Saturday, September 1, 2012

Walking the Amazon by Ed Stafford

The first thing I'd like to point out is that this man is crazy.  He's determined, ruthless, able to endure pain and discomfort and starvation, but he's also crazy.  Why else would he spend 860 days walking the Amazon?

Plume and Net Galley allowed me download an ebook of this story for review (thank you).  It has been published in paperback and you can buy a copy now.

Mr. Stafford takes you along on his trip in this almost journal-like account of his time organizing and then walking the Amazon.  What he had to do up front to enable him to undertake the journey was almost overwhelming to me.  Then he started on his journey...

I first found out about Ed on Twitter.  He was doing Twitter updates during his journey and I got on board when he was almost at the end.  I also saw him on TV when he finally made it to the end and ran to the sea in joy.  His journey intrigued me and I wanted to know more.

This book takes you along with him on the journey and you'll find yourself wondering why he would go on when he's in such bad shape.  On the other hand, he had a goal.  If he was going to accomplish it, he had to keep going.

You won't be bored.  The idea of rodent and rice soup put me off a bit, but if you're hungry enough you will eat almost anything.  After all, I spent a week eating dried soup on a camping trip because we never caught any fish.  I lost weight then, too, but Mr. Stafford beat me.  He had to hold his shorts up to keep them on when he was nearing the end of the journey.

Here's a chance to tour the Amazon and live a bit of history, all from the comfort of your armchair.  Why not take the journey?

Happy reading.

2 comments:

Shan said...

This guy certainly sounds like someone whom would ace the survivor show. Not my idea of a good time, but always interesting for me when others push themselves to their limits physically. Does the book tell the why's of what he did???

Journey of a Bookseller said...

Yes. He'd done jungle work before and enjoyed it. He also wanted to set a world record. If he went anywhere by boat, he marked his spot so he could come back and walk from where he stopped. He's a dedicated explorer.

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