Thirty years ago, Pulitzer Prize—winning author and journalist Philip Caputo crossed the deserts of Sudan and Eritrea on foot and camelback, ...
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Dec 17, 2009
Allison
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The compactness of this paperback format is deceptive; this book has an epic plot spanning years of political turmoil, an expansive cast that repeatedly sends you to the front of the book to refer back to the dramatis personae, and sometimes, just way too much going on.
Nonetheless, Caputo just barely manages this huge effort - a bunch of people jockey for contracts to fly relief aid to the Sudan. Whether it's profiteering or not is a theme; so is the benevolent paternalism many of t More...
Nonetheless, Caputo just barely manages this huge effort - a bunch of people jockey for contracts to fly relief aid to the Sudan. Whether it's profiteering or not is a theme; so is the benevolent paternalism many of t More...
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May 06, 2007
John
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This is a great book to read in conjunction with Eggers' What is the What. Both are set in Sudan and both focus on the conflict between the Sudan's Muslim / Arab population and its southern black population. While Eggers' book focuses on the refugees of the conflict, Caputo in "Acts of Faith" spends most of his time telling the stories of aid workers who help the tribes in southern Sudan. With the current conflict in Darfur, this is an excellent book to read to learn more about the
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Jun 18, 2007
William
rated it: 
“Do you suppose war to be here what wars are elsewhere?”… “Do you suppose that it is an event, with a discrete beginning that will proceed to a discrete middle und so weiter on to a discrete end? No! It is a condition of life, like drought. There is war in Sudan because there is war.”
“Like Vietnam?” Douglas murmured. “We’re here because we’re here because we’re here.”
Manfred’s gaze passed from the American’s face to his boots, then back up again. “I have no idea what you More...
“Like Vietnam?” Douglas murmured. “We’re here because we’re here because we’re here.”
Manfred’s gaze passed from the American’s face to his boots, then back up again. “I have no idea what you More...
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Mar 21, 2010
Eve
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I really enjoyed this book. Perhaps because I saw such gritty truth in the characters, and it didn't hurt that I recognized the real-life people that many of these characters were based on. As Americans (and the world) slowly begin to rethink and evaluate our methods of aid, development, and peace-building, novels such as this one become quite helpful. While political and economic commentaries can give you the raw data behind the exploding Aid Business (see: 
or 
) , Caputo's words give you t
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or ) , Caputo's words give you t
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Aug 04, 2009
Marvin
rated it:
This long but rewarding book is not particularly well written, but it's a compelling story (or set of stories), with complex characters dealing with a set of important issues. Most of the main characters are involved in providing aid to Sudan, plus two characters directly involved in the conflict, one a Muslim tribal headman who fights on the side of the government, and a nominally Christian rebel leader. All of the characters act out of some kind of faith, even if it's a secular faith. Most are
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Feb 05, 2009
Critics gave kudos to the author for writing a big, sprawling, old-fashioned novel with diverse characters and serious moral themes. Caputo has painted a portrait of Africa that avoids stereotype or clich_. His eye for detail is unmatched (he won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 for his reporting work at the Chicago Tribune). His characterization is weak, however; a few critics felt that they were watching a puppeteer move marionettes. Caputo's leisurely pace and an omniscient, flat narration frustrat
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Jun 15, 2010
Snotchocheez
rated it: 
It pains me to give a ho-hum review to a novel that was clearly so dear to the heart of the author; "Acts of Faith" must've been a labor of love for Philip Caputo...sadly, what mostly is conveyed is the labor and not the love (at least to this reader).
I've never read a book so exasperating to read...often I was riveted AND bored at the same time. The core story is quite interesting: The world of humanitarian aid to Sudan during wartime and famine (as told by several dif More...
I've never read a book so exasperating to read...often I was riveted AND bored at the same time. The core story is quite interesting: The world of humanitarian aid to Sudan during wartime and famine (as told by several dif More...
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Feb 08, 2009
It took a while to get into, but now I'm hooked. I'm reading this one very slowly. It's my treadmill book at the gym and it has been for several months now. Shows ya how often I've been going to the gym. Still, I'm a slow reader especially while bouncing up and down on the treadmill. I can't go too fast. Now they put up big screen TV that distract me more; guess I'll have to give up my favorite machine and find a spot w/o TVs. Back to the book...... It's interesting to me cause my husband
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Mar 22, 2011
Dcreader
rated it:
Powerful intense novel about Sudan and people caught up in conflict. Loved this book. Characters are very real and complex and I got really good insight into whats going on in Sudan because the story is laid out so well. Try Beating Heart if you want a similar take on the struggles and power games closer to home, in the U.S. Theyre obviously different on many levels, but both books had a strong handle on faith, power, politics, people who want to do the right thing and end up messing up, or real
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Apr 08, 2009
Colleen
rated it:
This book was a disappointment overall. Give it a 2.5. I almost gave it a 3 but I don't know if I can say I liked it. It was sort of a love/hate relationship. I wanted to read it because of the Sudan setting which I wanted to learn more about. I know it was well-researched. I did learn quite a bit about the struggles there and in other parts of Africa. However, partway through it startd to deteriorate into a soap opera. The characters were colorful and interesting as one might expect in Africa.
