Elsewhere In the Land of Parrots

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Summary: The Destinies of Birds and Humans Cross.
Review: "Elsewhere in the Land of Parrots" is a love story for people who love parrots -or perhaps for all bird-lovers. There are two parallel stories. David is a reclusive post-modern poet living in San Francisco with a cherry-headed conure named Little Wittgenstein. Fern is a graduate student working on her thesis in Ecuador, trying to observe cherry-headed conures in the wild. When David and Little Wittgenstein's differences prove irreconcilable, David ejects the bird to fend for himself in the treetops of San Francisco. Meanwhile, Fern is working on a wildlife preserve in exchange for room and board and trying to stay focused on parrots while growing increasingly disillusioned with her prospects of finding them. Feeling guilty for evicting his avian roommate, David becomes preoccupied with learning about parrots and immerses himself in studying the birds. As chance would have it, he is forced out of his apartment just as Ecuador beckons him.

Anyone who has not himself or herself been bitten by the birding bug might find David and Fern's obsessions odd and the idea that people can discover new life and love through birds eccentric at best. But those of us who have been captivated by the birds outside our windows -or in a pet store- and have gorged ourselves on information about them and developed a great respect for the creatures will recognize David and Fern's preoccupation. "Elsewhere in the Land of Parrots" takes on a familiar quality for bird lovers. People really do act this way, and one can discover a world of things through birds. Jim Paul's prose isn't masterful, but it's fluid and precise. The book is a pleasant read, and where I otherwise would have been bored by a romance, the birds kept me interested in this one. I think bird lover's will enjoy "Elsewhere in the Land of Parrots".

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Summary: The squawk of the wild
Review: A mystical summons may have caused the major characters in ELSEWHERE IN THE LAND OF PARROTS to pursue a flock of conures into the mangrove forests of Ecuador. Even though I don't expect to receive such a call, I could appreciate the boisterous challenge issuing from the novel's parrots. "Wake up!" they seem to say. The parrots are Nature's representatives in this book, and Nature is shown to be everywhere--in the city, on an ocean-going freighter, in a cage in the jungle. A person who dares to open his eyes to the world will find his life enriched, as do the reclusive poet David and the somewhat naive zoologist Fern in this charming and often moving book.

Wherever the story goes, Jim Paul smoothly and efficiently evokes a strong sense of place. Descriptions are lyrical but unsentimental. It's a joy to follow David's emergence and Fern's explorations as they take the steps that will ultimately bring them together. There is a quirky sense of humor at work but also an underlying urgency. The parrots need people to look out for them.

I have two parrot roommates and couldn't help but be drawn to the round inquisitive eyes of the conure--or shall I use the more elegant word "aratinga"--on the cover. I was glad that the novel's birds act like BIRDS. They are not the talking stereotypes who utter improbable punch lines on sitcoms.

However, one does not need to be a bird-fancier to enjoy this book. The reader will meet charming characters, travel to exotic places, and find new wonders in even commonplace surroundings. It's a well-written story about awakenings, and about journeys with hopeful endings.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Time
Review: This is a delightful read. A sweet and humorous tale of a bright, but slightly neurotic poet meets adventurous girl scientist. Her research on parrots in their native habitat and his guilt over throwing his screeching parrot out the window, leads them both to Equador.

I love to read a novel in which I not only enjoy the story, but also come away with a little more knowledge than I had before I started the book. The descriptions of Equador and it's terrain did just that. One does not have to be a bird fancier to enjoy this story. This book was well worth the time and money. I plan on sending my copy of Elsewhere in the Land of Parrots to my daughter who happens to have one of those screeching conures in her living room.

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Summary: A wonderful book
Review: This is a wonderful book, gentle and kind, funny and thought-provoking, too. The Amazon book description above gives the story but doesn't give, really, any idea of how good a read this is. By the time I was about a quarter into the book, I hated that it was going to end. So, every night before going to sleep, I would pick it up again and begin to read, slowly, savoring the descriptions, savoring the images, laughing out loud. And it lingers on now in memory as I wonder about those SF parrots, conures, are they really there? And I wonder, too, that irritating childhood question at the end of a book, And then what happened? ...They all live happily ever after, undoubtedly, except for those few who shouldn't.

I passed ELSEWHERE... on to a friend and she, normally a greedy reader, consuming a story in a couple of hours, reacted very similarly.

This a sweet book. I can't recommend it more highly.

Rating:
Summary: Graceful.
Review: This might be the only instance in which the technique of prolonging the protagonists' inevitable romance not only succeeds but feels entirely natural and even a little bit perfect. Elegant prose, spine-tingling descriptions, a willingness to let plot be sacrified for the book's sense of wonder and connectedness -- all very welcome and refreshing. And now, like A Reader above, I am wondering if this or "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill" came first ...