Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by aerdna
Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller's Tragic Quest for Primitive Art by Carl Hoffman
3.0
Another audiobook.
I positively love adventure/exploration books, but something about the sensationalism of this one icks me out. Everything from the title to the over the top "gotcha" description of cannibalism in the second chapter is just...too much. Which is weird, because Hoffman spends a good deal of time describing what he perceives as the cultural insensitivity of 23 year old Michael Rockefeller marching into New Guinea in 1961 with his big bucks and thirst for primitive art for his NYC museum. Not that I disagree, but isn't Hoffman doing exactly the same thing with his modern day marching around New Guinea trying to kick up old ghosts that might get his informants in serious trouble? And offering $1,000 for a pair of glasses? This is something that makes me uneasy in a larger sense about being a tourist. For the most part, the places I visit would be better off and "realer" without me there. So why exactly am I there? What exactly are you fulfilling in yourself with this stint among the "savages?"
I still gave it three stars because it is a fascinating description of an utterly foreign culture and truly an engaging mystery. Books like this always make me yearn to jump on the next airplane bound for parts unknown.
I positively love adventure/exploration books, but something about the sensationalism of this one icks me out. Everything from the title to the over the top "gotcha" description of cannibalism in the second chapter is just...too much. Which is weird, because Hoffman spends a good deal of time describing what he perceives as the cultural insensitivity of 23 year old Michael Rockefeller marching into New Guinea in 1961 with his big bucks and thirst for primitive art for his NYC museum. Not that I disagree, but isn't Hoffman doing exactly the same thing with his modern day marching around New Guinea trying to kick up old ghosts that might get his informants in serious trouble? And offering $1,000 for a pair of glasses? This is something that makes me uneasy in a larger sense about being a tourist. For the most part, the places I visit would be better off and "realer" without me there. So why exactly am I there? What exactly are you fulfilling in yourself with this stint among the "savages?"
I still gave it three stars because it is a fascinating description of an utterly foreign culture and truly an engaging mystery. Books like this always make me yearn to jump on the next airplane bound for parts unknown.