Is this the real life? Amazing. ( )

Is this the real life? Amazing. ( )

I hated when the author gave his rifle to a native so he could kill the rhinoceros near them. ( )

I finished this book a while ago, and forget a lot of it now. It was not as good as the other books I have read by Hansen. It is the narrartive story of his journey across Borneo on foot. There are some interesting parts, but also some boring parts. ( )

Stranger in the Forest (1988) is Eric Hansen's remarkable 5 month trip across Borneo in 1982. The book is something of a minor classic among adventure literature, being both modern in style and reminiscent of a Victorian explorer charting blank spots on the map. Hansen set off into the jungle with almost nothing except good heath, trade goods and the optimism that locals would help him through. Along the way he becomes increasingly native going from one improbable adventure after the next. We learn about the geography, flora and fauna and most of all the fun-loving people, former head-hunting nomadic hunter-gatherers known as the Penan. In 2014, Borneo is a darker story about the destruction of the forest and the Penan people, but Hansen was there just before the palm plantations and dams. He was able to record and celebrate some of the last of the ancient ecosystems and culture of Borneo, the book is a gateway to the world's third largest island as it existed not long ago. ( )