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Brazzaville Beach Paperback – January 1, 1995

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 1,758 ratings

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In the midst of a war-torn African nation, primate researcher Hope Clear makes a startling discovery about apes and humans, causing her to confront some difficult truths about marriage and lunacy, the cutthroat business of charlatan science, and the force that causes gentle beings to kill for the sheer joy of it. Reprint.
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After leaving her estranged husband, a British woman moves to a beach on the coast of Africa to study chimpanzees, only to discover cruel similarities between man and ape.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover

In the heart of a civil war-torn African nation, primate researcher Hope Clearwater made a shocking discovery about apes and man . . .

Young, alone, and far from her family in Britain, Hope Clearwater contemplates the extraordinary events that left her washed up like driftwood on Brazzaville Beach. It is here, on the distant, lonely outskirts of Africa, where she must come to terms with the perplexing and troubling circumstances of her recent past. For Hope is a survivor of the devastating cruelities of apes and humans alike. And to move forward, she must first grasp some hard and elusive truths: about marriage and madness, about the greed and savagery of charlatan science . . . and about what compels seemingly benign creatures to kill for pleasure alone.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Perennial; Reprint edition (January 1, 1995)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0380780496
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0380780495
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 1 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 1,758 ratings

About the author

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William Boyd
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WILLIAM BOYD has received world-wide acclaim for his novels which have been translated into over thirty languages. They are: A Good Man in Africa (1981, winner of the Whitbread Award and the Somerset Maugham Prize) An Ice Cream War (1982, shortlisted for the 1982 Booker Prize and winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize), Stars and Bars (1984), The New Confessions (1987), Brazzaville Beach (1990, winner of the McVitie Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize) The Blue Afternoon (1993, winner of the 1993 Sunday Express Book of the Year Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Award for Fiction, 1995), Armadillo (1998) and Any Human Heart (2002, winner of the Prix Jean Monnet). His novels and stories have been published around the world and have been translated into over thirty languages. He is also the author of a collection of screenplays and a memoir of his schooldays, School Ties (1985); three collections of short stories: On the Yankee Station (1981), The Destiny of Nathalie 'X' (1995) and Fascination (2004). He also wrote the speculative memoir Nat Tate: an American Artist -- the publication of which, in the spring of 1998, caused something of a stir on both sides of the Atlantic. A collection of his non-fiction writings, 1978-2004, entitled Bamboo, was published in October 2005. His ninth novel, Restless, was published in September 2006 (Costa Book Award, Novel of the Year 2006) followed by, Ordinary Thunderstorms (2009), Waiting for Sunrise (2012), Solo (a James Bond novel – 2013) and Sweet Caress (2015). His fourth collection of short stories entitled The Dreams of Bethany Mellmoth appeared in 2017. His fifteenth novel, Love is Blind, was published in September 2018. Trio, appeared in October 2020 and his seventeeth novel, The Romantic was published in 2022. The Mirror and the Road: Conversations with William Boyd (edited by Alistair Owen) was published in 2023.

Born in Accra, Ghana, in 1952, Boyd grew up there and in Nigeria. He was educated at Gordonstoun School and attended the universities of Nice (Diploma of French Studies) and Glasgow (M.A.Hons in English and Philosophy) and Jesus College, Oxford, where he studied for a D.Phil in English Literature. He was also a lecturer in English Literature at St. Hilda's College, Oxford, from 1980-83. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, an Honorary Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford, and an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He has been presented with honorary Doctorates in Literature from the universities of St. Andrews, Stirling, Glasgow and Dundee. In 2005 he was awarded the CBE.

His many screenwriting credits include Stars and Bars (1987, dir. Pat O'Connor), Mr Johnson (1990, dir. Bruce Beresford), Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter (1990, dir. Jon Amiel), Chaplin (1992, dir. Richard Attenborough) A Good Man in Africa (1993, dir. Bruce Beresford), The Trench (1999, which Boyd also directed) and Man to Man (2005, dir. Régis Wargnier). He adapted Evelyn Waugh's Scoop for television (1988) and also Waugh's Sword of Honour trilogy (2001). His own three-part adaptation of his novel Armadillo was screened on BBC 1 in 2001 as was his adaptation of his novel Restless (2012). His film about Shakespeare and his sonnets -- A Waste of Shame -- was made in 2005 for BBC 4. His 5-hour adaptation of his novel Any Human Heart (Channel 4 2010) won the BAFTA for “Best Series”. He has written two original TV films about boarding-school life in England -- Good and Bad at Games (1983) and Dutch Girls (1985). His six-hour Cold War spy thriller, Spy City (Miramax, ZDF) was broadcast and streaed internationally at the end of 2020.

