BOOK REVIEW: Among the Cannibals by Paul Raffaele
Perhaps not for the overly squeamish, Paul Raffaele's book, Among the Cannibals, is sure to entice readers seeking an interesting travel narrative. Raffaele's treatise on cannibalism is, in part, an evidential response to William Arens' 1980 book "The Man-Eating Myth," but also a lively, entertaining travelogue. While Arens claims that cannibalism is a myth borne of prejudice, Paul Raffaele, a writer for the Smithsonian Magazine, goes the distance in making the case that cannibalism did - and does - exist in some cultures.
rate
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 51
Thanks for posting the review to my new book group, Bookin', too! There seems to be some lag time between accepting the reviews and having them show up...not sure why?
http://friendsofdanh.gather.com.
Our goal is to help you further your exposure and to support other gather members.
But there is more to the story than gruesome details. Raffaele wrote about a Korowai boy who was suspected of being a khakua and whose uncle asked the journalist to try and get the boy out of the jungle before he was targeted by the tribe. This was a compelling story, as was what he learned about "the lost boys" in Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army.
The lower apes kill and eat their opponents. When you read the old fairy tales and folk myths, Hansel and Gretel and many others, you will see how many children were eaten by old, starving people who had nothing to eat.
The life of man is nasty, brutish and short. Was that Voltaire? No time to look it up.
In other cultures, I try not to judge though. It's just not what I would choose to do.
Unless those dire circumstances come up. Even then, I may just choose to die.
If it's your time to go, it's your time.
However, the findings by Raffaele - and others he names throughout - conclude that cannibalism is alive, if not well. It is a practice that is definitely "falling off" with good reason (as Erica points out!!). There are parts of the book that you can skim - or perhaps skip altogether - while enjoying a readable history lesson and great travel story.
There are many of Raffaele's own photographs in the book. I was pretty surprised to see what the crowds at the cremation ghats in Benares.
And then there was that wack-o in Germany a few years ago who asked someone to dinner and put the leftovers in a freezer.
On History Channel, they dispelled the myth of the Donner party. But then Jeffery Dahmer had a head in the fridge.
I'm kind of thinking it exists and I'm not sure what kind of prejudice I would have to have to think otherwise. Guess I'll have to find that book.
'twas Jones who had at him first; Jones what that cooked the slab of thigh, and got our mouths to watering...
actually, i'm lying.
would i read a book about cannibalism? -if the writing's up to par, i'd read a book about a knitting competition in a small town.
for magik lurks also in the mundane, and needs only an able hand to tease it out.
No, I would not read either book.
thanks for sharing, though
Silly me, I didn't know there was a raging debate going on, since sociologists have conceded for years that cannibalism existed before and still does. Human survival is human survival and it's easy to make a judgment call based on our own society, but there are other cultures in the world.
Raffaele's book not only rebuts Arens in an interesting way, but he claims to be one of the first journalists to actually move among the Korowai on their own turf. In fact, when he tried to return, he was not allowed back in as it was discovered that he was actually writing a book. His experiences there are well worth reading about....if you can get past the other stuff, that is.
I have never read "Alive." Is it a travel book / adventure story, or just an exposé of sorts?
hugs