The Last King of Scotland

The book arrived on time and in the condition listed. It was a gift to a good friend of mine from Uganda! She couldn't put it down and went right past her stop while reading on the bus. She couldn't wait to tell me how much she loved it.

Absolutely fantastic story in my opinion. For the most part I had a difficult time putting the book down, but I must admit there were a couple occasions where I just skimmed the pages. However, do not let that turn you away. The novel is written in an intelligent yet easy to understand way, and provides bundles of fascinating information. Idi Amin proves to be a fascinating and compelling character who I personally found incredibly intriguing. How can a man with a behaviour that is almost child like be so brilliant, charismatic, and so horribly cruel? Not only that, the strange relationship between Nicholas and Amin is equally intriguing. This relationship makes you almost like Amin, until you remember the atrocious things he had done. Overall a great read, one that leaves you with a great feeling upon finishing it.

In Giles Foden's fictionalized account of a Scottish doctor's experiences as the personal physician to Ugandan dictator Idi Amin Dada, evil isn't banal, after all--it's pompous, unpredictable, oafish, ostentatious, alternately unspeakably cruel and imbued with childlike exuberance, and, perhaps most startling of all, it's often more acutely wise to the ways of human nature than we care to admit. It throbs with the amorality of the life-force itself. Whatever else it might be, evil in the considerable form of Idi Amin is anything but boring. *The Last King of Scotland* is a novel set firmly in the classic tradition of Joseph Conrad's *Heart of Darkness.* In this version of the Conradian theme, a young white doctor, highly-educated, civilized, British, heads to an under-developed Uganda driven by a mix of boredom, aimlessness, and the dim intention of doing some good. He's not there long when control of the country is forcibly seized by a Ugandan general named Idi Amin. Dr. Nicholas Garrigan and General Amin meet by accident--literally--when Garrigan is called to the scene of a roadside collision between a cow and a red Maserati drive by the new Ugandan president for life. Amin takes a liking to Nick--whose Scottish ancestry appeals to the general's obsession with Scotland--and offers the young doctor the position as his personal physician. It's an offer Nick can't refuse, not that he tries too hard to do so. After all, it's a rather prestigious post, better than working in the bush, and Amin is a dynamic and charismatic figure. There've been some rumors, but there are always rumors. Amin doesn't seem so bad, no worse than dozens of others in his position...not yet. And so begins Nick's journey towards the heart of darkness and the beast who dwells there, propelled on his way by a quickening series of rationalizations, compromises, and choices that slowly erode his conscience and leave him a victim of circumstances. In the end, it's all too clear and all too late. Idi Amin is a monster and Garrigan is his doctor, his confidant, and his apologist--if only because by explaining Amin, Garrigan explains himself. Fiction in which major historical personages like Amin play a major role always runs the risk of straining credulity, ringing false, or offering a pale imitation of the original. What with truth being stranger than fiction and all. Especially such recent, bizarre, and well-documented history. How do you top the real-life stories of cannibalism, the heads in the freezer, etc.? But Foden does a remarkable job in breathing life into Amin's larger-than-life persona and his many notorious exploits. Foden is equally remarkable in his portrayal of Nicholas Garrigan. Written in the first person, supposedly as a journal, Foden so convincingly and engagingly describes everything from the presenting symptoms of rare (and disgusting) tropical diseases to field dressing gunshot wounds, you'd think Garrigan must be a doctor himself, or at the very least,

The Last King of Scotland is a first book by Giles Foden. It takes place in Uganda, from the viewpoint of a young English physician. It is an intriguing read and complex enough to almost be a mystery novel but is based on the true story. I saw the movie before reading the book and that sequence just enhanced the reading. The book outdoes the movie, except for Forest Witaker,the "Last King of Scotland." Read it and find out what happens!

Deciding it is time to cut the parental cord, Scotsman Nicholas Garrigan, who recently became a doctor, accepts an assignment in Uganda. After arriving in Kampala, Nicholas learns that his assignment is at a hospital in a remote area of the jungle. On his way there, he stops to help Idi Amin, who hurt his ankle while driving a car.A few months later, the idealistic Nicholas becomes Amin's personal physician as the dictator is going through a Scottish stage. Nicholas is charmed by the wit of Amin and enjoys being part of the inner sanctum even as his countrymen plead with him to help them with Amin. As the Scotsman realizes the impact of the horrendous actions of the dictator that he invariable condoned with his inertia, Amin is toppled. Nicholas flees back to England where he is considered a traitor to his people, profession, and the human race.From the perspective of Amin's personal physician, THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND shows incredible insight into one of the most vicious regimes of the twentieth century. Nicholas is a Faustian type character whose ideals fall to the charismatic, energetic, and clever Amin. The novel would be great just based on how well the story line brings Africa to life. However, what turns Giles Foden's novel into a masterpiece is his brilliant capturing of the complete character of Amin as being more than just the killing monster everyone knows him to be. This fascinating yet tragic book is on this reviewer's top ten novels of the year. Harriet Klausner