Daren
No other readers of this on GR, so fair to say it is a bit obscure. Published in 1962, it is the story of ten months the author spent in the Amazon, presumably in the few years prior.
It is a bit difficult to make out exactly what this book wants to be. The title sells it as an adventure story of a fortune hunter in the Brazilian Amazon, and it is, to a point. The author appears British without specifically saying, and he is in Brazil to find his fortune. He tells a dramatic story, in chapters that jump about a bit, of first, seeking semi-precious aquamarine stones from deep in the Amazon. The main problem here is he must travel far in a hired native canoe with guide and men who he never fully trusts, knowing that they know he travels with large sums of cash with which to but the aquamarine!
His ordeal becomes more about self doubt and lack of trust, compounded by not sleeping for fear of having his throat cut... the narrative is all about the journey, is encounters with beasts and jungle monsters (anaconda and another river creature which we never really get to the bottom of), only to arrive at his destination to be told he didn't make the money he though he would, and his new venture was cedar wood harvesting in the Amazon!
So next we go through the elaborate process of securing land to begin harvesting the timber. At least he does achieve the timber harvesting in this part of the narrative, but again we divert into stories about other white men and how they run their workers, his crazy neighbour, Dona Julia who rules through terror (whom he never meets), and how he gets all caught up in macumba rites because of a woman he can't resist getting involved with... Macumba being the religions brought from various parts of Africa by slaves which evolved to combine in a mix of African, Catholic and indigenous beliefs, which the author characterises as black magic.
It's hard to say how much of this book he has embellished, or whether he was in as much danger as is expressed in the narrative. He plays it up pretty hard.
There are numerous black and white photographs within the book, ok quality for the age of the publication. Most relate generally with the narrative, but not all are adequately explained in context.
3 stars
No other readers of this on GR, so fair to say it is a bit obscure. Published in 1962, it is the story of ten months the author spent in the Amazon, presumably in the few years prior.
It is a bit difficult to make out exactly what this book wants to be. The title sells it as an adventure story of a fortune hunter in the Brazilian Amazon, and it is, to a point. The author appears British without specifically saying, and he is in Brazil to find his fortune. He tells a dramatic story, in chapters that jump about a bit, of first, seeking semi-precious aquamarine stones from deep in the Amazon. The main problem here is he must travel far in a hired native canoe with guide and men who he never fully trusts, knowing that they know he travels with large sums of cash with which to but the aquamarine!
His ordeal becomes more about self doubt and lack of trust, compounded by not sleeping for fear of having his throat cut... the narrative is all about the journey, is encounters with beasts and jungle monsters (anaconda and another river creature which we never really get to the bottom of), only to arrive at his destination to be told he didn't make the money he though he would, and his new venture was cedar wood harvesting in the Amazon!
So next we go through the elaborate process of securing land to begin harvesting the timber. At least he does achieve the timber harvesting in this part of the narrative, but again we divert into stories about other white men and how they run their workers, his crazy neighbour, Dona Julia who rules through terror (whom he never meets), and how he gets all caught up in macumba rites because of a woman he can't resist getting involved with... Macumba being the religions brought from various parts of Africa by slaves which evolved to combine in a mix of African, Catholic and indigenous beliefs, which the author characterises as black magic.
It's hard to say how much of this book he has embellished, or whether he was in as much danger as is expressed in the narrative. He plays it up pretty hard.
There are numerous black and white photographs within the book, ok quality for the age of the publication. Most relate generally with the narrative, but not all are adequately explained in context.
3 stars