Review of Astounding Memories in Developing Countries

[José Cortez]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Astounding Memories in Developing Countries" by Waddah Chehadeh.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Astounding Memories in Developing Countries by Waddah Chehadeh is a short and insightful book. The author has an insight into the world, and he also knows about various cultures of the different countries he visited during his 31 years of being an engineer. In this book, he shares 12 stories of his travels around various countries.

Chehadeh was an engineer that advised the Kuwait Fund on development projects in various developing countries. His job also entails traveling to developing countries and writing a report on them so that the Kuwait Fund would know if it is wise to give out loans to these countries. In this book, the author wrote about different events, like getting a ride from an ambulance, an incident in a hotel, and what happened to him at Beirut Airport. Read this fascinating, short, and insightful book to learn more about Chehadeh's travels.

This book has some positive aspects. The language of this book was relatively easy to understand. I didn’t have any difficulty understanding most of the words used by the author in this book. I also learned a few new words from this book, like corpulent, gyroscopic, concierge, and so on. I also love the writing style of the author. He arranged his work in a way that would make the readers understand his work. The author went straight to point in this book, making it a quick read; it was not voluminous. I love how Chehadeh wrote things as he saw them. He wrote about what he saw in developing countries and how he saw them. For instance, he wrote about Equatorial Guinea during his four visits. He also wrote about what he saw in Boali Village; he expressed how he saw them without sugar-coating his words. I found minimal errors in this book; it was professionally edited.

It also has a few negative aspects. I didn’t like that the author didn’t write more on most of the stories. I felt that the author left a lot of details. For instance, some stories were left halfway. I was curious to know more about the incident on the plane. In addition, the characters were not adequately developed. They were too plain.

Therefore, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. The language of the book was straightforward to understand, and also, the book was very concise and insightful even though the characters were not adequately developed. I felt that they were too plain. I would have enjoyed the story more if the author had written more on most of the stories. These compelled me to deduct a star from my rating.

I recommend this book to lovers of memoirs and also to those who would love to learn a little about developing countries. Anyone interested in gaining more knowledge would have a fantastic time reading this book.

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Astounding Memories in Developing Countries
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[Tehreem_Khan]

This seems like my cup of tea. Thanks for the review.

[Aisha Yakub]

The author seems to be well travelled; it's great the he shared his experience. This should be interesting for people who like to find out about different places. Great review.

[Amenrodion]

Great review but I will pass. I am discouraged by the unfinished details of stories as quoted in your review

[Lucy Vera]

As a lover of memoirs, I think this would be a great one to look out for. I enjoyed your honest review.

[Darlings O]

This is a great review of a great book. The author seems well travelled and seems to know a lot about diverse cultures.

[Uwa Tocs]

Chahedah is an amazing author. The author seems to have shared some intriguing atories of their experiences traveling. Thank you for this honest review.

[Ekezie1998]

I never that engineers travelled so much. I would check this book out later

[Mbenma Esther 080]

I am a fan of reading memoirs and developing countries. Thanks for the review.