Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
31st out of 69 books
—
22 voters
Journey without Maps
His mind crowded with vivid images of Africa, Graham Greene set off in 1935 to discover Liberia, a remote and unfamiliar republic founded for released slaves. Now with a new introduction by Paul Theroux, Journey Without Maps is the spellbinding record of Greene's journey. Crossing the red-clay terrain from Sierra Leone to the coast of Grand Bassa with a chain of porters, h...more
Paperback, 272 pages
Published
June 27th 2006
by Penguin Classics
(first published 1936)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
1,042)
Greene traveled to Sierra Leone and Liberia in 1936, starting in Freetown, making his way, by train, to the far eastern part of the country, from which, overland, he made his way to the Liberian coast, by passing through Guinea.
Greene is overly dramatic a, self confessed, amateur traveler and, really, a pussy, but the book is still interesting, because it paints a picture of the countries traveled from a perspective and a time now lost.
Now, the train back east doesn't run anymore, having been...more
Greene is overly dramatic a, self confessed, amateur traveler and, really, a pussy, but the book is still interesting, because it paints a picture of the countries traveled from a perspective and a time now lost.
Now, the train back east doesn't run anymore, having been...more
In 1935 Graham Green traveled by foot from the West African Coast of Sierra Leone, through French Guinea, and into the depths of the Liberian Forest, a region unmapped at the time and labeled with the foreboding word, Cannibals, as the only descriptor as to what he would discover in his travels through the region. Greene’s travels were hardly pure back-country roughing since he was able to hire men to carry his mosquito net, cooking supplies, and a case of whiskey that he drank religiously throu...more
"The responsibility of the journey had been mine… and now my mind had almost ceased to function. I simply couldn’t believe that we should ever reach Grand Bassa, that I had ever led a life different from this life"
(page 215)
That’s how Graham Greene felt about the interior of Liberia and that’s how I felt about his book. Green doesn’t so much describe the weariness of his adventure as impose it upon the reader. Reading this book feels much like being enveloped by post-lunch lethargy in a governme...more
(page 215)
That’s how Graham Greene felt about the interior of Liberia and that’s how I felt about his book. Green doesn’t so much describe the weariness of his adventure as impose it upon the reader. Reading this book feels much like being enveloped by post-lunch lethargy in a governme...more
This is slight Greene. There is crisp lovely evocative wrting, there are some interesting memory passages, and the descriptions of what he sees are fascinating. His take on race is very much from the 1930s, and his admiration for the noble savage may seem trite and.or offensive, as is his willingness to exploit native labor, but he also reognizes the degrading nature of colonialism and the brutalities of economic exploitation, and while we might wish some passages away, that's really hindsight t...more
My husband recently traveled to Africa and I wanted to read more about African peoples and cultures. I read Graham Greene's account because I've always liked Greene. The book did not disappoint. Although this book was written before WWII, the descriptions of the countryside and the people and their customs didn't seem that different from what I've seen in my husband's photos. I guess the women do cover up more now, but the dances and ceremonies sound very similar. Graham's book is set in Liberi...more
Graham Greene’s Journey Without Maps is a book about colonialism before it was fashionable to write books “about” colonialism. He is simply writing about the world as he sees it. He is not denouncing or advocating racism. His writing lacks the self-consciousness of modern writers setting their stories in the past so as to try and make a point. However, he doesn’t shy away from the distinction between white and black or the fact that he is an outsider. For him these are simply facts: white and bl...more
An extraordinary, rather pointless journey on foot through the unmapped back end of Liberia, with a crowd of porters, lots of rats, a case of whisky and a subconscious that pokes its head out now and then. As described elsewhere it's really two journeys, the physical and the psychological, and both are a little unsatisfying - not because they're poorly done, but because there's a dreaminess about them both. Anyway this is not really a practical travel book - there are inaccuracies, vaguenesses a...more
This travel book, published in 1936, is the account of a journey the author and his female cousin took on foot (more or less) across Liberia. At the time, the only British map of Liberia had a large, empty, white space on it, and the only U.S. map had the same white space with the word "Cannibals" written on it. Hence, the title.
