Through a Window : My Thirty Years with the Chimpanzees of Gombe
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $19.99
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
In her classic, In the Shadow of Man, Jane Goodall wrote of her first ten years at Gombe. In Through a Window she continues the story, painting a more complete and vivid portrait of our closest relatives.
On the shores of Lake Tanganyika, Gombe is a community where the principal residents are chimpanzees. Through Goodall's eyes we watch young Figan's relentless rise to power and old Mike's crushing defeat. We learn how one mother rears her children to succeed and another dooms hers to failure. We witness horrifying murders, touching moments of affection, joyous births, and wrenching deaths.
As Goodall compellingly tells the story of this intimately intertwined community, we are shown human emotions stripped to their essence. In the mirror of chimpanzee life, we see ourselves reflected.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Living alongside chimpanzees for decades might sound wild, but as famed anthropologist Jane Goodall shows in this autobiography, it was her purpose in life. In Through a Window, Dr. Goodall recounts her many years spent observing chimps in the forests of Gombe, Tanzania, recounting not just what she learned about them, but also what she learns from their behavior. Goodall does a formidable job distilling the emotions and social dynamics of the chimpanzees into compelling narratives of power struggles and family dramas. She shows rather than tells by painting a portrait of chimp society, from heartwarming moments like adult chimps adopting orphans to disturbing ones like a chimpanzee turning aggressive when Goodall refuses to play with him. Narrator Pearl Hewitt embodies Goodall’s passion and intellect as she weaves together poignant personal moments along with scientific observations. There’s no need to be scientifically minded to get into Through a Window—anyone with even a casual interest in nature will be enraptured by this account of Goodall’s fascinating life among primates.
