|
River Dog: A Journey Down the Brahmaputra | 
 enlarge | Author: Mark Shand
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy New: $12.32
You Save: $4.63 (27%)
New (12) Used (11) from $10.82
Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 266446
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 338
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 4.9 x 1.1
ISBN: 0349115141
Dewey Decimal Number: 915.492045
EAN: 9780349115146
ASIN: 0349115141
Publication Date: May 1, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Birthplace of legends, the mighty Brahmaputra River begins its journey as a tiny glacial stream high on the desolate plateau of western Tibet. It sweeps 1,800 miles through three countries to end its journey, as wide as a sea, in the Bay of Bengal. In River Dog, celebrated travel writer Mark Shand chronicles his attempt to complete the “last great Asian adventure.” Lively and evocative, it is a marvelous account of an epic journey, and a touching portrait of the friendship between a traveler and his dog.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Yes, it is a book about a dog February 9, 2008
I had high hopes for 'River Dog' as the Brahmaputra is a unique wonder of a river, but this is more of a personal diary than a travel log. We get to know a bit about the adventurous Mr. Shands and his new dog Bhaiti. Hints of the troubled history of India's eastern states peek through, but there's disappointingly little that describes the role the river played. And Mr. Shands is admittedly not taken with Bangladesh, so while it's almost half of the distance he traveled, the Bangladesh part of his journey gets about 10% of the pages.
It's far from a waste of time, though. It's a fast read and it opened my eyes to this incredible river. The first part of his adventure as he joins a hunt for Shangri La is edgy and exciting, and we get a great feel for the roots of this river at the top of the world.
But after that we need to wade through altogether too much material about his new pooch. Clearly, the dog had a great time on this trip. As for us, we do get glimpses of the river and snippets of quotes from some early British explorers. And we have several detailed descriptions on how to deal with government administrators. But while we learn that eastern India is a disputed area, we don't get a lot of insight beyond that. He mentions in passing, for example, that the Chinese army had made its way far into what is now India. This must have some kind of residual impact on the people who live there now. But we wouldn't know that through this work. We also get bits of Hindu culture that flow throughout as he occasionally mentions a religious foundation to what is driving actions for his fellow travelers and himself. It's hard to tell for this novice, though, how much of this is real and how much is just for fun. When he, for example, encourages his friend to help him find a pet by envoking a heritage of dog worship. Sure this was funny. But it's hard to tell if there was any real foundation.
So River Dog is a fun fast read, and it relays a touch of cultural insight while you learn a bit about this incredible river as it roams through eastern India. Just don't pick it up if you're looking to learn anything about Bangladesh.
 Too self involved August 13, 2005
I found the main observations in this book fairly interestering. But overall I found his attitude to the locals fairly arrongant unless they happened to help his journey. If you read the book them you will otice a few pieces of information don't check out e.g. the first cane bridge that he walks on and falls through he describes the pieces of wood being 30 cm apart, however in the picture in the book you can clearly see in the photos taken by himself that the only space close to that is the hole he fell done the rest were closer to 10 cm. To be honest this book has stirred an interest in this genre but I will be looking for books by a open minded writer, unlike Mark Shand.
 'one man and his dog' May 6, 2004
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I found 'River Dog' to be a touching moving and at times quite funny travelouge. It could be easily argued that the main focus of the book is not shand himself but rather his adorable companion, bhaiti , the hunting dog. This loveable mutt, which amazingly turns out to be an ancient pedigree breed is initially rescued from the back streets of india and is then launched on an amazing journey with shand both hiking and sailing down the mighty brahmaputra river. The dog repays shand by literally saving him from a horned viper. shand then has an extensive opium fuelled conversation with bhaiti which the author notes, quite rightly, as being....really weird!Shand is an effortless travel writer, transporting your imagination to bamboo forests, sacred mountains and gentle currents with consumate ease. The various characters that he introduces soon feel like your best friends. Gamma the permanently stoned captain of the riverboat is a real stand out, and the entire journey comes across as a boys own adventure. You can actually find yourself reminiscing about the epic trek even though you weren't really there. And finally does anyone know where I can buy one of those indian hunting dogs. I really want one. you will too after you read 'river dog'
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