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Jan 09, 2010
Badly Drawn Girl
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This book is on my list of books that should be required reading for everyone. I had no idea what I was getting into when I started the first paragraph. The book deftly weaves a web of characters into their surrounding landscape. There are no "good" guys and "bad" guys, but people making difficult decisions in a brutal land. These are well fleshed out characters that grow and change as they interact with each other and the politics of the country. This is a fiction More...
Dec 20, 2011
Jules
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I debated between a 3 and a 4 rating on this book. I liked the story but at times found the writing amateurish (or cheesy - like a Clive Cussler novel, specifically some of the dialogue and love scenes). I'd say it's a 3.5. The story is complex and compelling. I found the premise and details mostly believable (not having lived in Sudan as an aid worker, it's not as if I'd know if it wasn't, but I thought Caputo's depiction of Sudan's turbulence and hardship was one of the book's main strengths).
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Jan 17, 2010
Tony
rated it:
Philip Caputo's tragic and epically ambitious new novel is set in Sudan, where war is a permanent condition. Into this desolate theater come aid workers, missionaries, and mercenaries of conscience whose courage and idealism sometimes coexist with treacherous moral blindness. There's the entrepreneurial American pilot who goes from flying food and medicine to smuggling arms, the Kenyan aid worker who can't help seeing the tawdry underside of his enterprise, and the evangelical Christian who come
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Mar 22, 2011
Scott
rated it:
This book is about the struggles in the Sudan. It painted a convincing picture of how the UN is mucking up things with their certain protocols and this leaves Non Government Orgs (NGO's) to just take the initiative and use illegal plane charter company's to ship in relief to these ravaged Non-Muslims living in the South. It goes through the intricacies of their work and how greed is the driving force behind their humanitarian work. This Greed then destroys relationships and jeopardizes the wellb
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May 23, 2011
Jana
rated it:
This book didn't give me what I was hoping for to get. I bought it because I thought I will learn something, but I didn't. It gave me that cinema feeling of Africa, when you feel nostalgic and naive about something that you think it is how it is, and then turns out that it isn't at all what you thought it would be. I was hoping it would be great, but it wasn't. I loved the end of this book but it made me feel again like I feel every time when I watch Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. I feel a ne
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Oct 19, 2008
Will
rated it:
This is a sweeping masterwork in which Africa is the central character. The characters include a mixed race, UN bureaucrat, a ladies man, who falls in love with the much older, white, wealthy, colonial woman, an American entrepreneur, a daredevil pilot who seeks to earn his fortune and transport supplies to the neediest and least served in Sudan, a young American missionary who falls in love with and ultimately marries a tribal leader, a corrupt local businessman. Africa, in this accounting, is
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Aug 01, 2008
Zach
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Strong start as real life/well researched story shifts (Caputo seems to have an understanding of Africa) to mediocre soap opera, finishes stronger than middle but not as good as beginning.
I had a love/blah relationship with this book. Started out slow, but got into the politics/culture of Sudan, the UN, relief agencies... and if you would like almost journalistic account of the conflict in southern Sudan and nuts-bolts of the politics and the NGO's involved, the first part of the b More...
I had a love/blah relationship with this book. Started out slow, but got into the politics/culture of Sudan, the UN, relief agencies... and if you would like almost journalistic account of the conflict in southern Sudan and nuts-bolts of the politics and the NGO's involved, the first part of the b More...
Jun 23, 2010
Joanna
rated it:
At nearly 700 pages, this novel is a hefty read. But it's worth the effort for the rich characters and the musing on the outcome of deeply held convictions (the "faith" of the title), be they religious, altruistic, or romantic. The author turns too often to odd-couple romantic pairings, but I was willing to forgive the overuse of this plot device because I found the characters so interesting.
This book covers, in graphic detail, war in the Sudan, including the aftermath More...
This book covers, in graphic detail, war in the Sudan, including the aftermath More...
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Dec 09, 2008
Brian
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I was disappointed in this book; the author was recommended to me by a friend and I wanted an engrossing novel as a change from the non-fiction that has dominated recent reading. This is supposed to be based on the situation in Sudan but the plot was weak and I doubt if the historical and geographical elements are based on the reality of the Sudan. I was glad to have reached pg 669 (the end) and will return the book to the used book store where I acquired it.
