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A review by kartrick
Notebooks from New Guinea: Field Notes of a Tropical Biologist by Vojtech Novotny
4.0
Personal, biased rating: 3.75/5
Objective rating: 3/5
I have had the opportunity to interact with the author both professionally (in the ecology department in Ceske Budejovice) and casually (in the pub setting). I've met quite a few New Guineans and heard many a story, and I dream of visiting the place someday. Hence, I might have read the book with a somewhat different attitude from that of the average reader, which might be more on the objective side of things.
A large part of what I didn't like about the book is the evidently sloppy editorial process it went through. When a book starts off with a typo in the epigraph while quoting Alfred Russel Wallace, you are not the most enticed. This is by far not the only incidence of typos in the book, but there are other editorial choices that ground my gears as I read. For one, commas are highly overused and other punctuation marks are used erroneously. Secondly, I feel like there is a lot that was lost or convoluted in translation. Sometimes, the sentences were just too long and complicated, seemed forced, and were hard to follow.
Moreover, these very long sentences often contrasted strongly with the weirdly extremely short chapters. I understand that the book is a collection of essays and notes/musings, but many of the chapters felt unnecessarily abrupt. Especially in parts 2 (Island of a Thousand Tongues and a Wild, Wild Landscape) and 3 (Old and New Customs of a Tribal Society), where most chapters felt like a tray of plain (albeit very interesting) facts being placed on one's table, with not much contribution from the author (or as much as I'd have liked). On multiple occasions, just as I was settling myself into the premise of one chapter and my curiosity was being piqued, I arrived at the next. I must say though, that this isn't too unexpected, given who the author is. I certainly did not go in expecting a 10-page philosophical essay on Black Jesus. Perhaps part of this is pure envy at the exceptional adventures he has lived.
Other complaints include that the book might be a tough read for those not scientifically inclined (not to mention those with a poor sense of humour). I was also slightly surprised by the kind of paper that was used for the pages---the textbooky sort of glossy paper rather than the typical paper used in novels. But again, I guess that fits well with the academic motif.
Now, my personal rating of the book was definitely lower in the first half, but climbed up in the second (particularly with part 4, about doing science in PNG. Go figure.). And overall, I really enjoyed the book. Aside from the curious, lively, colourful and romantic images that Vojta presents of PNG, the next most notable element of the book is his humour. You're in luck if you're a fan of dry and satirical humour, because the book has truckloads (or should I say, Land Cruiser-loads?). I can't remember the last time I've actually LOLd this much whilst reading a non-comedy. Benson's illustrations certainly helped add flavour, but I wonder about the mantis photo on the cover (of all possible photos!).
I also appreciated the regular parallels drawn between tribes in PNG and in Czechia. It illuminated a unique way of looking at certain things. I like the broad perspective that is given throughout, incorporating history, economics, culture, legend, and of course science. The author's frequent commentaries on missionaries and surveyors, the only other groups of people that pioneered expeditions into mystical lands, were also entertaining and enriching at the same time. Some of the noteworthy chapters are "Buy the Book of Books, we have no other", "They chewed and were of good cheer together...", "The history of one research publication" and "And it was such a beautiful hypothesis".
The book only left me more captivated by PNG than before. I wonder how much things have changed, considering that it's been more than 10 years since the book was published.
Objective rating: 3/5
I have had the opportunity to interact with the author both professionally (in the ecology department in Ceske Budejovice) and casually (in the pub setting). I've met quite a few New Guineans and heard many a story, and I dream of visiting the place someday. Hence, I might have read the book with a somewhat different attitude from that of the average reader, which might be more on the objective side of things.
A large part of what I didn't like about the book is the evidently sloppy editorial process it went through. When a book starts off with a typo in the epigraph while quoting Alfred Russel Wallace, you are not the most enticed. This is by far not the only incidence of typos in the book, but there are other editorial choices that ground my gears as I read. For one, commas are highly overused and other punctuation marks are used erroneously. Secondly, I feel like there is a lot that was lost or convoluted in translation. Sometimes, the sentences were just too long and complicated, seemed forced, and were hard to follow.
Moreover, these very long sentences often contrasted strongly with the weirdly extremely short chapters. I understand that the book is a collection of essays and notes/musings, but many of the chapters felt unnecessarily abrupt. Especially in parts 2 (Island of a Thousand Tongues and a Wild, Wild Landscape) and 3 (Old and New Customs of a Tribal Society), where most chapters felt like a tray of plain (albeit very interesting) facts being placed on one's table, with not much contribution from the author (or as much as I'd have liked). On multiple occasions, just as I was settling myself into the premise of one chapter and my curiosity was being piqued, I arrived at the next. I must say though, that this isn't too unexpected, given who the author is. I certainly did not go in expecting a 10-page philosophical essay on Black Jesus. Perhaps part of this is pure envy at the exceptional adventures he has lived.
Other complaints include that the book might be a tough read for those not scientifically inclined (not to mention those with a poor sense of humour). I was also slightly surprised by the kind of paper that was used for the pages---the textbooky sort of glossy paper rather than the typical paper used in novels. But again, I guess that fits well with the academic motif.
Now, my personal rating of the book was definitely lower in the first half, but climbed up in the second (particularly with part 4, about doing science in PNG. Go figure.). And overall, I really enjoyed the book. Aside from the curious, lively, colourful and romantic images that Vojta presents of PNG, the next most notable element of the book is his humour. You're in luck if you're a fan of dry and satirical humour, because the book has truckloads (or should I say, Land Cruiser-loads?). I can't remember the last time I've actually LOLd this much whilst reading a non-comedy. Benson's illustrations certainly helped add flavour, but I wonder about the mantis photo on the cover (of all possible photos!).
I also appreciated the regular parallels drawn between tribes in PNG and in Czechia. It illuminated a unique way of looking at certain things. I like the broad perspective that is given throughout, incorporating history, economics, culture, legend, and of course science. The author's frequent commentaries on missionaries and surveyors, the only other groups of people that pioneered expeditions into mystical lands, were also entertaining and enriching at the same time. Some of the noteworthy chapters are "Buy the Book of Books, we have no other", "They chewed and were of good cheer together...", "The history of one research publication" and "And it was such a beautiful hypothesis".
The book only left me more captivated by PNG than before. I wonder how much things have changed, considering that it's been more than 10 years since the book was published.