Brazzaville Beach: Amazon.ca: William Boyd: Books

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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.8 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, suspenseful book, April 15 2012

By

Gerhara - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brazzaville Beach (Paperback)

This book was extremely well written, taking the reader through a journey of Hope Clearwater's past and present. A mixture of the civil unrest of Africa, chimpanzees and the difficulty of her mathematician husband. This novel was captivating, I could not put it down ! I recommend this novel to anyone !

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3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but not fascinating, July 15 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Brazzaville Beach (Paperback)

This is the story of Hope Clearwater who studies chimpanzees in Africa while reminiscing on her failed marriage back in England. While I found the chimpazee study and the description of the scientific world around it interesting and informative, I did not find myself carried away by the narrative. Not a bad book, just not as good as I was hoping it would be.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Suspenseful and intelligent - I loved it!, Sep 27 2001

By

Debbie Lee Wesselmann (the Lehigh Valley, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

I adored this book from start to finish. Hope Clearwater is in worn-torn Africa observing chimpanzee behavior when she notices a startling trend that conflicts with everything her boss and mentor believes. Her integrity - and perhaps much more - is threatened when everyone at the camp seems to turn against her. Interwoven with flashbacks to her previous life in England with her bizarre but brilliant mathematician husband and the story of her Egyptian mercenary lover who flies a Mig for one side of the civil war, the story draws powerful parallels between the two primate societies, human and chimp.

How can a novel that discusses the difference between turbulence and topology in mathematics be a page turner? You'll have to read this book to believe it. Other than the name of Hope Clearwater - a bit too much in this otherwise subtle tale - Boyd writes deftly and passionately, sometimes with horrifying precision as he describes what is happening among the chimps.

This suspenseful and intelligent novel deserves a wide readership. I only wish I had learned of it sooner!

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars a well-written, haunting story worthy of study and debate
Upon seeing all the excellent reviews on amazon.com I decided to give William Boyd and his 'Brazzaville Beach' a try. Read more

Published on Jun 19 2001 by lazza

5.0 out of 5 stars enjoyably contrarian
Hope Clearwater sits on Brazzaville Beach, contemplates her past, and narrates the events of this novel. Read more