Wild Coast
Travels on South America's Untamed Edge
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
Dolman Travel Book of the Year 2012
Between the Orinoco and the Amazon lies a fabulous forested land, barely explored. Much of Guiana seldom sees sunlight, and new species are often tumbling out of the dark trees. Shunned by the conquistadors, it was left to others to carve into colonies. Guyana, Suriname and Guyane Française are what remain of their contest, and the 400 years of struggle that followed.
Now, award-winning author John Gimlette sets off along this coast, gathering up its astonishing story. His journey takes him deep into the jungle, from the hideouts of runaway slaves to penal colonies, outlandish forts, remote Amerindian villages, a 'Little Paris' and a space port. He meets rebels, outlaws and sorcerers; follows the trail of a vicious Georgian revolt, and ponders a love-affair that changed the face of slavery. Here too is Jonestown, where, in 1978, over 900 Americans, members of Reverend Jones's cult, committed suicide. The last traces are almost gone now, as the forest closes in.
Beautiful, bizarre and occasionally brutal, this is one of the great forgotten corners of the Earth: the Wild Coast.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Travel writer Gimlette offers a rare glimpse of a forgotten region: the formerly European colonies of Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, commonly known as the Guianas. As he describes his travels from coast to forest, through what he depicts as a muddy, rotting, stinking, stagnant landscape, he quickly realizes that Sir Walter Raleigh's 1596 account of bountiful riches might have bent the truth. The first quarter of the book reads like a Devil in the White City-style true crime account as he searches for the ghosts of the Reverend Jim Jones' Jamestown massacre of 1977. Gimlette then follows the footsteps of such notables as novelist Evelyn Waugh and V.S. Naipul, encountering natives as well as a sociologically-intriguing population "descended from people who'd rather have been somewhere else." Turning his attention to linguistics, Gimlette discuses certain humorous facts about the Surinamese language, "Talkie-talkie," in which "I love you" translates as "Mi lobi yu." Though Gimlette provides occasional humor, he lacks Bill Bryson's ability to provoke a belly laugh. The balance between history and travelogue would be an asset to curious travelers, but doesn't make a good case as to the appeal of doing so.
