The Hunt for the Buru

Rating:
Summary: A more innocent age
Review: Back in the 1940s, Ralph Izzard was part of an effort to seek out a mythical animal in the Himalyan foothills. It really was a much more innocent time, as the seekers really do expect they might find a giant, unknown (by western science) reptile that lived in the jungle swamps. They track the beast both by logic (only tribes of the plateau know of this animal, they all describe it the same way, they all describe it as living in a specific place, etc.) and by trekking into the jungles of Northern India.
The book is also reminiscent of a less enlightened time, when mighty white hunters foray into the wild with childlike, lazy bearers to seek adventure.
While Izzard didn't find a buru, the anticipation that he might is what drives this book. It is refreshing to read the accounts of a proactive cryptozoologist rather than a passive interview collector.

Rating:
Summary: Honest if uneventful
Review: If you are farmiliar with the subjectmatter of the Buru, then you already know that the this book will not end with the author capturing the creature and solving the mystery. This book is an honest and interesting narrative of a 1940's trek into the jungle. It's very much a travelouge, sort of the day to day events that occur on such a trip. It is slightly dated, and like I said, they don't find the beast.
Still, I give the author points for honesty, and it is an overall good natured account.

Anyone who has a serious interest ion cryptozoology would like this book.