Beyond Tiki, Bilge, and Test / Beyond Tiki
Book Review Thread
Pages: 1 27 replies
JT
Jungle Trader
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Wed, Dec 21, 2005 8:05 AM
I told you about Blue Latitudes. Here's another adventure story...."Jungle" by Yossi Ghinsberg. A harrowing true story of survival in the Bolivian jungle. It's so good, I read it in 3 days. I couldn't put it down. Bloodsucking leeches, jaguars, howler monkeys, whitewater rapids, mosquitos, foot rot, real live indians, waterfalls, death, life, and incredibly beautiful rainforests filled with incredibly beautiful waterfalls. Well, I guess you had to be there. As I read the book....I WAS there. [ Edited by: Jungle Trader 2005-12-21 11:29 ] [ Edited by: Jungle Trader 2006-04-16 08:57 ] |
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mbonga
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Wed, Dec 21, 2005 9:32 AM
If you like stories about jungles, here's a fictional one I recently read, with some choice quotes included below. The story wasn't very realistic, but it was very readable."Amazonia" (p. 79) (p. 92) (p. 91) (p. 92) [ Edited by: mbonga 2005-12-21 09:35 ] [ Edited by: mbonga 2005-12-21 11:58 ] [ Edited by: mbonga 2005-12-21 12:15 ] [ Edited by: mbonga 2005-12-21 12:26 ] |
JT
Jungle Trader
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Wed, Dec 21, 2005 11:35 AM
WHOA! Cutting the penis off? Dats brutal, but if it saves a life......... Thanks mbonga. |
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mbonga
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Wed, Dec 21, 2005 12:09 PM
Another thread here was talking about the reality of jungle tribes vs. the sanitized cultural perception of them, like in the movie "King Kong." Here's another book I recently read related to that theme. Sorry for the gore and the language, but I don't like to censor. And thanks for the reading tips: I'll see if I can find those 2 books you mentioned in a bookstore."State of Fear" (p. 580) (p. 586) (p. 597) |
JT
Jungle Trader
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Sun, Jan 15, 2006 4:23 PM
Another good book is "Where White Men Fear to Tread" the Autobiography of Russell Means, man I admire greatly. Get in touch with your inner native!! [ Edited by: Jungle Trader 2006-11-16 14:31 ] |
JT
Jungle Trader
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Wed, Mar 22, 2006 9:40 PM
Just finished reading "I Rigoberta Menchu" An Indian Woman in Guatemala. Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992. It seemed slow reading for the first half of the book, then it picked up. It's much the same thing that has happened to all Indians worldwide. I've heard she is curently still in exile in Canada. My next book is "Lasting Valor". About a black man, (yes, I said black) and his lifetime of dealing with racism, especially in WW2. He finally received a Purple Heart from Pres. Clinton for his courage and sacrifice. Incredible story what he and his troops did to help defeat the Nazis. Watched the story about him on History channel I believe. Incredible man. |
SS
Satan's Sin
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Wed, Mar 22, 2006 10:15 PM
Oh, Guns, Germs and Steel by a long shot. Basically explains all of human history in one book. A page-turner, believe me. |
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Gigantalope
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Wed, Mar 22, 2006 10:36 PM
Zebra Tiki can reccomend a million great adventure books... One of my all time faves is "Ring of Fire by the Brothers Blair" I'm reading "Eaters of the Dead" by Michael Crightin just now...it's sort of a reverse view of this...A civilized person from a subtropical climate gets mingled with some Norsmen int he 10th Century, and spends chronicles his life with them. |
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amiotiki
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Thu, Mar 23, 2006 7:53 AM
I had to read this book for my cultural anth graduate course...a good read. Interesting follow up - apparently most of her story was fabricated. Rigoberta blames her writing partner, who in turn blames Rigoberta...quite a controversy. The story is probably a composite of the experiences of many different people in Guatemala - they're just not Rigoberta's. hmmm. amiotiki |
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aquarj
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Thu, Mar 23, 2006 1:38 PM
Sounds like the Seinfeld episode where J. Peterman (aka bongofury) buys Kramer's life story to use as his own for his autobiography. -Randy |
