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Wade Davis

Autor(a) de The Serpent and the Rainbow

29+ Works 3,987 Membros 90 Críticas 6 Favorited

About the Author

Wade Davis is Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society. An ethnographer, photographer, filmmaker, and writer, he is the author of Light at the Edge of the World, One River, the international bestseller The Serpent and the Rainbow, and other books. His articles have appeared in mostrar mais Outside, Cond Nast Traveler, National Geographic, Scientific American, and many other publications. mostrar menos

Obras por Wade Davis

The Serpent and the Rainbow (1985) 1,230 exemplares
Into the silence (2011) 695 exemplares
One River (1996) 524 exemplares
Grand Canyon: A River at Risk (2008) 19 exemplares

Associated Works

The Missing of the Somme (1994) — Prefácio, algumas edições290 exemplares
The Serpent and the Rainbow [1988 film] (1988) — Autor, algumas edições48 exemplares
The Weeping Goldsmith: Discoveries in the Secret Land of Myanmar (2009) — Prefácio, algumas edições16 exemplares

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Membros

Críticas

A graphic history of war, Mountaineering and human endeavours. A view of politics and pomposity in the Royal Geographic Society as it affected attempts to climb Mount Everest and self interest of those involved combined with rank bad management and heroic activities of the climbers.
 
Assinalado
David-Block | 34 outras críticas | Feb 6, 2024 |
Highly readable. The subject matters, botany, biography, pharmacology, anthropology, geology are all fascinating. A good map, the smaller scale the better, will help because those provided aren't up to the job. But that's a minor point.
The significant parts of this book are the understanding that Davis has of the indigenous world view of Andean and Amazonian tribes. He embraces it because the tribal views of existence are a coherent set of beliefs that can be explained through the natural world. One of the many devices used to connect with the spiritual world is through the use of coca. We Westerners have a wildly pathological view of the drug. Davis shows how nutritious, life sustaining and essential a drug it is to those who have a respect for it. (I am not talking about cocaine).
A page turner and thoroughly informative.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
ivanfranko | 12 outras críticas | Jan 8, 2024 |
3.5 stars, this was just too long. Absolutely fascinating, but exhaustive in scope. The last 100 pages or so are the best, giving an excellent feel for being on the mountain with relatively primitive equipment. After reading Into Thin Air, this one just can't live up.
½
 
Assinalado
KallieGrace | 34 outras críticas | Oct 26, 2023 |
Initially, I was really into this book, and I was impressed by the author’s descriptive talent. One of my favorite passages was a description he wrote early in the book about riding a train.
Still, the rhythm of the rails is always seductive, and the passing frames race by like so many childhood fantasies, alive in color and light.


My interest waxed and waned the further I got into the book. His sections about the history of poisoning and the fear of being buried alive were fascinating. I wasn’t as enamored of the in-depth explanations of the plants he was studying in relation to the zombie poison, but when he got to puffer fish and tetrodotoxin, he piqued my interest again.
As the author moved away from his original goal of tracking down poison and antidote—he did accomplish the first part to the satisfaction of his financial backers, but he included no account of whether or not it was used in the way they’d hoped—I started to lose interest in his tangents. The history of Haiti is extremely interesting, and I did like the deviation from his own story to give that background. His explanations of vodoun and its secret societies were a bit more convoluted, and it was hard to tell how much he truly learned. By his own descriptions, it was unclear how much people were really confiding in him, and he often had to pay for the glimpses, bits and pieces he was allowed. I appreciated that he apparently loved the country and seemed respectful of the culture. I liked this description of returning to Haiti after a year away.

Still, along with the easy happiness I had come to associate with the country, I was aware of a new and perhaps less superficial sensation—that sense of familiarity and alienation that comes to one who knows a place well, but who can never hope to become a part of it.


A couple of personal issues probably affected my rating, even though they had nothing to do with the quality of the writing. I was disturbed that a man nearing his thirties had a teenage girl as his guide and traveled extensively with her. Maybe that’s cultural bias on my part, but it bothered me.
Also, it was surprising how often he was willing to drink unknown substances and put them on his skin, given that either was a possible delivery system for poison. It struck me as more foolish than brave.
This might deserve a higher rating than I gave it, but I was so ready to be done by the end, I think I’ll stick with 3 stars and still say it’s worth a read.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
Harks | 15 outras críticas | Dec 17, 2022 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
29
Also by
3
Membros
3,987
Popularidade
#6,332
Avaliação
4.0
Críticas
90
ISBN
137
Línguas
9
Marcado como favorito
6

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