Boyd also writes for the theatre. His first play was SIX PARTIES that premiered at the Cottesloe Theatre as part of the National Theatre’s New Connections series in 2009. This was followed by LONGING, in 2013, on the main stage at Hampstead Theatre, an adaptation of two short stories by Anton Chekhov. LONGING is currently playing in repertoire in St Petersburg, Russia, and in Tallinn, Estonia. THE ARGUMENT, a dark comedy, is his first play with a wholly contemporary setting. It was premiered at Hampstead Downstairs(2016) and has recently had a new production at the Theatre Royal Bath.

He is married and divides his time between London and South West France.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
1,758 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers praise the writing quality and narrative style. They find the story compelling with nice twists and turns. The book provides an insightful and engaging view of the world. Readers appreciate the well-developed characters, including strong female leads. Many describe the book as enjoyable, funny, and educational. The comparison between human and chimpanzee behavior is interesting.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

54 customers mention "Writing quality"50 positive4 negative

Customers appreciate the writing quality of the book. They praise the author's skill with language and how it transports them to a different time and place. The stories are expertly executed, providing great nuance and mood throughout.

"...William Boyd, in my opinion, is a brilliant writer who keeps getting better and better and this is one of his earlier books (published in 1990)...." Read more

"...novel that I've read by William Boyd, and i found it to be an inspired work. He has clearly mastered the art of storytelling in a unique way...." Read more

"...It is written as a third person narrative, but with Hope in focus. Her thoughts and observations about her husband and his work are not plausible...." Read more

"This is a brilliantly written book which tells a good story, but in a way that demonstrates the technical excellence of the writer...." Read more

45 customers mention "Story quality"39 positive6 negative

Customers enjoy the story's narrative and find it compelling. They appreciate the interesting stories, subject matter, and unusual setting. The book keeps the parallel stories moving well, with an almost Dickensian number of subplots that contribute to the development of the main plot. Readers describe the journey as wonderful.

"...The story unravels in two distinct narrative arcs, toggling back and forth between England, where Hope meets and marries a brilliant mathematician,..." Read more

"...The Africa story keeps my interest, though not without struggle. I am generally not happy with the language, which seems to dumb down the heroine...." Read more

"...all the pieces while reading it, you can enjoy this compelling piece of fiction...." Read more

"This is a brilliantly written book which tells a good story, but in a way that demonstrates the technical excellence of the writer...." Read more

23 customers mention "Thought provoking"23 positive0 negative

Customers find the book insightful and engaging. They appreciate the author's perspective on mathematics and research, which they find interesting. The book is educational and explores aspects of academic life. Readers mention it makes them think and examine their assumptions.

"The novel, from British author William Boyd, is interesting on several fronts...." Read more

"...Admittedly, I am not a "math person", but the many explorations of game theory, turbulance, catastrophe theory, divergence syndromes and other..." Read more

"...It is a book to cogitate on, closely, and possibly from an aerial distance...." Read more

"...He makes mathematics and research into interesting subjects, and is guaranteed to have you reaching for the dictionary to understand some of the..." Read more

16 customers mention "Character development"12 positive4 negative

Customers find the characters interesting and well-developed. They also appreciate the strong female leads and describe the characters as human.

"...The characters are developed in a very interesting way, such that, even though we don't get much interaction with several of them, there are subtle..." Read more

"...A good yarn with lots of side issues and well defined characters." Read more

"...His character is somewhat underdeveloped; certainly, the attraction is not amply explored...." Read more

"...variety of interesting characters whose personalities are brought rather vividly to life, often without an excess of unnecessary paragraphs and..." Read more

10 customers mention "Enjoyment"8 positive2 negative

Customers find the book entertaining and a quick read. They appreciate the author's ability to portray a white woman in Africa. The book offers an engaging view of the world with absurdity, conflict, and vain pursuit.

