F. Spencer ChapmanCritiques

25-50

An interesting account of adventure and endurance in a harsh, unforgiving environment by a remarkable individual. Illustrated with numerous photographs.

This is an account of a year spent by the author and his family, travelling by van around south, central and east Africa. Not a patch on Chapman's earlier, seminal work "The Jungle in Neutral", though that was not entirely unexpected.½

Interesting view from a perceptive 'Private Secretary' on the 1936 to 1937 British mission to Tibet. It is an interesting view unfiltered by the later events of WWII, Mao and current Tibetan politics.
The author was an excellent mountaineer and bird watcher. His enumeration of these gets a bit tedious in sections.

My first acquaintance with Spencer Chapman was his 'The Jungle is Neutral', the quintessential 'behind enemy lines' story of the Pacific War. And added irony to that story was that his allies in the jungle were essentially the Communist Party of Malaya led by the perennial Chin Peng (his group finally ceased hostilities in 1989). It may have been the dramatic circumstances, or a maturing in Spencer Chapman's writing, but it has to be said that this earlier book detailing his journeying in Tibet in the 1930's is exceedingly dull. Which is doubly odd - and disappointing - as he had extraordinary access (via his temporary diplomatic posting) to the most powerful and influential Tibetan leaders of the day. None of this, however, overcomes S-C's plodding style; "I did this, then I did this, after that I did this". If ever a man was in need of a good editor... As for the description of the mountaineering, well nobody has ever better conveyed the tedium of climbing up big piles of rocks. Don't dismiss his 'Jungle is Neutral' or think less of the man (try a biography perhaps), but this is more miss than hit. One for the modern Tibetan history folk.

During four years of the Second World War the author survived the Japanese, considerable privation and various illnesses in the jungles of Malaya, in his own way making a significant contribution to the war effort until liberation. His astonishing endurance and resourcefulness makes this the kind of true story that leaves adventure fiction for dead.

The story telling of the Japanese invasion of Peninsula Malaysia, during the 2nd World War, and one of only a few Classics of Malaysian literature that is printed in English language. English soldiers helped train the locals in fighting against the Japanese, yet not all locals were on the side of the terrorist like fighters which the English soldiers were helping. Knowing the Japanese used bicycles in their army I was keen to discover several mentions of bicycles being used for travel in diffiuclt jungle like terrain. But also the descriptions of the hardships of travel were very good and upon reading the story you could really understand the challenges involved.