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noellefraser's review against another edition
4.0
"It's easy," I said to Daan that evening. "We fly to Macassar, connect with a plane to Maumere, discover our Chinese friend's brother-in-law, hire a lorry, drive two hundred miles to the other end of Flores, find a canoe or something, cross the five-mile strait to Komodo and then all we have to do is to catch our dragon."
I started reading this book around a month ago, knowing that I would not have a lot of time for reading in the foreseeable future. Now, nearly a month later, I have finally finished this book and can say that I could not have made a better choice. Talk about reading the perfect book at the perfect time...
While it is true that this book is a bit on the heavier and denser side, somehow it worked really well for me in this situation. I ended up reading around one or two chapters a day, in the evening before going to bed. This equaled to around 20 to 25 pages a day, which I personally feel like was a good pace to keep so that the amount of information isn't too overwhelming. Towards the end, I sped up a little bit as I had more time to read, but it still didn't feel too dense for me, simply because by this point I was so used to this writing style and the type of stories that were being told. It's almost weird now, to think that I am finished with the book and won't be reading more chapters every night.
The stories itself were amazing, it was a lot of fun to follow Attenborough's adventures around the world and hear about all the kinds of animals he came across. In the later chapters, his well-known humour started to come through as well, so it was incredibly entertaining.
If I'm being honest, I probably wouldn't recommend this book to people who struggle with longer books and/or dense writing styles. It is a little bit on the heavier side and it does take some time to get used to it. However, I myself don't really tend to go for the long books, rather preferring shorter and eventful stories, and I still really, really enjoyed this book. I think, in the end, if you are curious about nature, travel, and especially animals, and you are willing to invest a little patience in discovering far off lands and different cultures, then you will love this book.
Also, I would probably expect that if you are interested in this book, you also enjoy nature documentaries and I think that comes with a certain amount of patience for quiet moments in story telling, so you'll probably be fine.
Actual rating: 4.2 stars
I started reading this book around a month ago, knowing that I would not have a lot of time for reading in the foreseeable future. Now, nearly a month later, I have finally finished this book and can say that I could not have made a better choice. Talk about reading the perfect book at the perfect time...
While it is true that this book is a bit on the heavier and denser side, somehow it worked really well for me in this situation. I ended up reading around one or two chapters a day, in the evening before going to bed. This equaled to around 20 to 25 pages a day, which I personally feel like was a good pace to keep so that the amount of information isn't too overwhelming. Towards the end, I sped up a little bit as I had more time to read, but it still didn't feel too dense for me, simply because by this point I was so used to this writing style and the type of stories that were being told. It's almost weird now, to think that I am finished with the book and won't be reading more chapters every night.
The stories itself were amazing, it was a lot of fun to follow Attenborough's adventures around the world and hear about all the kinds of animals he came across. In the later chapters, his well-known humour started to come through as well, so it was incredibly entertaining.
If I'm being honest, I probably wouldn't recommend this book to people who struggle with longer books and/or dense writing styles. It is a little bit on the heavier side and it does take some time to get used to it. However, I myself don't really tend to go for the long books, rather preferring shorter and eventful stories, and I still really, really enjoyed this book. I think, in the end, if you are curious about nature, travel, and especially animals, and you are willing to invest a little patience in discovering far off lands and different cultures, then you will love this book.
Also, I would probably expect that if you are interested in this book, you also enjoy nature documentaries and I think that comes with a certain amount of patience for quiet moments in story telling, so you'll probably be fine.
Actual rating: 4.2 stars
ainereadsthings's review against another edition
5.0
It’s no secret that I’m a massive Attenborough fan, and although I’ve watched bits and pieces of some of the Zoo Quest programmes and was familiar with them, I didn’t know all the details of where he went and what they found. This is a fascinating book of his adventures in Guyana, Indonesia, and Paraguay and if you have any interest at all in the natural world, Attenborough, or natural history programming, you should pick this up.
sheltie15's review
5.0
It felt like I was there, part of the adventure. Lovely insights into the communities that were visited. Now I really want to go on holiday!!
celinec's review against another edition
3.75
An enjoyable read for fans of learning about nature and David Attenborough. Tells you some really interesting stories about animals and interactions. A lot of it was about the travel and logistics which was cool but towards the end I got a little bored of, compared to learning about his interactions and the animals.
timburbage's review against another edition
5.0
What a wonderful book.
This is a collection of three pieces of work, explaining the adventures of a young David Attenborough exploring Guyana, Indonesia and Paraguay in the pursuit of animals to film and return to London Zoo during the 1950s. Each sections has its own flow and purpose, and it was great not only to read about the experiences of the animals but also the experiences of the people. From entering an Amerindian Séance to travelling through bandit country looking for armadillos, Attenborough saw huge areas of hitherto unseen places and collected animals that were new to British eyes.
The main joy of this book was the many scrapes the team got into. With minimal communication technology they spent days stranded up the river, on a fishing boat where the captain didn't know how to navigate, or drugging locals so they wouldn't fire shotguns throughout the night. Attenborough is resourceful, fixing boat engines with no equipment, kind, careful not to intrude on local customs, and built relationships with everyone he dealt with through a charming sense of humour. Then towards the end of the book, he wrestles a wolf. A freaking wolf!
A great travel journal, animal journal, and a snapshot in time. Confirms David Attenborough as a guest to my imaginary celebrity dinner party.
This is a collection of three pieces of work, explaining the adventures of a young David Attenborough exploring Guyana, Indonesia and Paraguay in the pursuit of animals to film and return to London Zoo during the 1950s. Each sections has its own flow and purpose, and it was great not only to read about the experiences of the animals but also the experiences of the people. From entering an Amerindian Séance to travelling through bandit country looking for armadillos, Attenborough saw huge areas of hitherto unseen places and collected animals that were new to British eyes.
The main joy of this book was the many scrapes the team got into. With minimal communication technology they spent days stranded up the river, on a fishing boat where the captain didn't know how to navigate, or drugging locals so they wouldn't fire shotguns throughout the night. Attenborough is resourceful, fixing boat engines with no equipment, kind, careful not to intrude on local customs, and built relationships with everyone he dealt with through a charming sense of humour. Then towards the end of the book, he wrestles a wolf. A freaking wolf!
A great travel journal, animal journal, and a snapshot in time. Confirms David Attenborough as a guest to my imaginary celebrity dinner party.
georgiagm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0