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kctiki
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Thu, Mar 23, 2006 3:46 PM
I'd recommend "The Education of Little Tree" by Forrest Carter. It's his autobiographical rememberances of life with his Eastern Cherokee Hill country grandparents. If you have a heart at all, these characters will stay in your heart forever. |
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bigkahuna627
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Fri, Mar 24, 2006 12:57 PM
shogun |
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ZebraTiki
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Tue, Mar 28, 2006 6:14 PM
If you're interested in what happens when you spend 13 summers living among wild Alaskan brown bears, then becoming a grizzly entree, then read "Grizzly Maze". This book is about the real life adventure of Timothy Treadwell, not to mention eccentricity, mania, possibly a con game, and two untimely deaths, four if you count the bears involved. It's a great book for discussing how crazy is crazy, and where does common sense end and science begin. |
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bigkahuna627
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Wed, Mar 29, 2006 3:58 AM
The Jenna Jameson biography was a good read. |
JT
Jungle Trader
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Wed, Mar 29, 2006 8:12 AM
Yah Amiotiki, I guess Rigoberta fooled the entire world. Maybe we could say it was "based on fact". kctiki, I bought that book last night. I already dig it after the first chapter. Zebratiki, I saw the show on TV about Timothy and all the footage. Just amazing. There was no line drawn. With grizzly's you had better draw a line and NOT cross it and that line should be farther than 5 feet OR you're dead. Common sense was out the window. James Michener's HAWAII is another good book to read. No brainer. |
JT
Jungle Trader
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Thu, Apr 13, 2006 8:39 PM
WOW! "The Education of Little Tree" is a great book. Thanks kc for your recommendation. Last night I read the chapter, "A Night On the Mountain" twice and I laughed till I cried, and continued laughing even today while I was working. Mr. Chunk and Mr. Slick, 2 characters with a get-rich scheme that turned into a nightmare. Okay not a hellish nightmare (although they may have thought they were in hell), but a survivable nightmare. A quote from the book, on Sharing Little Tree, "Granma said when you come on something good, first thing to do is share it with whoever you can find; that way, the good spreads out where no telling it will go. Which is right." Another quote, "Little Tree is more than a touching account of 1930's depression-era life. This book is a human document of universal meaning. The Education of Little Tree speaks to the human spirit and reaches the very depth of the human soul." My goodness, you are right kc, it's like we have lost our way, our souls. But we still have each other and we do the best we can in this world that we live in. I just thought of the song by Pink Floyd, "Welcome To The Machine". |
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RevBambooBen
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Thu, Apr 13, 2006 10:21 PM
Black Like Me. Alltime! |
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kctiki
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Sat, Apr 15, 2006 10:05 AM
Re: more funny stuff in "The Education of Little Tree" - Grandpa's commentary on the snakebite incident cracked me up too. A few other books I found funny are "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole and "Motherless Brooklyn" by Jonathan Lethem, both feature noble oddballs struggling to make their place in our modern world. |
JT
Jungle Trader
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Sat, Apr 15, 2006 10:15 AM
Uh yeah, the chapter on Willow John and the frog in church. "LARRRRUP" |
JT
Jungle Trader
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Sun, Apr 16, 2006 9:09 PM
hmmmm, duped again? |
JT
Jungle Trader
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Sat, Apr 22, 2006 9:24 PM
Oh yeah, Kon Tiki...Thor Heyerdahl The Book of Tiki ....Sven Kirsten If you haven't read these....you ain't Tiki Tiki Tiki. |
JT
Jungle Trader
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Thu, Nov 16, 2006 2:31 PM
If you like American History, check out "The Killer Angels" by Michael Shaara. It's the closest you'll ever get to going back in time to the Gettysburg battle, Civil War. This book is like a time machine. I'm watching the dvd now. Fascinating. |
