Robert Black (13)

I quite enjoyed this book on the whole. It feels more like a travelogue/diary than a novel, and I wonder whether and to what degree it is a narrative of what actually happened. But whether or not some details were changed, it feels very real, and following the protagonist as he travels the world, often with little more than a surfboard to his name, is quite enjoyable.

In addition to living an interesting life, our protagonist is also very honest about his feelings about people, and I found reading Bali Fungus to be much like "seeing inside his head". Yet this honesty also disturbed me in parts, specifically with regards to the protagonist's conduct towards strangers (particularly those whose beds he slept in), and towards an important person in his life near the end of the book.

I would say reading Bali Fungus is a lot like what it would be like to follow someone around everywhere they go for a day or a year, or like reading someone else's private journal. You will be often entertained, sometimes disturbed, and in general provoked to think upon your own life.… (mer)