The Horn Of Africa: Amazon.ca: Philip Caputo: Books

Product Description

From Library Journal

Caputo here presents protagonist Charlie Gage, a journalist who is recruited for a mysterious job that essentially turns out to be serving as a mercenary in a mythical country in northeast Africa. His tour in Vietnam and his additional combat experiences as a correspondent, however, have left Gage with little stomach for fighting. There are many battle sequences, but the book also delves into the nature of evil and morality. This 1980 title remains "a notable and engrossing first novel" (LJ 12/15/80).
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

“Reminiscent in its passionate style and moral intensity of the best of Joseph Conrad.”–Newsday

“A real novel stuffed with excitement and filled with sharply drawn characters.”–The New York Times

“An extraordinarily powerful novelist who works in one of the grand traditions of literature: the fiction of nightmare against the background of war and espionage.”–The Dallas Morning News

“Does not suffer in comparison with Graham Greene or Joseph Conrad. . . . An awesomely evil tale–enthralling, disgusting, utterly first-rate.” –Jim Harrison --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews

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4.8 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Well written wanderings into the Heart of Darkness...., May 4 2003

By

Andrew Mendelssohn (Moscow, Russia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Horn of Africa: A Novel (Paperback)

Caputo' Horn of Africa is a well-written novel in a style that emulates or aspires to Graham Greene or Joseph Conrad. I enjoyed the book, and admired the writer but the story never completely 'clicked' for me.
Horn of Africa is a psychological/military thrill that takes place in a fictional province of Ethiopia, Bejaya, that closely resembles Eritrea but is not really supposed to be anyplace. The story is told through a first person narrative of one of the characters, Charlie Gage. Gage is a burnt out journalist hanging around Cairo. He's recruited by a simultaneously creepy, pompous and shadowy CIA character to go along on a clandestine mission to Bejaya to assist local rebels against the Ethiopians. Gage is joined on his mission by an uptight, by the book Britain with local experience and a larger than life American, Jeremy Nordstrand, with a borderline psychotic sociopathic philosophy about life and their mission. Nordstrand is both philosopher (in a base way) and soldier, with obvious capabilities despite his slightly unbalanced philosophy. Soon enough, he becomes the group's real leader. Nordstrand first willingly descends into violence, testing both himself and his idea of society, and then slowly descends into madness.
Caputo has Gage set the tone of the novel in the first two pages: the reader knows that this is not a story with a happy ending, and that ugly things happen. This is both good an bad: I thought it simultaneously gave a great sense of foreboding throughout the novel, but when the dark events occur they were anti-climatic.
Also, Nordstrand wore his psychosis on his sleeve, as did the British character. I had a hard time believing that they would be put in a position of power on an important mission, rogue or not. The story was interesting but the base premise, in my mind, was a little hard to believe.
Anyway, I don't think you will be disappointed by Horn of Africa. Its extremely well written with deep characterizations, and an interesting story. Is it quite up to Conrad or Greene? Maybe on one of the formers' worst days... but its still a good novel and a worthwhile read.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Caputo's Best Novel, April 29 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Horn of Africa: A Novel (Paperback)

Mind you, I said "novel" rather than "book" or "story." Caputo's best book, of course, is his memoir "A Rumor of War." His best story (actually, novella) is that incredibly haunting piece "Standing In" from the collection "Exiles."

As far as novels go--and I hate to say this, because I like very much what this writer stands for--Caputo has certainly written some stinkers. "Indian Country" is truly awful, "Equation for Evil" reads like a Grisham-type potboiler, and "DelCorso's Gallery" has a lot of clumsy writing and emotional posturing that mars a potentially good story. I haven't read "The Voyage" yet, but I have noticed that there are a considerable number of negative reviews.

If you read any of Caputo's fiction, read "Horn of Africa." It is a good "second-rate" novel. Edmund Wilson once called Jean-Paul Sartre a "first-rate second-rate novelist." If Caputo's work was as consistently good as "Horn of Africa" he might merit that title himself.

Caputo, like his contemporary Robert Stone (whose work, although superior, bears a great deal of similarity to Caputo's), is going for the Graham Greene-Joseph Conrad approach; dignifying the novel of adventure and action with philosophical depth and resonance. This novel is an exploration of the old "heart of darkness" theme (the idea that man, unfettered by civilization, tends toward brutality and atrocity), set in the deserts of eastern Africa (in a fictional country called Bejaya, which seems to be a composite of Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, etc.) No doubt, Caputo is no Conrad, but "Horn of Africa" at least comes close to the caliber of one of Greene's lesser novels.

The story, narrated by a troubled Vietnam veteran, Charlie Gage, concerns a group of mercenaries/thrill seekers who are hired to run guns to an Islamic mujahideen group fighting against the Ethiopians. Eventually they become involved in the actual fighting themselves.

The main character, who emerges as the real leader of the group, is Jeremy Nordstrand, a Nietschze-reading Great Blonde Beast who seems to be modeled after Jack London's Wolf Larsen (from "The Sea Wolf"). Nordstrand, having misread "Beyond Good and Evil", seeks self-liberation or self-definition through the violent imposition of his will upon those weaker than him--those fit only to be "slaves." Nordstrand views his adventure in Africa, far from the reach of laws and police forces, as an oppportunity to explore his darkest impulses with impunity. Charlie Gage, the Marlow-like character, watches horrified as Nordstrand plunges to the bottom of the moral abyss, and then lives to tell us about it.

This is a tightly-woven narrative with solid, rich characterization.

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5.0 out of 5 stars good book, May 20 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: HORN OF AFRICA (Mass Market Paperback)

A wonderful novel. The story is interesting, the characterizations are outstanding. I really enjoyed the way Mr. Caputo handled the conversations between the characters - it seems extremely realistic, you feel as though you are there yourself. Why oh why is this book out of print?

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb, dark story of violence and irregular warfare
Why is this great book out of print? This is a modern classic, a superb, dark story of violence and irregular warfare in Northern Africa. Read more

Published on April 25 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Caputo takes us into Joseph Conrad country
Phil Caputo has the gift of simultaneously exploring the depths of the human soul and taking us on a riveting adventure. Read more

Published on Jun 18 1997