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THE CURVE OF THE WORLD: A NOVEL
Stevens, Marcus
2002 176233 Marcus Stevens's debut novel, The Curve of the World, opens on a cinematic note: An Air France flight rapidly descends over the dense African landscape. The cockpit fills with smoke. Passengers brace for an emergency landing. Although the unlikely premise of this adventure tale--an American Coca-Cola businessman named Lewis Burke is lost in the rainforests of the Congo; his estranged wife and blind 7-year-old son fly to Africa to rescue him--sounds straight out of Hollywood, the story itself is surprisingly well written, unfolding with the grim beauty of a modern-day Heart of Darkness. Even Lewis's inevitable bout with malaria and the attentions of an elderly ndoki (witch) seem believable, set against the author's deft depictions of war-ravaged villages, the poverty and resourcefulness of the rural Congolese, and the complicated politics of the region. Stevens is less sure-handed where ordinary human relations are concerned. He underestimates the caution of mothers (it is hard to believe that Lewis's wife's own elderly mother urges her to go to Africa to find Lewis, and harder still to imagine the young woman bringing her handicapped child to a war zone) and overestimates the kindness of strangers. This is a gripping story nonetheless and a complex, accomplished debut. --Regina Marler From Publishers Weekly This diverting first novel catches the attention immediately as an American man is cast into sudden danger in the African jungle. Lewis Burke, a Coca-Cola rep flying from Paris to Johannesburg, is aboard a commercial flight that makes a forced landing on an abandoned strip in the Congo. He panics and flees into the jungle when the passengers are threatened by trigger-happy rebels. Predictably, he becomes disoriented, wandering deeper into the tropical forest. Back home, his semi-estranged wife, Helen, has taken Shane, their seven-year-old blind son, with her to Spokane to attend to her aging mother, who has broken her hip. As the narrative alternates between Lewis and Helen, flashback self-recriminating reflections intrude awkwardly into the current action to reveal that their marriage went sour when Helen shifted her priorities to the care of their son. Increasingly terrified about her husband's plight and driven by guilt at their estrangement, Helen decides to fly to Africa with Shane. Meanwhile, Lewis, now befriended by a Congolese boy, wanders aimlessly, narrowly escaping rebels and experiencing feverish dreams of home. The plot is 0verworked, but Stevens displays competent writing and keen human insight. This author, who has traveled widely in Africa, also summon the landscape and atmosphere with vividly descriptive detail, and captures the terror of a man reduced to life's essentials. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1-56512-336-0 / 9781565123366
Hardcover As New Chapel Hill, N.C.
Price:
21.00 USD
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