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kraghen21 's review for:
The Serpent and the Rainbow
by Wade Davis
The term zombi(e) originates in Haitian vodoun culture (voodoo), and while zombies in pop culture these days are fast, strong and a product of disease or parasitic infections, it is worth remembering that zombies in TV & computer games used to drag their festering corpses slowly across the ground in an awkward and stilted way.
This second notion is more akin to the Haitian definition of a zombi; a reanimated corpse, not overtaken by a malevolent species of fungi or a massive outbreak of a man-made virus, but reanimated through magic.
Canadian ethnobotanist Wade Davis traveled to Haiti in the 80s to determine whether psychoactive plants had a part to play in the numerous incidents reported of people who had been declared officially dead by a professional, only to be found later, dug from the grave, alive and breathing, although somewhat changed in their mental faculties.
This book is the account of Davis's foray into Haitian vodoun culture, and how he uncovers two answers to the mysterious cases of zombification on the island.
The first is plant-related, as he manages to classify the particular poisons involved in faking death symptoms well enough to fool several certified doctors (the dried glands of the extremely toxic pufferfish is a major ingredient), as well as the "antidote" to wake up the corpse again on the other side of the burial (the delirious effects of a high dosage of Datura stramonium not only reawakens the "corpse", but also leaves a permanent imprint on their mental state).
This alone is a significant discovery by Davis, but he probes further to uncover that zombification is a punishment served by high priests of vodoun, reserved for those judged to have transgressed the societal laws of the vodoun religion, which is deeply entrenched in the cultural amalgam of Haitis history as an epicenter of the transatlantic slave trade.
Fascinating!
The style of the book is a version of "narrative non-fiction", part serious scientific inquiries, part travel journal. The scientific chapters have a more "dry" style, containing a lot of information in a short amount of time. But for me, they were the most interesting, particularly the chapter detailing Haitian colonial history, along with one about various usages of lethal toxins in cultures around the world (in food for instance).
While Davis writes well enough for a "science guy", the descriptive fiction-imitating style of his "mystery story" didn't work for me, but I can see others being captivated by it. I just want more of the big ol' info-dumps!
This second notion is more akin to the Haitian definition of a zombi; a reanimated corpse, not overtaken by a malevolent species of fungi or a massive outbreak of a man-made virus, but reanimated through magic.
Canadian ethnobotanist Wade Davis traveled to Haiti in the 80s to determine whether psychoactive plants had a part to play in the numerous incidents reported of people who had been declared officially dead by a professional, only to be found later, dug from the grave, alive and breathing, although somewhat changed in their mental faculties.
This book is the account of Davis's foray into Haitian vodoun culture, and how he uncovers two answers to the mysterious cases of zombification on the island.
The first is plant-related, as he manages to classify the particular poisons involved in faking death symptoms well enough to fool several certified doctors (the dried glands of the extremely toxic pufferfish is a major ingredient), as well as the "antidote" to wake up the corpse again on the other side of the burial (the delirious effects of a high dosage of Datura stramonium not only reawakens the "corpse", but also leaves a permanent imprint on their mental state).
This alone is a significant discovery by Davis, but he probes further to uncover that zombification is a punishment served by high priests of vodoun, reserved for those judged to have transgressed the societal laws of the vodoun religion, which is deeply entrenched in the cultural amalgam of Haitis history as an epicenter of the transatlantic slave trade.
Fascinating!
The style of the book is a version of "narrative non-fiction", part serious scientific inquiries, part travel journal. The scientific chapters have a more "dry" style, containing a lot of information in a short amount of time. But for me, they were the most interesting, particularly the chapter detailing Haitian colonial history, along with one about various usages of lethal toxins in cultures around the world (in food for instance).
While Davis writes well enough for a "science guy", the descriptive fiction-imitating style of his "mystery story" didn't work for me, but I can see others being captivated by it. I just want more of the big ol' info-dumps!