On Thursday 15th September 2011, Hove's premier book group came together for our first gathering since July.
Don explained how he wanted to find a suitable Summer read for the group and concluded that "a harrowing true story of adventure and survival" would be just the ticket. Don recounted his own travel experiences and, based on these, could quite understand how Yossi and his compadres came to make an ill advised trip into the Amazonian jungle. He awarded the book 6 out of 10.
Hamish described this as one of most pedestrianly written books he'd ever read, although conceded the story was a good'un. 1 out of 10. Ouch.
Robin wondered if the whole thing was made up - or at the very least exaggerated. 5/10
Keith also gave the book short shrift and said he was not well disposed to it from the outset. 4/10
Nick felt there were "too many gaps" (this is what I wrote down and now I wonder what Nick meant by this - he doubtless elaborated but I cannot remember - sorry Nick). Nick noted that Yossi's Wikipedia page has been deleted due to the lack of evidence. Is Yossi a charlatan? Nick gave it 0.75 out of 10. Double ouch.
I read the book in July and wrote a short review straight afterwards to make sure I could remember my thoughts. Here it is: The book opens with Yossi Ghinsberg’s ‘Acknowledgements’. A page and a half of flowery, gushing, quasi-mystical thank yous. This didn’t auger well. Yossi Ghinsberg’s writing style is pretty basic. I wonder if this is a translation - which might explain his style. I have read a few accounts of what could be labelled Travel Misadventures, Personal Disasters, or Idiots Taking Silly Risks & Living To Tell The Tale. These include, Touching The Void, Into Thin Air, The Climb, and Into The Wild. For the first two thirds of this book I concluded that “Lost In The Jungle” was not up to the same standard, however I was gripped by the last third of the book and he certainly has an extraordinary tale to tell. At the end of the book he also touches on how his near death experience shaped the rest of his life and I was impressed by what he has gone on to achieve. It’s worth reading and I feel Yossi’s tale will stay with me. That said if you’ve yet to read Touching The Void or Into Thin Air, then I would suggest reading those first as I think they’re both more accomplished and interesting books that explore similar themes. 6/10.
Jason couldn't make the gathering but sent through his thoughts: I thought Yossi told a great tale. Indeed it is probably the quickest book group choice I've read for a few years - I lapped it up in a few nights. I think it appealed to the part of me which regrets never having done the alternative tourist Trek which lots of my student mates did during or immediately after Uni. I'm happy to say the regret is now somewhat lessened! I did have a few interesting points I wanted to raise when I read it weeks ago - but they all escape me now. One thing occurs though - I'm pretty certain I'd have died out there - wonder if others feel they'd have had the tenacity to keep going with rotting feet and no food. That rain would jave been the final straw for me, let alone the termites. I still shudder..... Jason didn't give a score but - on the basis of what he wrote I reckon it would be an 8 out of 10.
Tristan arrived after staying late at work, and just in time to read out his own review that he had emailed through: I quite enjoyed this easy read, in a ripping yarn kind of way. I was a bit worried about the dull backpacker bit at the beginning, but once the characters were introduced, and once they got to the jungle it got a lot better. Once the silly sods had decided to go off on their own, and once Yossi got swept away, it became much more of a page turner. I liked the thought exercise of 'would you prefer a machete and nothing else or a pack with no machete', and I am still amazed that Kevin managed to get back so easily - sounds like Yossi was just a whingeing lightweight (joke). I liked the revelations at the end, but was disappointed not to find out what happened to Karl and Marcus. I thought the writing style was competent but unexceptional. One thing I took exception to was his assertion that there had been some divine intervention. I saw a fair bit of luck, a good lot of common sense, and lots of evidence for the resilience of the human spirit, but that was it. Still, I feel I learned a lot from this book, the most important lesson of which was do not piss yourself while sleeping in a rain forest. All in all, I found it lightweight and entertaining, but not much beyond that. 6/10
So there you have it. A mixed set of responses and it made for a good discussion.
