Customer Reviews

Gorillas in the Mist

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In reality, Ms. Fossey is regarded by many as a sociopath who did more to kill gorillas than to help them. She would kidnap tribesmen's children as a means of "revenge" against those who messed with her gorillas. In embarking upon such immature acts, she triggered more hostilities with locals than ever. She was not a well-trained scientist, and would touch gorillas in the wild when it is well known that one is not supposed to. Well intentioned though she was, there is a lot about her that goes unmentioned.

Dian Fossey,author of Gorillas in the Mist uses this book to talk about her experiences researching gorillas in the wild. Starting in the year 1963 and ending in the year 1983, Fossey gives us an intimate look into her life and interactions with the mountain gorillas.
The book begins by telling the story of her first experience in Africa. The reader walks away from the first chapter of the book keenly aware that this is not an average woman writing of her weekend stay with gorillas in a zoo. Here is a headstrong woman willing to go to any lengths to travel to Africa to see the majestic gorillas, a physically capable woman handling the challenging terrain of the mountains undeterred even after breaking her ankle along the treacherous path to see the gorillas.
After her first African encounter Fossey cannot wait to come back and research the gorillas for an extended period of time. She leaves the United States in 1966 and travels to the Congo to study. However,this turns into an abbreviated stay because of the wars going on in that country. She moves camp to Rwanda,where she establishes a permanent home at the Karisoke Research Centre. Her study of gorillas starts here, and she quickly finds that living in the Parc National des Volcans will be physically, mentally, and emotionally challenging for her.
I was certainly ready to start reading about experiences with gorillas by the time that Fossey had gotten settled. The research at this point moves very quickly. Groups of gorillas are numbered and individuals are named. At times it became difficult to keep up with all hte names and numbers given to the gorillas; Fossey, however, does a wonderful job of keeping the reader informed of which group and which individual she is talking about.
Involved in the book is information about Fossey's life with other researchers. I was eager to read about how she overcame the language barrier between herself and the Rwandese. It was also interesting to read about thier initial trials and errors with food and locals that were recruited to help track the gorillas.
This book informs about the poaching problemin Africa. She lets the reader know that she is doing everything she can to thwart the poachers efforts at capturing the gorillas; that without support this species will be literally hunted to death. Sometimes her behavior was rash. She wrote about how she retaliated against poachers and their families. In one instance she stole a herd from a local Rwandan until she obtained information about the poachers she was looking for. Some of her tactics in stopping poaching were less than diplomatic,to put it diplomatically, she could have handled many situations differently. Clearly, however her aggression toward poachers came out of her love for gorillas.
I enjoyed reading about the entire life cycle of an individual gorilla from birth until they were sexually mature. I felt more connected with the gorillas because of this and it made me want to turn the page to find out what would happen to my favorite gorillas next. It was also fascinating to read about gorilla interactions. In many wats they are similar to humans in that the infants need a significant amount of love and support and as they grow older they fall into the typical male and female roles. The males would try to imitate their fathers whom they would eventually succeed; and the females would become very interested in infants born into the group, often playing with and grooming the new additions.
After reading several pages I was hooked and found every detail fascinating. My only criticism is that sometimes the order of events is skewed. Fossey would tell an entire story about a gorilla, then go on to talk about a time before this story unfolded. It seemed sometimes that she was putting the proverbial "cart before the horse." This made the story line at times hard to follow. Despite this stylistic shortcoming Gorrilas in the Mist is a moving story about Dian Fossey and her life with the African mountain gorillas. She was passionate about her work and her passion vividly comes through in every page.

Ms. Dian Fossey was a truly remarkable woman. Her strenght of character, her beliefs, and her morals were far beyond her time. She would have been much more respected in today's society. The world is a little worse off due to her murder!!
This book is a must read for anyone interested in Gorillas, the plight of wildlife, or the state of our environmental health.

The Gorillas are anywhere but in the mist in this scientific journal, about the only thing that is in the mist is the chronology of events. Fossey jumps from group to group in this book, so a gorilla who may die in the first few chapters dominates the last few, this can become confusing.

The scientific/eduactional value of this book may be a little thin, especially if you have an interest in human/primate relations or physical anthropology in general. Fossey makes very few observations which could be seen as enlightening, although we do get a glimpse of a strong mammalian intelligence among this "king" of the primates.

Fosseys main focus seems to be on conservation, which is very strong in its argument, using layers upon layers of examples from the story of her experience. The environmental/humanitarian aspects of this book are arguably the strongest of her arguments and writing, unfortunately the gorillas themselves being second.

If you are looking for a biographical story of Fosseys experience in Africa, you WILL NOT like this book. The book and the movie are totally seperate entities, the only simularity they have is the area they take place in, this is not a story! You will read about none of Fosseys political power or heretical poacher patrolling (albeit her antics were justified, and somewhat entertaining in the movie).

A good read, yet definitely sluggish at times.

Don't Judge a Book by the Class your Being Forced to Read it in.

Early in the year(2001-02), we were assigned to read a book in high school Biology class. Not just any book though, one that had to relate to biology. Upon hearing this, a loud groan, mine probably being the loudest, arose from the class. Of course at the time I would have never thought so, but my groan would actually be wrong.

After much thinking, in other words procrastinating, I chose GORILLAS IN THE MIST by Dian Fossey. I had heard my mom say I should read it (I guess she liked it), which, honestly, usually means very little-I prefer to read books I choose-but that helped in my choosing this time.

