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In Praise of Savagery
 
 

In Praise of Savagery [Kindle Edition]

Warwick Cairns
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

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Product Description

Review

“In Praise of Savagery is brilliant, I absolutely love it. It really deserves to be the new Fever Pitch, which is what it reminds of. 5 stars.” – Jonathan Main, owner of the Bookseller Crow bookshop.

Product Description

One man’s journey in the footsteps of a great explorer into the heart of Africa.

As a young man, Warwick Cairns met the then elderly explorer Wilfred Thesiger and the two men struck up an unlikely friendship. Invited to visit him at his African home, Cairns decides to make a bit of an adventure of it and do some of the journey on foot.

When he himself was a young man, Thesiger led an expedition to explore the course of the Awash river in Ethiopia. Every westerner that had gone before him had been killed by local tribesmen. Needless to say, he survived.

Alternating chapters chart Warwick’s journey with that of Thesiger creating a captivating dual narrative that is part travel book, part biography, part autobiography, part history with fair doses of philosophy and humour thrown in for good measure.

In Praise of Savagery is a highly original book that defies classification but is always effortlessly readable.


Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 1768 KB
  • Print Length: 242 pages
  • Publisher: The Friday Project (28 Oct 2010)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language English
  • ASIN: B0046A9N08
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #88,447 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Warwick Cairns
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Giselle
Format:Kindle Edition
Mostly set in a remote area of Africa, the story interweaves Wilfrid Thesiger's original expedition and the author's own exploration in his footsteps. The stories told along the route and the anthropological musings are fascinating. The sense of being far away from normal life and home comforts as lived in the developed world is very strong and the writing is vivid. Although Cairns says the hunter gatherer lifestyle offers a good return for shorter working hours than those seen in the modern world, I think I still prefer the advantages of electricity fresh water and dishwashers! Ideal for me as an armchair traveller, offering entertainment in a distant land, whilst convincing me that life is so much more comfortable at home.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By TopCat TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
The parallel journeys are interesting and provided glimpses into the culture of the tribes the two men encountered but I felt that the author tried to fit too much material in, glossing over what could have been more interesting and providing more colour to the picture of their trips, yet spending time musing on things that didn't really add to the book. There were also some drastic changes in pace, drawing some things out then coming to breakneck conclusions. It wasn't my sort of humour and to be honest there wasn't enough for it to be an interesting commentary on tribal life and relative values, nor was there a strong enough plot for it to be a great novel, and while there were some interesting thoughts on whether we in the developed world are the poorer for it again not in enough depth, perhaps this book is trying to be too many things. Enough to keep me interested but I doubt I'll read it again.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
I just loved this book. A glimpse of an Africa now disappeared along side a current journey. It made me laugh out loud and took you into another world. I want to read more of Thasingers own work now. This is the first book on the Kindle where I have regretted not being able to pass it on to friends.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Meandering travel writing
As a young man, Warwick Cairns met legendary explorer, Wilfred Thesiger. At the time, he didn't know who he was. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Curiosity Killed The Bookworm
A slow start
Okay, so when i first started this book at the end of 2010 i was about 3 pages in and put it down. May be my head was in the "wrong" place. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Helix Von Smelix
In Praise Of Savagery
This is where I end up sounding like a dumbo who has no appreciation for serious texts. I really struggled with In Praise of Savagery. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Laura
A Good Read
Having read the previous books by Warwick Cairns, I was keen to read this one, and have not been disappointed. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mrs. R. Coomber
A potent read
In Praise of Savagery is a potent mix of humour, travel and thought. Warwick Cairns begins proceedings with a quote from Wilfred Thesiger, which I think captures much of what it is... Read more
Published 12 months ago by DecodingStatic
A pleasant journey.
I am happy to say that I enjoyed this book, despite it being rather short. The author paints a very evocative picture of the Africa of a young Wilfrid Thesiger's time. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Apollo
Full of wanderlust, but a bit shallow
It took quite a while for me to be sure whether this book was meant to be a novel or something else. The cover, the style - they felt novel-like. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Federhirn
don't waste your time with this book
positive - I read this while sitting by the pool enjoying some winter sun.
negative - 33% into the book and i still had no idea what it was about. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Airline Traveller
Not so funny
An interesting book, combining an account of the author's own arduous travels in Africa with those of old-school explorer Wilfrid Thesiger, and linking the whole with an original... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Duncan Holmes
It's great
I loved In "Praise of Savagery". It was the first free thing I downloaded from Kindle, and such a blast. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Eco bunny
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