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Product Description
Quill & Quire
First as a primatologist, and then as a practitioner of literary non-fiction, Andrew Westoll has spent considerable time in Suriname, on the Atlantic coast of South America. He calls it one of “those economically poor, mostly tropical and subtropical countries … collectively referred to as the Third World,” a term that is “an insult levelled by the rich nations of the world that has influenced the economic policy and underlying psychologies of Western governments since it was coined in 1952.” The Riverbones is the kind of travel book in which the author juggles the stories of local individuals with material on the anthropology, geography, politics, and history of the place. As relatively few of us know much about Suriname, the book must constantly commute between research and experience. An example of the former is Westoll’s statement that the Saramaka people among whom he lived “are still rooted in the motherland, as if their ancestors had never been violently ripped from their homes in the Gold Coast or Kongo and shipped across the sea.” Theirs is a matrilineal culture, yet one in which a woman’s role is “both defined and limited by her ability to reproduce.” In contrast, here’s a representative sentence about the author’s personal experience: “We’re listening to Otis Redding on the eight-track and soon the paved road is nothing more than a muddy trail through thick jungle.” A romantic backstory is never quite fleshed out, but there’s much else to admire in this example of what is, after all, the most rewarding type of travel narrative, and likewise the most difficult to carry off.
Review
"Suriname, an almost secret place: very few people know this is the cradle of many famous football players, and almost nobody knows that these sport stars are the historical heirs of the Maroon slaves who once defeated Dutch colonialism. Andrew Westoll went deep inside the jungle, looking for a sacred, tiny, shining, blue frog, and discovered that perhaps hell and heaven have the same address."
— Eduardo Galeano
“Compelling … freewheeling and vividly written. The book is clammy with humidity, dense with allegorical undergrowth.”
— Globe and Mail
— Eduardo Galeano
“Compelling … freewheeling and vividly written. The book is clammy with humidity, dense with allegorical undergrowth.”
— Globe and Mail
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Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Riverbones,
By
This review is from: The Riverbones: Stumbling After Eden in the Jungles of Suriname (Paperback)
I had originally heard about this book through my magazine subscription with Explore Magazine. I had spent some time in the Guyanese rainforest and the setting of Suriname is very similar and I was anxious to read this book. It is an extremely entertaining read with lots of details about the culture, landscape, people, politics and beauty of Suriname. Great adventure story.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Couldn't put it down!,
By
This review is from: The Riverbones: Stumbling After Eden in the Jungles of Suriname (Paperback)
If you're interested in travel, adventure, rain forests, a bit of history and a great little country in South America this book is for you. Having spent my childhood in Suriname and then returning later in life, I was interested in how "an outsider" might view it. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I learned from him about my own country!! Westoll's account is interspersed with historical details and amusing anecdotes... and really keeps the reader turning pages. I've since passed this book on to several members in my family and it's being fought over. I'm back to buy more for them all!!
4.0 out of 5 stars
A well researched, well lived tale of the Jungles of Suriname - A must read,
By
This review is from: The Riverbones: Stumbling After Eden in the Jungles of Suriname (Paperback)
Westoll has a gift for story telling. 'The Riverbones" is written from Andrew Westoll's extended travels through the Republic of Suriname. Suriname has never been more than a name on a map for me and I found myself spellbound by the history, politics and the personal back story of Westoll's adventures. If you like Mark Bowden (Blackhawk Down, Killing Pablo) you'll really enjoy this. His dramatic account of the Dési Bouterse governments misuse of power shows gutsy journalism while his adventures in the back country of the Sipaliwini Nature Reserve searching for Okopipi (incredibly rare blue frog found only in Suriname) is at times both humorous and heartbreaking. I found 'The Riverbones' educational without losing the intimacy of what writers often sacrifice to get to the heart of a story. I highly recommend it.
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