Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft (1950)by Thor Heyerdahl
Loading...
Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Guy who’s afraid of boats and can’t swim decides to prove that ancient settlers of Polynesian islands came from South America, and he does so by recreating the journey they may have made on the kind of craft they would have used. Impressive, but apparently the account of such a journey is not my jam. I just couldn’t get interested in it. ( ) There is BAD speculative/alternative/fringe history. Think David Hatcher Childress, Von Daniken, and their ilk. There is BETTER speculative/alternative/fringe history. Think Graham Hancock and the author of this work: Thor Heyerdahl. It is disingenuous to put someone like Von Daniken or Tsoukalos in the same category as Hancock or Heyerdahl. Thor Heyerdahl's great 1947 work Kon Tiki concerned his theory that balsawood rafts from ancient Peru could have made the ocean journey to the islands of Polynesia. How did sweet potatoes reach the area? What of Polynesian myths of settlers from the east? The gripping first-person narrative of Heyerdahl explains his theory, the building of the raft, and his journey, with his companions, across the Pacific. As a first person travel story it is grand and gripping. No wonder it sold so many copies, engendered many copycats, and spawned a documentary film. (A documentary film I grew up watching clips from in various forms on old A&E and Discovery channels in the 1980s and 1990s back when they were good, documentary channels.) There are some spots of the is 1947 book that read funny to modern ears: some subtle racism or Eurocentrism. Some funny old fashioned terms. (And some odd translation choices.) But all-in-all, it's a classic of the speculative history genre and for good reason: it's a gripping yarn of can-do post-WWII attitude. This version is illustrated and "enriched" with a supplementary section that provides some good pics and some odd commentary and context. But, a good paperback version to have. A good book. Belongs to Publisher SeriesIs abridged inHas as a student's study guideDistinctionsNotable Lists
On April 28, 1947, an expedition was led by Norwegian biologist Thor Heyerdahl. The journey by raft spanned 4,300 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean and was hailed as one of the most fantastic feats of daring and courage of its time. Heyerdahl and his crew duplicated the legendary voyage of Kon-Tiki, the mythical hero who led the settlement of the South Sea Islands by sailing on a balsawood raft from Peru to the Polynesian islands. No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)910.09164History and Geography Geography and Travel Geography and Travel Geography and Travel History, geographic treatment, biography Areas, regions, places in generalLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |