Amazon.com's Best of 2001
From the acclaimed chronicler of open spaces, Gretel Ehrlich, comes a stunning and lyrical evocation of a practically unknown place and people. Beginning in 1993, Ehrlich traveled to Greenland, the northernmost country in the world, in every season--the four months of perpetual dark (in which the average temperature is 25 degrees below zero), the four months of constant daylight, and the twilight seasons in between--traveling up the west coast, often by dogsled, and befriending the resilient and generous Inuits along the way. Greenland, unlike its name, is 95 percent ice--a landscape of deep rock-walled fjords, glaciers, narwhal whales swimming among icebergs the size of football fields, walruses busting through oceans of shifting ice. In the far north, the polar Inuit--the "real heroes"--still dress in bear and seal skins, and hunt walrus, polar bears, and whales with harpoons. The only constant is weather and the perilous movements of ice, the only transport is dogsled, and the closest village may be a month and a half-long dogsled journey away. The people share an austere and harsh life, lightened with humor and the fantastic stories of Sila, the god of weather, Nerrivik, the goddess of waters, of humans transforming themselves into animals, and interspecies marriages. Interwoven with Ehrlich's journey is the even more remarkable story of Knud Rasmussen, the founder of Eskimology, an Inuit-Danish explorer and ethnographer who took some of the most hazardous and brilliant expeditions ever, including a three and a half-year, 20,000-mile adventure by dogsled across the polar north to Alaska. Like Rasmussen, Ehrlich learns that the landscape of Greenland is "less a description of desolation than an ode to the beauty of impermanence." Alternately mind-expanding, gripping, and dreamlike, This Cold Heaven is a revelation. --Lesley Reed
Book Description
For the last decade, Gretel Ehrlich has been obsessed by an island, a terrain, a culture, and the men and women who long for and love the complex frailties and treacherous beauty of a world defined by ice.
Greenland, the world’s largest island, 840,000 square miles in extent, is covered by the largest continental ice sheet in the world.
Only the rocky fringe of its coast is habitable. There, the Inuit, the Arctic’s first explorers, have survived and thrived in the harshest of climates. For the Inuit, an ice-age, ice-adapted people who first traveled from Siberia across the polar North six thousand years ago, weather is consciousness. In a world composed of ice and darkness, water and light, where skins of dog, seal, bear, even hare and eider duck, are sewn into clothes, tents, and sleeping bags as protection, where transport is by dogsled and kayak, the only rein for the uncontrollable force of weather is an unbending self-discipline. The blend of physical endurance and psychological perseverance required for daily existence first drew Ehrlich to this terrain.
Her guide, her inspiration, her companion in spirit was the great Danish-Inuit explorer and ethnographer Knud Rasmussen. Between 1902 and his death in 1933 he launched seven expeditions: to record the unknown history and customs of the nomadic Eskimos; to chronicle the skills, beliefs,and crafts that made life in this climate possible and a matter of grace. For Rasmussen, “all true wisdom is only to be found far from the dwellings of man, in great solitudes.” As she followed his trail, Ehrlich was to find the things that can open the mind to what is hidden from others.
This Cold Heaven is at once a distillation of her many journeys, a path into a world divided into darkness and light and, finally, an attempt to capture the clarity that blinds us with surprise.
Customer Reviews:
Heaven On Earth?.......2006-07-25
In "This Cold Heaven", Gretel Ehrlich extolls the life of the subsistence hunters of Greenland. Her writing is really very nice and brought this remote place to life for me. Jared Diamond's "Collapse" gave us the picture of the european Greenlanders and now Ehrlich gives us the picture from the 'other side of the hill.'
The beauty of the environment and the struggle for sanity in the long dark made very interesting reading, having spent 20 winters in Minnesota where it is dark a mere 16 hours a day.
I'm not sure she takes her observations to their logical conclusion, however. The life she admires is that of the subsistence hunter. What makes it admirable for her is the totality of it, the self-sufficiency, the purity. But that life evolved out of necessity, which has been overtaken by modern life. Most Greenlanders live off the supply ships; only a handful hunt for a living. These few are restrictive in their practices, using rifles but eschewing outboard motors and snow mobiles, for example.
In other words they are playing an elaborate game of 'survival.' They could make it easier for themselves but they don't because it makes it more of a challenge. The fact is, there is no obvious reason for people to go around in dogsleds hunting walrus. They could be educating themselves for the future instead of clinging to an outmoded past.
I think she understands this. I say that because of the incident of the polar bear, where she urged that it not be killed. She accompanied the hunters by dogsled to polar bear country for the specific purpose of getting a bear. Then when it came time to pull the trigger she wanted the men to let it go.
In that moment she understood that synthetics are just as good as bear skin for keeping warm. Food can be gotten from the shelves thanks to the supply ships. Transportation to any place in the world is available. There is no longer any need to shoot polar bears in order to survive, and she knew it.
There is honor and purity in modernity, too. We meet Fred, who has been forecasting the weather at Thule for 27 years. I'm a forecaster, too. I can relate to Fred, and I understand why he has stayed there all this time. While his duties benefit the well-being of everyone on that base, he has undertaken a wider quest, that of comprehending nature and humanity in his specific setting. It is similar to that of the hunter, in that it is also an internal quest which reveals oneself.
Only Fred really knows why is there. Only Jens and Mikele really know why they go out on the ice to hunt. Fred could retire to Punta Gorda. Jens could go to Copenhagen and relax. Gretel slides past this whole matter. But then, her eyes were bothering her.
WONDERFUL BOOK.......2006-06-09
I really enjoyed this book, Gretel takes you with her in her travels and experiences to one of the most starkley beautiful places in the world.
great book to read in the heat of summer.
wonderful tales, wonderful author.
I could feel the ice, well reading this book.
great insightful book.....
one you will want to have on your shelves for ever.
Good, but a missed oppurtunity.......2005-04-13
I enjoyed the book and would recommend it. She obviously deeply respects the people who she spent time with in Greenland. However, as she barely hints at, there are problems under the surface with alcoholism dysfunctional families and sexual abuse. By glossing over the darker side of things and portraying the Innuit as "noble savages" she provides us with a one dimensional portrait of thier way of life.
Greenland & Ethnographic Study of Eskimo Culture.......2005-03-06
This ethnographic study and travel guide about Greenland reminds me of Paul Theroux' "Happy Isles Of Oceania" which I read about 10 years ago; also her compressed prose reminds me of Annie Proulx author of "Close Range" with whom she shared the adopted state of Wyoming, also of James Michener, author of "Alaska". I have also read this author's "Heart Mountain" which I enjoyed a lot,and more recently "The Future Of Ice". .
Ehrlich's frequent plane trips between Copenhagen and Greenland and her stopovers at the state-of-the-art American military base at Thule, Greenland give the book a link to the outside world, but beyond the airports she transports the reader to a culture many thousands of years old and also with a multitude of current social problems based on the clash between the Danish, who arrived in the 18th C., and indigeneous cultures.
She interviews numerous Danes with Eskimo blood or vice versa, or other expatriates, including information on an American artist Rockwell Kent, who decided to give up on modern society in favor of some more ancient or traditional values. Hence they become New Age subsistence hunters in Greenland. The book also includes several interesting chapters on the explorations of the Arctic by the Dane Rasmussen in the 1920's, who did his own ethnographic studies, as well as by other less renowned explorers. Rasmussen travelled all the way across the Canadian Arctic from Greenland to Alaska. You will be impressed with the breadth of knowledge Ehrlich has about her subject as well as her anecdotal knowledge of modern astronomy; really this is her own ethnographic study, and you will be surprised at the countless small details of living in such an unusually cold, white climate with polar seasons that include many months of total darkness or total light, and the great importance of dogs and dogsleds in their culture. One of the obvious consequences of living in -30-40 degree temperatures is the layers of clothing a human must wear, not to mention the Eskimos' unusual food choices,the threats of starvation and the resultant cannibalism, and age-old hunting practices. Really an eye-opener for those who live in the middle latitudes.
This Cold Heaven.......2004-06-18
This book was a treasure that fell, I don't remember whether one morning or night, from Book TV. Being of Norwegian ancestry, and having ancient voyagers in my direct line, I became fascinated with the author's story. Hoping to find some tales of native legends and myths of the kind that Sigrid Undset's historical novels had first drawn to my attention, I bought the book.
I was not disappointed. Ehrlich weaves her words by alternating the fabric of her seven seasons with allied chapters of other Northern wanderers and explorers. This organization, I feel, makes the book somewhat hard to read in two or three sittings. Yet every page is worth the effort.
Having flown over both Greenland and Iceland, I can verify that Greenland is white and Iceland is green. But snow and ice is not just white, and a sled is not just a sled. Erhlich's language is richly nuanced and lyrical. She has the gift of writing prose like a poet. Having lived her stories, she knows her subject, and you easily feel yourself in her shoes as she relates her experiences.
Little gems keep falling from her pages, like the story about the artist, Rockwell Kent, who had lived in Greenland. This immediately explains the stark beauty of his block prints. Treat yourself to this book and read it on some dark and stormy night -- or to cool off on a hot summer afternoon. Either way, you will be refreshed by the experience.
Amazon.com
Dutch novelist Harry Mulisch has created an epic tale of love, friendship, and divine intervention in this cerebral story of heavenly influence. On earth, the novel revolves around the friendship of a brilliant, charismatic astronomer and a talented linguist born on the same day. The two men also happen to share a lover, a woman of simple beauty who is a gifted cellist. These relationships, both intellectual and intimate, produce several intriguing conversations about science, art, and theology, and a child of uncertain paternity. The child's birth is closely followed by a number of mysterious accidents, spirited affairs, untimely deaths, and other acts that reveal the influence of higher powers. Quinten, the star-fated child, has a mission from on high to return the covenant God made with man before he was led astray by science and the dark influence of the devil. An engrossing, and at times comic, story of theology and science, angels, and earthly desires, is cleverly told in this hugely ambitious novel.
Book Description
* Harry Mulisch's The Assault was an international bestseller which was made into an Oscar Award-winning film. This magnificent epic has been compared to works by Umberto Eco, Thomas Mann, and Dostoevsky. Harry Mulisch's magnum opus is a rich mosaic of twentieth-century trauma in which many themes--friendship, loyalty, family, art, technology, religion, fate, good, and evil--suffuse a suspenseful and resplendent narrative. The story begins with the meeting of Onno and Max, two complicated individuals whom fate has mysteriously and magically brought together. They share responsibility for the birth of a remarkable and radiant boy who embarks on a mandated quest that takes the reader all over Europe and to the land where all such quests begin and end. Abounding in philosophical, psychological and theological inquiries, yet laced with humor that is as infectious as it is willful, The Discovery of Heaven lingers in the mind long after it has been read. It not only tells an accessible story, but also convinces one that it just might be possible to bring order into the chaos of the world through a story.
Customer Reviews:
The Discovery of Heaven.......2006-12-30
Two angels are conversing. Apparently, Francis Bacon - the 16th century scientist credited with establishing, among other things, the scientific methodology known as the 'Baconian Method' - made a pact with the devil, which caused humanity to lose their way with God, instead embracing the more vapid realm of technological progress; gadgets, as it were. God is convinced that the covenant between heaven and earth is broken and has charged the angels with retrieving the original stone tablets that contain the Ten Commandments as handed down by God to Moses on the summit of Mount Sinai. To do this, a perfect human must be created - the angels intervene with twentieth century history to ensure that this occurs.
A complicated setup, to be sure. Happily, for at least the first half of the novel, the heavy theological implications of The Discovery of Heaven do not weigh the novel down. Rather, we are invited into the intelligence, artistic and creative world that is the friendship of Onno Quist and Max Delius.