After another month of "thinking", and my mom reminding me every night the report was due soon, I finally went out and got it. I started reading it right away, only the cover though. After another week I cracked the cover and actually began reading. Not just the inside cover, or the table of contents, but the first chapter.

Almost immediately (as soon as she actually arrived in Africa) I was met by a beautiful, lush environment. I was surprised she could explain it so well in words, and it made me wonder how much more beautiful it is in real life. This story was both funny and sad.

I loved the way she wrote. She left out no detail. You almost feel like you are in the forest, or in the campsite. She left out no details about their behavior either. Sometimes I forgot I was reading about gorillas, and thought I was reading about humans. Their actions were extremely close to that of humans. Their curiosity was both interesting and funny. Even after she got to know them really well, and they got to know her, a simple thing like a camera could set them off into a frenzy. Except for I gorilla, I can't recall his name, who fell in love with Her (Dian Fossey) camera gear. If she didn't guard it close enough he would take it and play with it. She spent a lot of money on lenses replacing them (The pictures she took were typically really funny). One of the baby gorillas kept walking over to her while the group was sleeping, and the mother kept coming over and taking it back. She estimated the baby to be about 12 inches tall.

Although it was really funny, a lot of it was sad too. The area where the Gorillas lived was suppose to be a National Park to preserve the wild life. It seemed to be pretty much a failure. Because of overpopulation in the area, the park has been rapidly diminishing for terrace farming purposes. On top of that poachers freely moved in and out of the park. Although few poachers were after the gorillas, they were after the native Antelope, the poachers snare traps frequently caught Gorillas. The Gorillas could usually break out but the snare would stay on them, and, if the snare was tight enough, the gorillas may die. It was sad when you got to know a Gorilla really well and then something happened to it and it died. One of the saddest is near the end of the book when poachers cut digits head, hands, and feet off.

From my review so far you probably wonder why I only gave it four stars. My reasoning behind this is parts of it were dry. During the chapter she talks about the bloodlines of all of the groups and their gorillas I really lost interest. My other reason is it was hard to make a timeline for it in my head. I had a lot of trouble ordering events. The chapters are all written about a topic (Heredity, Environment, other wild life, etc.) not chronologically ordered. Other than those two reasons I thought the story was excellent. It made me wish I could do more to preserve that area. It also helped me understand how humans can effect and area if they don't respect it. Last, it makes me hope such a beautiful creature can beat extinction.

I felt that this book was very long and boring. I don't think I liked it because it incorporated many facts discovered about the gorillas than just telling the interesting and exciting story that I thought that it was going to be. Granted, what Dian Fossey did for the gorillas was a great thing, but I just don't find it interesting. If this book was to motivate me to help save the gorillas in Africa it didn't. It only made me realize that these animal are, to be frank, boring. Their average day consists of waking up, eating, sleeping, walking, eating again, sunbathing, and then going to sleep for another day. I wish I could have seen a little more excitement in the book, than just the average day of the gorilla. Normally after I've read a really good book a feel a strong tie between the characters in that book and I. After Reading Gorillas in the Mist I feel no connection between any of the characters and myself. I think this would be a good book to have a university class use to learn about gorillas, but it is not a captivating book that should be read for excitement. These are my thoughts on the book Gorillas in the Mist.

I absolutely love this book. I have learned so much about apes, their natural habitat and lifestyle. I have learned what passion really is, and the courage it takes to do what we love. Esp. when it means offering our very lives... May we each learn to submit our wills to a higher calling.

The legendary story of Dian Fossey and her "Gorillas in the Mist" is, by now, well known around the world. One cannot help but read this book and be left feeling an enormous sadness for the few remaining mountain gorillas left in the world. Pouchers have all but eliminated this rare and precious species. Dian's work and memory will forever live on in the hearts of those who appreciate her determination, strength and dauntless courage in fighting for what she wholeheartedly believed in - the protection of the mountain gorillas.

Fossey gave her life in speaking out for her beliefs; she was murdered, most likely by poachers, in 1985. Since then, she has proven to be both an inspiration and hero in the eyes of animal rights' activists and those who truly believe in fighting for what they believe in. The book is an extremely emotional, often turbulent, book to read especially when encountering the peaceful, loving, family-oriented nature of the gorilla and the horrendous, barbaric actions of the poachers, but it is also a compelling book lovers of the animal kingdom will not want to miss. This book is highly recommended and worth a five star plus.

Gorillas in the Mist, Dian Fosseyís own account of her life with the gorillas, was first published in by Hodder Mifflin in 1983. During Fossey's time in Africa, Fossey had a chance to live her dream with the mountain gorillas and learn about their fascinating characteristics and lifestyles. Fossey through her emotion and story, shows the peaceful life of the humble Gorilla. She also expresses the evils of man kind toward other species with her description of the poachers who hunted the Gorillas. The novel is inspiring and up lifting. Fosseys one woman struggle inspires readers to get up and act on beliefs no matter what the situation. It was such a heart breaker to find the Dian Fossey was murdered. Not only does Fossey express her emotions but she uses great scientific and technical support throughout the book. I recommend the book to any reader, especially animal lovers

If you have ever had a dream but have being to afraid to do it then right from the opening pages you will be inspired to go right ahead and try. Dian Fossey tells her story with strong deep emotions as well as technical data. It is truly a story of self liberation and gorilla liberation!