DRINKING FROM THE STREAM

"I am enthusiastic about this book, for several reasons . . . all pointing to its unique focus and quality of presentation. This is a powerful read that speaks to the sometimes desperate search for identity and purpose, both for the characters who roam these pages, but also for the continent itself, during a period of burgeoning turmoil that passed through Uganda and Burundi, while anticipating the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The facts are precise, well researched, and clear. But these facts were executed by real people, and Richard Sacks [captures] the human element exceptionally well.

[The] main characters, with the exception of Swee’Pea, are outsiders – European, South African, Australian, and American. As such, they can move through these countries and observe their social, cultural, and political experiences somewhat dispassionately, [while the] inherent perspectives certainly of Karl (restless, disillusioned academic) and Jake (more cynical, more suspicious) [are well drawn]. As a result, the reader learns with the characters the nature of their experiences. I confess that hitchhiking through Ethiopia and Kenya with minimal resources and only the loosest of plans struck me as both brave and desperate, which, as the narrative unfolded, proved to be central characteristics of both [Karl and Jake].

Despite her circumstances when first we encounter her, Swee’Pea strikes me as the most optimistic character. She’s the only African who plays a significant role, and the one who most consistently looks ahead with reason, and with hope. She’s an important embodiment of what Africa could be.

[Placing] this narrative from a distance of five decades . . . no doubt deepened the challenge of providing an accurate and relatable background. In effect, the setting was a character in and of itself. I believe [the author] captured the ‘feel’ of each country and its people while depicting their collective thinking – the fears and suspicions of Idi Amin’s Uganda, the chaotic hustling of Nairobi, Ethiopia’s desolate landscape and poverty, Burundi’s confusion, etc. This narrative carried with it a unique and singular atmosphere.

The writing is obviously quite strong – clear, clever where it needs to be, intense when necessary, and accessible. I applaud [the author’s] ability to create dialogue that is both realistic (rarer than you might think) and informative in developing the characters. The [author] clearly [has] an excellent command of the language and [knows] how to relate a narrative with which readers can, and must, engage.

In all, this is a significant piece of writing that has layers to it . . . a valuable set-piece of the individual’s quest for place and purpose, mirrored in a turbulent continent that echoes this quest."

“Drinking from the Stream is much more than the story of two surprising travel companions exploring Africa in a time of often violent change and the friends they meet on the way. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, especially the conversations the travelers strike up with locals and with the other travelers they meet. Their discussions of local politics and their reflections on their perspectives were genuinely insightful.
“As someone from Duesseldorf, I’d like to tell German readers that while this book touches on a variety of countries in Africa and their troublesome postcolonial power struggles, it is not oblivious to the general world political and post-World War II context. It was fascinating to me how one of the essential characters, Beatrice, a strong-willed, opinionated, and direct young woman from Essen in Germany, struggles to come to terms with Germany’s Nazi past and how much the Nazi regime’s ideas and people in power persisted within the Federal Republic even twenty-five years after the end of World War II.”

“Journey with Jake and Karl as their adventures lead them deep into the perilous, turbulent world of revolutionary East Africa. . . . Gripping.”

“A great story set in a fresh locale. Enjoy it!”

“Richard Sacks’s book Drinking from the Stream drew me in from the very first page. What a read! A group of young people, most of them Americans, travel around Africa Kerouac-style during the early 1970s, eating and drinking and making love and running out of money and lighting into political arguments and, often, almost getting themselves killed as revolution and war break out around them.
“The political upset and revolutions are history: Haile Selassie was indeed about to be overthrown at that time, Idi Amin had begun his massacres in Uganda, Hutus in Rwanda had been murdering Tutsis en masse for a decade, and Burundi was on a knife’s edge. The group’s conversations about antisemitism, the Holocaust, racism, and
injustice take place just as new African holocausts are unfolding right in front of them. The book is gripping, absorbing, and the reader will want to join in the arguments with the benefit of historical hindsight. And then there’s a backstory of murder on shipboard involving one of the characters that is purest Melville. In fact, Drinking from the Stream constantly reminds the reader of Melville: personal and immediate and more fatalist than not, as the travelers come to realize that their own survival is at stake.
“I read the book in one sitting, could not put it down, anxious to know if they’d get out of the turbulence alive. Sacks is a talented writer who knows how to spin a highly believable tale, and you’ll come away not just entertained but also shaken by how such inhuman mass violence could take place in so many countries with the outside world paying so little attention. And the beautiful descriptions of Africa as the protagonists travel from here to there will make you want to get on the next flight to Nairobi. A must-read.”

