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The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey (平装)
by Candice Millard
| Category:
Survival, Adventure |
| Market price: ¥ 168.00
MSL price:
¥ 158.00
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
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| MSL Pointer Review:
From the soaring beauty of the Amazon rain forest to the darkest night of Theodore Roosevelt's life, here is Candice Millard's dazzling debut, describing how the ex-president shared in the work, dangers, and hardships of the journey. |
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AllReviews |
1 Total 1 pages 10 items |
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Linda Linguvic (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-30 00:00>
I'm an armchair traveler. I love reading true stories of high adventure without leaving the comfort of my small apartment. Naturally this book appealed to me. And once I started reading about this particular journey, I found it almost impossible to put down.
In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt lost his bid for re-election as President of the United States. It was a disappointing defeat for him. But he was a man whose way of compensating for his despair was to overcome a new challenge. And so, at the age of 54, he and his son, Kermit, embarked on the demanding mission to explore the uncharted course of a tributary of the Amazon River. The expedition was led by Brazil's most famous explorer, Candido Mariano da Silva Rondon and a group of hard working paddlers and porters. Wow!
The course was almost completely unknown. The dangers were many. Their small boats were soon destroyed by rapids and they had to literally build new ones. They didn't have the right supplies with them. There were snakes, insects, disease, Indian attacks, drowning, and even a murder. I cringed in horror at the hardships at the same time that I applauded their courage and determination. This trip changed the map of the Western Hemisphere forever. And I felt that, in a small way, I was right there.
The author certainly knows her stuff. She is a former writer and editor for National Geographic and her scrupulous research added a depth and understanding of Amazon ecology which was certainly unknown to Theodore Roosevelt at the time. Of course, she had the benefit of almost 100 years more of exploration and scientific research. The men on the journey didn't know what to expect. But, as a reader of this fascinating story, I was especially grateful to the author for explaining all the ecological and historical details while, at the same time making me feel that I understood the men who took that trip with all their very human strengths and weaknesses.
I loved this book. It brought me to a world I have never even thought about and it made that world come alive for me. I learned about history, ecology and the kind of person who Theodore Roosevelt was. It also enriched my understanding of the world around me as well as introduced me to some very extraordinary people. |
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P. G. Enterline (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-30 00:00>
How could a former president of the US end up on an ill-equipped, poorly planned, impulsive journey down an unexplored river in a dangerous wilderness? That's the question you constantly ask yourself when reading The River of Doubt - Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard (Doubleday (2005)
After his failed try for the 3rd term as president in 1912, TR goes on a consolation tour of South America that was to include an an expedition to biological specimens in the Amazon River basin. As an afterthought, someone suggests that the exedition explore the uncharted River of Doubt. Without hesitation TR says "Bully" and that was it. It took an arduous three-month overland trek just to get to the headwaters of the river. They couldn't carry their boats in so the used heavy, ungainly, barely buoyant dugout canoes obtained from natives that are unsuited for navigating through rapids. They face clouds of flying biting insects, armies of crawling biting insects, parasites, vipers, alligators, piranhas, and unfriendly natives. They confront disease, starvation, drowning, constant rain, jungle heat and humidity, arduous work hacking through jungle and hauling canoes and gear around the numerous rapids and water falls, and a surly crew member who turns out to be a murderer. TR gets a nasty infection and it looks like he won't make it out alive. Will the the 26th president of the US be given up as cannibal bait?
This is an inspiring adventure story and a quick read that provides an good profile of both TR and the Amazon jungle and what happens when these two irresistible forces collide. |
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Richard A. Mitchell (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-30 00:00>
This is a terrific history. It is much more than a biographical sketch of Teddy Roosevelt. It is a snapshot of 1914, a portrait of the Amazon rain forest, a primer on the flora and fauna of that rain forest, a look at the natives of the area and yet still more.
Ms Millard takes the reader into the jungle with Roosevelt's expedition down a river that had never been explored nor mapped. It was called the River of Doubt and thereafter the Roosevelt River. She follows the entire expeditionary force, including Roosevelt's son, Kermit, Rondon (a Brazilian explorer and hero), an American naturalist and Rondon's right hand man. All kept contemporaneous accounts which the author used well. Quotes from the diaries were used sparingly so they added to the flow of the book rather than interrupted it.
As the group traverses the river, encountering rapids, falls, and the myriad of natural dangers, Ms Millard continues to inform on a wide breadth of subjects without making the information cumbersome. As Roosevelt would have liked, the book is less about him than the expedition and the newly explored river and jungle. Using the accounts, she is able to explain to the reader the motivations that made each man go on this hugely dangerous mission. These insights add even more to the book.
This is non-fiction at its finest. Its core, I suppose, is biography, but it is a fast-moving account of an expedition that almost killed everyone on it. In its telling, the author branches out into many other areas to give the reader a true understanding of what the intrepid explorers were going through and experiencing.
