BOOK REVIEWS
Títle: Distant Suns
Writer: Sam Manicom
Year: 2008
R
Títle: By Any Means
Writer: Charley Boorman
Year: 2008
When Sam Manicom released his
third book, Distant Suns, telling of
his revisit to Africa and South Amer-
ica it could quite easily have been
dismissed as cashing in on prior suc-
cesses.
From the outset it becomes obvi-
ous that this isn't the case; the lands
have changed, as have the people,
and more importantly so has Sam,
for now he is no longer the lone
overland traveller, he has a partner,
in travel and in life.
Birgit's inclusion in this adven-
ture adds to the perspective, in many
ways changes Sam's perspective and
perhaps makes him a more 'worldly
traveller'.
Together the two tell a completely
different tale, and open the reader to
a different way of seeing things, just
E
It could be easy to assume that
Charley Boorman is all about bikes;
motorcycle travel however, By Any
Means quickly dispels that, well sort
of.
Of course there's motorcycles in By
Any Means, after all they are Char-
ley's passion but it's the passion for
adventure for travel that makes By
Any Means such a compelling read.
The true human side of adventure
travel is a little removed from this
book as Charley and his compan-
ions , Russ Malkin and Paul 'Mun-
go' Mungeam, try to find any means
of getting from Ireland to Australia
without using any commercial trans-
port.
It's an interesting look at the many,
many forms of transport people use,
TRAVERSE 102
the travelling together becomes a
whole new adventure.
Sam's writing will have you laugh-
ing, oo'ing and ah'ing, even crying,
and the whole time you'll be think-
ing "thank you Sam (and Birgit) for
taking me along with you.
Distant Suns is a truly great piece
of travel writing, and travel writing
in the truest sense. Forget the motor-
bikes, this book is for everyone who
has dreamt of travel, anyone who has
dreamt of sharing their travels with
someone they love, anyone who has
ever looked beyond the horizon and
dreamt of Distant Suns ...
V
and is interspersed with interesting
tales of adventure however, at times
By Any Means does leave the reader
wondering if a massive support crew
organised the whole 3 month journey
while Charley and his mates just ar-
rived and went for a ride.
It doesn't matter, the adventure is
still there, and keeps the reader going
right to the end. There's some great
personal insight into how Charley is
feeling at certain points, as he dearly
misses his family as well as coming to
terms with a number of 'dangerous'
situations.
Now ten years old, By Any Means
is still a good read and enough to in-
spire and show that adventure can
take any form ... although it does
help if a motorcycle is involved.