Dr Ragab's Universal Language by Robert Twigger

by Robert Twigger

Dr Ragab is a mysterious man. Talked about by pretty much everyone in 1920s Cairo, only a few get the chance to make the doctor’s acquaintance, and fewer still—one person, in fact—get to study his life lessons first-hand. Hertwig is that lucky soul. Or not so lucky, not when he finds himself imprisoned in a German bunker just after the Second World War. To make matters worse, it’s not just any old bunker; it’s Hertwig’s own bunker, and 100% escape-proof. And yet . . . there is a possible way out. Not in the conventional sense, maybe, but convention isn’t always a good thing, as Dr Ragab would be the first to note—and it’s his Universal Language that may just provide Hertwig with the escape route he needs.As unconventional as the eponymous Ragab, Robert Twigger’s novel takes the reader on a surreal journey that starts in modern-day England but spans continents and decades; part tall tale, part mystery and, in every sense, completely fabulous, Dr Ragab’s Universal Language will open doors you never even knew existed. . . .

Genres: Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Robert Twigger is a British author who has been described as, 'a 19th Century adventurer trapped in the body of a 21st Century writer'. He attended Oxford University and later spent a year training at Martial Arts with the Tokyo Riot Police. He has won the Newdigate prize for poetry, the Somerset Maugham award for literature and the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award.

In 1997, whilst on an expedition in Northern Borneo, he discovered a line of menhirs crossing into Kalimantan. In 1998 He was part of the team that caught the world's longest snake- documented in the Channel 4/National Geographic film and book Big Snake; later he was the leader of the expedition that was the first to cross Western Canada in a birchbark canoe since 1793. Most recently, in 2009-2010, he led an expedition that was the first to cross the 700 km Great Sand Sea of the Egyptian Sahara solely on foot.

He has also written for newspapers and magazines such as The Daily Telegraph, Maxim and Esquire, and has published several poetry collections, including one in 2003, with Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing.

Robert has published Real Men Eat Puffer Fish (2008), a humorous but comprehensive guide to frequently overlooked but not exclusively masculine pastimes, while his latest novel Dr. Ragab's Universal Language, was published to acclaim in July 2009. Robert now lives in Cairo, a move chronicled in his book Lost Oasis. He has lead several desert expeditions with 'The Explorer School'.

Robert has given lectures on the topic of 'Lifeshifting', an approach which emphasises the need to centre one's life around meaning-driven motivation. Drawing on experiences working with indigenous peoples from around the world, he has spoken on 'work tribes' and polymathy. He has also spoken on leadership. Some of these talks have been to companies such as Procter and Gamble, Maersk Shipping, SAB Miller and Oracle computing.

Reviews

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is ostensibly the story of a man, Hertwig who is trapped in his own bunker by a small band of convicts at the end of the Second World War in Germany. There, as it becomes obvious he is not going to get out alive, he falls back on his training with a mystical figure named Dr Ragab, who he had been apprentice to many years ago in Cairo. Dr Ragab had at one time assumed invisibility and it is Hartwig’s hope that if he rededicates himself to the long abandoned exercises Ragab had prescribed, he too might attain invisibility and escape.
The manuscript detailing his incarceration is found in the present time by an author-for-hire who is also a bunker enthusiast. The book is fairly evenly split between both men’s stories and they come together satisfyingly at the end.
I loved the book but probably some experience with mysticism or at least a tolerance for it might be wise before deciding upon this read. Dr Ragab is a fairly annoying character who puts Hertwig through a very tedious, at times almost inexplicable training, but along with the narrator I began to see that there is much to be admired about Hertwig’s ability to remain constant through this training and what the lack of such a quality might suggest.
I liked the ending, suitably mysterious, but also very hopeful. Overall, a good read, if it’s your kind of thing.

[T P · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really special book. It felt unique, special, unusual, and all in a good way. I thought it was well written, well conveyed, surprisingly funny at random moments when you don't expect it to be, and definitely a loaded book that made me ponder and wonder.

The story and plot aren't necessarily about Dr. Ragab himself, in fact I would have wanted to read and know more about him, but if Dr. Ragab was elusive/mysterious enough for me, he most likely felt the same to the characters in the book. Their interactions and exchanges are original and clear. This is really an interesting piece of modern literature and kind of reminded me of modern French authors such as Sartre or Camus. Not in the way the plots go about, but more in the way that people interact with each other, and especially with their own thoughts.

I will definitely re-read this because as much as I liked it, I believe it holds more value at being read over again and seeing the plot with different knowledge/expectations in your head. There are several different things and thoughts to think about and ponder, and maybe relate to.

This is definitely something you can taste and feel with different senses. I also like the "non-assumption" of the author's tone. He doesn't take you for an idiot, he mentions certain thoughts you might even have as a reader, and any oddity or inconsistency is self-aware and addressed in the book by either one character or another.

It's odd to think and say that this book is both anchored in reality and not. The sprinkle of fantasy just worked for me, and you get a solid story that's well rounded and knows how to make you pass the time. I don't know what else to say, it's very subjective, and I do recommend anybody to give it a try if they haven't, and make their own opinion about it.

