Il Destino Del Cacciatore (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
As A wilbur Smith fan I really can't fault this book. It's a novel that follows another generation of the Courtney family. It has magnificent imagery of elephant hunts, lion hunts and buffalo hunts. The story start before WW1 when Leon Hunter becomes a big-game hunter and guides rich and powerful men from different countries on safaris. One of this clients is a renowned German who builds aircraft for the German army. Leon falls hopelessly in love with the German's mistress. The plot thickens when the mistress turns out to be a spy. Wilbur Smith really knows how to tell a great adventure story. With his graphic descriptions it is a real page turner. This was a very interesting book for me. I have read Wilbur Smith's books about ancient Egypt and thoroughly enjoyed them; this book, however, is focused on the British Africa Protectorate in the early 1900's, moving into World War I. It is a time of the big game hunt, when everyone from Teddy Roosevelt to German and British aristocracy relished the thought of killing as many game animals as humanly possible. It is also the time of rising tensions in Europe that spill over into the adjoining territories of British and German East Africa, and that also finds a tie with the Boer Wars of South Africa. That element was disturbing me at first until I realized that Smith was actually portraying a very realistic picture of life in that era. The subservience of certain of the Maasai tribes to the English was also disturbing to me - - -and yet, admittedly, is also an indicator of the time that Smith tries to portray accurately. I listened to this book on tape, and actually had to smile at probably the most erudite description of sexual intercourse I have ever heard read by what seems to be an elderly English gentleman. The latter half of the novel does focus on a lot of fluffy romance, but overall, I found this book to be quite different and enjoyable.
What do You think about Il Destino Del Cacciatore (2009)?
As always a good experience to read Wilbur Smith. Never disappointing, up tot he next one.
—malicecullen17
I thought I was in Africa on a safari led by Leon Courtney close to 100 years ago.
—sungjaehan
ive read alot of smiths stuff and this isnt his best, but its not bad.
—brad
Classic Wilbur Smith - an African safari - you can smell the bush
—Kinzy
I love Wilber Smith but this was not his best.
—Valeria109
