O.K. amigos;new subject matter Robert Ruarck's FABULOUS novel "Something Of Value". I loved it! Comments please.

It's one of my all time favorites. "UHURU" is excellent as well. "The Honey Badger"...not so good.

I read all of Ruark's and Hemingway's books on Africa in the 1950s while I was in high school, and along with seeing every African adventure film of that era. As a result, I developed an enormous hunger for that continent that has yet to be sated despite numerous trips down there.

Bill Quimby

Something of Value is one of my all-time favorite books. As 7kongoni said, you should also read Uhuru" It is very similar.

Seeing as you loved Something of Value you probably like African adventure. If so, I'd suggest you try some of Wilbur Smith's books, especially Birds of Prey and Monsoon.

quote:

Originally posted by SBT:
"There are worse memorials to a life well-lived than a pair of elephant tusks." Robert Ruark

How true.

"Use Enough Gun" is also a classic. What impressed me about Ruark's work is that he didn't know a thing about hunting with a rifle. And he was the first one to tell you so. He says up front that until he went to Africa the only thing he shot with a rifle was a shooting gallery duck. He had Harry Selby sight in his rifles for him. His writings are a monument to zoological misinformation. His trophy elephants are a couple of centruries old at least. Hyenas are crippled hermaphrodites that can't run down their own prey.

Yet it is still a good read. And I've got to salute any man who can write a best seller about something he clearly knows nothing about and turn a safari into a tax writeoff.

Easy China + everybody. We are speaking of a man who died in 1965.....And some of us remember how he died.Leave it alone for a great author who has passed + enjoy his works.

I certainly didn't mean anything I said to be taken as insulting toward the man in any way. He most definitely was a great author; only a great author could have put together such a great book given his unfamiliarity with the subject he was writing about.

I don't believe that's belittling Rober Ruark. Quite the opposite. In his own book he discusses the fact that he had only hunted with a shotgun before he ventured to Africa. He clearly developed a passion for hunting four legged critters with a rifle after he got there, though, and that's reflected in his writing.

As far as getting some of his facts crosswise, I think that's somewhat understandable given that we've studied these animals a lot more thoroughly now than they had been when Ruark was practicing his craft. I doubt many biologists understood then what effective predators Spotted Hyenas actually are, or how long elephants live. If they did, they don't seem to have shared that knowledge with the general public.

Something of Value is truly a great book. One of the best things he does is blending in the English and the Ki-Swahili so that it is completely seamless. Great read, but some think it is a bit melancholy, or even depressing. I like it.

Uhuru is also worth reading if you liked Something of Value. However, it is not as good. It bogs down in politics (and I read historical books about the de-coloniazation of sub-Saharan Africa and biographies of those involved -- so if this novel gets a bit boring to me, well it drags in the middle) and characters that you never really care about.

I hear it was intended to be a sequel to Something of Value and because of some contract dispute, the names got changed and it was about differently-named people. That sounds reasonable as if you changed the names back, it very well could have been a sequel to Something of Value.

Read them both. And read Horn of the Hunter as well. It is great. When Gini says, toward the end of the book, looking over her book and her martini -- when Ruark and Selby stumble into camp -- after dark -- dirty, bruised, scraped and exhausted -- "Buffalo again. Idiots." I about lost it.

I would have to put it in the top 5 of my collection.

Mt mother just got me a DVD copy of the movie.

Not as good as the book........it was most likely a very good movie when made though. I thought Portier did a very good job of Kimani....but the rest were a bit...off.


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quote:

Originally posted by Norman Conquest:
Easy China + everybody. We are speaking of a man who died in 1965.....And some of us remember how he died.Leave it alone for a great author who has passed + enjoy his works.

You asked for comments. Now you are squelching those who obliged you.

Whilst the African books by Ruark are good - I prefer reading , and re-reading "The Old Man and The Boy " and "The Old Mans Boy Gets Older". Both tend to be an annual read for me , the other Ruarks are more of an "every couple of years " read

Ruark fans should read "Ruark Remembered" by Alan Ritchie.

quote:

Originally posted by muzza:
Whilst the African books by Ruark are good - I prefer reading , and re-reading "The Old Man and The Boy " and "The Old Mans Boy Gets Older".

I totally agree with you. Those 2 books are my all time favorites. I have read them both so many times my paperback copies are starting to fall apart.

But I did really enjoy "Something of Value" and "Uhuru". Both books were very eye opening to me about the politics of the time and set me on a path of discovery about the political and social changes of that era. To read about the rituals they participated in is enough to ruin your sleep for many a night.

My wife belongs to a book club made up of several ladies from our church. Their normal book choices are pretty much huggy feely feel good happy ending books. I have been trying to convince my wife that when it is her turn for book selection next month to read "Something of Value" I can only imagine how that would shake up the group.

I'm glad that we have a response + semi-convers. on Bob's works.Something of Value As well as the Old Man + grows older,etc.Uhuru was never my favorite,nor was the honey badger although I do keep 1st editions.Good reading wishes to all + to you conifer I hope that your minor opinions will be put to rest with 12 hours of sleep + lack of spirits.

Ruark was one of the Great Ones...

I have all of his books.

Excellent book, the politics have not changed, just the players and in different acts and in different locals.

Yes,let us see now;the Raj has left the black colonies;+ what have we here? I CANNOT EVEN PUT TO WORDS WHAT EVERYONE ALREADY KNOWS!

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
Ruark was one of the Great Ones...

Something of Value was a mindblow. My dad has all Ruark's books. He has an amazing collection of Africana, particularly Rhodesiana, hundreds upon hundreds of first editions...When public libraries here started folding, my dad was quick to move, purchasing heaps of books at a very cheap price. If one goes to the fleamarket in Harare, may first edition treasures can be found at a bargain price. If anyone is interested in a particular book, let me know and I'll browse about.

Cheers, David

Cheers

David,thanks for the offer.I will keep that in mind although I must confess that I already have almost all of the volumes that are available.Do you possibly have any 1st edition signed copies? That I would be interested in.Thanking you in advance;R.