They were conceived on the same day, but are completely different. Onno is hugely intelligent, but suffers from a mind that is too rarefied for the concrete harshness of the world. A savant when it comes to languages, Onno made his name in the world of linguistics by translating Etruscan. 'It was because I made Etruscan comprehensible. The greatest minds in the world had failed - even Professor Massimo Pellegrini in Rome was too stupid - so I thought I may as well do it.' For now, he studies obscure topics and lives comfortable on the interest from his father's inheritance.
Max Delius lost his parents at a very young age during World War II. His mother was a Jew; she met a predictably sad end in a concentration camp. His father was a Dutch officer in the German army, it was his hand that indirectly caused the death of his wife. As a result of this, Max lives his life convinced that at any time, the people that he holds close could leave him. He is an astronomer, spending his free time seducing a string of random women who mean nothing at all.
But when they meet by chance when Onno is hitching a ride home to Amsterdam (a meeting assisted by the unseen hand of an angel), something immediately clicks. From this random encounter comes a friendship that is strong beyond anything they have experienced before. 'Max had never met anyone like Onno, Onno had never met anyone like Max - as a self-proclaimed pair of twins, they did not cease to delight in each other.'
Once this relationship has solidified, a third party enters. Of course, she is a woman, but the novel does not take a predictable turn in having a rivalry for Ada Brons' hand dominate the story. No, she begins as Max's girlfriend and ends as Onno's wife, but the way in which this is handled never for a moment suggests a clash of will, a fight for love. Max is happy that Ada is with the one man in the world he loves without reservation, Onno is gently surprised that he could ever be married at all. Later, in Cuba, under ambiguous circumstances, Ada becomes pregnant - but to Max, or to Onno? It is not clear to them, though the angels make it clear for us.
After decades of work, the angels have maneuvered everything and everyone into place. Max, Onno and Ada were all required to be born to properly create the child who could return the tablets to Heaven, and this has now been accomplished. The first half of the novel is concerned not with this theological problem but with the sweet, endearing friendship between Max and Onno and, to a lesser extent, the bond they share with Ada.
Mulisch is adept at creating a believable adult-male friendship. Max and Onno are both very intelligent, able to bounce ideas and theories of one another on subjects ranging from Kafka to translation and everything in between. A discussion on the noticeable warmth left behind when someone has been sitting on a chair is particularly clever, and funny in its simple truth. While the two men generally discuss matters of history, philosophy, and the spectrum of ideas, there is never a sense that Mulisch is hitting us over the head with his cleverness. Rather, we can believe that we are listening to two intelligent men talking about whatever it is that intelligent people discuss. Unlike, say, a Pynchon or an Eco, conversations do not exist to flaunt the erudition of the author, but rather the character of the characters.
Midway through the novel, pre-arranged tragedy strikes. A very pregnant Ada is involved in a car accident, she falls into a coma from which the likelihood of recovery is slim. But her child is alive and, through the intricacies of modern medicine, is delivered healthy and safe at seven months, by cesarean. Thanks to a complicated narrative device, Max becomes the caretaker of the child, Quentin.
The novel shifts quite dramatically in tone. While Onno embroils himself within the intricacies of Dutch politics, Max raises Quinten, the child which embodies the hopes of the angels, and of God. From a intellectually rambling novel of friendship and adventure, comes a more sedate, measured story of a child's growth and education.
What do we learn of Quinten? He grows up in an old castle, populated with vaguely eccentric characters, each of which is capable of - and willing to - teach him snippets of information which will come to play a large part in his destiny. From one man he learns of Judaism, from another, architecture. He is a curious, sensitive, quiet boy; his stunning good looks inspire trust and warmth in others.
The Discovery of Heaven slows down dramatically as Quinten grows from a baby to a young adult of seventeen. Oddly, large parts of his childhood are glossed over, yet the sensation of a slow novel remains. This is neither to Mulisch's credit or detriment - the novel simply changes pace, a fact which is immediately noticeable from the end of the second part and the beginning of the third.
