The Lower River

Posted on by

Ellis Hock never believed that he would return to Africa He runs an old fashioned menswear store in a small town in Massachusetts but still dreams of his Eden, the four years he spent in Malawi with the Peace Corps, cut short when he had to return to take over the family business When his wife leaves him, taking the family home, he realizes that there is one place for him to go back to Malawi on the remote Lower River, where he can be happy again Arriving at the dusty village, he finds it transformed the school he built is a ruin, the church and clinic are gone, and poverty and apathy have set in among the people They remember him the White Man with no fear of snakes and welcome him But is his new life, his journey back, an escape or a trap Interweaving memory and desire, hope and despair, salvation and damnation, this is a hypnotic, compelling, and brilliant return to a terrain no one has ever written better about than Theroux. New Read The Lower River By Paul Theroux For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr Just like them, he was a wisp of diminishing humanity, with nothing in his pockets hardly had pockets and he felt a lightness because of it With no money he was insubstantial and beneath notice As soon as everyone knew he had nothing, they would stop asking him for money, would stop talking to him altogether, probably Yet tugging at this lightness was another sensation of weight, his poverty like an anchor He couldn t move or go anywhere he had no bargaining power He was anchored by an Just like them, he was a wisp of diminishing humanity, with nothing in his pockets hardly had pockets and he felt a lightness because of it With no money he was insubstantial and beneath notice As soon as everyone knew he had nothing, they would stop asking him for money, would stop talking to him altogether, probably Yet tugging at this lightness was another sensation of weight, his poverty like an anchor He couldn t move or go anywhere he had no bargaining power He was anchored by an absence of money, not just immovable but sitting and slipping lower Paul TherouxI have met Paul Theroux several times, but the most memorable was in Seattle I w...A pilgrimage usually brings to mind young college grads or drop outs backpacking and seeking to find who I really am, or the forty something just divorced and tired of the rat race individual plagued with ennui or provoked by accumulated reproaches Or is it the pilgrimage to Mecca or Delphi It does suggest a spiritual journey a life defining, soul searching odyssey.In Theroux s latest novel, sixty two year old businessman, Ellis Hock, embarks on a pilgrimage Scorned by his wife and spurne A pilgrimage usually brings to mind young college grads or drop outs backpacking and seeking to find who I really am, or the forty something just divorced and tired of the rat race individual plagued with ennui or provoked by accumulated reproaches Or is it the pilgrimage to Mecca or Delphi It does suggest a spiritual journey a life defining, soul searching odyssey.In Theroux s latest novel, sixty two year old businessman, Ellis Hock, embarks on a pilgrimage Scorned by his wife and spurned by his daughter, he decides to sell his men s clothing business in Medford, Massachusetts, leave his home of almost forty years, and return to the lower river in the country of Malawi, in a remote bush town called Malabo Ellis romanticizes this African village that he spent four Peace Corps years as a teache...Anyone who has read Paul Theroux knows one of his key themes is the American innocent abroad, refusing to acknowledge the dark side of the people he encounters or himself In many of his past novels, his characters are transplanted into a new culture and struggle to survive against environmental, cultural and psychological pressures.For those who enjoy Theroux, his latest novel does not disappoint In fact, it soars Once again, we are treated to an anti hero who is forced to meet his overblown Anyone who has read Paul Theroux knows one of his key themes is the American innocent abroad, refusing to acknowledge the dark side of the people he encounters or himself In many of his past novels, his characters are transplanted into a new culture and struggle to survive aga...I came to The Lower River with high expectations, mostly founded on Paul Theroux s wonderful travel writing What I loved about books like Riding the Iron Rooster is true for this one as well nobody describes unusual or exotic locales quite like him Sadly, that s where the wonder stopped this time.Ellis Hock was a compelling enough character in the beginning Characters approaching old age seem to seldom get the starring role in contemporary novels, so I though it refreshing that we d get to s I came to The Lower River with high expectations, mostly founded on Paul Theroux s wonderful travel writing What ...This is my first, but not my last, book by Paul Theroux He could be a modern Hardy the story is well told and bleak, bleak, bleak Throughout there s a theme of entrapment everyone is trapped in this story Ellis Hock is trapped in a lifetime of duties, his only free happy time being the 4 years he spent in the village of Malago in Malawi during his early 20s At 62, he decides to go back to relive these happy years In the 40 years since his last visit, the country has gone from hopefu This is my first, but not my last, book by Paul Theroux He could be a modern Hardy the story is well told and bleak, bleak, bleak Throughout there s a theme of entrapment everyone is trapped in this story Ellis Hock is trapped...Paul Theroux s recent novel, THE LOWER RIVER, follows sixty something year old Ellis Hock back to Africa to connect with a time forty years ago, the happiest years of his life , when he was a Peace Corps Volunteer and teacher in a remote village in Malawi On and off he has been dreaming about that time and place, returning to it in his mind when wandering through his hometown zoo his memories flooding back with a strong sense of nostalgic longing Now that his marriage has fallen apart, his b Paul Theroux s recent novel, THE LOWER RIVER, follows sixty something year old Ellis Hock back to Africa to connect with a time forty years ago, the happiest years of his life , when he was a Peace Corps Volunteer and teacher in a remote village in Malawi On and off he has been dreaming about that time and place, returning to it in his mind when wand...I like to think of myself as a glass half full person but when it comes to my literature I like a half empty writer This explains my love for Thomas Hardy no one can make a character s lifebleak and miserable than Hardy see The Mayor of Casterbridge I like to think of Paul Theroux as the modern equivalent I don t know why but I do love to read a tragedy or about a fall from grace Maybe it is just a reminder of how good my own life is or a my own ward against tragedy.I was at my book I like to think of myself as a glass ha...Ok this was somewhat of a disappointment I really love Theroux s travel writing and some of his other novels but this one just didn t live up to my expectations Too bad.Paul Theroux is my personal hero He lives life on his own terms and is able to love what he does for a living Theroux s talent for words is underrated, in my estimation, with the reading public Everyone knows his best selling The Mosquito Coast , but his non fiction travel books are the best there are on the market Riding The Iron Rooster , his travels through China Russia is excellent His fiction novels have been hit miss with me the past few years though, and I feel it s because he was Paul Theroux is my personal hero He lives life on his own terms and is able to love what he doe...I rate this book highly although it is incredibly grim and depressing and has a couple of big flaws like repetiveness and occasionally implausible plot turns This is a story of lost youth and the impossibility of reconnecting with the dreams of those times Ellis Hock is a 60 ish haberdasher who finds himself suddenly alone His wife divorces him after finding...

The Lower River
  • English
  • 20 June 2018
  • Kindle Edition
  • 336 pages
  • Paul Theroux
  • The Lower River