2008-08-02 A fornicating son of a goat of a book

There is one chapter in Bandit Roads( actually it's split over two chapters book ending the narrative) that is as tense, compelling and exciting as anything you will read in a thriller. This is mainly because it's the type of scenario you might read in a thriller except this actually happened. Even the fact that the reader knows the outcome doesn't lessen it's impact . I will not elucidate further (even though the books jacket and no doubt corresponding promotional blurb will do so) for fear of giving too many details away . The rest of the book , not too surprisingly ,struggles to match the beginning and conclusions visceral thrills yet despite this Bandit Roads is an engaging and educational read.
Richard Grant acknowledges that he is a risk taker and you would have to be bearing in mind that the journey he undertakes for this book is through the Sierra Madre in Mexico. Different rules exist in the huge underdeveloped expanse of the Sierra Madre- in fact it's fair to say no rules exist in the Sierra Madre , certainly none that could be classed as rules by Western standards. Despite this and despite numerous dire warnings about travelling alone in such a dangerous place Grant set out in his truck hoping a few contacts( there are some great characters in the book) would be enough to get him all the way through .
So why is the Sierra Madre so dangerous you might reasonably ask? Well it's all to do with drugs, lack of effective judiciary, corruption, family & tribal feuds ( revenge is an inherent part of Mexican culture leading to whole family's being wiped out) excessive drinking and the general machismo of the Mexican male. If you know someone of standing you have more chance of making it unscathed , if you know Mexican history and laud historical figures like Pancho Villa, that will help though not always and if someone offers to drink with you never ever refuse. Speaking Spanish is a good idea too...though as Grant concedes numerous times you don't need linguistic skills to recognise that some people are just plain nasty. There a lot of plain nasty people in the Sierra Madre.
Like Tim Butcher's tale of Congo travelling "Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart" Bandit Roads is a terrific way to learn about the culture and geography of an area most of us wouldn't give a second thought to. Its not as emphatic a political and historical discourse as that book but then again it avoids much of that books rather prosaic navel gazing . It also confirms that while we may feel we live in perilous times in the U.K. in truth we really don't know the true meaning of the word. Just ask Richard Grant ...or better still read this book.He deserves it after what he went through.