Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures

Ok, I have to admit - the title caught my eye ;) Turns out it is less about Emergency Sex and more about life in the war zone for civilian UN peacekeepers and aid workers. There are three characters (doctor, lawyer, aid worker), one of whom is from NZ. Their true story is written in the form of elongated journal entries over a 10 year period. It makes for an interesting process in developing an understanding of their characters. The book covers a wide variety of (less than) exotic locations: Cambodia, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Liberia, Rwanda - all the expected places on the genocidal tourist map.

Required reading for anyone idealistic enough to consider a career with the UN, it reveals a lot about the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of their humanitarian interventions - and mistakes which often mostly lives. Be warned - some passages about the horrors of war are rather graphic. At the same time, though, there are touches of black humour which are rather funny.

My Mother's Lovers by Christopher Hope

I picked up this book initially because I have read a number of Hope's other books - and the cover looked quite intriguing.

The basic story was about the character's mum - who sounded like an awe-inspiring, rather formidable lady - who travelled Africa in her own plane, and collected lovers in all sorts of odd colonial locations. The main character - her son - explores his relationship with her, and when she dies, he gets to meet many of her lovers through dealing with her bequests.

What is more interesting, however, is the way he describes a wide sweep of events about Africa, especially Southern Africa, and how that impacted on his childhood. His writing is compelling for anyone who has lived in SA, especially in Jo'burg - he nails the psyche of eGoli firmly to the wall - with some hilarious descriptions.

A thought-provoking undertone is how we spells out the basic premise that whites do not belong in Africa - not new, not especially palatable to most of us - but he makes some compelling observations.

There is also an interesting twist to the story at the end. Have a read....