Peter Canby

This is a book that I read roughly 30 years ago and have just reread; partly revisiting the past and partly deciding what to keep as I downsize my library before moving.

Canby's travels and book are shortly after Wright's Time Among the Maya; two very different books with marginal overlap. Even when they visit the same places they have very different approaches. Wright follows a set route for his journeys, largely following John Lloyd Stephens route. While he covers both Mayan antiquities show more and the contemporary Maya, his unifying theme is Mayan time and daykeepers both past and present. Canby makes a number of separate trips from his base in San Cristóbal de las Casas, so Heart of the Sky is very episodic and often seems more like a series of articles than book. He visits many contemporary Maya settlements and provides lively and sympathetic accounts of the people. He also goes on jaunts with several archaeologists, drawing on their knowledge of antiquities. Among major Mayan archaeological sites, only Palenque and Copán receive extended treatment. Several chapters cover Mayan festivals and traditional religious observances which Canby attended. One of the final chapters is an arduous trek through Lacandón rain forests, in which Canby and his companions got lost, barely finding their way out before running out of provisions. It is a lively and entertaining book.

There are lots of maps (a real plus!), but the book badly needs photos. Canby also supplies a good bibliography, but no notes. show less