Mar 09, 2008
Jeanne
rated it:
Hmm, I thought I wrote a review of this one back when I read it, but it doesn't seem to be here now. Well, I heard about it from other folks who know Sudan well and recognized the characters for the real people they are based on. I read the last half in one long jet-lagged night shortly after arriving in Khartoum. I liked the different story lines, when one got a little tedious it would switch to another. It didn't feel much to me like the Sudan that I've experienced, but I guess that's beca
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Jul 03, 2011
Becky
rated it:
Amazing book set during Sudan's recent Civil War. It's about non-UN relief organizations that fly assistance to southern Sudan, even though Sudan's government is against it. The characters are amazing, and the story is incredibly moving. It's hard to read at times because it's based in the reality of what was going on during the war, and I suspect it accurately reflects what is still going on in war torn regions of Africa.
Aug 14, 2009
Lucy
rated it:
I learned SO MUCH about Sudan and Eastern Africa from this book. It was so well-researched and believable--full of really well-drawn characters and a very inticate plot that you really had to pay attention to. Quinette fascinated me--she was definitely my favorite character. I loved getting to know people from all sides of the conflict, though of course there was much more time spent on the "Western" characters. The only reason that I gave this book 3 stars rather than 4 was that d
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Dec 29, 2008
Jeannette
rated it:
This book took me an exceptionally long time to read (one month!), but I relished every word and embraced every lesson from this heroic effort of modern fiction. As much as it fed my current obsession with the Sudan, it also nourished my internal debate of good versus evil and my search for truth and goodness within humankind. Will you find it here? You'll have to ask the baker's daughter.
Dec 24, 2008
Kelly
rated it:
It's a novel, but firmly rooted in the surreal realities of modern-day Sudan. Caputo, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, wrote it after being on assignment for National Geographic Adventure magazine. He did a phenomenal job of capturing the Sudanese dynamic, including the strange reverberations set in motion by well-meaning if uncritical FBOs and NGOs. It's a great read, too.
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Mar 06, 2011
Cindy
rated it:
Epic tale of pilots, aid workers, missionaries and rebel soldiers in Sudan. Ethical compromise, greed and worst of all self-righteous zealotry are rife throughout. Parts of this story infuriated me. Excellent writing with well developed characters. Stark realism. Very long. Most people would not stick with this. Intelligent, thought provoking. Good for our book discussion.
Mar 10, 2011
Jefferson
rated it:
I picked up this book because of my interest in the subject matter: The Sudan, aid flights out of Lokichoggio, rebel leaders, and adventurers.
By the end of the novel, the author states his belief that people do not grow or develop. He wraps up the complete lack of character development in his story with pseudo-philosophic prose. For example: "We know what we are, but know not what we may be. But what we become . . . is what we have been all along."
If you li More...
By the end of the novel, the author states his belief that people do not grow or develop. He wraps up the complete lack of character development in his story with pseudo-philosophic prose. For example: "We know what we are, but know not what we may be. But what we become . . . is what we have been all along."
If you li More...
Dec 13, 2008
i'm some 150 pages into it and, around the 100 page buoy, i decided i'd give it another 100 then, if i wasn't satisfied, send it on its merry way to other shores (have no idea what this metaphor means). but it's beginning to gather steam, so i'm more optimistic.
there are some people who are Novelists, then there are all the people who write novels. i feel that mike (if he reads this) will bristle at this. i hold fast by it. caputo is writing a perfectly well-written novel, albeit on More...
there are some people who are Novelists, then there are all the people who write novels. i feel that mike (if he reads this) will bristle at this. i hold fast by it. caputo is writing a perfectly well-written novel, albeit on More...
Sep 08, 2009
Saranga
rated it:
Really enjoyed this though it took forever to read. Great escape to Africa and great insight into the fact that war doesn't really have any good guys (or at least this one doesn't). You know a book is good when you can't stand 80 percent of the characters and get nervous about what's going to happen to the other 20 percent.
Aug 15, 2009
Nate
rated it:
A book is obviously long if it takes 200 pages to get into, but that's what happened here for me. (0 stars after the first 100 pages, 1 star after 200 pages, 5 stars the rest of the way). I am so glad I didn't abandon it, which I almost did many times. Richly set in Sudan, chock full of compelling main characters, loads of fantastic minor characters, this is simply a great story - war and strife amongst tribal Africans, American aid-workers turn gun runners, Chiristian do-gooder turns African
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Jan 28, 2009
Tess
rated it:
Gave up on this book after about 200 pages. Would have loved to read more if I could stand the writing -- at its best, it is a powerful exploration of the moral ambiguities surrounding the West's role in the Sudan. But the message gets bogged down in trite, heavy-handed dialogue and tired platitudes, and after a while I just couldn't stand any more.
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