''Congo Journey'' (1996) is an

autobiographical novel An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction. Bec ...

by British author

Redmond O'Hanlon Redmond O'Hanlon, FRGS, FRSL (born 5 June 1947) is an English writer and scholar. Life O'Hanlon was born in 1947 in Dorset, England. He was educated at Marlborough College and then Oxford University. After taking his M.Phil. in nineteenth-c ...

, following his trip across

Congo-Brazzaville The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

(now Republic of the Congo), taking a friend to

Lake Tele Lake Tele ( French Lac Télé) is a freshwater lake in Epena District, Republic of the Congo. Description Located at in the north-eastern area of the Republic of the Congo, Lake Tele was formed in Pliocene alluvial sediments by an unknown geol ...

in search of Mokèlé-mbèmbé, a legendary Congo dinosaur. The novel was republished in 1997 for United States readers as ''No Mercy: A Journey to the Heart of the Congo.''

Plot

Written in diary form, and set mostly in the People's Republic of the Congo, the book begins as a search for Mokèlé-mbèmbé, a legendary dinosaur of the area. Author Redmond O'Hanlon leads a team during this trek. In addition, the book also provides an expose of the Bantu and Pygmy peoples, including their lives, spiritual customs and beliefs. The book also discussed problems these people face, such as the

Yaws Yaws is a tropical infection of the skin, bones, and joints caused by the spirochete bacterium ''Treponema pallidum pertenue''. The disease begins with a round, hard swelling of the skin, in diameter. The center may break open and form an ulce ...

disease.

Reception

Travel writer Michael Shapiro considers the book as one of the "top 30 travel books of all time,"Michael Shapiro
No Mercy: A Journey to the Heart of the Congo
review. Accessed 2011-02-12 and declares the book, chronicling the author's search for the legendary dinosaur, to be in the literary tradition of Joseph Conrad. O’Hanlon's adventure, he says, is by turns dangerous and funny, as he "takes the long way to the lake and nearly gets killed by a village headman", trying to save a baby gorilla, while he "battles his demons and the haunting spirits of Central Africa." According to Shapiro, O’Hanlon emerges from the jungle a changed man. The

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

called it "half mad and unremittingly brilliant."

References

1996 books African travel books British travel books English non-fiction books British autobiographical novels Hamish Hamilton books {{travel-book-stub