“From the first pages of Drinking from the Stream, you are quickly engaged with the characters, Jake and Karl, as their personal journeys intertwine. You care about them as their paths take you through personal crises and growth against the backdrop of developing and revolutionary Africa in the early 1970s. Finally, you cheer for them as they survive the trials of beautifully depicted Africa travels and emerge with a truer, if sadder, understanding of themselves and the world.
“I highly recommend this wonderful, poignant story of life, love, exploration, adventure, and friendship.”

“Drinking from the Stream was an absolute pleasure to read. The story is captivating, the description of Africa is so accurate, and it is all well written. It reminded me of Ernest Hemingway’s stories set in East Africa! Probably because I live here and because I am an avid photographer, I could easily picture the scenes in my mind while reading. I wish I could do a trip like that! This book would be a great script for a Netflix series. Drinking from the Stream threads together the personal journeys of its two main characters with the chaotic postcolonial shifts of the 1970s in East Africa. The up and down emotions of Jake and Karl are very palpable as they navigate both their inner conflicts and their way through this part of the world reeling from dramatic changes. Through his many years in Africa, Richard Sacks has managed to capture vivid details creating a captivating atmosphere that immerses the reader in this African drama. And I mean it when I write that this would be a great film script.”

“A chance meeting turns two unlikely friends, Jake and Karl, into fast travel companions on an escapade across East Africa. As they seek
new adventures and run from themselves, they land headlong in the middle of Burundi’s 1972 genocide. From vibrant markets teeming with color and life, the adventurers are soon caught up in a violent race war, chronicling the terror of death squads and mass executions. Sacks takes you through gut-wrenching twists and turns with muscular prose that will keep you turning the pages to the end.”

“After finishing Drinking from the Stream, I was struck by its insights into a continent and history so unfamiliar to many of us in the contemporary Western world. Set during the early 1970s, the novel follows the intertwined lives of characters navigating personal growth and survival amidst political turmoil and revolutionary chaos. From the oil fields of Louisiana to the heart of postindependence Africa, Richard Scott Sacks paints a vivid picture of a generation caught between upheaval and discovery, constructing a gripping narrative that spans years, nations, and profound human truths.”

“I just finished Drinking from the Stream by Richard Sacks. I am a big fan of historical novels. Drinking from the Stream reminds me of the works of Edward Rutherford and Ken Follett. What a wonderful way to learn about real history through the eyes of a set of interesting characters. Here, the richness of East African culture, geography, and turbulent social upheaval are described in brilliant detail as a handful of young Westerners travel throughout the region. Well done, Richard. You’ve created a page-turner in this, your first novel.”

“With a Jack Kerouac–like writing style, Richard Sacks takes us on an odyssey across 1970s East Africa, at once breathtaking and backbreaking! The pace is fast and sustained. Adventures come in rapid fire, from the lighthearted ones to the imprisonments and death threats. The landscape, natural or human, is ever present and vibrant, the reader bouncing along on the top of trucks across East Africa’s dirt roads, facing arbitrary custom officers, and meeting generous souls. In the middle of all of that, there is love (and pregnancies!), there is running away (as one character puts it to another on their very first encounter: ‘What are you running away from?’), there is self-discovery, there is conceit, and there is heart-wrenching tragedy.
“The novel doubles as a textbook on postcolonial African politics and history, with in-depth and insightful discussions of events in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, DR Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi. Characters offer different perspectives on trends and events in their casual conversations. It is a colorful bunch: Americans, Germans, Australians, a Frenchman, a South African, Ugandans, and more.
“Drinking from the Stream is both a compelling novel and an insightful essay. Highly recommended.”

“Two young men fleeing early-1970s America for very different reasons are thrown together by happenstance on a hitchhiking tour of seething East Africa. What could possibly go wrong?
“Drinking from the Stream sweeps the reader along with them in a picaresque coming-of-age narrative that is always engaging and sometimes downright harrowing. Richard Sacks masterfully weaves colorful descriptions of a part of the world that for centuries was a blank spot on Western maps with clear explanations of the ethnic and political forces threatening to tear it apart. As Jake and Karl wrestle with issues like personal responsibility and racism—both in their own
lives and playing out before their eyes—they accidentally stumble into one of the worst ethnic atrocities of the era. Their repeated near-death escapes will keep you spellbound. A great read.”