No Mercy: A Journey Into the Heart of the Congo

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 480 pages
• Published by: Vintage; Vintage Departures Ed edition June 30, 1998
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0679737324
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0679737322
• Book Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Weighs: 13.6 ounces

Reader Reviews
O'Hanlon has written two other similar books ("In Trouble Again" about the Amazon, and "Into the Heart of Borneo") about his adventures in the jungle, but this book turns into something more than a quirky travelogue. His other two books are very entertaining, especially his first book on Borneo. But this journey to the Congo turns away from nature, bumbling white-man in the jungle, and admiring the survival skills and personalities of the natives sort stuff, and turns into a book about a journey through hell-on-earth caused by the local people. The title "No Mercy" should give you a clue. The book starts with O'Hanlon and his companion-du-jour, an American academic named Lary, as they try to plan a trip in the jungles of the Congo. The usual 3rd world problems of bribing the corrupt government officials, avoiding getting killed and robbed, and finding local guides ensue. Entertaining and normal. O'Hanlon hires the Congolese Minister of Nature or some such thing who brings along extended family members as workers. Marcellin (the government minister), Nze, and Manou then take over the book. The American provides needed sanity to the first part of the trip as they go up the river in a fetid, crowded steamboat and begin their travels. Dead bodies float by frequently. Murderous natives who mostly want to murder O'Hanlon's guides and night-time escapes from danger become more and more frequent. Then O'Hanlon's companion has to leave and O'Hanlon is left at the mercy of his guides and Congolese society as he journeys to an isolated lake where reports of a Lochness-like creature abound. The book then gets deep into the psyche of the guides and their world of fetishes, witch-doctors, murder, jungle spirits, venereal diseases, slavery, promiscuous sex in every village, and constant attempts to wheedle money out of O'Hanlon. By the time you get to the end of this absorbing descent into hell, you feel nothing but despair. Every aspect of this place is nasty. The government indoctrinates and corrupts, the tribal leaders rob and bully, and even the extended family becomes a tool used by the alpha-male to plunder and subjugate the rest of the family. Any resident at any time may irk the wrong people and end up being tortured and killed. Men use women as they wish, taking extra wives or abandoning them on a whim. Each group looks down on another group, and literal slavery is still very much alive in the Congo. This is really a great book, but it is not a light and entertaining read. I recommend it highly but don't expect to leave "No Mercy" laughing and uplifted. Comment | | (Report this)