--- product_id: 14191189 title: "The Lower River" brand: "paul theroux" price: "₩42167" currency: KRW in_stock: true reviews_count: 8 url: https://www.desertcart.kr/products/14191189-the-lower-river store_origin: KR region: South Korea --- # The Lower River **Brand:** paul theroux **Price:** ₩42167 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Lower River by paul theroux - **How much does it cost?** ₩42167 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.kr](https://www.desertcart.kr/products/14191189-the-lower-river) ## Best For - paul theroux enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted paul theroux brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Full description not available ## Images ![The Lower River - Image 1](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51dKtOYivsL.jpg) ![The Lower River - Image 2](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51iKVOraxEL.jpg) ![The Lower River - Image 3](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/313ZN6bcVVL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ You really can't go home again - especially to Malago! *by F***S on Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2017* I tend to lean toward writers that I like personally and that are genuinely good people - James Hall, Tim Dorsey, Carl Hiaasen, James Swain, Michael Connelly, Jeffrey Shaara, etc. I try to avoid those who I know to be or who are reputed to be churlish, arrogant, etc. like Paul Theroux. I mean, why put funds in the pockets of those who cannot bother to at least be civil to their fellow man?Sometimes, however, the talent overrides the deficits in personality and warrant a look at the work. I find Theroux to be a very talented writer but a bit uneven. I've enjoyed much of his travel related non-fiction but tend to find his fiction to be quite variable in quality. Still, he is a wordsmith of rare quality so when I came across this story I decided to give it a look.The theme is a common one. One reaches the golden years and remembers the glories of youthful days. In this case, as his life collapses around him - his wife discovers text messages to some of the women who shop at his men's clothing store on a cell phone she bought him. Said messages are more in the line of a friendly familiarity than of a lascivious nature but that doesn't seem to matter as the relationship ends in divorce, the daughter demands "her share" lest he start a new family and squeeze her out of her just rewards, his business is trapped in a downward spiral due to cheap imports and the move to casual dress styles.So, thinks he, when was he the happiest in his life? Why, the 4 years he spent as a Peace Corps volunteer in a small village in Africa, where he built a school, started a medical clinic and developed a fascination with snakes. Well, dump his life, load up a satchel with money and head on back there for adulation and respect, a life of ease among the villagers.Naturally, a bit has changed in 40 years and it is the current state of the village that entraps him in many ways. The question hangs over the story as it unfolds, "What would you do? How? When?" Other questions related to the nature of life and man hang over the story as well.Certainly a worthy and entertaining read. ### ⭐⭐ River of no Return *by J***P on Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2018* The Lower River explores the career and memory of a former Peace Corps volunteer returning to the small African nation where he worked as a young man. This is a subject Paul Theroux knows well as a former Peace Corps volunteer. In retrospect Theroux's narrator Ellis Hock (a stand in for Theroux ), had come to view his years in Africa in something of a golden light. After a series of disasters; a business failure, a marriage at an end, and a daughter demanding her inheritance prior to his death, he seeks solace and comfort that he once found in the small village of his Peace Corps years. The remainder of the novel conveys Ellis's gradual disillusionment and dismay. As the novel progresses Ellis finds there's no African Eden. The profound changes in the village since independence alarm him. Like many Peace Corps volunteers, Ellis probably never fully understood or comprehended "his village" or that the villagers had minds of their own, and that time, like the river, does not stand still. Like a number of other readers I was taken back by Throux's grim view of Africa and Africans, "They will eat your money and then they will eat you." Theroux is a gifted writer but this particular novel is bleak and the narrative unrelenting dark. For me the nightmarish scenes with Zizi and Ellis as he commands this young girl to dance, were the modern equivalent of Conrad’s "Heart of Darkness." In summary, The Lower RIver is a hard, difficult, and unrelentingly gloomy read. Sadly, this is one I cannot recommend to any but the most dedicated Theroux fans. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "A superb novel and mesmerizing tale" *by M***D on Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2012* Paul Theroux the author can be as controversial as Paul Theroux the person. He is an accomplished writer and outspoken critic of misguided philanthropic overtures from the likes of Bono, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, whom he labels as "mythomaniacs" content on promoting their largess as a way of convincing the world of their worth. In a "New York Times" (2005) opinion piece, Theroux laments being hectored about African development by a wealthy Irish rock star In a cowboy hat (aka Bono); a figure who earns a place as a contemptuous look-a-like in Theroux's novel. He also exploits the detachment of the likes of billionaire Bill Gates (Bono being one of his trusted advisers) for his unproductive and insane idea to send computers to Africa when they need "pencils, paper, mops and brooms".Theroux's novel "The Lower River" chronicles in the abstract some of Theroux's experiences teaching in Africa. He does this through the exploits of the main character Ellis Hock who had taken a similar trek in life as part of the Peace Corps. Through Ellis Hock, Theroux visualizes "the school[s] where we taught 40 years ago are now in ruins - covered with graffiti, with broken windows, standing in tall grass. Money will not fix this." - For "[T]hey will eat your money and then they will eat you." And it is through this disillusionment that Ellis Hock will become captive to his past, figuratively and literally. Theroux's novel is fundamentally structured in two parts; the one being the story itself the other being Theroux's passion about the underlying destructiveness of misguided largess that reduced a people to be "changed, disillusioned, shabby, lazy, dependent, blaming, [and] selfish" a theme not lost in its similarities to current events in European countries like Spain, France and Greece today.The story in main is about one Ellis Hock; one of life's losers adrift in a world he can't seem to relate to; someone who sees his life having ended, facing a failed marriage, a failed business and a failure as a father and who now yearns for an earlier time when he was a teacher in Africa for the Peace Corps. Ellis returns to the place in Africa called the Lower River, where he once found happiness and contentment only to discover that all has changed. A witless Hock becomes a pawn and captive in the struggle for survival in a place he no longer understands and a place from which he cannot escape.Theroux's novel is a fascinating and engaging work. His characters of Ellis Hock and Sena tribal leader Menyanga are tuned to provide a spider and fly sort of plot that will keep the reader on edge right up to the final conclusion.I highly recommend you add this novel to your reading list and rate it "memorable". --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.kr/products/14191189-the-lower-river](https://www.desertcart.kr/products/14191189-the-lower-river) --- *Product available on Desertcart South Korea* *Store origin: KR* *Last updated: 2026-05-16*