The Robber of Memories - Michael Jacobs / 9781847084071

30sinds 9 aug. '25, 13:57
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Auteur Michael Jacobs

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The Robber of Memories - Michael Jacobs / 9781847084071

  • Titel: The Robber of Memories / Schrijver(s): Michael Jacobs / ISBN Nr: 9781847084071 / Taal: Engels  / Aantal Pagina's: 256 / Versie: Hardcover + Stofomslag / 1e Druk 2012 / Genre: Moderne Psychologie, Mindfulness / Bijzonderheden: Geen / Intern-nr: 0

A River Journey Through Colombia.

Running through the heart of Colombia is a river emblematic of the fascination and tragedy of South America, the Magdalena. Considered by some the most dangerous place in the world, travellers along the river - for centuries the only route into the vast South American interior - were at the mercy of tropical disease, dangerous animals and precarious barges. A third of the victims of 'la violencia', Colombia's period of civil conflict which began in the 1950s, ended up in its waters. Townships alongside it have experienced some of the worst massacres in South American history.

In 2011, Michael Jacobs travelled its whole length to the river's source high up in Andean moorlands controlled by guerrillas. In spellbinding prose, The Robber of Memories charts the dangers he negotiated - including the claustrophobic, snail-slow journey upriver by a vast tugboat and a terrifying three day encounter with the FARC - while uncovering the river's history of pioneering explorations, environmental decline and political violence. An extra dimension was added to his journey by a chance meeting with Gabriel Garcia Marquez, whose memories are rapidly fading and increasingly concentrate on the enchanted Magdalena of his youth. As Jacobs delves into the history of destruction and decay along the river, he also makes a deeply personal exploration into memory and its loss. Coincidentally, not far from the river's banks, lies a group of townships with the highest incidence of early onset Alzheimer's in the world. Jacobs reflects on the lives of his father, and his mother - sufferers respectively from Alzheimer's and dementia - as he travels upstream towards what comes to seem like a heartland of mystery, magic and darkness.

Review: I rate this book highly because it was easy to read, interesting, gave me an insight into a country I know quite well. It was a journey that could not have been undertaken unless one was a fluent Spanish speaker. It had a good deal of suspense and the ending when they reached the headwaters of the Magdalena was tense in the extreme. The theme of Garcia Marquez' memory loss, its connection to both his parents who were suffering with the same afflication gives an insight into a worldwide problem of Alzheimer's - and yet we were still rolling along on a travel story along the Magdalena river. Fascinating to learn that in one region through which the river passes, entire populations have been stricken with a rare strain of early onset Alzheimer's. A touching meditation on the nature of forgetfulness and forgetting woven into an exhilarating travel account.

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