Bay of Tigers: An African Odyssey

by Pedro Rosa Mendes

In 1997, Pedro Rosa Mendes traveled across Africa--6,000 miles from the west to the east coast, from Angola to Mozambique--on trains with no windows, no doors, no seats, on wrecks of trucks and buses, on boats and motorcycles.
In war-torn Angola, a country where land mines outnumber people, Mendes found long lines of villagers waiting for shock treatment to neutralize the phantom pain in amputated limbs, an apothecary's tent purveying boiled mucumbi bark to combat scurvy lesions in the mouth, and trains crowded with people eating salted fish and drinking beer, swapping tales of local sorcerers who can turn into snakes. He interviewed international relief workers and corrupt local officials, widows and orphans, soldiers and survivors, piecing together a rich portrait no history or travel book can match.

Genres: Angola, Africa, Travel, Portuguese Literature, Portugal

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Anabela Mestre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um livro muito difícil de ler, tem de se ter calma, porque o registo desta viagem entre Angola e Moçambique usa uma escrita fechada, mesmo hermética. Tem que se parar de vez em quando, para conseguir absorver toda a intensidade dos personagens descritos pelo autor. Não se pode dizer que tenha gostado muito do livro, que às vezes parece, que o texto vai sair das páginas aglutinado no caos e desorganização que impera nestas páginas. Improprio para quem gosta de escrita fáceis e está com pressa.

[César Lasso · Rating 2 out of 5]

Não duvido que este livro, premiado, tenha o seu interesse e a sua originalidade. Teoricamente, reflecte uma viagem “à maneira de” Serpa Pinto, ou seja, desde Angola até Moçambique pelo interior da África. Mas a fórmula do livro, em forma de collage ou mosaico de breves reportagens, é confusa para quem não conhece bem a história recente de Angola. Deu-me a impressão que o autor escrevera os seus rascunhos de forma linear e depois, como o jugador de cartas, baralhou-os para posterior elaboração à maneira de um caleidoscópio.

Uma outra crítica é que eu esperava isso, uma travessia do continente africano de Oeste para Leste, mas acerca do Zâmbia, se mal não me lembro, apenas havia um breve artigo, e a presença em Moçambique era também mínima. A apresentação da obra, nesse sentido, engana. É um livro dedicado na realidade a Angola, como bem reflecte o subtítulo da tradução inglesa: Bay of Tigers: An Odyssey through War-torn Angola.

[Andrew]

Another chapter in my weird fascination with Angola. I'd heard Mendes' book mentioned in the same breath as Ryszard Kapuscinski's Another Day of Life, and as an afterthought ("oh, also Bay of Tigers") which is frankly unfortunate, given Kapuscinski's status as a titan of travel lit. Mendes' story is in many ways equally interesting, although it's far less linear, and much more peregrinating in its tone. He goes a bit afield at times, and writes whole sections in theatrical dialogue, for example, and this naturally leads you to question how faithful Mendes was to what he saw and heard. I'm also not entirely sure to what degree this nonlinear narrative is supposed to be a faithful reflection of his perception and the long, slow slog of trying to report from a place like Angola -- the fog of war and all that -- and how much is his task as a writer trying to come to terms with his own inability to form a cogent narrative around his experiences. Either way, I still enjoyed it well enough, even if it could use a bit of a structural workover.

[Sean Mccarrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book followed the exploits of journalist Pedro Mendes through the Angolan civil wars of the 90s and to Mozambique, along with a quick foray into Cambodia. Mendes has a perfectly Kapusckinskian quality about him. He captures not only a historical but a human quality about the situation that are able to connect varying segments of society with one another. Of course, there was a certain sluggishness to the book that made it difficult for me to give it the same ranking as a Kapuscinski book or something of that ilk, but a worthy read still.

[José · Rating 3 out of 5]

Para quem gosta de África este é perfeito. De Luanda a Maputo com muitas coisas para serem lidas.

[Chema Caballero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Relectura de un libro que me gustó mucho en su momento. El periodista portugués cruza el continente africano desde Angola a Mozambique recorriendo el camino que dos personas esclavizadas liberadas hicieran siglos antes. Lo importante son las historias que cuenta y cómo las cuenta. Países que salen de una guerra reciente o que todavía viven los últimos coletazos de ellas. Las personas que encuentra, las anécdotas del camino. Una maravilla.

[Marie Louise]

På bagsiden er bogen beskrevet som "En symfoni af stemmer og stemninger" - jeg vil snarere kalde det en kakofoni. Og flere steder grundede jeg over, om den mon var dårligt oversat, eller om sproget virkelig var så tungt og klumset på originalsproget også. Var det en afspejling af oplevelserne eller en træt oversætter? Det kunne være interessant at høre andres mening om. Men absolut læseværdig.

[Marta Cruz]

S/LP(FC)0029-MEN

[AriBa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good grief, this book was difficult to read. So difficult in fact that I gave up.

It is about a journalist that travels across Africa from Angola to Mozambique in the late '90s, during the period of civil war and unrest. Basically travelling along his proposed path was extremely difficult, negotiating red tape, broken infrastructure and landmines. The personal accounts are interesting, the people that he meets are real characters, like a blind man who has a list of songs that he sings for money, each song being his own creations that, when he dies will die with him. These moments are great but they are few and far between, interspersed between what felt like an extended history and geography lesson of the African region. This is probably great if you know the history and geography of the region, but I didn't, and reading about it became tiresome.

There is a map of the region at the beginning of the book, and a glossary at the back to explain the different acronyms, words, phrases, people, places etc., used throughout. But they are used so many times that I forgot who's who and what's what. Flicking to the front, the back, the front, then the middle to where I left off is like book tennis. The moment I gave up was when there were 4 chapters, about 20 pages, dedicated to a letter to a government official, a list of taboos, a historical short presented as a play with synopsis and scenes and finally a poem. It felt so disjointed that I overcame my completist OCD and put the book down.

Maybe I'm being too harsh. Maybe, I lost interest in this quickly so reading it became a blur. But I haven't not finished a book yet, no matter how bad it is. This one is the first. It should feel proud.

[syrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fiquei com alguma curiosidade em ler este livro depois de ter assistido a uma sessão com a presença do autor, e num ano em que me propus a ler mais autores portugueses, parecia ser a escolha ideal. Terminado o livro (leitura que demorou bem mais do que o esperado), fiquei com algumas resevas. Os relatos da viagem de Luanda a Maputo foram interessantes, por vezes, cativantes, por vezes, impressionantes, por vezes, mas também enfadonhos, por vezes. Se houve capítulos que me fizeram mesmo tomar notas para mais tarde ir investigar os factos na internet, outros cpítulos houve em que as vozes não me diziam nada, em que as personagens (da vida real) não me cativaram. Reflexo da nossa vida, talvez...
É sem dúvida um livro interessante sobre África, sobre aquela que foi, em tempos, a "nossa África", e por isso mesmo, sobre a nossa história, mas não será, talvez, o melhor livro que sobre esta África se escreveu.

[SpaceBear · Rating 2 out of 5]

The disjointed narrative is, no doubt, intended to reflect the author's confusion while on his journey in Angola, as well as the disconnected nature of the country. Its not very effective, and the book doesn't seem to serve any purpose.