Brothers (and Me): A Memoir of Loving and Giving Audiobook

" Mesmerizing in a macabre, "go poke a stick in road-kill sort of way". I PROMISE I will not let myself romantize past lives and roads not taken after this! Ending is a little too neat and therefore unsatisfying. Might deserve a higher rating for being thought provoking and I can't really say why 3 is where I landed. "

" To be honest, the Lower River has been a great disappointment. The prose is beautiful, and it paints a remarkably accurate portrait of the Malawian bush, but it has a pervasive attitude of cynical finality- one which completely ruins it for anyone who still has any hope for the people of Africa. Theroux is clearly an excellent author, with a keen ability to understand people and what motivates them but with this subject material his talents miss their mark (at least with me). His understanding of Africa is better than that of most westerners, but it still bears the unmistakable bias of western hegemony. Read this book- it's worth it, it allows insight into the great western mistake of believing that we do things right, that we are enlightened, and that none can match or mimic our example. Just don't expect to enjoy it. "

" As an American currently living in Malawi, I heard about this book and thought it might be interesting. I didn't know much about Theroux before this book, but googled him to find out that yes, he actually was serving as a PCV in Malawi in the 60s. But what really bothered me about this book is the incredibly negative way he showed Malawians. Yes, this is one of the poorest countries in the world. But from my experience (and granted, I have only been here four months rather than four years) I have not found the desperation and cruelty that are described in this book. Yes, it is different, I am living in a town in the Central Region, where things are quite different than where he described. But I have never once been approached for money (other than actual beggars who are asking anyone for money - white or African), nor have I ever felt any animosity. The first part of this book I enjoyed, but once he started going into detail about the struggles, the despair and the criminality that was going on in the village he was in, I started having problems with the book. That is not the Malawians I know. Sure, some of them are petty crooks and will steal a watch or a belt from the mzungus, but the way it is described: "First they will eat your money, then they will eat you" is absolutely foreign to me. So this book got a lower rating because of the way the people here were portrayed - as money-hungry, greedy and devious, rather than the positive, yet impoverished people I have encountered while working here. Granted, my work has not taken me to Nsanje, nor will it, but I have been to Chikwawa and only received positive reactions. I have met a PCV who is stationed in Nsanje, a ten-minute walk to the Mozambique border, and he does not have any of these stories to share either. "

" Quite a bit of tension right to the end! "

" I usually read historical fiction, so was surprised how well I liked this novel that takes place in current day Africa. Thoroughly enthralling, mysterious and dramatic. "

" Somewhat bizarre tale of a 63 year old man's return to a remote part of Malawi, which he'd remembered as idyllic from his Peace Corps days. His experience is horrific. "

" This was interesting, starts out just a nice story then turns into some kind of nightmare. Some parts are repetitive, and I skipped them, but the repetition may have surved a purpose to show the monotony of the main characters circumstances. "

" Enjoyed the book. I was told that it was a bit dark. Yes the subject matter was forboding and very unusual, but not what I would concicider dark. Read this book because I wanted to see what someone tought of a "dark". Glad I did. Would read others by Theroux. "

" No a story that warms the heart in any way, but gripping in its way. It's Africa, after all. "

" Another great reading experience with Paul Theroux!!! This was the first novel I have read by Theroux and it was excellent. He knows how to set up a story and I found myself stopping over and over to just savor a particularly great sentence!! "

" Honestly, I couldn't finish the book. It wreaked of a man in mid-life crisis, trying to go back to a time that has now changed because, although he cannot, the town and people MOVED forward and kept on growing with the times. Not for me. Wrong book. "

" Dark tale of Darkest, Deepest Africa. "

" we need to rethink our Africa policy. sad book but having thinking about it ever since "

" Intriguing, suspenseful, depressing, and enlightening. "

" Usually a big fan of Theroux, but this one was not one of his best. I finished it only because I had to find out what happened to the main character. Theroux paints a very depressing picture of modern Africa.. "

" There were a number of things I did not like, the stereotyped picture of the Malawains and especially the "deus ex machina" ending. But I found myself wanting to keep reading anyway. 3 stars or 4 ??? "

" Somewhat interesting, but pretty farfetched. There is some particularly disturbing passages on this 60-something leading man and his sexual attraction to a 16-year old girl who was his servant in the village. Ending was not believable and more than a little convoluted. "