"...A highly intelligent and enjoyable read." Read more

"...They're relatively infrequent though. The book itself is enjoyable, Boyd manages to pull off a white woman in Africa tale without resorting to..." Read more

"...He tells a good story that is by turn entertaining and educational and with such sugar manages to get down the reader a full medicinal dose of..." Read more

"...At another level the book presents an engaging view of the world, absurdity, conflict, the vain pursuit of ideals, banality, sensual attachment...." Read more

5 customers mention "Chimp behavior"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's chimp behavior interesting. They appreciate the ironic comparison of human and chimpanzee behavior, as the latter is our closest genetic relative. The mathematics and primates are handled skillfully.

"...Both threads of the mathematics and the primate research are handled skillfully...." Read more

"...This work manages to mix in Fermat's Last Theorem, cannibalistic chimpanzees, an African civil war, academic skulduggery, and the age-dating of..." Read more

"...There is an ironic comparison of human and chimpanzee behavior, the latter being our closest genetic relative...." Read more

"...and realism in the description of chimp behavior, and the study of chimp behavior. Not used to this level of authenticism in fiction...." Read more

5 customers mention "Visual style"5 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the author's descriptive language and detailed portrayal of the scenery. They find the depiction of the characters' problems interesting and the depiction of Africa as colorful and honest.

"...As with other of Boyd's novels, Africa looms large and colorful...and is honestly portrayed from the main character's point of view...." Read more

"...He gets A+ for painting a detailed portrait of the scenery, human and otherwise, through which the characters move...." Read more

"...What I appreciate the most is the author's love of language and the beautiful way in which he describes the psycho-visceral motivations of human..." Read more

"...The characters were interesting and the depiction of their problems was very good." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2023
    The novel, from British author William Boyd, is interesting on several fronts. The protagonist is a woman scientist named Hope, currently living in a beach house in a fictional African country. The story unravels in two distinct narrative arcs, toggling back and forth between England, where Hope meets and marries a brilliant mathematician, and Africa where Hope later works at a research facility for chimpanzees in the wild that is modeled after the one constructed by Jane Goodall.

    Both threads of the mathematics and the primate research are handled skillfully. The mathematician is older than Hope, at an age when his best work is beginning to be behind him. Hope joins the primate research team at a crucial time where she is able to observe first hand a brutal territorial war that disrupts the peaceable kingdom that has prevailed for many years. Hope also gets embroiled in a civil war that is disrupting the peaceable kingdom where the primate research is being conducted.

    Hope is a flinty and intelligent witness and guide to all these events, and she is excellent company. Highly recommended.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2012
    Many years before Brazzaville Beach was ever published, William Blake published this well-known poem as part of his Songs of Experience: "Tyger, tyger burning bright/ In the forests of the night;/What immortal hand or eye/ Could flame thy fearful symmetry?" Blake, who was overwhelmed by the beauty and horrors of the natural world, saw nature as a place for our own growth, in preparation for the beginning of our lives.

    Why the longish preface about Blake? Brazzaville Beach is, to some degree, about tasting the fruits of knowledge and losing one's innocence. The main character, Hope Clearwater, will hear these words later on: "...the pursuit of knowledge is the road to hell...You think that if you know everything you can escape from the world."

    There are two Hopes in this book; the long ago Hope who lived in England (written in third person) and the more current Hope, who lived within an African country (written in the immediate first person). Both Hopes are quite literally dashed as elusive and forbidden knowledge are pursued.

    Here's the plot in a nutshell: Hope, a brilliant scientist in her own right, marries a mercurial and highly intellectual mathematician, who increasingly begins to go insane as he pursues an elusive game theory on turbulence. Intertwined with that story is the African Hope, who goes to work for another brilliant man named Mallabar, who is about to publish a renowned book on the peaceful chimps. Her observations belie his premise; the chimps are cannibalizing each other. Yet Mallabar will not even entertain that idea; he, too, is losing it as he holds on to the tendrils of knowledge that he has accumulated.