There is never any doubt that Quinten will achieve his goal - indeed, we are almost led to believe by the angels that the large majority of twentieth century history occurred so that Quinten could be born. This is not meant to be a thriller, though the pages turn with rapidity, due to Mulisch's skill with words and penchant for interesting asides and digressions.
Perhaps the greatest pleasure in The Discovery of Heaven comes from the consistently thought-provoking text. While the last two hundred pages are dominated with theological (both Catholic and Jewish) problems and ideas, there is enough non-theological meat to satisfy any curious reader. Max's interest in astronomy serves as a jumping point for all manner of mini-essays, and Onno's autodidactism is a treat in itself. Any event, any situation, any conversation, gives Mulisch a chance to allow his characters to shine with their insight and intelligence. The narrator, nominally Mulisch himself, is certainly not shy of following whichever intellectual path takes his fancy, though these are nowhere near as involved or involving as the problems the characters themselves raise and discuss.
The Discovery of Heaven is astonishingly ambitious. It tackles a great many themes, and handles all of them with intelligence and candour. Mulisch treats his readers with dignity by explaining every difficult concept in such a way that we feel neither insulted by our lack of knowledge, or that we are in over our heads as character's spout obscure factoids and ideas. While the novel may be too difficult or too long for some, it is unhesitatingly recommended for all others who crave the sort of writing that inspires, that questions, that encourages thought.
Listen up, MULISCH IS NOT THE NARRATOR!!.......2006-12-10
These reviews on here that chop away at Mulisch for his "pendant" style. The majority seem to believe this is due to his style of explaining things and knowing alot. Yes, I know, knowing alot is scary to people for some reason. But at any rate, what people do not seem to get is that the story is being explained from an angel to an arch angel. The angels have a certain near omnipotent view, so it is inline that his style would be wordy and overtly smart. So, if you want to nag, do not place Mulisch as the narrator. The writer and the narrator are not the same people. Otherwise, this is a fantastic book. Yes, it is wordy. Yes, there are untranslated words you may not understand. I know, thats so terrible that he would not put up cue cards for the reader to understand everything. To think, a writer creates something that relies on the reader to interpret! Read it, its worth it.
Bad.......2006-07-19
I agree with a previous reviewer who titled his review: "Mulisch, Pedant... writes a book."
Pedant seems the perfect term. It is a collection of ideas that are thrown together, but not developed.
730 pages of time that I will never have back.
Not only was the book pretentious, it was also poorly written. Perhaps the translation is to blame, as I read it in English. Whatever the source, the (English) text was choppy, un-inventive, repetitive, and cliché. Mulisch's overuse of similes is nauseating.
The dialogue was also suspect. Instead of realistic, it seemed more the types of smart retort one thinks of only after an argument has concluded.
I'm at a loss as to what other reviewers see in this book. Hopefully it works better in the original Danish.
Maybe it was just the wrong book at the wrong time for me, and I have missed the message. However, now I am reading Orwell as a sort of antidote - and it feels a whole lot better. I would suggest that you skip straight to that if you are looking for literature.
(Kidding about the Danish thing, by the way.)
Astounding.......2005-10-05
Harry Mulisch is one of Hollands most read and most respected authors.
I read the Dutch version of this book a couple of months ago and I must say I was overwhelmd.
Philosophy interests me, as do psychological novells. And at heart, that's what this book is. But this book also had me holding my breath in anticipation for what was to come..
Mulisch displays an ENORMOUS amount of knowledge of history, science, music, art, philosophy, architecture. That is not exceptional. But a combination of this knowledge with great skill as a writer as far as character building, storytelling and originallity go, this IS exceptinal..
Mulisch has achieved to write a story which is almost science-fiction (the title is NOT a metafore) but none the less makes it all believable.. A journey from Plato's cave to the heart of Israël.. And from the cuban revolution to the birth of the new Messiah.. This book is a must..
Owen Meany goes to Drenthe.......2005-09-12
I've just finished this book this very evening, so a little distance may be needed to properly assess this novel. But I'm motivated to write a few impressions now, so here they are.
