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67th out of 655 books
—
500 voters
Brazzaville Beach
by
William Boyd
In the heart of a civil war-torn African nation, primate researcher Hope Clearwater made a shocking discovery about apes and man . . .
Young, alone, and far from her family in Britain, Hope Clearwater contemplates the extraordinary events that left her washed up like driftwood on Brazzaville Beach. It is here, on the distant, lonely outskirts of Africa, where she must come...more
Young, alone, and far from her family in Britain, Hope Clearwater contemplates the extraordinary events that left her washed up like driftwood on Brazzaville Beach. It is here, on the distant, lonely outskirts of Africa, where she must come...more
Paperback, 320 pages
Published
August 1st 1995
by Harper Perennial
(first published 1990)
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Like his 2012 book, WAITING FOR SUNRISE, Boyd employed a complex structure in this 1990 novel about science and discord, both marital and professional. Structure and the sciences are the glue for connecting the themes and metaphors of his overall story, a device for annexing separate compartments of the narrative and cohering it into a whole. Once you let that be, or let it go, and stop worrying if you are comprehending all the pieces while reading it, you can enjoy this compelling piece of fict...more
A thought-provoking and well-paced read that ponders what separates humans from animals -- our capacity for compassion and for cruelty -- and questions whether some of the boundaries are perhaps blurrier than we'd expect.
Boyd has a talent for immersing the reader in an exotic or unfamiliar topic in his books, and I found myself completely absorbed by the details of Hope's work with the chimpanzees (and only a bit less so with John's work on mathematics). The structure of the book, broken into lo...more
Boyd has a talent for immersing the reader in an exotic or unfamiliar topic in his books, and I found myself completely absorbed by the details of Hope's work with the chimpanzees (and only a bit less so with John's work on mathematics). The structure of the book, broken into lo...more
Brazzaville Beach tells the stories of Hope Clearwater. It covers two periods, telling them in parallel although one follows the other chronologically. Each period comes to a dramatic conclusion. The book builds to deliver both conclusions as close together as the narrative allows. There are themes that recur in Hope's experiences. There is anger, violence, madness, conspiracy. There is violence instigated by academics, and tenderness provided by soldiers.
So far I've described a complex structur...more
So far I've described a complex structur...more
Typically eclectic Boyd entry brimfull of different plots and themes, all from the perspective of a gutsy female anthropologist. As usual the Biafran Civil War plays a big part, as does a parallel civil war between two tribes of apes. Not exactly subtle, but the metaphor still works. Meanwhile we also get contrasting academic melodramas involving two driven, ambitious men, both craving order, certainty and recognition but frustrated by the human (and ape) capacity for unpredicatability.
Its perfe...more
Its perfe...more
If this book hadn't been recommended by a friend who loved it, I probably wouldn't have read the whole book. I had a difficult time getting into the story, but I stuck with it and was glad I did. The main character of the book is Hope Clearwater, an English woman, who is studying the behavior of chimpanezes in Africa.
Her story is told by moving back and forth from past to present, which I thought was very well done by the talented Mr. Boyd. The subject matter of the brutality of the animals was...more
Her story is told by moving back and forth from past to present, which I thought was very well done by the talented Mr. Boyd. The subject matter of the brutality of the animals was...more
A touching and wrenching tale of a woman's experiences in her personal life and career, with a backstory set in Africa. Hope Clearwater faces many challenges with her work as a scientist - much of the time observing chimpanzees near a remote, academic camp in Africa, as well as the emotional upheavals in her marriage to an eccentric mathematician. With a wide variety of settings, quirkiness, and unsettling events, the reader is given a unique glimpse into Hope's unfailingly human reactions to th...more
I haven't encountered too many books written by male authors but narrated by female characters. This is one of the few - and unfortunately I didn't think Boyd created a woman here, or at least if she is she's a bit butch. He did a better job in 'Restless'. There were good points to this novel - Boyd's writing is always entertaining, there were some good bit-part characters (I liked Meredith, she has the perfect life IMO!), and the ape storyline taken in isolation was very good. I had difficulty...more
Having read three of William Boyd's novels (so far), I've found that certain elements find their way into each of his stories. First, and something that I find extremely refreshing, is the presence of strong female characters. Whether the protagonist, as in Brazzaville Beach, or a supporting role, Boyd's female characters are confident, capable and inspiring. Second, we find completely engaging yet believable drama in Boyd's works. He doesn't rely on bombast or the fantastical, but rather compel...more
I delighted in this book because it tells a compelling human story with a rich framework of ideas that appeal to me. The tale is of a woman, Hope Clearwater, reflecting back on her work and marriage in England to a mathematician and her work and life studying chimp behavior in the Republic of Congo, both of which ended in disaster. She is unable to move forward without making some sense out of the wisdom vs. stupidities in her role in the disasters. As quoted from Socrates in the epilogue and cl...more
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Excellent piece of literature
This book sat on my shelf at home for about a year before I picked it up. I only bought it because I'd heard the author's name somewhere; but had no real preconceptions about it.
Well, what a surprise it turned out to be. Very well written and engaging, I finished the book in record pace and couldn't really put it down, which says a lot because I'm fairly busy.
