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nfiertz's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
danielmbensen's review against another edition
4.0
A clear and lucid description of the life of a missionary as he struggles with adapting to life among, and learns the language of, the profoundly different Piraha people. I read this book as a real-life first-contact story, and loved it. Everett is very good about separating fact from speculation and emotional reaction, and leaves you with (what at least feels like) a complete and well-balanced view of Piraha society and culture.
I plowed through the first part of the book, but slowed down on the second part, which is a discussion of linguistics and a critique of Chomskyan Universal Grammar. I'm interested in linguistics, but not qualified to have an opinion, and I would have preferred to be left out of this argument.
The last part, about Everett's "de-conversion" by the Piraha from Christianity to Atheism, was more provocative, but it didn't tell me much I didn't already know.
I plowed through the first part of the book, but slowed down on the second part, which is a discussion of linguistics and a critique of Chomskyan Universal Grammar. I'm interested in linguistics, but not qualified to have an opinion, and I would have preferred to be left out of this argument.
The last part, about Everett's "de-conversion" by the Piraha from Christianity to Atheism, was more provocative, but it didn't tell me much I didn't already know.
veealiceh's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
Well written and interesting topic area. What he did was incredible. I enjoyed the life but the language isn’t as much my jam, although this is more because it isn’t my interest rather than the writing!
kahawa's review against another edition
5.0
This was fascinating, and had very little to do with the author's beliefs and deconversion, but rather was mostly about his interactions with the Pirahãs. There was quite a bit of technical linguistic discussion, which I loved. Daniel seems very intelligent and learned. He has a very gentle and non-judgemental way of discussing issues. I think his theories about culture and language make much more sense than Chomsky's.
At times it wasn't totally clear where a particular story was going. I think it could have benefiting from editing. The narration was ok but there were some glaring mistakes and stumblings.
At times it wasn't totally clear where a particular story was going. I think it could have benefiting from editing. The narration was ok but there were some glaring mistakes and stumblings.
emmareviews's review against another edition
3.0
I had previously read this book as part of an undergrad linguistics course I was taking but was required to read the first section. I thought it was about time I reread that portion and finished the rest of it. I was a bit conflicted over this one. On the surface it should be right up my alley - a fascinating memoir, unique linguistic analysis, funny or moving stories about a different culture, and a discussion on the necessity of Christianity. In actuality it was difficult to read at times. The section on the author’s life told such compelling stories about a culture that I did really enjoy learning about but it was also kinda all over the place. It wasn’t difficult to follow but I definitely did not understand the logic of the progression of the stories. I also disagreed with a good number of the conclusions he drew throughout. The portion on language seemed both too dense for a layperson but also not as detailed as I would have liked on certain aspects. All in all, I loved learning about a culture and language so completely different from ours and having certain beliefs and assumptions challenged but I don’t think I will be returning to this book again. 🗣👤🌤
janthonytucson's review against another edition
4.0
If you can get past the first few chapters this book really pays off. I came to this book through my research into our modern conception of time as it is cited across multiple books I have read. The time element presented in the book is indeed important, however I found the aspect of how the Pirahã determine truth statements and modern day pragmatism to be the most profound insight of this book. I've been reading Richard Rorty, William James, and John Dewey and the concept that whether or not something is true in some specific conception of objectivity is really not that important, what is important is if what is claimed to be true works and is relevant to the local context.
Our incessant need to find universal truths, or to turn locally contingent 'truths' into universials, artificially delimits the spread of our possible future potentialities. The Pirahã understand this, Western pragmatic philosophers like Rorty, Dewey, and James get this, and I believe if this conception of truth was allowed to become embedded within our culture, would also become accepted and celebrated; however this epistemological conception of truth would fundamentally alters the logics of modern capitalism, and undermine its hegemonic hold over our homogenized global culture.
The need of capital to define risk parameters necessarily lowers our horizon of what can be true. It would appear that the Pirahã have a much broader and sensuous relationship with truth than any citizen of late modernity.
Our incessant need to find universal truths, or to turn locally contingent 'truths' into universials, artificially delimits the spread of our possible future potentialities. The Pirahã understand this, Western pragmatic philosophers like Rorty, Dewey, and James get this, and I believe if this conception of truth was allowed to become embedded within our culture, would also become accepted and celebrated; however this epistemological conception of truth would fundamentally alters the logics of modern capitalism, and undermine its hegemonic hold over our homogenized global culture.
The need of capital to define risk parameters necessarily lowers our horizon of what can be true. It would appear that the Pirahã have a much broader and sensuous relationship with truth than any citizen of late modernity.
cleotherat's review against another edition
3.0
This is a very interesting read (quite thought provoking) but it wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I was hoping for more personal accounts/revelations of the author's experiences. Instead the book was largely about linguistic theory (with much emphasis on the limitations of Chomsky's theories). I would recommend the book but be aware - it is more academic than memoir.