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A review by blueyorkie
Tristes tropiques by Strauss Levi
5.0
Add a review? What a funny idea! All the people said almost everything. It will, therefore, be more of a personal remark (which is more or less my specialty in this section; I do not tell the books I read but rather the effect they have had on me).
This book had been gathering dust on a shelf for years and scared the crap out of me. It is a big book for a lover of novels and haikus. A photo of an Amazonian Indian on a white background challenging to interpret: hostility, exoticism? Perhaps I was waiting to have visited, if not the Indians, at least Brazil, before embarking on this adventure. Because in my head, this book dealt with the Indians of Brazil and nothing else. Monumental error. I have read a lot but very few books that sell so masterfully and often "in passing" (Is that how geniuses are?) a multitude of fascinating questions. The relationship between geology and psychoanalysis, the hidden links between sea, mountain, and forest, urban planning and land management, language, writing and civilization, connections between the old and new world, men and women, groups and hierarchy, and invaders. Fabulous. It is an enriching read (because it makes you want to deepen many points) and simultaneously entertaining, full of surprises and strewn with details (the menu of the Indians and the author!) and stories alongside which many novels appear even blundering. That's to read urgently as a brain-degreasing cure for lovers of Brazil, India, or Pakistan. Or for all those fascinated by sprawling, erudite, and (almost) without prejudice, logic, and full of contradictions, all written in a classical language. A big posthumous thank you!
This book had been gathering dust on a shelf for years and scared the crap out of me. It is a big book for a lover of novels and haikus. A photo of an Amazonian Indian on a white background challenging to interpret: hostility, exoticism? Perhaps I was waiting to have visited, if not the Indians, at least Brazil, before embarking on this adventure. Because in my head, this book dealt with the Indians of Brazil and nothing else. Monumental error. I have read a lot but very few books that sell so masterfully and often "in passing" (Is that how geniuses are?) a multitude of fascinating questions. The relationship between geology and psychoanalysis, the hidden links between sea, mountain, and forest, urban planning and land management, language, writing and civilization, connections between the old and new world, men and women, groups and hierarchy, and invaders. Fabulous. It is an enriching read (because it makes you want to deepen many points) and simultaneously entertaining, full of surprises and strewn with details (the menu of the Indians and the author!) and stories alongside which many novels appear even blundering. That's to read urgently as a brain-degreasing cure for lovers of Brazil, India, or Pakistan. Or for all those fascinated by sprawling, erudite, and (almost) without prejudice, logic, and full of contradictions, all written in a classical language. A big posthumous thank you!