[Stevedutch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of a man obsessed with bunkers who, whilst visiting one in Germany on a fact finding mission to satisfy the requirements for a potential job, comes across an account of another man’s imprisonment in the same bunker many years before. Leaving aside considerations of the bizarre nature of the obsession the book, potentially, has the makings of an interesting examination of several themes: isolation perhaps, or alienation or even a primitive desire to return to the womb! Unfortunately, a novel of ideas this isn’t. At the very least the reader should expect a story and, perhaps, just maybe, a character or characters who inspire empathy. Again, regrettably, none do: they are either self-absorbed bores, small-minded dilettantes or, and as epitomised by the protagonist, Hertwig, bumbling, infantile incompetents. Even the eponymous Dr Ragab, the purported creator of the mumbo jumbo Hertwig demeans himself to master, is dazzlingly ordinary. The story, such as it is, amounts to little more than a somewhat picaresque chronicle of the sado-masochistic relationship between the two: inspiring it isn’t, funny it ain’t and less rewarding, in terms of gaining any insight into the human condition, than a season’s collection of episodes of East Enders.

All of this is a great shame since the author can write well and interestingly – as evidenced by his earlier non-fiction – and I wanted very much to like it. But what convinced the publisher to accept this for publication is a greater mystery than ever posed or remotely answered within its pages. Apparently, it is to be much hyped; it’ll need to be, very convincingly, because, from very early on the words ‘emperor’ and ‘new clothes’ will, I suspect, spring to many a sane mind. If you are truly searching for a novel that actually has an engaging story and covers similar ground whilst providing stimulation, entertainment, and intelligence you could do worse than turn to Scarlett Thomas who achieves, in her last novel, ‘The End of Mr Y’, everything the publishers are claiming for this ‘wildly original, totally unique literary novel’ – a truly ‘unforgettable reading experience’.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the first two-thirds of this book, I wasn’t sure about it. I mostly didn’t like it, classifying it as a novel that was good but not my taste. But finally I got into the book – whether because the story picked up or I belatedly got into the book’s style and tone – and finished it thinking it wonderfully charming and smart. There are two stories here: one set in 2008 about a bunker-obsessed freelance writer in London and the other in the decades of the first half of the twentieth century centering on a German man searching for meaning in life. It’s been compared to Paolo Coelho, and while there are parallels (plus a tongue-in-cheek commentary on imitating Coelho), that sells this book short. The best I can do by way of comparison is Oliver Goldsmith’s The Vicar of Wakefield, which is simultaneously a satire and a celebration of the sentimental novel. Dr. Ragab’s Universal Language is similar in that it fully delves into the new-age tone and rah-rah motivational trope while subtly mocking the absurdity of the genre. Highly recommended.

[Emma]

In some respects I thoroughly enjoyed this. Twigger writes with great ease and authority, and it was no effort to read - I whizzed through it in a matter of hours - and indeed, was left wishing there was rather more of it.

And therein lies the rub. I finished the book feeling that somehow the plot and the characters were rather underdeveloped. I wanted to know much more about the enigmatic Dr Ragab and his enticing 'universal language' than I was ultimately given. I understand that, like Hermann Hesse's glass bead game, defining something too precisely can serve to reduce it as a metaphor or symbolic vehicle, but there was definitely something missing here. Perhaps the underpinning structure of some well considered moral or philosophical system. A case of all surface, maybe, and no substance.

In short, a great ride, but no climax. There was too much enticement and carrot-dangling, and not enough satisfaction and resolution. At least not for me.

[Maya Panika · Rating 3 out of 5]

So – is the universal language a vocal thing, a physical thing, the secret of invisibility…? At first, I assumed this was a much deeper, more complicated read than it appeared on the surface but later I decided, it probably wasn’t.

It’s a very readable book, the Cairo passages were atmospheric and beautifully written, the chapters in which Hertwig describes his experiences with Dr Ragab were especially good, the rest – less so. A bit of a curate’s egg of a book that was fine in its parts but didn’t gel as a whole. The ending was particularly anti-climactic. I kept waiting for something ‘big’ to happen, something deep and profound and it never did.

Which isn’t to say it isn’t worth reading, it’s a pleasant, easy read, it’s just not the masterpiece some reviewers (and the cover blurb) would have you believe, not what it says on the tin.

[Katie Grainger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of those books that only comes around once in a while but when it does you are really glad of it. The premise of the book is somewhat ridiculous but that is what makes it brilliant. A mad fun bizarre story about super human endeavors which was a joy to read. If you read this and like in then I would have to recommend The Raw Shark Texts to you which is in my collection but by a different author.
Overall a brilliant, wacky read which will keep you guessing and keep you wanting to turn the pages!

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up randomly in the library and really loved it. I liked it flipping between present and past and it wasn't what I was expecting at all.

The narrator's voice reminded me of how you feel when you get completely absorbed by a book and you start thinking and dreaming in a different voice and in a different way.

So all in all I really liked it and would definitely recommend!

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure what to think about this book. It started out in an engaging way, and the author was obviously interested in ideas of philosophical truths, revealed understanding, and the coincidences of life. But as the story unfolded, instead of becoming more engrossing it became merely meandering.

[Samrudhi Sridharan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise seemed so nice! But I found the book quite pretentious. Dr. Ragab didn't actually seem eccentric. It just seemed like the author wanted to make him interesting somehow and I just couldn't buy it.

[Martinxo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was expecting great things from this book after the ecstatic review in the Guardian but...oh...it was ok but I ended up skimming the second half. The story just didn't engage me.

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reminded me of Tom Robbins. It was a fun read that I'll likely forget pretty quickly.

[Val · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this novel, despite its tendency to wander around the fringes of ideas instead of exploring them.

[Jenine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm. I think I liked the cover a little more than the book. Very male narration and story. Interesting connections between Europe and Egypt. Am unlikely to read again.

[Raewyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was unexpected. Really in every way. Quite enjoyable.