Don 6
Hamish 1
Robin 5
Keith 4
Nick 0.75
Nigel 6
Jason 8
Tristan 6
Average 4.5
After the magic of the Yossi discussion we moved onto a DVD...
Roger Waters 'The Wall - Live in Berlin'
By this time I was on my third pint of Harveys and - ahem - don't appear to have made any notes. Here's what I can remember. I apologise for any inaccuracies. Feel free to add a comment if I misrepresented what was discussed.
Don absolutely loves Roger Waters and The Wall. He waxed lyrical about a recent concert at the O2 Arena.
Nick hadn't watched the DVD and doesn't really get the Floyd (to put it mildly).
I expressed an intrigue about the Floyd but a lack of knowledge. I do like Wish You Were Here and Dark Side Of The Moon - and the Barrett years - but haven't ever listened to The Wall (except bits - primarily Another Brick In The Wall) and so didn't know what to expect. This DVD felt *very* 80s.
The DVD opens with (who I later discovered to be) The Scorpions emerging from a stretch limo in all their cliche Metal outfits. I was a bit confused as none of them appeared to be Roger Waters. Then realised that we were to be treated to a succession of guests that included Sinead O'Connor, Marianne Faithful, Cyndi Lauper, Tim Currie, Thomas Dolby. Coincidentally in the lastest issue of The Word magazine Thomas Dolby refers to this gig and states "I went to see it again the other day and it's a pretty dreary thing. And he (Roger Waters) was a dark character - very, very fastidious. Intense." Obviously a lot of money spent on the staging but I felt glad that I hadn't attended. I guess for Berliners in 1990 this must have had a huge resonance. As a Hove-ite in 2011 I was less engaged. I prefer to attend intimate gigs and also prefer a warmer, less austere sound. Basically I just didn't get it.
Robin reminded the Group that many moons ago Jason got us to watch the original film version with Bob Geldof and thought this wasn't a patch on the film version.
Hamish was intrigued by the punk (Geldof)/Old Wave (Floyd) collaboration that was the Alan Parker film version.
Hamish was intrigued by the punk (Geldof)/Old Wave (Floyd) collaboration that was the Alan Parker film version.
The "I just don't get The Wall" view was echoed, to one degree or another by Keith, Robin and Hamish. I'll try to carry on making notes next time - please add comments if I've forgotten one of your nuggets.
Jason wrote: Never saw the DVD - but I do remember being very excited about it at the time, and watched it live - only to have much of the sound go down, with the likes of Sinead O'Conner left miming. It was a great occasion, and wonderfully symbolic, but a bit too much of the Roger Waters show for me - with annoying under rehearsed special guests. Pink Floyd needs the new boy Gilmour for the epic tunes they did. I'm assuming the DVD would have put the missing sound back in, and had a chance to mix it properly - so interested to see what everyone else thought - especially Nick!!
Tristan wrote: As someone who grew up listening to Pink Floyd and especially The Wall a lot, this was all nicely familiar. Plus, having seen the film again recently at a private screening with the director Alan Parker (cough, namedrop, cough) I knew it well. The concert itself was most notable for its amazing staging and set: the huge wall constructed and all the effects and visuals were utterly amazing. The parading of 80s stars was also nostalgic although sometimes cringeworthy (Scorpions? FFS). The scale of the thing was also incredible: wikipedia reckoned there were 250k people, plus another 100k watching! (it must have sucked to be right at the back). I would have loved more crowd shots. I enjoyed this, I'm glad I saw it, but I'm not sure I'd bother watching it again. 7/10
So there you have it. Another wonderful gathering for Hove's finest.
At our next gathering we will be discussing Robin's spying-flavoured choices:
BOOK: 'See No Evil' by Robert Baer
MUSIC: 'The Ultimate John Barry' by John Barry
FILM: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
Excited? Me too.
PS: Here's Yossi....
