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A review by melissagallant_
Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle by Daniel L. Everett
3.0
I think this was one of the first books I ever added to Goodreads back in 2014 when I created my account. It's been one of those things where I see it and think "wow, that really is right up my alley, I should seriously grab it from the library sometime soon" and then promptly shift it down a few notches on my "to-read" list in favour of the next fiction book.
This year I am trying to read more non-fiction and it seemed like a great opportunity to cross this one off my list. I am glad I did.
This is a memoir written by a Christian missionary and linguist who lived with the Pirahã, a tribe living in the Brazilian jungle. This tribe's language is unlike any other living language in several respects and Everett proposes that it is shaped partially by their culture. With many real-life examples, he explains how the culture and the language are linked. He posits that study of this language may overhaul our understanding of the human capacity for language and Chomsky's "universal grammar" theory.
The book alternates between anecdotes of Everett and his family adapting to live in the Amazonian rainforest, studies of the Pirahã culture, and linguistic notes in a mostly chronological order. It really is fascinating stuff and although I felt a little lost towards the end when he started to get a bit more heavy-handed with the linguistic theory, I was mostly able to grasp the implications and explanations that he provided to detail the curiosities found in the Pirahã language. I think, though, that I would like to re-read it to solidify my understanding.
The cultural observations were also very interesting - a completely different way of life than what we as privileged Canadians are used to, and a completely different way of thinking as well.
In all - I enjoyed this very much.
This year I am trying to read more non-fiction and it seemed like a great opportunity to cross this one off my list. I am glad I did.
This is a memoir written by a Christian missionary and linguist who lived with the Pirahã, a tribe living in the Brazilian jungle. This tribe's language is unlike any other living language in several respects and Everett proposes that it is shaped partially by their culture. With many real-life examples, he explains how the culture and the language are linked. He posits that study of this language may overhaul our understanding of the human capacity for language and Chomsky's "universal grammar" theory.
The book alternates between anecdotes of Everett and his family adapting to live in the Amazonian rainforest, studies of the Pirahã culture, and linguistic notes in a mostly chronological order. It really is fascinating stuff and although I felt a little lost towards the end when he started to get a bit more heavy-handed with the linguistic theory, I was mostly able to grasp the implications and explanations that he provided to detail the curiosities found in the Pirahã language. I think, though, that I would like to re-read it to solidify my understanding.
The cultural observations were also very interesting - a completely different way of life than what we as privileged Canadians are used to, and a completely different way of thinking as well.
In all - I enjoyed this very much.