The Curve of the World Book + PRICE WATCH * Amazon pricing is not included in price watch

The Curve of the World Book

Marcus Stevens's debut novel, The Curve of the World, opens on a cinematic note: An Air France flight rapidly descends over the dense African landscape. The cockpit fills with smoke. Passengers brace for an emergency landing. Although the unlikely premise of this adventure tale--an American Coca-Cola businessman named Lewis Burke is lost in the rainforests of the Congo; his estranged wife and blind 7-year-old son fly to Africa to rescue him--sounds straight out of Hollywood, the story itself is surprisingly well written, unfolding with the grim beauty of a modern-day Heart of Darkness. Even Lewis's inevitable bout with malaria and the attentions of an elderly ndoki (witch) seem believable, set against the author's deft depictions of war-ravaged villages, the poverty and resourcefulness of the rural Congolese, and the complicated politics of the region. Stevens is less sure-handed where ordinary human relations are concerned. He underestimates the caution of mothers (it is hard to believe that Lewis's wife's own elderly mother urges her to go to Africa to find Lewis, and harder still to imagine the young woman bringing her handicapped child to a war zone) and overestimates the kindness of strangers. This is a gripping story nonetheless and a complex, accomplished debut. --Regina Marler Read More

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  • Product Description

    When his plane is forced to make an emergency landing in a remote area of the Congo basin and rebels seize the aircraft, Lewis Burke, a New York businessman, flees into the rainforest, only to find himself alone in a world where no rules apply and with no apparent way out. As he struggles to survive under the thick canopy of trees, battling thirst and hunger in the unrelenting heat, he confronts his deepest fears-and his greatest disappointments: his crumbling marriage; his distant relationship with his seven-year-old son, Shane; and the lack of meaning in his life. When his wife, Helen, a former volunteer for World Aid, makes the daring decision to find him in Africa, THE CURVE OF THE WORLD becomes a story of crossing barriers and regaining love and conviction.

    As Helen and Shane journey upriver into the forbidding rainforest, bringing them closer to Lewis, Shane begins to have visions and dreams of his father. But just as Lewis cannot find his way out of the jungle, Helen is thwarted at every turn by the military conflict raging around them. In the end it is an unlikely hero, a young Congolese boy, who courageously guides Lewis through the forest and to a side of himself he thought he had lost.

    Powerfully written and mesmerizing in effect, THE CURVE OF THE WORLD is a heartrending and heart-pounding page-turner that explores the limits of human resilience and the tenacity of the human spirit.

  • 1565123360
  • 9781565123366
  • Marcus Stevens
  • 3 May 2002
  • Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
  • Hardcover (Book)
  • 320
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