Non-Fiction: Review of The Expat: Mission Iraq by Marcel Al Madanat

Western media the social butterfly that it is, once action in Iraq deflated from large-scale military offensive to scattered bombings and shootings, it fluttered elsewhere in search of human drama.  A blank space left in Western awareness of the embattled country, had Iraq been completely destroyed?  Were the people reduced to nothing—poverty, starvation, homelessness?  Does the US military continue to dominate the streets?  What is true public perception of the fall of Saddam Hussein and the introduction of a Western-friendly (most would say puppet) government?  A lot of questions remain.

Lured by the offer yet wary of the inherent risk (kidnapping insurance was involved), in 2012 Marcel Al Madanat moved to Baghdad for a two-year contract supporting a mobile phone provider.  His time there both a life motivating and changing experience, in 2015 he decided to write a book, The Expat: Mission Iraq. 

Review of The Log from the Sea of Cortez by John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck is a name known to most Americans.  Required reading in high schools around the country, a Nobel Prize winner, and his works perennial reprinted, few know, however, that the writer was also greatly interested in science and travel.  Best friends with the marine biologist Ed Ricketts (inspiration for the character Doc in Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday), in 1940 the two decided to organize a scientific expedition to Baja California to collect intertidal specimen samples.  Looking to recoup money from the excursion, Steinbeck combined his notes with Ricketts upon their return to the US and published The Log from the Sea of Cortez.  Well, not exactly, but you’ll see.

Vivid descriptions, personal reflection, and that subtle insight into people that makes Steinbeck one of the greats are present in Log.  Capturing every bit of jocularity with the crew, the joys of being at sea, and the dwindling colonialism of Mexico, Steinbeck brings his talents as a writer to full bear describing their six weeks aboard the 75 ft. refurbished sardine boat Western Flyer.  Captain Berry, the mechanic Tex, deckhands Sparky and Tiny, and even their bedeviled little motorboat, the Sea Cow, come to full, breathing (or in the Sea Cow’s case, wheezing) life under his pen.  The towns and villages along the coast of the Baja peninsula and Mexican mainland having little contact with the outside, Steinbeck et al, in addition to their main aim of collecting samples of intertidal marine life, were often ambassadors.  Receiving a variety of greetings and welcomes at the different ports they sail to, Steinbeck goes into loving detail every stop along the way, making the book a travelogue as much as a scientific recount. 

Review of "Seven Years in Tibet" by Heinrich Harrer

Undoubtedly made famous by the film of the same name starring Brad Pitt, Seven Years in Tibet, as is usually the case, is a better book.  The story is visually stunning on screen, but the hardships and troubles Heinrich Harrer and his partner experience getting to and surviving in the Himalayan kingdom are revealed in more affective and detailed fashion on the page. Having almost a fictional feel due to larger-than-life size of the story, Harrer’s autobiography of his transition from prisoner in India to adviser to the Dali Lama makes for amazing reading.

Working as an Austrian mountaineer at the outbreak of Word War II, Harrer was suddenly “the enemy” in British occupied India as Germany attacked in Europe.  Placed in an internment camp at the base of the Himalayas, Harrer bided his time and eventually escaped along with Peter Aufschnaiter.  Their escape did not immediately reap benefits, however.  The greatest mountain range in the world greeting them, the pair’s plight through the Himalayas tested every bit of integrity and will to survive they possessed, and is a great travelogue by itself for anyone interested in survival stories of the range.  Staggering into the Shangri-la kingdom in the Tibetan plateau months later, suffering the long-term effects of altitude sickness as well as bone and nerve issues, they hoped life would get better.  Learning of the strange white men who’d found their way into his land, the Dali Lama, then just a boy, opened communication with the duo, and was soon absorbing every ounce of knowledge they had of the outside world.  The rest history, it’s this relationship, and the titular seven years the two spent in Tibet that are the truly poignant side of the tale.

Review of "Tracks" by Robyn Davidson

The human mind, and those random people it incites to attempt the most difficult journeys, is one of the most amazing aspects of life.  Climbing the world’s highest mountains, surfing the biggest waves, trekking to the poles, and numerous other determination-requisite quests make humanity what it is, as much as war and disease.  Robyn Davidson possesses a brain with such ambition, and her 1980 Tracks is the open, inspirational record.  

An Australian and lover of her country’s desert lands, in the late 1970s Davidson set out to the interior of Australia with $6 in her pocket and the desire to work with camels such that she might fulfill her dream of travelling from Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean by camel.  Two years later a handler of the eccentric humped back animals, she was still unable to meet the financial requirements of outfitting a solo expedition.  But after applying for support from National Geographic, Davidson was on her way, four camels and a trusty dog at her side.

Review of "Voyage of the Beagle" by Charles Darwin

Foremost: readers be warned.  This book is sold in both abridged and unabridged forms.  It goes without saying that the unabridged contains far more details and the abridged reads more like a travelogue.  The prospective buyer should investigate this prior to purchase, depending on the expectation.  This review is for the unabridged.

Certainly more well known for his The Origin of the Species and the storm of ideological discussion that has erupted since its publishing, few are aware that Charles Darwin, prior to setting down on paper his landmark theory of evolution, took a five year, round-the-world trip.  Signing on as biologist to the crew of the Beagle in 1831 and returning to Britain in 1836, the journey took Darwin to the south Pacific, Australia, Africa, and most predominantly, numerous locations in South America.  Keeping a journal along the way, The Voyage of the Beagle is the record of that journey.

Darwin having a keen eye for detail, the pages of Voyage are filled with descriptions of life in every form, including human during the trip.  As the ship’s biologist, Darwin was responsible for cataloguing of the varieties of life they encountered, from Australian marsupials to Galapagos turtles, ferns to flowers.  That his journal also contains the social events of lords and ladies his ship was greeted by at harbors around the world, gives a true travelogue feel to the narrative, one that indicates Darwin, along with being incredibly insightful, was not a half observer of human behavior.

And it is the descriptive elements which are the main reason to buy the book.  Readers seeking insight into the rudiments of Darwin’s theories will find material, but nothing stated directly.  Details, details, details, the land and animal forms the ship encounters most fully occupy Darwin’s thoughts.  A real treat for nature lovers, his taxonomy of birds, fish, mammals, and all between, not to mention the mountains he climbs, seas he sails, and forests he walks come to life in more than Discovery channel detail. (If you prefer more of a travelogue experience and less of the minute details of bird’s wings, etc., you’d do best to buy the abridged version, though not only descriptions are elided.)

The times being what they were, readers with a sensitivity to colonialism, slavery, and the other evils of European empires in the 19 th century would perhaps do best to avoid The Voyage of the Beagle.  Darwin never glorifies these forms of “civilized” malice, but he does, however, describe them, delineating it for what it is, never openly voicing any disagreement or support of the social practices his fellow Europeans around the world are participating in.  Thus, be warned.

In the end, The Voyage of the Beagle would perhaps be known only to zoologists and biologists were its writer not Charles Darwin.  This thought, however, should do nothing to detract from the travelogue experience his journals impart.  Similar to Capt. Cook’s logbook, with a special emphasis on flora and fauna, readers looking for a peep at the world as it was almost 200 years ago can’t go wrong—and may even be inspired to do a little traveling of their own in the process.  This is Natural History in more ways than one.