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Product Description
Howard Beck is no ordinary travel writer. When visiting a country, he immerses himself totally in his experiences, taking his readers to new levels of awareness. In "Papua New Guinea: Tales from a Wild Island", the earthy narrative introduces the reader to a rugged land of 10,000 colourful tribes, a weird and wonderful bestiary and an adventurous author whose culinary bent finds him dining on python, rat, bat, parrot and insect pupae.Adventures in a land described as 'like every place you've never been' see Howard one moment standing on the country's highest mountains, the next exploring the mysterious world beneath the jungle in search of the planet's deepest cave.His travels with a 'tea-towel map', described with down to earth and often amusing clarity, will have the reader warming to tales of archery contests with wild tribesmen, the discovery of macabre burial sites, sorcery in the dead of night and of being invited to live with a tribe in the land of Laughing Death, where the deceased are exhumed and eaten as a mark of respect. Lavishly illustrated, this is a book to inspire adventurers and travellers alike, whether aspiring or of the armchair variety.
About the Author
Howard Beck has been an explorer, speleologist and traveller for some forty years, having gained experience of wilderness areas in the Arctic, equatorial forests and the Saharan Atlas. He has led expeditions to Norway and to what at the time (1976) was the deepest cave system in the world, the Gouffre de la Pierre Saint Martin, in the French Pyrenees. His first book, 'Gaping Gill: 150 Years of Exploration', was released in 1984 (Hale). Howard is still very much active, and keeps fit in his beloved Yorkshire Dales by walking, and cycling as much as 100 miles in a day. He has recently returned from four months travelling through Chile, the 'Thin Country'. He has a twenty-four year old daughter, Tamlyn, and lives in Lancashire, where he describes himself as an exiled Yorkshireman.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
PNG is home to several thousand small tribes that are often so isolated by the rugged terrain that until quite recently some tribes have been unaware of their neighbours only a few miles away. The author offers some fascinating insights into cannibalism, Laughing Death, mineral exploitation and the influence of Western culture.
Howard Beck has little to say about actually working in PNG since his priority is to take the reader on a seemingly endless series of adventures: jumping onto moving aircraft; trekking through the jungle to the summit of Mount Hagen; being caught on a battle field between rival tribes with arrows falling all around; negotiating with tribal people in order to explore gigantic caves deep in the jungle.
The authors adventures reach a climax in the final chapters, which describe Howard's eight months in the remote Hindenburg Mountains. This starts with light-weight camping and reconnaissance for the British caving expedition. The 24-man team's arrival leads to the discovery and exploration of 'Selminum Tem' (longest in the Southern Hemisphere). Finally, Howard and his friends make an epic 500-foot vertical descent into 'Tina Bu Tem' which translated from the tribal language means 'a hole to look at but not to go down'.
The author certainly has a way with words: "One is just as likely to see a woman breast feeding a piglet, as a tribesman with a bone through his nose carrying an umbrella." Howard has an engaging style and his pace is fast whilst still containing plenty of detail. Some parts of the text appear to have suffered from over zealous editing (such as page 121) but this doesn't spoil the overall impression.
The book is beautifully illustrated but devoid of maps. I would have appreciated a glossary to help understand conversations in pidgin English, such as he provided in Appendix 5 of an earlier book "Beneath the Cloud Forests" (2003). I certainly enjoyed the book and fully expect to be re-reading as well as quoting from it for many years to come!
Howard Beck has little to say about actually working in PNG since his priority is to take the reader on a seemingly endless series of adventures: jumping onto moving aircraft; trekking through the jungle to the summit of Mount Hagen; being caught on a battle field between rival tribes with arrows falling all around; negotiating with tribal people in order to explore gigantic caves deep in the jungle.
The authors adventures reach a climax in the final chapters, which describe Howard's eight months in the remote Hindenburg Mountains. This starts with light-weight camping and reconnaissance for the British caving expedition. The 24-man team's arrival leads to the discovery and exploration of 'Selminum Tem' (longest in the Southern Hemisphere). Finally, Howard and his friends make an epic 500-foot vertical descent into 'Tina Bu Tem' which translated from the tribal language means 'a hole to look at but not to go down'.
The author certainly has a way with words: "One is just as likely to see a woman breast feeding a piglet, as a tribesman with a bone through his nose carrying an umbrella." Howard has an engaging style and his pace is fast whilst still containing plenty of detail. Some parts of the text appear to have suffered from over zealous editing (such as page 121) but this doesn't spoil the overall impression.
The book is beautifully illustrated but devoid of maps. I would have appreciated a glossary to help understand conversations in pidgin English, such as he provided in Appendix 5 of an earlier book "Beneath the Cloud Forests" (2003). I certainly enjoyed the book and fully expect to be re-reading as well as quoting from it for many years to come!
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Howard Beck is no ordinary travel writer. When visiting a country he immerses himself totally in his experiences, taking his readers to new levels of awareness. In Papua New Guinea: Tales from a Wild Island the earthy narrative introduces readers to a rugged land of 10,000 colourfuk tribes, a weird and wonderful bestiary and an adventurous author whose culinery bent finds him dining on python, rat, bat, parrot and insect pupae.
Adventure in a land described as 'like every place you've never been' see Howard one moment standing on the country's highest mountains, the next exploring the mysterious world beneath remote jungles in search of the world's deepest cave.
His travels with a 'tea-towel map' described with down to earth and often amusing clarity, will have the reader warming to tales of archery contests with wild tribesmen, the discovery of macabre burial sites, sorcery in the dead of night and of being invited to live with a tribe in the land of Laughing Death, where the deceased are exhumed and eaten as a sign of respect.
Lavishly illustrated with the author's own colour photographs, this book will inspire adventurers and travellers alike, whether aspiring or of the armchair variety.
Adventure in a land described as 'like every place you've never been' see Howard one moment standing on the country's highest mountains, the next exploring the mysterious world beneath remote jungles in search of the world's deepest cave.
His travels with a 'tea-towel map' described with down to earth and often amusing clarity, will have the reader warming to tales of archery contests with wild tribesmen, the discovery of macabre burial sites, sorcery in the dead of night and of being invited to live with a tribe in the land of Laughing Death, where the deceased are exhumed and eaten as a sign of respect.
Lavishly illustrated with the author's own colour photographs, this book will inspire adventurers and travellers alike, whether aspiring or of the armchair variety.
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