Blood River
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Blood River
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Narrated by:
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Tim Butcher
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By:
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Tim Butcher
About this listen
A Richard and Judy Book Club selection.
When Daily Telegraph correspondent Tim Butcher was sent to cover Africa in 2000, he quickly became obsessed with the idea of recreating H. M. Stanley's famous expedition - and travelling alone. Despite warnings that his plan was suicidal, Butcher set out for the Congo's eastern border with just a rucksack and a few thousand dollars hidden in his boots.
Making his way in an assortment of vessels including a motorbike and a dugout canoe, and helped along by a cast of characters from UN aid workers to a campaigning pygmy, he followed in the footsteps of the great Victorian adventurers. Butcher's journey was a remarkable feat, but the story of the Congo, is more remarkable still.
©2007 Tim Butcher (P)2008 W F Howes LtdListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
What listeners say about Blood River
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ursie
- 18-06-21
Compelling and insightful
Firstly, this is my one opinion which may differ to others.
Listening to the authors adventure through the heart of the Congo was interesting and I was eager to keep reading. I had little knowledge of the Congo’s history before this and thus found it insightful and the Congo’s history saddening.
I enjoyed how easy it was to picture myself with the author and benefited from being able to search for the places visited and use Google Earth to see pictures of what was described in the book, such as the port of Kisangani.
I liked how we also learnt about parts of Stanley’s trip, hundreds of years before, through the Congo as the author passed similar places and experiences.
One improvement I would note though is that the chapter division via the app is not fully synced. I.e. sometimes the actual chapter starts in the centre of the chapters on the chapter selection list on the app.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ramona S.
- 07-02-20
Good travel book
enjoyed this book which is well paced and well narrated. It provides some keen insight into a country most will be unfamiliar with i suspect.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- ahala
- 27-04-21
great African story
great story especially the overland sections to east and the pirogue adventure, gets quieter once the motorboat river journey starts. narrator is the author who comes across as a shy englishman
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lucy Fryer
- 27-01-24
Fascinating account
a fascinating account but read quite fast (I slowed to 0.75 speed). good mix of culture, history and adventure.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 03-06-20
The premise is better than the story
I found this to be highly anecdotal. This felt like the majority of the book consisted of Congolese history and Congolese accounts of daily life from the people he had met. Despite being entertaining in part by the sheer feat of travelling along the Congo river, the same message is reiterated throughout - The Congo is the only place in the world where conditions are worse in the 21st century than the middle of the 20th
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Ruben
- 26-07-18
the guy reads too fast... fascinating nevertheless
very interesting story even though already 14 years old. one thing I kept wondering about was what the purpose of the trip was! the book is a beautiful result and tells an important story, but somehow I felt the need for a purpose beyond that of solely following Stanley's trail.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- L F
- 19-12-19
Amazing adventure.
An amazing adventure of a very brave man. Very sad story of Africa. A great read (I have read this book twice).
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Buymore Sibanda
- 14-11-20
perspective
eye opening in some aspects and helped broaden my understanding on the "undeveloped" world .
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- R
- 08-09-08
fantastic and addictive
I thought this book was brilliant,so well written and totally compulsive listening.The author told it how is is,and I felt it was one of the best audiobooks I have ever listened to.Also I looked up and read extensively about the Congo afterwards,it was as gripping as any thriller.
This is not normally the type of book/audiobook I would buy,but I was going on a long holiday and though it would pass some time on the beach.But how wrong was I.
I still think of the authors experiences and the people of the Congo and how good we get it here in the UK.
My older teenage children listened to parts of this book and found it brilliant and asked the question,why do people live like that in 2008? I hope the next generation will be able to change the world.
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12 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Peter Jones
- 20-07-18
An Enjoyable Book
I have enjoyed listening to this book and Tims enthusiasum for the book is unquestionable. My only problem was the speed in which it was read, causing me to check if I had changed the reading speed in the settings, I hadn't!
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2 people found this helpful