Boyd had an excellent way of dealing with topics that most of us never come across, intertwining them togethe...more
This book sat on my shelf at home for about a year before I picked it up. I only bought it because I'd heard the author's name somewhere; but had no real preconceptions about it.
Well, what a surprise it turned out to be. Very well written and engaging, I finished the book in record pace and couldn't really put it down, which says a lot because I'm fairly busy.
Boyd had an excellent way of dealing with topics that most of us never come across, intertwining them togethe...more
A professor asked me to read this book to study its narrative structure. The story is told with parallel narratives--each chapter alternates between the past and the present. While I understood that this was how the novel was structured, I still felt myself having difficulty shifting between the storylines. It was effortful, and for a story that read more like an adventure novel or thriller, I’m not sure I wanted to have to invest in something that came so close to being a “beach read” (sorry, I...more
I couldn't put this book down. I connected on a weird level, maybe because I myself worked with monkeys in Africa, maybe because I see myself turning into Hope Clearwater in a couple of years, with all her scientific-minded cynicism, even though the writing style wasn't my favourite. I didn't mind the constant flip between first and third person narration. I found the part of the story before she goes to Africa (her husband's madness) incredibly boring, but I loved how the story shows that it th...more
I really liked this book. I had just read another book by this same author, "A Good Man In Africa" and liked it as well. I have looked at the descriptions of some of William Boyd's other works, and, although I was undecided about reading any of the others (because they seem to be so different in locale and subject matter), I may just have been convinced to read some of them after all! This book seems a bit odd in how it is written and I must admit that I didn't fully understand why such differen...more
A young woman working in a chimpanzee research station somewhere in western Africa thinks she's finding evidence that the chimps she's observing are involved in killing chimp babies. But the head of the research station won't believe her. The evidence for violence starts to get overwhelming and her own notes are mysteriously burned up in her tent. Also woven into the story is her history with her husband who was a math professor working on forms of the chaos theory. Their marriage starts to fall...more
Interesting, different. Not at all what I was expecting, which in this case is a Good Thing.
RTF Never did review this, and now I can remember only that it was strange, in a good way, and that I liked it.
There's a certain type of novel that I'm always on the look-out for: immediately grabbing, not too pretentious, but smart enough that I don't feel like I wasted my time. Brazzaville Beach definitely upheld those expectations. The various time-lines kept the story moving rather than causing the plot to become disjointed.
Even though I had to look up words every other page or so, it was a quick, enjoyable, and easy read. The one things I'm unsure of is Boyd's ability to speak with a feminine voi...more
Even though I had to look up words every other page or so, it was a quick, enjoyable, and easy read. The one things I'm unsure of is Boyd's ability to speak with a feminine voi...more
I very much enjoyed this book, as I have done all other William Boyd's.
The story follows Hope in her interactions and relationships both primate and human.
It was easy to read but with fabulous imagery and well-developed characters. It certainly had literary merit and undoubtedly more could be read into the book than I tried. Equally, however, it was enjoyable as a ripping yarn (which is more the level I took it at).
I only gave it 4 stars because I didnt really understand the deeper literary mea...more
The story follows Hope in her interactions and relationships both primate and human.
It was easy to read but with fabulous imagery and well-developed characters. It certainly had literary merit and undoubtedly more could be read into the book than I tried. Equally, however, it was enjoyable as a ripping yarn (which is more the level I took it at).
I only gave it 4 stars because I didnt really understand the deeper literary mea...more
Hope Clearwater sits on Brazzaville's beach, burnt out, reflecting on her life as a chimp researcher in Africa and her life and marriage in the UK.
William Boyd, he's not Hopalong Cassidy, is one of the best writers I've read. He's a master of language, writing pungently and vividly. He knows the subject matter in his books, botany, apes, math, philosophy. There aren't a lot of writers who throw 20-40 new words my way in a book, and not Bill Buckley asshole-type words either. Words in context, wh...more
William Boyd, he's not Hopalong Cassidy, is one of the best writers I've read. He's a master of language, writing pungently and vividly. He knows the subject matter in his books, botany, apes, math, philosophy. There aren't a lot of writers who throw 20-40 new words my way in a book, and not Bill Buckley asshole-type words either. Words in context, wh...more
Per
The Atlantic
, notes that few men can convincingly inhabit a female character in the first person, but “One of the most dazzling turns is Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd. It truly never dawns on the reader—and in fact is a constant surprise—that there is a man behind the marvelous female storyteller.”
The NYTimes review is also laudatory.
The NYTimes review is also laudatory.
Wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but it definitely wasn't this. Entertaining, but not stupidly so. Cerebral, but casually so -- never boring, even the mathematics parts (which you only need to understand insofar as they relate to events in the book). The geographical descriptions occasionally got a bit tedious for my tastes, but that is about the extent of my complaints. Also, nice to see a female protagonist who isn't flighty or frivolous or otherwise spastic with emotion and weighted...more
This is the story of Hope Clearwater. It looks at three phases of her life. Her short lived marriage in England, her work studying wild chimps in Africa and her current existence living in a beach hut on the beach of the title. All three strands weave in and around each other, moving back and forward in time. The overall theme of struggle and resistance runs through all the different parts of the story, making links that apply to life in general
My second book by Boyd. Read this book! It is revelatory.