    And Hope? Will she, too, be destroyed as she pursues knowledge or will Hope endure? That is the question that is at the core of this very clever book.

    William Boyd, in my opinion, is a brilliant writer who keeps getting better and better and this is one of his earlier books (published in 1990). As an allegory, it works beautifully. There are, however, some perceived flaws.

    For one thing, I never "bought" that a woman of Hope's brilliance, single-mindedness and beauty would be attracted to her husband, John Clearwater. His character is somewhat underdeveloped; certainly, the attraction is not amply explored. Admittedly, I am not a "math person", but the many explorations of game theory, turbulance, catastrophe theory, divergence syndromes and other chaos theory components sometimes left me shaking my head. They seemed just a little too clever.

    Secondly, there is a long subsection about the African freedom fighters and Hope's unwilling adventure with them. As a reader, I get it: the brutish fighting among various human forces equates to the dissonance among the chimps; guerilla leaders and (a little stretch) gorilla leaders are not all that different. Yet I kept wanting the action to return to the ape colony, which (to me) was more fascinating.

    Those two caveats aside, I found Brazzaville Beach to be compelling. Hope reflects about herself: "She reshaped the haphazard explicable twists turns of her life into an order that she approved of, where the controlling hand of her authorship could be read clearly, like a signature." Ultimately, she is the creator of her own destiny and her fall from Eden is preordained.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2010
    This is the first novel that I've read by William Boyd, and i found it to be an inspired work. He has clearly mastered the art of storytelling in a unique way. The characters are developed in a very interesting way, such that, even though we don't get much interaction with several of them, there are subtle hints about what they are like. The main characters are brilliantly developed. The narrative style was maybe more controversial. Switching between first and third person, and the jumping around in time are both neat little tricks. I'm not sure how much was added by using the third person, but perhaps a second reading will reveal more of that. Otherwise, this particular device seemed overly cute. The time jumps were more obviously useful to the way the book was written, allowing for three suspenseful elements to climax at the same time. I also thought that Boyd did an admirable job of writing from a woman's point of view. All in all, I've not been so excited about a novelist in awhile, and I'm off to read another of his works.
    2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Stephen
    5.0 out of 5 stars My Favourite Novel
    Reviewed in Canada on April 18, 2024
    Boyd takes us on a splendid journey with unforgettable characters who illuminate humanity’s pleasures and pains. I had given away my copy and needed a replacement for a third reading in 30 years. This book stands up to the test of time.
    This seller was prompt and the book arrived in exactly the described condition. Thank you.
  • Ladybird
    5.0 out of 5 stars William Boyd is a master storyteller!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 6, 2024
    I re-read this book every couple of years. The story is set in Brazzaville in Africa. When I first read the novel in 2012 I enjoyed the writing style and the characters.
    The protagonist, Hope Clearwater, leaves her husband in England and travels to Brazzaville to help world-renowned scientist, Eugene Mallabar with his studies of wild chimps. I enjoyed the writing descriptions of Hope's study of wild family groups of chimps. Every chimp has a name and drew me into the story.

    Boyd's style of writing and characters is intruiging, powerful, witty and full of humour.
  • Sabine Wyatt
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic novel
    Reviewed in France on July 12, 2014
    I read this book within a day. The story goes back and force between different periods of her life and is told in a truly capturing way. Hope, the main character, tells about her marriage in the UK and her work life in Brazzaville as a chimpanzee monitor during civil war time. Great read!
  • Shoppingvictim
    5.0 out of 5 stars tja,
    Reviewed in Germany on February 21, 2014
    ein tolles Buch, bei dem man aber nicht unbedingt zu zart beseitet sein sollte wenn man tierlieb ist....
    die Szenen in denen die Affen aufeinander los gehen sind schon recht drastisch geschildert, wenn man nicht regelmäßig Splatterromane oder -filme konsumiert.
    Trotzdem von mir für dieses Buch Daumen hoch und lesen!
  • Tammy
    5.0 out of 5 stars excellent read!
    Reviewed in Australia on September 23, 2014
    I loved this book. It was so rich with word and plot. Tied together so effortlessly. Now, which William Boyd next?