Take a photo of a barcode or cover
176 reviews for:
Das glücklichste Volk: sieben Jahre bei den Pirahã-Indianern am Amazonas
Daniel L. Everett
3.81 AVERAGE
176 reviews for:
Das glücklichste Volk: sieben Jahre bei den Pirahã-Indianern am Amazonas
Daniel L. Everett
3.81 AVERAGE
This was a fascinating primer to the Pirahã culture, one I had heard of in Linguistics 101 but never read about. I can't decide if Everett's book exoticizes their tribe or just highly respects it (the conclusion generally makes me believe the latter). But either way, I learned a lot about their language and way of life, to the extent that I realized my fictional short story inspired by them can only claim to be loosely so. For example, my story involves a prophecy, but the Pirahã do not plan for the future, interestingly. I made many highlights in this Kindle text and hope to revisit them as I continue my story.
Anyone interested in linguistics or remote cultures will be fascinated by this book!
Anyone interested in linguistics or remote cultures will be fascinated by this book!
informative
reflective
medium-paced
2025 reads: 8/300
this book details the author’s time with the pirahã people, including aspects of their unique language. when everett first arrived, his goal as a christian missionary was to translate the new testament into the pirahã language and convert them to christianity. what he found instead was a language that defied many of the “rules” of language we thought were universal. this book was recommended to me by a friend, and i’m so grateful for that because it would not have been on my radar otherwise. i have an interest in linguistics, and this taught me so much about the field. i recommend it to anyone else with a similar interest!
this book details the author’s time with the pirahã people, including aspects of their unique language. when everett first arrived, his goal as a christian missionary was to translate the new testament into the pirahã language and convert them to christianity. what he found instead was a language that defied many of the “rules” of language we thought were universal. this book was recommended to me by a friend, and i’m so grateful for that because it would not have been on my radar otherwise. i have an interest in linguistics, and this taught me so much about the field. i recommend it to anyone else with a similar interest!
3.5 stars (get on that half star business, Goodreads!)
80% of this was fascinating. I need it made into a documentary so I can see my mental pictures in technicolor because that's the only way they'll get more glorious. The Amazon is a place of myth to me, exotic in its otherness, but also slightly nostalgic in the wildness that reminds me of the bushveld of my childhood. While my experiences in the African bush might keep me alive there for a few days, I'd be a goner in the Amazon after a few hours for sure. So to read about someone like Everett, an American who spent most of his adult life living with the Pirahã ... I don't know whether to call him brave or crazy.
What most interested me : learning about the Pirahã and their culture. There's a lot in here that adds to the discourse on western cultural imperialism. Learning about the Pirahã's way of life was eye opening. I also loved the story of Everett's journey from missionary to someone less God-inclined.
What made me take off a few stars : the writing, while strong and fluid by the end of the book, started off a bit shaky and immature. Some of his anecdotes were pointless and rambling. Also, I won't lie, some of the chapters on linguistics almost put me to sleep. While I find endangered languages interesting, clunky debates on terminology and theory, I do not. However, if you're like me and come to this book for the adventures down the Amazon, don't worry. A quick skim past the intellectual linguistic lectures won't have you missing anything. It's still worth a read.
80% of this was fascinating. I need it made into a documentary so I can see my mental pictures in technicolor because that's the only way they'll get more glorious. The Amazon is a place of myth to me, exotic in its otherness, but also slightly nostalgic in the wildness that reminds me of the bushveld of my childhood. While my experiences in the African bush might keep me alive there for a few days, I'd be a goner in the Amazon after a few hours for sure. So to read about someone like Everett, an American who spent most of his adult life living with the Pirahã ... I don't know whether to call him brave or crazy.
What most interested me : learning about the Pirahã and their culture. There's a lot in here that adds to the discourse on western cultural imperialism. Learning about the Pirahã's way of life was eye opening. I also loved the story of Everett's journey from missionary to someone less God-inclined.
What made me take off a few stars : the writing, while strong and fluid by the end of the book, started off a bit shaky and immature. Some of his anecdotes were pointless and rambling. Also, I won't lie, some of the chapters on linguistics almost put me to sleep. While I find endangered languages interesting, clunky debates on terminology and theory, I do not. However, if you're like me and come to this book for the adventures down the Amazon, don't worry. A quick skim past the intellectual linguistic lectures won't have you missing anything. It's still worth a read.
This book felt like several rolled into one. The author has so much info he wants to share with the reader that sometimes there isn't a smooth flow to the narrative. With that said, it is a very interesting book for those interested in lost languages and uncontacted cultures.
The Piraha are a fascinating people. Their language, consisting of 3 vowels and 8 consonants, does not limit them from communicating with each other in close or distant proximity from one another. In addition to verbal speech, the Piraha people communicate with each other by humming, singing, and whistling.
A hard-working and resourceful people, the Piraha welcome Everett into the tribe and teach him their way of life - which ultimately has a profound impact on Everett's beliefs and how he views life once he goes back home.
The Piraha are a fascinating people. Their language, consisting of 3 vowels and 8 consonants, does not limit them from communicating with each other in close or distant proximity from one another. In addition to verbal speech, the Piraha people communicate with each other by humming, singing, and whistling.
A hard-working and resourceful people, the Piraha welcome Everett into the tribe and teach him their way of life - which ultimately has a profound impact on Everett's beliefs and how he views life once he goes back home.
adventurous
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Rape
Minor: Child abuse, Gun violence
This was fascinating: 70% "I lived for years in the Amazon with my family and all this crazy shit happened", 20% academic "the conventional approach and consensus about language doesn't fit this language/culture", and 10% "and this whole experience caused me to lose my faith". There's no trite call to action, no obvious lessons or takeaways: just one person's experience of an entirely different world.
I saw this author speak at a convention in Seattle a couple weeks ago and was so fascinated with his lecture that I immediately downloaded the book on my Kindle before I even left the building. Who would have thought that a linguist's study of a remote Amazonian village's language would be such a page turner?! In my first sit-down with the book today, I whizzed through a 1/4 it.
Jan. 15, 2010 update:
I finished the book. It was captivating in the beginning half, but was punctuated by a mid-section that was pretty heavy in linguist lingo. I got lost and bored in some of the language technicalities, but the last chapter brought it back around to the fascinating cultural/social/spiritual aspects of the language and people. I wish the author would have expanded the final chapter, or better yet, spent the bulk of the book on that section. It's a major thing for a Christian missionary to spend years in the jungle trying to save/convert the villagers and in the end come out converted by those very people and find himself an atheist. That's an astounding finish, I'm surprised that this heavy summation was merely a single chapter. Either way, a very interesting book despite the bland mid-section.
Jan. 15, 2010 update:
I finished the book. It was captivating in the beginning half, but was punctuated by a mid-section that was pretty heavy in linguist lingo. I got lost and bored in some of the language technicalities, but the last chapter brought it back around to the fascinating cultural/social/spiritual aspects of the language and people. I wish the author would have expanded the final chapter, or better yet, spent the bulk of the book on that section. It's a major thing for a Christian missionary to spend years in the jungle trying to save/convert the villagers and in the end come out converted by those very people and find himself an atheist. That's an astounding finish, I'm surprised that this heavy summation was merely a single chapter. Either way, a very interesting book despite the bland mid-section.
informative
inspiring
medium-paced