Rating: 
Summary: The Mummy's curse...
Review: ...is not a curse of death afterall but simply that these fascinating ancient relics have the power to become an obsession. That is the fate of the mummy experts who congregate every three years at THE MUMMY CONGRESS; the most recent gathering, and the starting point for this book being the one held recently in Aria, Chile. What else but an obsession would cause people from around the globe, gainfully employed as scientists (archaeologists, pathologists, anthropologists, etc) to travel at their own expense to a remote corner of Chile. Why else would you put yourself through interminable flight connections to stay in budget hotels at a locale near the driest place on earth - the Atacama Desert - and eat at a place called the Restaurant of The Dead. Indeed the author says the Mummy Congress "is not savvy. And it certainly is not deluxe. What makes the Mummy Congress so memorable - some might say gloriously eccentric- is something a good deal rarer and far more interesting. It is the odd, lonely passion of its delegates. With few exceptions, those attending the congress love mummies. And they relish being around others who feel the same way." The book though is about a lot more than these gatherings of eccentric mummy lovers. The author takes us on a journey to Peru, Egypt, Netherlands, China and Russia, and back in time to 7,000 years ago when civilizations first started mummification. We delve into the science of the subject and what it can tell us about the religious rituals, dress, diet and even the use of drugs in these cultures. The presence of traces of nicotine and cocaine in the hair of Egyptian and Peruvian mummies is one of the current puzzles being mulled over. Even the lowly parasites that inhabit their mummified hosts have their own experts. Some of the interesting stories are Tutankhamen's excavation, the embalming of Stalin, and "Juanita", the near perfectly preserved Incan girl discovered on an icy ledge in the Andes. The interest in mummies is not only scientific though. The book looks at some of the uses societies have put them to: from being used as circus sideshow artifacts in the US to being ground up and taken as a cure-all (mumia) in Victorian England or used as an exotic paint pigment (Egyptian brown). Near the end of the book the author gives us a final bit of insight into the respect in which mummies are held by their devotees. There is never any talking "lightly or unfeelingly" about them. "Indeed, they often speak as if the mummies themselves can hear exactly what is being said." If so we can say this book is everything we ever wanted to know about mummies and were glad the author asked them.
Rating:
Summary: Can't put it down!!!
Review: A great book about a weird topic. HP makes some very telling insights about mummies as dead people yet also as natural objects. She reports some very affecting anecdotes about both the mummies and the people who study them, and at the same time tells us a tremendous amount about the science of mummy study. A treat.
Rating:
Summary: Great book on the science of the ancient dead
Review: A great book about a weird topic. HP makes some very telling insights about mummies as dead people yet also as natural objects. She reports some very affecting anecdotes about both the mummies and the people who study them, and at the same time tells us a tremendous amount about the science of mummy study. A treat.
Rating:
Summary: An involving blend of autobiography and science
Review: Anna Fields narrates this account by science journalist Pringle, who covers a scientific conference on mummies in Chile, only to find herself involved with a passionate circle of scientific investigators. Their discovers lead her around the globe in search of world mummies and science in this involving blend of autobiography and science.
Rating:
Summary: Reading Heather Pringle is like saying "Mummy, I'm Home!!"
Review: Author Heather Pringle brings mummies and their mummyologists into the homes AND hearts of the reader with a style that is easy to welcome in! It is apparent that she is neither an expert nor an ingnoramous but rather an interested party when it comes to mummies. She is "one of us". Sure we encounter the "usual suspects", just in a different manner. The reader gets to meet Egyptian mummies, just who knew that they were "hard-as stone" resinous creatures. We also meet frozen Peruvian Princesses protected by obsessed mountain climbing antisocial scientists who endanger their existence by their very discovery. What about Caucasian mummies in China! Look out China, here come those Germans thinking they discovered EVERYTHING again! And the chapter on Lenin and the Soviet Mortuary Scientists is absolutely fantastic!! This is certainly a terrific and highly recommended narrative, a light-hearted and very informative look at the modern world of mummies, mummy studies, and mummyologists.
Rating:
Summary: Great book for general reader
Review: Heather Pringle's "The Mummy Congress" is one of the best science books for the general reader in a long time. The framework of the book is the author's report from a scientific conference held by the World Conference on Mummy Studies. Pringle introduces not only the latest scientific research into mummies, but the scientists themselves who have devoted their lives to studying the "everlasting dead". She also introduces some of the ethical problems of mummy research: to autopsy or not to autopsy, to display or not to display. This book is not just about Egyptian mummies. Despite the fact that the word "mummy" comes from Arabic and was first applied to the Egyptian practice, there are mummies all over the world. The oldest mummies are found in South America. For the World Conference on Mummy Studies, any preserved human dead is worthy of attention: bog bodies from Europe, frozen bodies in the world's highest mountains, preserved Communist dictators, and even future mummies preserved by cryonics. Pringle also looks into the recent history of ancient mummies: collector-mania and using mummies for medicine and paint (!). If you think you would never want to read a book about mummies, this is the book for you. Informative, interesting, and very well-written, "The Mummy Congress" is destined to become a classic.
