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A review by sjstuart
Monkeys Are Made of Chocolate: Exotic and Unseen Costa Rica by Daniel Quinn, Jack Ewing
3.0
This is a collection of short stories written by the owner of a Costa Rican ecolodge and wildlife refuge, and it is at its most entertaining when he is describing his or his guides’ firsthand experiences with the wildlife at Hacienda Barú, and especially in the short, imaginative vignettes written from an animal’s point of view. His writing style in those sections is entertaining and poetic. But in the parts of the book that serve as harangues to protect the environment and join a conservation group, he devolves to more simplistic, and frequently patronizing prose.
There are frequent, sarcastic reminders of mankind’s status as “supposedly” the smartest creature on the planet, or that our attempts to make things better often do the opposite. By far the worst chapter, for example, is written from the point of view of a mosquito, which is simple-minded enough that it speaks in an awkward blend of baby talk and rural dialect, but still able to look down on the stupid humans: “Ya see, they thinks thet they is thuh only critters on this planet what counts and thet they kin jus kill anythin else thet eats thuh same stuff they eats.”
Each of the roughly 30 chapters was originally written as an article for local Costa Rican publications, with publication dates spread over several years’ time. In that format, the folksy tone and moralizing may not have been overdone. But collected together, the morals and ecological pitches in each chapter get a bit repetitive, constantly proselytizing for the same organizations or nature preserves. However, the nature stories that serve as the sugar coating around these doses of consciousness-raising are different in every case, and usually both entertaining and interesting.
Ewing is a born storyteller, and has clearly honed his craft by regaling visitors to his ecolodge with fascinating talks of jungle life, while using his pulpit to steer their behavior towards more sustainable habits. I suspect his gift probably shines most clearly in person, rather than on paper. As a book, it was a mildly entertaining diversion for me on the plane to Costa Rica. But I have absolutely no doubt that hearing these and other anecdotes told around over the dinner table would be the highlight of a trip, and I have added Hacienda Barú to the itinerary for our next trip to Costa Rica.
There are frequent, sarcastic reminders of mankind’s status as “supposedly” the smartest creature on the planet, or that our attempts to make things better often do the opposite. By far the worst chapter, for example, is written from the point of view of a mosquito, which is simple-minded enough that it speaks in an awkward blend of baby talk and rural dialect, but still able to look down on the stupid humans: “Ya see, they thinks thet they is thuh only critters on this planet what counts and thet they kin jus kill anythin else thet eats thuh same stuff they eats.”
Each of the roughly 30 chapters was originally written as an article for local Costa Rican publications, with publication dates spread over several years’ time. In that format, the folksy tone and moralizing may not have been overdone. But collected together, the morals and ecological pitches in each chapter get a bit repetitive, constantly proselytizing for the same organizations or nature preserves. However, the nature stories that serve as the sugar coating around these doses of consciousness-raising are different in every case, and usually both entertaining and interesting.
Ewing is a born storyteller, and has clearly honed his craft by regaling visitors to his ecolodge with fascinating talks of jungle life, while using his pulpit to steer their behavior towards more sustainable habits. I suspect his gift probably shines most clearly in person, rather than on paper. As a book, it was a mildly entertaining diversion for me on the plane to Costa Rica. But I have absolutely no doubt that hearing these and other anecdotes told around over the dinner table would be the highlight of a trip, and I have added Hacienda Barú to the itinerary for our next trip to Costa Rica.