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The White Nile Diaries by John Hopkins
£15.99
Available
Product Ref. (e.g. ISBN, SKU)
9780755647453
Published:
20 Jan 2022
Format:
Paperback
Number of pages:
192 pages
Dimensions:
216x135x27mm
Weight:
0.231kgs
Author:
It all began at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station, New York, in 1961. Two Princeton graduates, John Hopkins and Joe McPhillips, have returned from Peru, where they dreamed of buying a coffee plantation in the jungle. Not ready to return to a life of work, marriage, and mortgages, they are tempted by a mysterious letter from Kenya. Hatching a plan to ride a motorbike across North Africa, they buy a sleek, white R50 BMW and paint her name - 'The White Nile' - on the fuel tank, in honour of the route they plan to follow. In clear, elegant prose, Hopkins describes deadly salt deserts and fig-laden oases, disappeared travellers and the funerals of young Tunisians killed in the battle for independence.
A riveting coming-of-age journey and a tantalising glimpse into a time when Africa was an oyster for the young, the brave and the free.
It all began at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station, in 1961. Two young Princetonians have returned to New York from South America, where their dream of buying a coffee plantation in the Peruvian jungle evaporated. With the fire for adventure still burning in their veins, they are tempted by a mysterious letter from Kenya and plan a trip across Africa. They buy a white BMW motorcycle and paint the words 'The White Nile' on the tank, to honour the route they will follow.
In limpid, elegant prose John Hopkins describes deadly salt flats where tourists vanish without a trace, mysterious Saharan oases and the funerals of young Tunisians killed by the French Foreign Legion. In Leptus Magna, he conjures visions of ancient Rome and visits Homer's fabled island of the Lotus Eaters.
The adventurers escape armed vigilantes in the Tunisian desert, and are chased by the border patrol across Libyan sands. They climb the Great Pyramid at Giza at dawn, endure 'The Desert Express' across the Nubian desert and travel by paddlewheel steamer through the Sudd, a swamp bigger than Britain. Their final adventure, at the idyllic Impala Farm at the foot of Mount Kenya, turns out to be a poisoned paradise.
The places, the people, the writing, and the emotional reverberations of The White Nile Diaries hold the reader enthralled.
About the Author: John Hopkins was a writer who, after graduating from Princeton, lived for many years in Tangier and was a central figure in the bohemian literary crowd of the '60s and '70s, becoming friends with William Burroughs, Paul Bowles and Jane Bowles. He wrote several novels, among them Tangier Buzzless Flies and The Flight of the Pelican, and travel memoirs including The Tangier Diaries, The South American Diaries and The White Nile Diaries.
| Number of pages | 192 |
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We will despatch your order as quickly as we can. If, for whatever reason, a product is out of stock we will contact you to discuss the likely delivery time or an alternative product.
| First Item | 2 Items & Over | |
|---|---|---|
| UK | £3.75 | £5.00 |
| EU | £15.00 | £30.00 |
| USA & Canada | £30.00 | £50.00 |
| Rest of the World | £45.00 | £60.00 |
| Collect in Store | free | free |
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