The Saddest Pleasure: A Journey on Two Rivers

I liked the descriptions of river life; the leaves of plants, intricate flowers, the patch of sky, the dark soils, the quiet hillside, the jungle bacteria and fungi that grow on your body, the sound of a mango falling to the ground at night, and hungry, poor, dangerous people creeping around the farm. I liked the aimless walks through Brazilian cities such as Rio, Bahia, and Belem. I appreciated Thomsen's isolation from pretty much everyone, his inability to speak Portuguese or communicate well, and his sense of failure at life. I appreciated his openness to experience, perception, and courage to be the animal that suffers and works. Faced with Ramon's "you don't belong here" he realizes we are all being pushed out, there is no safe place. The man who works the land owns the land. Be a farmer. Enjoyable reading. Thanks!

I had this book for over ten years before I finally sat down to read it recently, at home from work with a cold. I quickly became engrossed in it to the point where I had a hard time putting it down. Thomsen's writing is superb. He weaves his personal story of early psychic hurt at the hands of his father and eccentric family into an exploration of global woes and human suffering, all the while with truly beautiful language. Alternately funny, gross, awful and awe-inspiring, you will come away dazzled, moved and yes, shaken by the vividness of his images and the depth of his understanding of the human condition. It is one of those rare books that transcends its own story line to show you a window onto our world of great clarity and understanding on issues like the economics of class, the gulfs between cultures, exploitation and poverty, the meaning of beauty, and the individual's struggle to find meaning in a chaotic world. In the end, you're not sure where you have gone, whether to Ecuador, Brazil, or on your own inner journey of discovery that you've unsuspectingly embarked on without ever leaving your room.

Having read Living Poor, Farm on the River of Emeralds and Journey of Two Rivers, I savored every line, every word of Thomsen's last work. What beautiful insight, honesty, and soul. My favorite narrative, perhaps ever.

This is the kind of book one is reluctant to continue reading, because each session brings one closer to the end, and thus closer to the end of its startling epiphanies and immeasurable riches. A sad pleasure indeed