The Last Resort: A Memoir of Zimbabwe
by Douglas Rogers
List Price:
Our Price: $17.45
You Save: $7.54 (30%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $9.19 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Douglas RogersEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-09-22
ISBN: 0307407977
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Crown
Book Reviews of The Last Resort: A Memoir of Zimbabwe
Book Review: The Last Resort by Douglas Rogers
Summary: 5 Stars
Douglas Rogers has written a brilliant and compelling book, The Last Resort, about life in Zimbabwe in the 21st Century. His story is a personal memoir and love story of the land, the people, and most importantly, his stalwart parents, Lyn and Rosalind. One wonders why Rogers' parents or any white farmers have remained in Zimbabwe since most of the 4,500 white farmers have been forced off their farms through land invasions or the "resettlement program." The Rogers' and most white farmers in Zimbabwe are descendants of Afrikaners or Britons who came to Africa as long as 350 years ago, and settled in Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) or migrated from South Africa. Since being forced off their land in the past decade, most whites have left and moved to South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia, or wherever someone will take them in. But his parents choose to stay on their game farm in a river valley outside the city of Mutare. They are determined to keep hold of their home and once popular backpacker lodge resort, although no tourists come through anymore.
As the drama unfolds in the warp and woof of his parents' world, Rogers reveals how life has changed in Zimbabwe and how the Last Resort has become a microcosm of the tragedy in Zimbabwe. He has the eye of a journalist and portrays life for Zimbabweans (black and white) with a wry wit since the thirty year rule of President Robert Mugabe where AIDS has spread to about 20% of the population, 80% of the population is unemployed, a loaf of bread costs Z$1 million dollars, and there is a black market for everything. He manages to find humor in the daily grind and especially with the albino frog who visits and may be an omen.
As he weaves his story, one realizes that it is not only the white Zimbabweans who are struggling, but also blacks who are in the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) (about 50% of the population). Rogers reveals his parents' passion for their country and their desire to live out their lives in their homeland while most of their friends have given up the fight and left. Rogers admits that while writing their story he is "now filled with admiration for my parents. What they had built out of virgin bush fifteen years ago had become central to the events of the country." Zimbabwe, once the breadbasket of Africa, has become the poorest country, lacking food or staples to feed its population as the land has gone fallow.
The reader moves from awe and disbelief, to admiration for Lyn and Rosalind in their struggle to survive on this mountain top. The "Last Resort" where they live, includes 12 cottages and a lodge called "Drifters," and has become a beehive of activity including a brothel, a drug spot, a political center, and even a connection to the blood diamonds. The Rogers, in their seventies now, are fighting to stay on as they watch from their front lawn the drama of the land invasions and political intrigue in the valley below. Their home has "become a stage set, a metaphor of the state of the nation."
Rogers' parents never say die and refuse to leave along with a cast of characters (black and white) living in the 12 cottages. These settlers represent both worlds (new and old). Rogers invites the settlers in the cottages to tell their stories while they hang on waiting for their next move. In a journalist's attempt at balance, Rogers also listens to black "war veterans" tell their stories and the ZANU-PF party members who control the lives and the future of Zimbabwe. The drama unfolds with Mugabe and the ZANU-PF party creating a "cultural netherland" and a people "caught between the trappings of the modern world and the traditions of the tribal."
The Political Commissar is a perfect example of power and the contradictions of Zimbabwe. The Commissar mixes his dreams with reality while telling his stories about ancestors, spiritual healers, and his own interpretation of history. Rogers' ability to trust him and learn from him provides an insight into what has been, what is now, and what is to come for Zimbabwe.
Rogers admits, "Things could rise or fall depending on what happened right here" at his parents' resort and it is not an optimistic picture since the election of 2008. President Mugabe, age 85, remains President with the ZANU-PF party in power despite losing the first election of 2008. The ZANU-PF party wreaks havoc on the opposition party MDC, especially during the 2008 election with murders, muggings and falsifying election results. (Since this account, Morgan Tsvangirai, President of the MDC, in a power-sharing agreement was sworn in as Prime Minister in 2009, but Mugabe still rules.)
This riveting story is both a personal love story and a journalist's record of a 21st Century dilemma in Zimbabwe. At Rogers wedding reception on a New York city roof top watching a cruise ship easing down the Hudson, Rogers' brother-in-law, who still lives in Zimbabwe, says to him; "Do you ever think our ancestors got on the wrong boat?"
Rogers' style is refreshingly honest as he attempts to not only tell the story of the white farmers in Zimbabwe, but also capture the spirit of the people and the politics. This is a brilliant read for both the personal love story about Rogers' parents struggle at The Last Resort in Zimbabwe and the political fallout from Mugabe rule since independence in 1980.
I give the highest recommendation for this book because it is not only a fascinating read, but also a riveting account of life in Zimbabwe. It should become one of the most popular book discussion club books of 2009 as we keep an eye on Africa and Zimbabwe. Douglas Rogers writes from his heart while revealing the soul of his beloved Zimbabwe and his parents' struggle to survive.
