by Thomas Thorpe.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Lost in Tanganyika by Thomas Thrope followed an imprisoned British couple that escape their holding in Tanzania in hopes of travelling to Egypt. Their objective was to find a British embassy that would assist their return to England. Unfortunately, as they traveled through the terrain with the hiring of porters and help from men of the land named Pig and Khombe, William and Elizabeth faced challenging obstacles such as cannibalism, slavery, tribal disputes and the terrifying animosity of the animal kingdom. The era didn’t cater to tourists as many African countries do now. Eventually, the couple became separated and to save Elizabeth from her captors, William journeyed North to find the remedy of a chief’s malady. While he searched the continent for an impossible cure, Elizabeth encountered a different culture via slave traders. Through these traders, she was introduced to the Arab culture in the form of a governess. She had her own adventure by becoming involved in a conspiracy among the ruling family.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the novel was the amount of research that went into regions and territories. In regards to time, the reader could feel the correlation between travelling time and absence of modern machinery. Time to time, I would have to really think about the amount of weeks it would take to get to point a to b in a time long past. Every tribe or group that William and Elizabeth came across were described meticulously, inclusive of dressing styles and accessories. This novel was the only one I’ve read thus far about East Africa that bothered to distinguish between tribes instead of labelling Africans as simply African or Ugandan/Kenyan/Rwandan/etc. or black. I really appreciated the diversity as well as the background information of each group and region. The same care translated to the latter part of the novel, when Middle Eastern clans were discussed. The contrast between the tribes and clans were phenomenal. It highlighted the characteristic differences between Elizabeth and William in terms of adaptation – Elizabeth functioned very independently among the Arabs in comparison to the country natives and vice versa for William.

On the flip side, the amount of information that was given could be paralyzing, by which I mean a reader could stall or not make it past a particular point because there is too much detail. Since the target audience of the book were English speakers, I can guarantee the Native names would confuse many individuals as the syntax was unfamiliar. This would mean taking much more care than average when processing on the reader's part of the information and frankly, the enjoyment factor was absent. Unfortunately, these paralyzing moments occur frequently rather than not.

Although the landscapes are rich in description, the protagonists were disappointingly flat. This was incredibly disappointing for a novel that was meant to be an action-adventure, where many scenarios occur for quick character growth. William and Elizabeth were the typical westerners, alarmed by the practices of slavery and ownership albeit their country’s history. In a way, they have a sense of realism because some Westerners that travel in today’s era to African countries and see unfamiliar practices would react as the fictional couple did. Nonetheless, I didn’t empathize or sympathize with either as the writing style doesn’t convey the seriousness of the terrible deeds committed by many of the characters in the novel. Some people might think of it as insignificant but for me, punctuation alters the mood of the novel heavily. When a character was shouting, sentences weren’t ended with an exclamation point but periods nearly 90% of the time. It unknowingly portrayed the characters as calm when they really should’ve been panic struck. Only towards the end did Elizabeth achieve some form of growth because she was away from William. The majority of the plot focused on William but when she’s on her own, Elizabeth’s strengths were accentuated. Aside from the protagonists, the only character that had some spunk was Nyayoo, an educated African who became an alley to Elizabeth and served to show how terribly Native Africans were treated as slaves.

In consideration of both positive and negative aspects of the novel, I rate Lost in Tanganyika 2 out of 4 stars. While the formatting could be improved upon, grammar wasn’t as large of an issue. It’s the other aspects, such as character development and information processing that bothered me. This story certainly can be entertaining but more so for those readers who can process a large amount of information as they flip through the pages.

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Lost in Tanganyika
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Like HalcyonFlower's review? Post a comment saying so!

[tthorpe]

1. This is the seventh book in the Darmon Series with the same protagonists. The characters have been developed seven times over, and are very familiar to readers of the series.Their reactions are intelligent and introspective and do not require exclamation points to convey emotion.

2. As stated up front in the book, the novel is based on actual accounts of explorers of the period. The details while numerous, form a reliable reference that brings the reality of the time to today's readers.

[HalcyonFlower]

I'm aware we're not going to agree on these matters so I'll leave it at this: you've brought up valid points though I stick with everything I've said in the review. Whether it be the 7th or 16th book in a series, some sort of character development should occur and I disagree with the absence of exclamation points depicting intelligence and introspective characteristics. Despite the details being from a reliable reference, there were too much for a novel.