Death in the Long Grass: A Big Game Hunter's Adventures in the African Bush

by Peter Hathaway Capstick

Book Overview

As thrilling as any novel, as taut and exciting as any adventure story, Peter Hathaway Capstick's Death in the Long Grass takes us deep into the heart of darkness to view Africa through the eyes of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312186134
• Release Date: January 1978
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.7" x 1.1" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

READ CAPSTICK!!

There are adventure stories written by writers who were occasional adventurers (Conrad, Ruark, Hemingway), and there are adventure stories written by those who were only writers (Orwell, a million others,) and then there are a tiny number of adventure stories written by professional adventurers who also *luckily* happen to be brilliant writers. Peter Hathaway Capstick is the chief of this tribe, which includes John Taylor and a couple of others. This is a general review of all his writing, and so I won't get too specific, but it isn't a stretch at all to say that this is the finest, most exciting, most frightening, most eloquent writing ever done on the hunting experience, on hunting in Africa, and perhaps on what happens at that moment when man "goes back on the menu" after being off of it for a measley thousand years or so. Capstick was a stock broker turned hunting organizer turned (through a curcuitous route) to being a PH or professional hunter in Africa, and then had the skill and the will to set it all down. I have never had more riveting reading experiences than when he tells of having to shoot a big bull elephant (driven mad drunk after eating morula fruit) in bush so thick that he was actually 5 feet from the elephant before he saw it. Or of his friend Corporal Katwindi, the African tribesman who was killed trying to save his life. Or of stalking a black mamba that had killed a boy. This particular story includes the three most chilling words I've read in a long time: as he comes around a bend in the river bank, he sees the dead child (bitten on the lower lip) horribly swollen and disfigured, his face contorted in agony from the mamba bite. "Oh my, yes." Capstick says, and nothing else need be said. He was there, at that point where the line between life and death gets so horribly thin and transparent, and he's able to come back from it and tell it to you so that you feel the same goose flesh he felt, the same clutching fear, the same doubt about your courage, the same desire to run screaming back to your office job. You'll laugh, too. "There may be something more exciting than lion hunting, but I don't have her phone number any more." Or the story of the African camp steward who had slavishly dedicated himself to learning English to impress the clients, (by overhearing phrases and memorizing their meanings) and while wearing a crisp starched uniform, snaps to a British salute in front of the distinguished safari couple and tells the lady "Tea is ready, darling." His ability to find, and bring back, wonderful humor from gruelling experiences, like when his skin basically rotted off his feet during the rainy season, will not soon be forgotten. One of the most memorable aspects of his writing is his deep respect and affection for the African natives that he admired so much, and the few that he was proud to call his friends. He is quick to point out that any perceived inadequacies on their part are strictly cultural, n

A great book by a great hunter.

This book is wonderful. Peter Hathaway Capstick had a real knack for putting the reader right there in the tall grass, feeling the heat and the fear of an African hunt. His description of a charging lion put the fear of God in me, that's for sure. Also, his writing style is full of self-depreciating humor and honesty. He had a real way with words and his books are all classics in the field. If you have ever wanted to go on a safari, read this book. It is refreshing to read his descriptions of hunting with no apologies. Consider the way he expresses his love of dangerous game hunting: "That is man against himself, the last and purest of the challenges that made us men, not animals." Either that rings true or it doesn't.

A Million Ways to Die in Africa

This book is nearly 300 pages long, but I finished it in an evening of reading, and when I did, I wished there had been another 300 pages to go. "Death in the Long Grass" is about the author's (Peter Hathaway Capstick) experience as a white hunter in Africa, and his close encounters with the various creatures there that either wanted to eat, trample, gore, or bite him and his associates.This is not an informational guide about either hunting or Africa. The book's sole intent is to capture your attention with fascinating, hair-raising stories of Capstick's own close calls with the wildlife of Africa as well as his recounting of some other tales where the wildlife got the best of man.The stories are utterly captivating. They would be interesting to read no matter who was telling them. But Capstick knows how to write by weaving his own interesting experiences in with other tales he has either heard or read about. He also has a wicked, morbid sense of humor that fits well with the subject matter of the book.

Death in the Long Grass

Capstick invokes the feeling of sitting around the campfire listening to stories. He tells a story the way way Monet painted, full of color and brilliance. His stories make you feel the sun beating down on you,and hear the tiny rustle of the long grass that means a charge. When you read his book(s) your not going to feel like you reading, you'll feel like your there. No one has ever written better on hunting in Africa, not Ruark or Hemingway, I know I have a 250 volume collection of African hunting books dating from 1890 to 1999. Trust me buy this book for anyone who hunts or has thought of hunting, you will not regret it. How good is this book? I've had 5 copies of it, the 1st 2 paperbacks were read till they fell apart.

A "must read" for the outdoorsman.

Peter Hathaway Capstick ranks among the finest story tellers in the world today. His tales of hunting dangerous African game in "Death in the Long Grass" is riveting. His anecdotes portray in vivid detail the danger, fear, and humor in hunting big game in the African bush. Read this book and you will never look at a leopard the same again, or any other big game species in Africa for that matter. Capstick's respect for the animals he hunted and for the African people is quite apparent. "Bravo old boy!"