<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Come drift with me.
Review: In 1947, Thor Heyerdahl set out in a raft he named Kon-Tiki from Peru and 101 days, and 4,300 miles later, slammed into a reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands. This amazing voyage began a series of other rafting trips that, interestingly enough, continues up to the present day. P. J. Capelotti writes that in "1999, at least five different expeditions sought to sail on their reed or balsa-log rafts in search of answers to some perceived mysteries of prehistoric migration or navigation."Capelotti, who teaches archaeology and American Studies at Penn State University, Abington College, is an unabashed adventurer who, like many youths, fell in love with the idea of rafting like Heyerdahl and has "never lost my fascination with those who had the courage to embark" upon the voyages. Capelotti discusses the major voyages from 1947 to the present and there are some highly unusual trips. Santiago Genoves' 1973 sociological study aboard a raft with six women and five men surely must rank number one in strangeness. According to Capelotti, reading the study is "like a self-congratulatory cross between a letter to a pornographic magazine and the daily racing form." Readers who see a book published by Rutgers University Press, with an author who teaches in the academic world, may think they are going to find within the covers of Sea Drift a stuffy, footnoted tome. If so, they will have a very pleasant surprise. Capelotti does identify his sources, but his writing style is breezy and a pleasure to read. This book is a must read for anyone who ever thought they wanted to depart on an adventure--and who has not?
Rating:
Summary: Come drift with me.
Review: In 1947, Thor Heyerdahl set out in a raft he named Kon-Tiki from Peru and 101 days, and 4,300 miles later, slammed into a reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands. This amazing voyage began a series of other rafting trips that, interestingly enough, continues up to the present day. P. J. Capelotti writes that in "1999, at least five different expeditions sought to sail on their reed or balsa-log rafts in search of answers to some perceived mysteries of prehistoric migration or navigation." Capelotti, who teaches archaeology and American Studies at Penn State University, Abington College, is an unabashed adventurer who, like many youths, fell in love with the idea of rafting like Heyerdahl and has "never lost my fascination with those who had the courage to embark" upon the voyages. Capelotti discusses the major voyages from 1947 to the present and there are some highly unusual trips. Santiago Genoves' 1973 sociological study aboard a raft with six women and five men surely must rank number one in strangeness. According to Capelotti, reading the study is "like a self-congratulatory cross between a letter to a pornographic magazine and the daily racing form." Readers who see a book published by Rutgers University Press, with an author who teaches in the academic world, may think they are going to find within the covers of Sea Drift a stuffy, footnoted tome. If so, they will have a very pleasant surprise. Capelotti does identify his sources, but his writing style is breezy and a pleasure to read. This book is a must read for anyone who ever thought they wanted to depart on an adventure--and who has not?
<< 1 >>
| 