The inevitability or fated conclusion that drives the narrative of this novel reminds me very much of 'A Prayer for Owen Meany'. I'd have to say - at this moment - that this is the better of the two books, and that is very high praise indeed. I believe that Mulisch's story just flows a little better; at times I find Irving too contrived, with too much of an agenda. Perhaps Irving is a little stronger in developing nuances of character. In any case, if you liked Owen Meany, you will likely enjoy this book, and vice versa: fans of this book should give Owen Meany a try.
In some ways the ending of 'Discovery' was disappointing, in the same way that Irving can be. Both Irving and Mulisch are masterful storytellers, but there is not really that much insight from a spiritual, philosophical or existential perspective. Really more clever sophistry. One will not find here, the mimetic quality and insight of a Hardy, Tolstoy or Chekhov. Not to say that Mulisch is inferior to the canonized, just different. (And not to say he is not inferior). Still, the insight from a historical and socio-political perspective into post-modern life as it currently stands is considerable.
If you consider the novel apart from the brief explanatory metaphysical prologues, you are left with a very engaging story of 3 generations of characters trying to find some sense against the backdrop of some of the main events of the post-modern era. Mulisch vividly re-creates Cuba and Holland in the 60s and in the 80s, as well as our ongoing Holocaust hangover. Reliving these events through the lives of Mulisch's fascinating characters provides many pleasurable hours of reading. And the narrative is driven by a rapturous wonder at where the book is going, at how it will end. Instead of a "who-done-it?", it's more of a "why-is-it?".
Please don't let my reservations about the ending deter you from reading this wonderful novel. I think the book builds some grand expectations that simply can't be met at a deep level, but all the same, there are quite a few thrilling turns in the last pages of the novel.
Although generally 700 pages is much too long for a modern novel, this book is a notable exception.
Finally, a word about the reviews accusing Mulisch of misogyny. These formula attacks on various review sites are becoming as annoying as a Slammer worm; perhaps a rogue computer somewhere is assembling them. It is disingenuous, to say the least, to pass off the views and conversations of a novel's characters as either the viewpoint of the novel or of its author. Readers should be more concerned about Mulisch's slams against the province of Drenthe, "the Siberia of the Netherlands", according to Max. Perhaps unkind to Siberia also. (I was born near Drenthe in southern Groningen, and still have family there).
Book Description
Today, we accept that we live on a planet circling the sun, that our sun is just one of billions of stars in the galaxy we call the Milky Way, and that our galaxy is but one of billions born out of the big bang. Yet as recently as the early twentieth century, the general public and even astronomers had vague and confused notions about what lay beyond the visible stars. Minding the Heavens: The Story of Our Discovery of the Milky Way is about how scientists discovered that we lived in a galaxy, in fact, a universe full of galaxies. This fascinating story of the discovery of our own and other galaxies is told through the lives of seven astronomers: Thomas Wright, William Herschel, Wilhelm Struve, William Huggins, Jacobus Kapteyn, Harlow Shapley, and Edwin Hubble. Each contributed greatly to our present understanding of where we live in the cosmos. Through the science and lives of these seven people, each shaped by their family, friends, and contemporaries, we follow this amazing story of discovery. From the mid 1700s with Thomas Wright through to the mid 20th century with the more familiar names of Shapley and Hubble, each character bringing us nearer to our present understanding of the Universe.
Customer Reviews:
Our place in the galaxy.......2003-07-26
This is an account of how astronomers gradually came to realize that we inhabit a galaxy, one of many in the universe. It begins in the mid-eighteenth century and ends in the twentieth, tracing the work of seven selected astronomers. Their task was to puzzle out, from inside the structure, our rather undistinguished position in one of the spiral arms of the Milky Way galaxy. Belkora presents not only the science but the scientists - for example, how the loss of a young child inhibited one observer's creativity for a time. Long ago (in a galaxy far, far away) I edited writings by Dr. Belkora. I'm pleased to say that she's just as clear and accessible in this longer form. Her book is about how science works and also contributes to the history of ideas. This is an interesting volume that should appeal to professional and lay astronomers alike.