This book is highly recommended for more than just history buffs. |
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C. W. Emblom (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-30 00:00>
Author Candice Miller has provided us with a riveting read on former president Theodore Roosevelt's 1914 exploration of an Amazon tributary named the River of Doubt and later renamed after the ex-president. The book includes romance, murder, infidelity, suicide, and incredible suffering in an environment of creatures, many of them unimaginable, in addition to primitive native tribes. Roosevelt's son, Kermit, would rather have been with the woman he wanted to marry, but went along on the expedition at the urging of his mother to look after his father. Due to Kermit's casual attitude towards danger, the former president found himself looking after his son since father taught him to be brave in the face of danger. I was not aware of this episode in Roosevelt's life that weakened him enough to later contribute to his death in 1919. Tragedy also struck his son Kermit who later married the love of his life only to become alcoholic and unfaithful to her. He resorted to ending his life by killing himself. This is a book that will interest armchair navigators who understandably prefer to read of this expedition rather than attempt it themselves. |
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-30 00:00>
I loved this book. This book was great in so many ways. It is a great portrait of Teddy Roosevelt in his quest to explore an uncharted tributary of the Amazon after his presidency. It is a fascinating look at life in the unexplored rain forest - featuring the people, plants, animals and general ecology. It's a riveting life-or-death adventure. The author does a great job moving between the people in the present drama, their backgrounds, and the "life of the forest." It's a beautifully written page-turner. It leaves one with a profound sense of the place, people and time. I can't recommend this book more highly. Years ago, I read Undaunted Courage, the story of Lewis and Clark's expedition. I liked it, but that never grabbed me like River of Doubt did. This sets a new standard for "exploration history" literature. Read it! |
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Michael D. Haberman (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-30 00:00>
I have been a fan of Theodore Roosevelt for a long time and I have read a good number of books about him. I have even visited his NYC home and the museum in Buffalo. I had, however, known little of this period of his life. Candice Millard has written a book that is so compeling and so readable I found myself wanting to rush through it to get to the end, but resisting the temptation because I did not want to miss the detail she put into the book. The description is so rich that you can picture yourself standing right there or sitting in a dugout as they make their way down the river (although you are glad you are not.)
The trials and travails this group of men endured were incredible. No other president has ever endured such hardship, perhaps with the exception of Washington. And none have done it as an ex-President and at 55 years old. What an amazing man Theodore was. As Millard is describing the reaction of his friends to his death I also found myself getting teary-eyed as well. I was also impressed with Colonol Rondon of Brazil. He to was an amazing man. He is a hero for which Brazil should be rightfully proud.
This is an adventure story, a story of courage, a story of devotion. This is a story that no Roosevelt fan should miss. In fact no fan of true adventure should miss this story. |
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A. Cohn (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-30 00:00>
This book has everything one could want in a nonfiction book. The fact that it was Teddy Roosevelt who made this perilous journey is almost secondary to me. What I enjoyed most was the way the narrative went into detail about all the people undertaking this expedition, as well as detailing the environment they were journeying through. Millard wrote exquistly of the flora, fauna, and native people that inhabited the area around River of Doubt. Her narrative also enables you to feel the effects of the deprivations that the expedition toiled under. The whole experience was triumphantly wrought. |
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Phil (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-30 00:00>
Well written; gripping story of a character that is larger than life; conveyed sense of the inner man and his motivations; a truly driven figure; well developed other characters as well; This might have seemed preposterous as fiction but is truly an amazing story. Also, great glimpse of the jungles and life in the upper Amazon - its people, flora and fauna. Strong encouragement for any and all to read this.
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-30 00:00>
In short, this is one of the most well-written biographical pieces I have read in the recent past. It takes an oft-neglected part of an extremely dynamic personality (post-presidency, out of the spotlight) and highlight it in relation to a period and place that is also not frequently brought into the biographical arena. TR is portrayed in a wonderful fashion...hero, honorable, egotistic, charismatic... all the qualities that a real person should have. The author is very thorough in trying to relay a broad picture of all the personalities of the people involved, and it makes the book a rich read. It also illustrated a bunch of characters that are often not brought to the typical American history textbook. I loved it! |
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R.Mansfield (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-30 00:00>
This is an exciting book for those how like a great true adventure story that also gives a glimpse of American Presidential history with that of Brazil and South America; while adding a bit of geography and sociology lessons. Candice Millard does a superb job delving into the personality of Theodore Roosevelt, his son Kermit and family, and she recalls in exciting detail the expedition - ill planned and deadly. She also reveals to the reader Col Candido Rondon, considered Brazil's greatest explorer and champion of Amazon Indian rights; and George Cherrie, a New England naturalist, explorer and sometimes South American revolutionary. Millard's description of these men entices one to learn more of them and their times. Millard adds geographic facts about the Amazon, it's native people, river and jungle life and rubber gathers. Facts that were not fully known to the Roosevelt-Rondon expedition traveling down the River of Doubt (actually the river's name, but later named Rio Roosevelt!) are added which highten the suspense; much like watching a film where the audience sees and anticipates the danger ahead, but the main characters do not.
The story and the multiple dimensions of Millard's book are what make it great... a fascinating story that takes the reader back to the early 20th Century when exploration was still in vogue. It's a little known expedition by men of great accomplishment, which tested their abilities and wills to the fullest, and that one could arguably say, "changed the Amazon forever." Candice Millard tells the story very well. |
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1 Total 1 pages 10 items |
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