JT
Jungle Trader
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Tue, Jan 23, 2007 7:30 PM
For you pirate fans, take a look at "The Pirate Coast" by Richard Zacks. A historical account of this countries first overseas covert operation. Washington Post Book World: Thomas Jefferson is revered among most Americans as a great President. After reading this book it is my view that he was an average scoundrel politician, though history books paint a different picture. The real hero, who it turns out was abandoned, was William Eaton. Ever heard of him? My guess is no. He was the greater American hero, yet nobody has ever heard of him. Shame. Funny how, from the past to the present, (over 200 hundred years) you'll find the same old song regarding our legislative branch of Gubmint and the parallel personalities & cultures of the people who inhabit that area of the world, (Tripoli). Same old f*^&ing song 200 years later. Bastards! Edited to add (Tripoli) so as to clarify focus of my indignation. Get in touch with your inner native!! [ Edited by: Jungle Trader 2007-01-23 19:38 ] |
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VampiressRN
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Mon, Jul 23, 2007 7:25 PM
Generally the books I buy are reference books with pictures...most prompt a nostalgic fury in my mind and heart. Not much of a reader, so only reviewing here from an "OMG I remember that!!!" viewpoint. Just got 3 books today (Amazon.com): DECORATING WITH FUNKY SHUI KITSCH DELUXE FLORIDA KITSCH |
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Haole'akamai
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Mon, Jul 23, 2007 10:36 PM
Stunning, this is actually one of my favorite books. You better not be bullshitting, Ben, because I will have to beat you down. Other than that, I finished H.P. and the Deathly Hallows yesterday. Didn't much like the ending, but what can you do... |
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Vonratnick
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Wed, Oct 17, 2007 8:36 PM
Ditto. I'm just re reading one of my faves I thought I'd share - 'Towards Tahiti' The author (WB Crealock) sails a square rig schooner between 1951 and 1953 exploring the following locations: In a dive in Tahiti: "The entertainment consisted of watching a succession of females cruise up and down under very short canvas, and eventually under bare poles." In the Marquesas: "...and together we climbed the wooded hillside in search of tikis which were said to lie there. We found the place, a small clearing draped with foliage and overgrown with grass, and the edge of the clearing we saw what seemed at first to be black blocks of weathered stone. We went closer and saw that each was hewn into a squat, life size figure with faintly leering features." Mangareva: "As the visiting male, I was naturally the target for Terumi's hula, and the sight of her weaving towards me with her hips keeping in time with the guitars, was a devastating one for a timid bachelor like myself. We were to see many hulas after that, and learned to judge fairly well the ability of a particular performer, but I doubt of any other had quite the impact of the first hula in Mangareva; and only the great Augistine in Tahiti could match it for skill". Nengonengo: "Having marked the channel, we motored up the lagoon and came to a most perfect little anchorage, where a beach formed the corner of the reef and palm trees ran along behind it for a hundred yards or more. I, for one, blessed the reef which had imprisoned us in such a place". Lotsa good B&W pics in the book Anyone suggest more in this vein? |
JT
Jungle Trader
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Thu, Nov 19, 2009 1:24 PM
Just finished "The Shack", alls I can say is read it, for those of you with doubts about "The Great Mystery" it might help. |
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beadtiki
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Thu, Nov 19, 2009 4:34 PM
Someone mentioned diving - I'm JUST now reading Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson. It was already made into a Discovery Channel or Nat Geo or something like it documentary years ago - but I had nothing to read and my mom and given this to me a few years ago - so I decided "What the hell." It has been an amazing story so far - I have to keep reminding myself this is a non-fiction story - not another Rollins book (by the way, I LOVE Rollins! He puts some excellent adventures together - with a twist of mysticism!) I know, not exactly Tiki or poly-related, just fascinating. |
Pages: 1 27 replies