This novel has many themes that capture what one remarkable woman, Hope, has to deal with during the relatively short period of her life story told here. At least one of the problems she deals with will resonate with your own struggles.
How do you make a life for yourself? What do you do in the face of your spouse's or colleague's utter self-absorption and madness? How should you act when a community (human or chimp) loses its reason. Can...more
This novel has many themes that capture what one remarkable woman, Hope, has to deal with during the relatively short period of her life story told here. At least one of the problems she deals with will resonate with your own struggles.
How do you make a life for yourself? What do you do in the face of your spouse's or colleague's utter self-absorption and madness? How should you act when a community (human or chimp) loses its reason. Can...more
An excellent read! This is the story of Hope Clearwater. At the beginning of the book we learn she is living on Brazzaville Beach, in Africa. We find that she got there through strange experiences in her native England and on a chimp research station in the jungles of Africa. Gradually both stories unfold in parallel in a page-turning sequence of events.This story touches on such diverse subjects as chimpanzee behavior in the wild, English woodland ecology, Fermat's last theorem, scientific ethi...more
This was excellent. Three stories from one woman's life, all to do with the men she had met and their reactions to the realisation that they were fallible. He looks at different facets of science and whether it is possible to find the ultimate proof of a theory, or whether the search for that proof will eventually destroy you. Brilliantly written, both a page turner and a serious examination of the ideas above. To top it off, I always come away from William Boyd wanting to visit Africa, and see...more
Picked this up to read on holiday and wasn't quite sure if it was going to be my cup of tea. It seemed to feature a lot of African chimpanzee watching and this is what I wasn't at all sure about.
Couldn't have been more wrong. Strong female lead - a chimpanzee watcher, yes, but also good scientist in a facility who are not quite straight with their research data. And her relationship with a slightly mad mathematician making up more of the storyline than I thought at the outset.
Good stuff and defi
...more
On a couple of levels this book reminds me of Mating, by Norman Rush. Both books are written by men and cast women as their first person main characters. Both women end up in Africa. Both women become romantically involved with male scientists. Both women are strong survivors, better at sustaining themselves than are their counterparts. And both books are very well written. Accordingly, I would recommend both books, each on its own merits. However, they do make an interesting comparative study,...more
Many years before Brazzaville Beach was ever published, William Blake published this well-known poem as part of his Songs of Experience: “Tyger, tyger burning bright/ In the forests of the night;/What immortal hand or eye/ Could flame thy fearful symmetry?” Blake, who was overwhelmed by the beauty and horrors of the natural world, saw nature as a place for our own growth, in preparation for the beginning of our lives.
Why the longish preface about Blake? Brazzaville Beach is, to some degree, abou...more
Why the longish preface about Blake? Brazzaville Beach is, to some degree, abou...more
I just finished this and am not totally sure what to think. I thought it was really well written and the characters and setting were all interesting. The book travels through three time periods in the main character's life and I thought this was really well done. Also, as a primatologist, I was impressed with the author's portrayal of primatology. He must have done some serious research!
Here's why I am not sure what to think about the book in the end, though. I felt like there is some deeper me...more
Here's why I am not sure what to think about the book in the end, though. I felt like there is some deeper me...more
I was totally misled by the title, it was not at all what I was expecting. That aside I found it gripping and exciting, whilst also fascinating - the insight into the life of the chimpanzees, the rarified atmosphere of a small and isolated research post and the depiction of civil war in an African state. I was disappointed when the story first moved away from the chimps to the civil war, found that section dragged a little after the brewing tensions between both the researchers and the chimps. B...more
Brazzaville Beach is a totally absorbing story. It is one of William Boyd’s first novels and it is one of his best.
Hope, an anthropology researcher, looks back on two difficult episodes in her life; her marriage to mathematician John Clearwater and her subsequent work with chimpanzees at the Grosso Avore Research center in the Congo, where she gets caught up in the civil war. I found the story of her work in the Congo with the chimpanzees particularly riveting. My only complaint is that I expec...more
Hope, an anthropology researcher, looks back on two difficult episodes in her life; her marriage to mathematician John Clearwater and her subsequent work with chimpanzees at the Grosso Avore Research center in the Congo, where she gets caught up in the civil war. I found the story of her work in the Congo with the chimpanzees particularly riveting. My only complaint is that I expec...more
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Of Scottish descent, Boyd was born in Accra, Ghana on 7th March, 1952 and spent much of his early life there and in Nigeria where his mother was a teacher and his father, a doctor. Boyd was in Nigeria during the Biafran War, the brutal secessionist conflict which ran from 1967 to 1970 and it had a profound effect on him.
At the age of nine years he attended Gordonstoun school, in Moray, Scotland an...more
More about William Boyd...
At the age of nine years he attended Gordonstoun school, in Moray, Scotland an...more
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“I have teken refuge in the doctrine that advises one not to seek tranquility in certainty but in permanently suspended judgement.”
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“The last thing we learn about ourselves is our effect.”
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