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Travels in the Deep Tropics
by Alexander FraterTales from the Torrid Zone follows what
has become the standard formula for travel books - interesting
facts, mixed with humorous anecdotes and a smattering of
autobiography. Frater makes for a genial companion, and the book
is a reflection of the zone it describes. It is a book that
languishes, gently and seemingly aimlessly, in awe of each place
as it wanders from one tropical destination to another;
sometimes fascinating, sometimes unexpected, sometimes rather
slow. As Frater himself says, "Sometimes, I imagine a mildly
narcotic vapor drifts across the Torrid Zone...it causes a kind
of stupefaction in its victims". The reader can imagine the book
being written in a warm, humid climate with the heat sapping the
writer's energy so that nothing moves too quickly and both
writer and reader can luxuriate in the present while reminiscing
about the past.
There is no doubt that this part-memoir, part-travelogue is
fascinating. It is filled with a wealth of scientific,
sociological, geographical and linguistical facts, plus an
astounding mix of characters and events. Wherever Frater sets
foot there is something to see, and something to learn; his keen
eye for detail and refreshing objectivity brings it all to life.
He does not glamorize the tropics, nor trivialize them; he
points out the good points (idyllic tropical islands) as well as
the bad (tropical diseases, poverty, corruption, and ecological
disasters such as uncontrolled logging) without sermonizing. In
short, he tells it as he sees it, and the book is better for
that.
This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in May 2007, and has been updated for the February 2008 edition. Click here to go to this issue.
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