Book Review: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The first printing of Erin Morgenstern’s debut novel was 150,000 copies, virtually unheard of for a first time novel. The rights have been sold in 30 countries and the movie rights have already been sold. Why the hype? The publishers believe they might have the next Harry Potter or Twilight series on their hands. Let’s see if I agree…

Let me break the novel in to two parts, the plot and characters and the writing itself. What’s the reason for doing so? There is a huge disconnect between the two. Let’s start with the plot and characters. The novel takes place in the late 1800s. Two magicians/illusionists, Mr. A.H., the man in the grey suit and his antagonist, Prospero the Enchanter aka Hector Bowen, have been playing, for many years, a rather insidious game of pitting one of their own “magic” students against the other to see who can “win” a game. But the question throughout is, what kind of game is it? What do they win when the game is complete? But more importantly, what happens if they loose? Read more...

Martha, What's That Noise and Final Thoughts on Africa

We caught a British Airways flight from Joberg to Livingstone, Zambia and then a light 6 seater plane to Chongwe Lodge located at the convergence of the Chongwe and Zambezi Rivers.  We had one of two expanded "suites", meaning we had a large 8 sided tent that was flanked by an outside dining room/bar area and an outside bathroom. We even had, oh, the decadence of it all, a butler! We quickly learned that since we were there during the dry season (the time you really want to go to Africa) that there were numerous hippo pods on the sand banks in the river.  We had our own personal pod right in front of our accommodations and when they made noise, particularly at  night, it felt as if they were in bed with you.  There isn't any noise only the hippos and lions...Chongwe was a relief from the touristy Etosha National Park.  Here, the animals have claim over everything.  Nothing is fenced.  So, it is not uncommon for hippos or lions or whatever to come sauntering through the camp.  In addition to doing the game drives, we were also able to do water safaris using either motorboats or canoes.  We opted out of the canoe adventures because of the numerous  hippos in the river.  Remember, hippos kill more people in Africa than any other animal (other than homosapiens).  I've posted some videos on YouTube about our Chongwe adventure.  Here are the links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrvyOUGDPLQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ts_HGurUOlE&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl3tOyXDw9M

As far as "Martha, what's that noise"?  Read more...

First Sand, Then Rock, Now the "Bush"...Namibia and Zambia Part Two

We once again head to the gravel runway to catch our Caravan plane to head to Etosha National Park.  By the way, depending on the airline you're using or the country in which you're flying, there are strict rules on the weight of luggage and they must be soft sided, like duffel bags.  When we did the Botswana and Zimbabwe trip, we were limited to 25 pounds each and that included all carry ons and camera gear.  This time we had a little better weight limit of 44 pounds each.  Read more...