Reviews

This is another great travel story: anyone familiar with Brookes’ excellent A Hell of a Place to Lose a Cow will be rewarded with his trademark wit, pithy observations, and a style of writing about the less-familiar that is curious, humorous, reflective and yet gently respectful as well.

The location is India, setting of many a great yarn. This one, however, takes place in southern parts less explored by Western writers, and for that alone the book is worth the price of admission. Populated by colorful characters which Brookes never reduces to caricature (as some travel writers are apt to do), he engages with his new travel companions and the ever-changing geography. Along the way we are treated to wry observations on just about everything he comes across.

Ostensibly, the book is about the miracle that is weather forecasting, especially where it matters the most: predicting the monsoon, which is perhaps the most important meterological event in the Indian subcontinent. Does Tim get to figure out how it’s done? Does he watch the monsoon come ashore in all its glory? It’s not giving it away to say that none of this will matter very much in the book. The reader is so absorbed in the descriptions and the drama, the prose and the process, that getting there isn’t half the story- it’s most of it. And you’ll like being along for the ride.–Omar Khan

The nature of my work is such that I work in as many as 70 countries every year. I’m always interested in new places, but more than that I’m interested in the questions that new places cause me to ask that I have never asked before. Unfamiliar places cause curiosity, which far more fun than reaching answers. Tim Brookes’ Thirty Percent Chance of Enlightenment is a voyage that caused me to ask the same kinds of intriguing questions as I was reading it that I normally ask when I’m on the road in an unfamiliar place. He approaches the seemingly mundane (weather, for example)from oblique perspectives that reveal sides of the ordinary that are nothing short of extraordinary.You will enjoy this book – I highly recommend it to anyone with even the mildest sense of curiosity about the world around us.–Steven Shepard

The text is so enjoyable not only because it is witty in that British-humor manner and not just because Brookes has such a warm style, but because it is written in such an absorbing way that readers feel like they’re right there with the author, experiencing the events as a companion. Readers share Brookes’ frustration and disappointment with the India Meteorological Department, the fear of imminent nuclear war between India and Pakistan, and delight in discovering exotic ways to bring about rain, such as the marriage of donkeys and plowing fields in the nude.–Rose Ippolito

The county of India conjures up many images – dusty roads, multitudes of people, the strong scent of spices, all mixing together in a chaotic mix of colour and sound.

A travel journalist, Brookes goes on assignment to India for National Geographic to write about the monsoon season and how the locals predict the weather. As a typical Canadian, I’m weather-obsessed as well as being very curious about India, so this unique travel tale captured my attention right away.

Brookes assumptions about India and how the monsoon affects him and his newfound friends is hilarious and poignant. As the locals try to convince him that the ancient temples and markets are must-see spots, he tries to convey his interest in needing to meet with meteorologists and learn more about the possible upcoming storms.

The correspondence between Brookes and various Indian government officials is perfect examples of the cultural differences – although Brookes wants to just meet with people as a print journalist, the officials assume he is a television journalist and continue to ask for more forms to be filled and other permissions needing to be granted.

His description of a Hindu wedding in The Water Wedding, with its myriad of rituals is one of those experiences we all wish to witness in person, after seeing it detailed in books, tv and films. As the chapter ends, Brookes realizes the power of water links everything, as his guide explains that the water used to dampen the edge of the banana leaf is to keep away the ants from the dinner party.

Despite his continued disbelief in the locals not wanting to get him the information about the monsoon, Brookes does find the links through visits to spice plantations, local guide philosophy and the predictions of Dr. Kelkar’s forecasting.

Ironically during his time in India, the monsoons don’t come, and the main reason for Brookes visit to India has become a national joke, as Kelkar’s predictions were all false. Yet the road travelled by Brookes is a fascinating insight into the way it works in India.–Waheeda Harris, editor, Gone to Swan

Thirty Percent Chance of Enlightenment, by Tim Brookes, certainly enlightens. Brookes is able to articulate with humor and a sense of life and culture acceptance that transport the reader to experience India alongside him.

On his assignment and quest to discover the forecasting of the welcoming and devastating monsoons experienced in India, Brookes learns more from the locals than from Indian meteorologists.

Initially, he tries to work with the official forecasters. Bureaucracy and ineptitude are evident throughout. Brookes’ tenacity and desire to experience the monsoon, its meaning and effect lead him to take his exploration into his own hands.

I wasn’t sure that this topic could hold my interest, but Brookes captured it. When he realized he would learn more by immersing himself into the culture, the book came more alive than ever. The reader feels every hairpin turn and curve on roads that were more than challenging. You may even be tempted to scratch the mosquito bites he gets or join in the celebrations.–Maralyn Hill, President, International Food, Wine and Travel Writers Association