Rating:
Summary: Great book for general reader
Review: Heather Pringle's "The Mummy Congress" is one of the best science books for the general reader in a long time. The framework of the book is the author's report from a scientific conference held by the World Conference on Mummy Studies. Pringle introduces not only the latest scientific research into mummies, but the scientists themselves who have devoted their lives to studying the "everlasting dead". She also introduces some of the ethical problems of mummy research: to autopsy or not to autopsy, to display or not to display. This book is not just about Egyptian mummies. Despite the fact that the word "mummy" comes from Arabic and was first applied to the Egyptian practice, there are mummies all over the world. The oldest mummies are found in South America. For the World Conference on Mummy Studies, any preserved human dead is worthy of attention: bog bodies from Europe, frozen bodies in the world's highest mountains, preserved Communist dictators, and even future mummies preserved by cryonics. Pringle also looks into the recent history of ancient mummies: collector-mania and using mummies for medicine and paint (!). If you think you would never want to read a book about mummies, this is the book for you. Informative, interesting, and very well-written, "The Mummy Congress" is destined to become a classic.
Rating:
Summary: good fun
Review: I know, I know, I can hear you now : why in the name of God would I want to read 300 pages about mummies ? Well, let me just briefly try to convince you that you do want to. First of all, Heather Pringle is a terrific writer. This is popular science writing as it should be done, witty, interesting and accessible. Second, the mummies themselves are fascinating. Though we tend to think of just the Egyptians and old horror movies (which, amazingly enough, she was not a fan of as a youth), a wide range of cultures--including our own, as Pringle shows in the very amusing final chapter--have been obsessed by the idea of preserving the body even after death. The mummies offer her the opportunity to look into each of these cultures and into a variety of topics, including disease, murder, drugs and other equally juicy matters. Finally, the scientists and researchers who study the mummies are a colorful and interesting group in their own right and Pringle, though sympathetic to them, has a good sense of what makes them entertaining. Just trust me on this one; read the book; it's great fun. GRADE : A-
Rating:
Summary: Impressive...
Review: I picked up this book recently at the library. And then I couldn't put it down. Author Heather Pringle manages to keep the pace lively throughout this book; not that the subject matters hurts either. I didn't know much about mummies going into this book, except how the ancient Egyptians prepared theirs. "The Mummy Congress" soon put an end to my ignorance, and in a very amusing, captivating way. In the book, we are introduced to the mummy experts and their beloved mummies in detail. Pringle pulls no punches in her descriptions of the people or the ethcial dilemmas they sometimes face. She also gives the reader a multitude of lessons in mummies. Did you know that some of the paintings you may see in museums were painted with a pigment called Mummy -- made out of ground mummies? Did you know that there are many mummies in South America which tell us how the culture faced grief? Did you know that caucasians once lived in China? Read this book, and you'll learn many such facts. The best thing is that Pringle doesn't write for the expert; she's writing for those of us with an interest, but no experience. And she manages to do it in an entertaining way. I couldn't find any dull parts in this book. So, read it and be amazed at the ancient worlds and people you'll get to know. I can't recommend this book highly enough!
Rating:
Summary: Impressive...
Review: I picked up this book recently at the library. And then I couldn't put it down. Author Heather Pringle manages to keep the pace lively throughout this book; not that the subject matters hurts either. I didn't know much about mummies going into this book, except how the ancient Egyptians prepared theirs. "The Mummy Congress" soon put an end to my ignorance, and in a very amusing, captivating way. In the book, we are introduced to the mummy experts and their beloved mummies in detail. Pringle pulls no punches in her descriptions of the people or the ethcial dilemmas they sometimes face. She also gives the reader a multitude of lessons in mummies. Did you know that some of the paintings you may see in museums were painted with a pigment called Mummy -- made out of ground mummies? Did you know that there are many mummies in South America which tell us how the culture faced grief? Did you know that caucasians once lived in China? Read this book, and you'll learn many such facts. The best thing is that Pringle doesn't write for the expert; she's writing for those of us with an interest, but no experience. And she manages to do it in an entertaining way. I couldn't find any dull parts in this book. So, read it and be amazed at the ancient worlds and people you'll get to know. I can't recommend this book highly enough!
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