Great book for laymen.......2003-07-09
Minding the Heavens is written in an easy to understand style, a super book for all stargazers. Wonderful biographies of seven astronomy greats plus surprising final words on the structure of the Milky Way.
Book Description
Hitching rides on a motley assortment of freighters, dhows, yachts, and fishing smacks, Kevin Rushby sailed up the east coast of Africa in search of the lost pirate settlements that, in the sixteenth century, were established on the islands and atolls in the Indian Ocean. He turned east to the islands of Comoros and Madagascar, his ultimate objective being to locate the descendants of the infamous sixteenth-century pirates—such as Captain Misson, the legendary French pirate who may have been dreamed up by Daniel Defoe; English sailor-turned-buccaneer Thomas White; and Rhode Islander Thomas Tew—who carved kingdoms for themselves in the remote jungles of northeast Madagascar. As he traveled, Rushby met up with the crackpot dreamers, tough settlers, fighters and failures who live on the coasts and islands now—where forgotten Portuguese forts lie covered in jungle, where some have tried to shoot their way to paradise, and where the ocean can destroy lives and dreams as quickly as men and women create them.
Customer Reviews:
A Death-Defying Search for the Pirate Edens in East Africa.......2004-03-23
Unless you are a lot more adventurous than I am, the closest you will ever get to most of the places and people described in this book is reading the book. Mr. Kevin Rushby deserves great credit for taking on a very dangerous and unpleasant journey in search of what utopian life in the tropics really provides. His talent for taking situations seriously and letting his imagination run wild provides the book with a fiction-like quality that makes the writing more vivid and interesting than in most non-fiction books.
What little we know about pirates mostly comes to us through fiction . . . often built on bits and pieces of what people have claimed to be true about pirates. Mr. Rushby did his homework before starting by locating the regions on the Indian Ocean on or adjacent to Mozambique where pirates were supposed to have been active. From these stories, he heard tales of "edens" where pirates went to rest up . . . or even retire. "What were these edens like?" he wondered.
Starting from the area where the British East India Company launched its first voyages 400 years ago, he quickly moved to a freighter leaving South Africa so he could hedge-hop the coast of Mozambique. From there, his accommodations and creature comforts went mostly downhill. As he visited each area, he asked about pirates . . . but usually didn't learn very much until almost the end of the trip. But he did meet modern equivalents of people living in tropical "paradises" and he often reflects on what he finds. He often finds "trouble in paradise" as well as paradise.
Along the way, he suddenly discovers that not everyone is as friendly as they might be. Nature can be dangerous, too!
Be sure to stick with the book until the end. It just gets better and better.
I did grade the book down one star though. Why? I found that this would have been a better book if it had focused simply on what life is like in that part of the world . . . and either mentioned the pirates in passing or skipped them. I found the pirates to be more of a distraction than an appeal in my reading.
But if you are a great fan of books about pirates (no matter how remote the connection is), you will probably enjoy learning about the current reality and the ironies these facts reveal about the legends.
Product Description
words of self-discovery
8.25"L/5.5"W
Product Description
The Chaldeans, who lived about 4,00 years before Christ, studied the movements of the Sun, the Moon and the planets, knew many of the constellations and the 12 sins of the zodiac, divided the circle into 360 degrees and discovered the cycle of eclipses of the Sun and Moon. This book takes the reader from Chaldean times down through the 20th century flybys of Uranus and Halley's Comet, covering all aspects of this endlessly fascinating subject. Accompanying this extraordinary look at an extraordinary subject are more than 230 beautiful photographs, over 150 of them in full color. There are also more than 165 specially drawn, colorful diagrams and charts which help clarify sometimes-difficult scientific concepts.
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Books Index
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Polar Regions
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Greenland & The Arctic (Lonely Planet Travel Guides)
The Future of Ice: A Journey Into Cold
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