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Title: Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon by William Lewis Herndon, Gary Kinder, Lardner Gibbon, United States Navy Dept ISBN: 0-8021-3704-0 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: July, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.75 (4 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Quite a Unique Book
Comment: I picked up this book after reading Kinder's "Ship of Gold". This book was writen a few years before when captain William Lewis Herndon, who went down with the Central America in Kinder's book, was sent on a journey across the continent of South America via the Amazon river by the US government. He extensively records all his findings and observations, from elevation and river depth numbers, to the exotic wildlife of the river basin. Gary Kinder has done a great job editing down the origional manuscript, and has made a 150 year old book a very readible one today. That's quite an accomplishment, and it helps that Herdon was also a very good writer! What I found most interesting were Herndons personal ideas and oppinions he recorded. 150 years has drastically changed the way we think, and the gap in time is very evident. This book was writen before the abolition of slavery and the events of the 20th century. Herdon states the potential he sees at every turn on his journey to make profitable trades for the natural resources of the the land, and considers it a shame that such resources should go squandered or unnoticed by indians when they could fetch a huge sum in other parts of the world. Of course, we now cherish the rainforests of brazil as a vanishing wilderness on earth. I feel the book is almost more important as a study of 19th century thought than a study of the amazon. I'd like to se a updated edition with footnotes. There were many times when I'd read one of Herndon's observations and wonder how modern science and understanding would explain what he saw and experienced. Read this book expecting to learn more about Herndon than the Amazon.
Rating: 3
Summary: An Interesting Read
Comment: If you read and loved Gary Kinder's "Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea" then you will find "Amazon" to be quite interesting. The book was actually writen over 150 years ago by Herndon, the famed captain of the Central America, the subject of "Ship of Gold" which sank in a hurricane a few years after Herndon crossed South america along the Amazon from Puru to the Atlantic ocean. He was sent on the journey by the US government to extensively record his findings on the continent. Kinder does a wonderful job in both his introduction and editing of the book. It is quite a feat to make a 150 year old book readible. (Kinder has removed irrelivant information recorded extensively by Herndon on the expedition.) What I found most interesting are his personal ideas and visions for the land, and the gap in time that brings such a unique style to his writing. For Example, being that the book was writen before the civil war and the abolition of slavery, Herndon often is critical of savage indian natives. He also has a vision for colonization and considers it a shame that the vast plant, animal and mineral resourses of the amazon are not taped by the US government or any government in trade routes. Of course now, in a world threatened by polution and over populated cities we see the amazon as one of the last areas of untamed wilderness on the earth. I found his comments fascinating and was intrigued at how different the world is today. The one thing I absent from book are footnotes- There were many times when Herdon would describe something and, knowing the changes in scientific discovery over 150 years, I would wonder what he really observed and why. I finished the book with a lot of questions and few answers, but I did have an inderstanding of American thought and vision from the 1850's, and I can't say I've ever read another book that shows that so well.
Rating: 4
Summary: Lewis & Clark go down the Amazon...
Comment: ... but told in a much more stylish and readable manner. I bought this book on the strength of reading about Capt. Herndon's sacrifice in Gary Kinder's "Ship of Gold...". He seemed to epitomise the old-style captain, caring about his passengers, crew and above all his ship, and I was interested to read more about the man.
I was not disappointed; what could have been a dusty tome full of only facts and figures, emerges as a rivetting account of the trials endured during the trip, and vivid descriptions of a land that was as yet virtually unknown to the 'civilised' world, told as a very readable narrative. This easy style is what captured the hearts and minds of the Anmerican (and European) public in a book which went into several reprints of 10,000s (as opposed to the usual Congress print run of 100+!).
It also captured the imagination of a certain Samuel Clemens, who, after reading the book, immediately took steamer from St.Louis to New Orleans to get a boat to the Amazon. Imagine his disappointment when he found no passage ... sitting, bemoaning his ill luck, he hears the cries of the steamers "Mark twain!" - the rest is history.
I have one reservation (hence only ****); during his editing & research for the book, Mr.Kinder deletes a lot of sections that I personally would have found very interesting, such as crops grown, goods & minerals available and costs of trade items. If these had been included as an appendix, I think it would have added to the charm of the book.
Nevertheless, one of the best pieces of historical travel writing I have ever read.
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Title: Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea by Gary Kinder ISBN: 0375703373 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 11 May, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Brazilian Adventure by Peter Fleming ISBN: 081016065X Publisher: Northwestern University Press Pub. Date: October, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.16 |
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Title: The Smithsonian Atlas of the Amazon by Michael Goulding, Ronaldo Barthem, Efrem Jorge Gondim Ferreira ISBN: 1588341356 Publisher: Smithsonian Institution Press Pub. Date: June, 2003 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
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Title: The Rivers Ran East: Travelers' Tales Classics by Leonard Clark, Larry Habegger, Walter Frass Von Wolfenegg ISBN: 188521166X Publisher: Travelers' Tales Inc Pub. Date: 09 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: The Naturalist on the River Amazons by Henry Walter Bates, Henry Walter Botes ISBN: 1589761979 Publisher: The Narrative Press Pub. Date: August, 2002 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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