Summary of The Last Resort: A Memoir of Zimbabwe
Thrilling, heartbreaking, and, at times, absurdly funny, The Last Resort is a remarkable true story about one family in a country under siege and a testament to the love, perseverance, and resilience of the human spirit.Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Douglas Rogers is the son of white farmers living through that country?s long and tense transition from postcolonial rule. He escaped the dull future mapped out for him by his parents for one of adventure and excitement in Europe and the United States. But when Zimbabwe?s president Robert Mugabe launched his violent program to reclaim white-owned land and Rogers?s parents were caught in the cross fire, everything changed. Lyn and Ros, the owners of Drifters?a famous game farm and backpacker lodge in the eastern mountains that was one of the most popular budget resorts in the country?found their home and resort under siege, their friends and neighbors expelled, and their lives in danger. But instead of leaving, as their son pleads with them to do, they haul out a shotgun and decide to stay.
On returning to the country of his birth, Rogers finds his once orderly and progressive home transformed into something resembling a Marx Brothers romp crossed with Heart of Darkness: pot has supplanted maize in the fields; hookers have replaced college kids as guests; and soldiers, spies, and teenage diamond dealers guzzle beer at the bar.
And yet, in spite of it all, Rogers?s parents?with the help of friends, farmworkers, lodge guests, and residents?among them black political dissidents and white refugee farmers?continue to hold on. But can they survive to the end?
In the midst of a nation stuck between its stubborn past and an impatient future, Rogers soon begins to see his parents in a new light: unbowed, with passions and purpose renewed, even heroic. And, in the process, he learns that the "big story" he had relentlessly pursued his entire adult life as a roving journalist and travel writer was actually happening in his own backyard.
Evoking elements of The Tender Bar and Absurdistan, The Last Resort is an inspiring, coming-of-age tale about home, love, hope, responsibility, and redemption. An edgy, roller-coaster adventure, it is also a deeply moving story about how to survive a corrupt Third World dictatorship with a little innovation, humor, bribery, and brothel management.
Memoirs Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Memoirs Books
Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Centuryby Hunter S. Thompson
Penguin Books, Limited (UK); Published: 2008-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.11
Price in other shops:
Never Have Your Dog Stuffedby Alan Alda
Arrow Books; Published: 2007-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.59
Price in other shops:
The Hunger: A Story of Food, Desire, and Ambitionby John DeLucie, Graydon Carter
Ecco; Published: 2009-05-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.77
Price in other shops:
Brotherhood of Warriors: Behind Enemy Lines with a Commando in One of the World's Most Elite Counterterrorism Unitsby Aaron Cohen, Douglas Century
Ecco; Published: 2008-04-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.80
Price in other shops:
Not Lost Forever: My Story of Survivalby Carmina Salcido, Steve Jackson
William Morrow; Published: 2009-10-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops:
Unlocked: The Life and Crimes of a Mafia Insiderby Louis Ferrante
Harper Perennial; Published: 2009-02-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.97
Price in other shops:
Writing Places: The Life Journey of a Writer and Teacherby William Zinsser
Harper; Published: 2009-05-19; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.08
Price in other shops:
Got the Life: My Journey of Addiction, Faith, Recovery, and Kornby Fieldy
William Morrow; Published: 2009-03-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.98
Price in other shops:
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (P.S.)by Barbara Kingsolver, Camille Kingsolver, Steven L. Hopp
Harper Perennial; Published: 2008-04-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.10
Price in other shops:
The Ride of My Lifeby Mat Hoffman
It Books; Published: 2003-09-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.95
Similar Books and other products
The Last Resort: A Memoir of Mischief and Mayhem on a Family Farm in Africaby Douglas Rogers
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2010-09-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.50
Price in other shops:
Twenty Chickens for a Saddle: The Story of an African Childhoodby Robyn Scott
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2009-03-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.52
Price in other shops:
Casting with a Fragile Thread: A Story of Sisters and Africaby Wendy Kann
Picador; Published: 2007-04-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.01
Price in other shops:
When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africaby Peter Godwin
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2007-04-17; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
Rainbow's End: A Memoir of Childhood, War and an African Farmby Lauren St John
Scribner; Published: 2008-07-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africaby Peter Godwin
Grove Press; Published: 2004-11-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.87
Price in other shops:
The Fear: Robert Mugabe and the Martyrdom of Zimbabweby Peter Godwin
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2011-03-23; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africaby Peter Godwin
Back Bay Books; Published: 2008-04-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.35
Price in other shops:
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhoodby Alexandra Fuller
Random House Trade Paperbacks; Published: 2003-03-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.98
Price in other shops:
Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulnessby Alexandra Fuller
Penguin Press HC, The; Published: 2011-08-23; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops: