Song from the Forest: My Life Among the Ba-Benjelle Pygmies
by Louis Sarno
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As a young man, American Louis Sarno heard a song on the radio that gripped his imagination. With some funding from musician Brian Eno, he followed the mysterious sounds all the way to the Central African rain forest and found their source with the Bayaka Pygmies, a tribe of hunters and gatherers. Nothing could have prepared him for life among the Pygmies, a people legendary for their short stature and musical wealth. Sarno never left. Considered outwardly lazy by some, scrounging, and near show more alcoholic, the Pygmies Sarno met had seemingly lost all desire to hunt or make music. Only after he had lived with them for some time (on a diet of tadpoles) was he allowed to join them in the rain forest where they still in relative harmony with nature. There Sarno experienced the extraordinary beauty and spiritual sophistication of their culture and the supreme importance of music as the principal means by which they communicate with the rain forest and its magical spirits. Over the decades Sarno has recorded more than 1, 000 hours of unique Bayaka music. He is a fully accepted member of the Bayaka society and married a Bayaka woman. Permanently changed by his experience and captivated by a Bayaka culture, In Song from the Forest Sarno has chronicled his attempt to protect the fragile existence of the Pygmies in an increasingly destructive world. Once, when his son, Samedi, became seriously ill and Sarno feared for his life, he held his son in his arms through a frightful night and made him a promise: "If you get through this, one day I'll show you the world I come from." Now the time has come to fulfill his promise. In a new major documentary film, Sarno tells the story of the Bayaka as he travels with Samedi from the African rain forest to another jungle, one of concrete, glass, and asphalt: New York City. Together, they meet Louis' family and old friends, including his closest friend from college, Jim Jarmusch. Carried by the contrasts between rainforest and urban America, and a fascinating soundtrack, Louis' and Samedi's stories are interwoven to form a touching portrait of an extraordinary man and his son. SONG FROM THE FOREST is a modern epic film set between rainforest and skyscrapers. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
"Now you know our secret. Now you know who we are", 1 November 2015
This review is from: Song from the Forest (Hardcover)
Drawn to visit the pygmies of the Central African Republic after hearing their music - "a densely polyphonic sound...soft yodels...a sense of musical development" - this is the account of Sarno's first encounter with the Ba-Benjelle tribe.
He soon finds life with them very different to his expectations as "they seemed intent only on milking me for all I was worth". The Ba-Benjelle live close to a village, their life a combination of the forest and the worldly pleasures of shops: cigarettes, palm wine and marijuana. But Sarno manages to become a part of their group, recording numerous dances and shamanistic gatherings show more (although we presume the dancing spirits to be just men in costume, this is never clarified, the author himself admitting at one point that he was left "staring in amazement, as flabbergasted as the villagers.")
We also follow his visits into the rain forest, helping with hunting; and the diseases and insects that are a part of life. And Ngbali, the beautiful but enigmatic Be-Benjelle girl with whom the author has become smitten...
An extremely well written and compelling book. show less
This review is from: Song from the Forest (Hardcover)
Drawn to visit the pygmies of the Central African Republic after hearing their music - "a densely polyphonic sound...soft yodels...a sense of musical development" - this is the account of Sarno's first encounter with the Ba-Benjelle tribe.
He soon finds life with them very different to his expectations as "they seemed intent only on milking me for all I was worth". The Ba-Benjelle live close to a village, their life a combination of the forest and the worldly pleasures of shops: cigarettes, palm wine and marijuana. But Sarno manages to become a part of their group, recording numerous dances and shamanistic gatherings show more (although we presume the dancing spirits to be just men in costume, this is never clarified, the author himself admitting at one point that he was left "staring in amazement, as flabbergasted as the villagers.")
We also follow his visits into the rain forest, helping with hunting; and the diseases and insects that are a part of life. And Ngbali, the beautiful but enigmatic Be-Benjelle girl with whom the author has become smitten...
An extremely well written and compelling book. show less
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Author Information
3 Works 118 Members
Louis John Sarno Jr. was born in Newark, New Jersey on July 3, 1954. He received a degree in English from Rutgers University. He did postgraduate work in comparative literature at the University of Iowa and then moved to Amsterdam with his wife, where she was a Fulbright scholar. While there, he heard a radio broadcast of Bayaka music. After show more contacting the anthropologist Colin Turnbull, Sarno flew to Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, then traveled 600 miles overland in search of the BaBenzl Pygmies. He separated from his wife and remained in Africa permanently beginning in 1988. He befriended the BaBenzl Pygmies and recorded and preserved their music. He was granted citizenship in 2005. He wrote Song from the Forest and Bayaka: The Extraordinary Music of the BaBenzl Pygmies. His films included Oka and Song from the Forest. He died from complications of liver ailments on April 1, 2017 at the age of 62. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Belongs to Publisher Series
dtv (30513)
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Het lied van het regenwoud
- Original title
- Song from the Forest: My Life Among the Ba-Benjellé Pygmies
- Original publication date
- 1993
- Important places
- Central African Republic
- First words
- We had seven hours before landing in Bangui - not much time for a journey between two worlds but more than enough for me to reflect on the implications of my undertaking.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)That night I heard the most beautiful singing on earth.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Anthropology, Nonfiction, Music, History, General Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir
- DDC/MDS
- 967.41 — History & geography History of Africa Central Africa: Congo, Angola, Chad Chad & Central African Republic Central African Republic
- LCC
- DT546.345 .B45 .S37 — History of Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania Africa History of Africa West Africa. West Coast French West Africa. French Sahara. West Sahara. French-speaking Equatorial Africa Central African Republic. Central African Empire. Ethnography
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 95
- Popularity
- 338,472
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.36)
- Languages
- Dutch, English, German
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 10
- ASINs
- 3