It is less impressive when you learn that Greene hired 25 native "carriers" to accompany them. They not only carried the stuff, they carried his cousin, and, on a few oc...more
It is less impressive when you learn that Greene hired 25 native "carriers" to accompany them. They not only carried the stuff, they carried his cousin, and, on a few oc...more
Another of the "100 greatest adventure books" that I found it impossible to get through -- I abandoned Greene's book when I was three-quarters of the way through after realizing it wouldn't get much better.
I found Greene's general attitude toward those he met on his walk across Liberia and his treatment of his porters to be really irritating. Nothing much of interest happens on his walk across the country either. A grating narrator and a tepid account of what should have been a grand adventure h...more
I found Greene's general attitude toward those he met on his walk across Liberia and his treatment of his porters to be really irritating. Nothing much of interest happens on his walk across the country either. A grating narrator and a tepid account of what should have been a grand adventure h...more
I read this book simple because I had just read the Tim Butcher book, Chasing the Devil in which Butcher decides to retread the steps of Graham Greene, as told in this book.
I should have learned. When I read Butcher's first book, I similarly attempted the book of the journey that he tried to follow in that volume as well, and gave up because of the way that Stanley came across. Indeed, in this book it is quite difficult to think that this only happened seventy five or so years ago. Both the lan...more
I should have learned. When I read Butcher's first book, I similarly attempted the book of the journey that he tried to follow in that volume as well, and gave up because of the way that Stanley came across. Indeed, in this book it is quite difficult to think that this only happened seventy five or so years ago. Both the lan...more
In 1935 Graham Greene decided to take what spare money he had and walk through the interior of Liberia and Sierra Leone, country as yet unmapped and which the United States had provacatively labeled "cannibals". Along for the trip was his younger cousin Barbara*, who unfortunately has little presence in the narrative. Her own account, Land Benighted (from the Liberian national anthem), was last republished in 1991 as Too Late to Turn Back and is impossible to find at a decent price.
After a brie...more
After a brie...more
What I learnt from this book is that it was still possible, in 1935, to experience 'darkest Africa' almost exactly as Livingstone and Stanley did. Greene (and, amazingly, a female cousin) went walkabout in Liberia the old-fashioned way, with native bearers, whisky-and-quinine cocktails and a chest full of silver sixpences to pay the porters and pave the way. A great story, but one never ceases to wonder at the stupidity of the enterprise. The writing, as always with Greene, is economically brill...more
This one was a real surprise. Nonfiction. Greene as a young man in his 20s, clueless, trekking through Liberia, literally into unmapped territories. Provides great insight into GG novels like "The Heart of the Matter" and "A Burnt Out Case." Signs of the insights and beautiful prose that would follow in later books are here. I still haven't decided if his urge to "find the source of things" was worth the trials of the journey. But for GG fans, it's an amazing read.
I wanted to read Graham Greene because I had heard he was a great travel writer. This book was not at all what I expected. Greene went on a journey in the 1930's to Africa, most of the trip was in Liberia I think. I skimmed over most of the book after reading the first 1/4 or so. It was a weird trip, no roads, no conveniences, no other white people had been there. He sort of wandered around with his bearers and guides from one primitive village to another. He was travelling with a female cousin...more
I decided to read this book prior to reading Tim Butcher's book where he retraces the journey. I found it to be interesting but not exactly a fun read. Reading Tim's book later really shed a lot of light on the context of Greene's journey as well as the experience of his cousin - who is only mentioned in passing in Green's account.
I found the descriptions of the living conditions of Liberians people in this novel to reflect closely much of the living conditions and relaity I saw while living in neighbouring Sierra Leone many years later, for me 1978-80.
This was a wonderful read for me following my return from Sierra Leone.
This was a wonderful read for me following my return from Sierra Leone.
I had to remind myself that Greene was living and writing in a different era, so some of his vocabulary and attitudes come from the time of colonies and imperialism. He did change during the trip, and lived a life beyond the tour, which also changed his writing. There are some great passages in the book, and tantrums, and loathsome observations.
What I like best about Graham Green is his travel books and this one doesn't disappoint. His rebellious spirit brought him to Sierra Leone back in the mid 1930's. The epitome of the English traveller hiking through deep jungles recalls the century before but with more angst, as well as his English wit which keeps the novel going.
I was posted to Liberia, arriving in Monrovia at the start of the rainy season in 2008 and spending just over a year in the city. I had determined that I would invest the year in reading some quality fiction - ironic given Greene's assertion that Liberia's climate causes books to rot - and came, far too late in life, to know and love Greene's work.
I wish that I had read Journey Without Maps in the Autumn of 2007 rather than the Autumn of 2012. Its pages contain so much that I recognise of Liberi...more
I wish that I had read Journey Without Maps in the Autumn of 2007 rather than the Autumn of 2012. Its pages contain so much that I recognise of Liberi...more
I read this in preparation for reading Tim Butcher's Chasing the Devil, in which Butcher re-creates the journey Graham Green and his cousin Barbara undertook: 350 miles, by foot, through Sierra Leone and Liberia. I've always liked Graham Greene, and this book was no exception.
A Brit traveling around Africa with a dozen native porters carrying everything from his knickers to his whiskey and barely ever naming his traveling-companion cousin could have made for quite a comic travel account. But Greene never plays it for comic effect, and is even defensive that it might be construed as funny. The abilities that made Greene a notable author are on display but to little effect. The narrative is framed as retreat into the author's subconscious. "Primitive" Africa is like re...more
Not as compelling as the very best of his novels, but enough flashes of the warm Greene brilliance to raise it above the ordinary travel memoir.
This was an interesting book, although ultimately it did not transport me away. Following an early trip by Greene through Liberia it was mostly an interesting and candid look at colonialisms last few years. However the fact that it was less a story and almost a diary of random thoughts made it hard for me to every really get into the rhythm of the story.
kind of a slow start, rambling at the beginning about getting started, I'm hoping it gets a little more linear
Last week a friend told me she had never read Graham Greene. I envy her for the pleasure ahead. Greene walked across Liberia in 1935. If he had written it today, a very similar book could have been produced. He is a master.
Graham Greene is a personal favorite, and in the last year or two I've read several of his books: Our Man in Havana, The Heart of the Matter, and The Quiet American. Bought this one a while ago, and I'm looking forward to it. I've also recently watched or re-watched two great Carol Reed movies that were scripted by Greene: The Fallen Idol and The Third Man.
Not my favorite of his books, but still entertaining. Feels a little like background notes prepared as research for a better book to come...more
Not my favorite of his books, but still entertaining. Feels a little like background notes prepared as research for a better book to come...more
An unexpectedly atmospheric and in respect of liberia very prophetic read
Greene travels through Liberia and pretty much nothing happens the whole time.
A melancholic Catholic with a head of neuroses wandering in pre-WWII Liberia...
Wonderful account of Graham's trek through Liberia, he walks his talk!
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Imprinted Lif...: Part Three | 2 | 2 | 05 oct. 22:50 | |
| The Imprinted Lif...: Pre-Reading of Journey w/o Maps | 15 | 6 | 05 oct. 13:51 | |
| The Imprinted Lif...: Part Two | 5 | 3 | 05 oct. 09:56 | |
| The Imprinted Lif...: Part One | 15 | 5 | 29 sept. 11:12 |
Graham Greene was an English novelist, short story writer, playwright, screenplay writer, travel writer and critic whose works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world. Greene combined serious literary acclaim with wide popularity.
Although Greene objected strongly to being described as a “Catholic novelist” rather than as a “novelist who happened to be Catholic,” Catho...more
More about Graham Greene...
Although Greene objected strongly to being described as a “Catholic novelist” rather than as a “novelist who happened to be Catholic,” Catho...more
Share This Book
1 trivia question
More quizzes & trivia...
“It is the earliest dream that I can remember, earlier than the witch at the corner of the nursery passage, this dream of something outside that has got to come in. The witch, like the masked dancers, has form, but this is simply power, a force exerted on a door, an influence that drifted after me upstairs and pressed against windows.”
—
3 people liked it
“I had been afraid of the primitive, had wanted it broken gently, but here it came on us in a breath, as we stumbled up through the dung and the cramped and stinking huts to our lampless sleeping place among the rats. It was the worst one need fear, and it was bearable because it was inescapable.”
—
2 people liked it
More quotes…
13 juil. 05:36