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lelandbuck's review against another edition
4.0
A solid bit of armchair travel. Filled with very good information about a very remote and fascinating place. Written in an enjoyable style, this books at times seems a bit out of place in modern travel writing, and more a nostalgic reflection of 19th centry travel writing.
I would not recommend this to a person who is new to travel writing, or who is not particularly interested in traveloges. But for those who enjoy reading about others adventures off the beaten path, this is actually a book I would highly recommend. I would also recommend it to any person interested in writing a traveloge as a short model of good form.
I would not recommend this to a person who is new to travel writing, or who is not particularly interested in traveloges. But for those who enjoy reading about others adventures off the beaten path, this is actually a book I would highly recommend. I would also recommend it to any person interested in writing a traveloge as a short model of good form.
essjay1's review against another edition
4.0
Fascinating in parts, a detailed account of travel by foot and by boat into the jungle of Borneo. Part Bill Bryson, part David Attenborough and wholly last century English, this is entertaining and interesting.
yelyahnaloj's review against another edition
3.0
Decided to read the book as I have actually been to Borneo (different regions thought). I found out quickly that the memoir is almost a bird guide. Unfortunately I don't know much about birds, so for entertainment, I wrote down every bird description and drew what I thought it would look like based on how it was described. Then I would Google what it actually looks like, and make a comparison drawing.
kingkong's review against another edition
4.0
It would be pretty sweet to go on a journey like this if it wasn't for all the horrible things like ants and leeches and deadly snakes and also I don't like nature
christythelibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
Naturalist O’Hanlon and his fellow scholar-adventurer, James Fenton embark on a river journey deep into the forests of Borneo. They are guided by three Iban men: authoritative Headman Dana, small and quiet Inghai, and their main translator, the lively lothario, Leon.
Travel narratives set in remote places like Borneo are intrinsically interesting to me, because I’m bound to learn something new about other people and cultures. This is certainly true of O’Hanlon’s book. Before reading Into the Heart of Borneo, I couldn’t name any of the peoples that call that island home or much about their way of life. And while this small book is by no means a primer on those subjects, new historical and cultural information is easily set side by side with the events of O’Hanlon’s trip.
O’Hanlon’s storytelling style is witty, self-deprecating and observant. The two British guys are definitely out of their element and entrust themselves to the skillful, good-humored guidance of Dana, Leon and Inghai. O’Hanlon has a number of things which cause him trepidation both before and during the trip. There are the tales of cannibalism and headhunters and death-by-blowpipe that officials and old books regale to him. The extraordinary diversity of fauna in Borneo includes poisonous snakes and a number of parasites, including threadlike worms that are barely perceptible when one goes to drink freshwater. O’Hanlon is also vicariously horrified and intrigued by the use of the palang by some of the men in Borneo. A palang is a tube that is inserted in a pierced hole of a man’s penis, apparently for the enhancement of pleasure.
I liked how O’Hanlon and Fenton both insisted on bringing a number of books with them on the journey. O’Hanlon’s illustrated natural history books provide some wonderful moments of cross-cultural connection when people from the Iban, Kenyah and Ukit tribes recognize the pictured animals and birds of their homeland. He also quotes liberally from these books in his narrative, but is judicious in his choice of quotes. Fenton hauls along Les Miserables.
There are a number of times where O’Hanlon and Fenton are made uneasy by cultural differences. For example, O’Hanlon experiences some consternation when Leon sets his amorous sights on a very young teenage Kenyah girl. Also, when a Malay woman is injured during a party near the end of the book, O’Hanlon and Fenton clash with their one of their hosts who is indifferent to the woman’s plight.
I’d been disappointed by some of the travel books that I’ve read this year, so I’m really glad to have picked up Into the Heart of Borneo which captures some of my favorite elements of the genre: fascinating locale, a gift for storytelling, memorable travel companions, and stuff actually happens. (I get impatient when the main purpose of the travelogue is the author ‘finding him or herself’.)
An excerpt in conclusion to give a taste:
I looked at my legs. And then I looked again. They were undulating with leeches . . . They were all over my boots, too, and three particularly brave individuals were trying to make their way in via the air-holes. There were more on the way – in fact they were moving towards us across the jungle floor from every angle, their damp brown bodies half-camouflaged against the rotting leaves.
“Oh God,” said James, “they are really pleased to see us.“
p. 117
Travel narratives set in remote places like Borneo are intrinsically interesting to me, because I’m bound to learn something new about other people and cultures. This is certainly true of O’Hanlon’s book. Before reading Into the Heart of Borneo, I couldn’t name any of the peoples that call that island home or much about their way of life. And while this small book is by no means a primer on those subjects, new historical and cultural information is easily set side by side with the events of O’Hanlon’s trip.
O’Hanlon’s storytelling style is witty, self-deprecating and observant. The two British guys are definitely out of their element and entrust themselves to the skillful, good-humored guidance of Dana, Leon and Inghai. O’Hanlon has a number of things which cause him trepidation both before and during the trip. There are the tales of cannibalism and headhunters and death-by-blowpipe that officials and old books regale to him. The extraordinary diversity of fauna in Borneo includes poisonous snakes and a number of parasites, including threadlike worms that are barely perceptible when one goes to drink freshwater. O’Hanlon is also vicariously horrified and intrigued by the use of the palang by some of the men in Borneo. A palang is a tube that is inserted in a pierced hole of a man’s penis, apparently for the enhancement of pleasure.
I liked how O’Hanlon and Fenton both insisted on bringing a number of books with them on the journey. O’Hanlon’s illustrated natural history books provide some wonderful moments of cross-cultural connection when people from the Iban, Kenyah and Ukit tribes recognize the pictured animals and birds of their homeland. He also quotes liberally from these books in his narrative, but is judicious in his choice of quotes. Fenton hauls along Les Miserables.
There are a number of times where O’Hanlon and Fenton are made uneasy by cultural differences. For example, O’Hanlon experiences some consternation when Leon sets his amorous sights on a very young teenage Kenyah girl. Also, when a Malay woman is injured during a party near the end of the book, O’Hanlon and Fenton clash with their one of their hosts who is indifferent to the woman’s plight.
I’d been disappointed by some of the travel books that I’ve read this year, so I’m really glad to have picked up Into the Heart of Borneo which captures some of my favorite elements of the genre: fascinating locale, a gift for storytelling, memorable travel companions, and stuff actually happens. (I get impatient when the main purpose of the travelogue is the author ‘finding him or herself’.)
An excerpt in conclusion to give a taste:
I looked at my legs. And then I looked again. They were undulating with leeches . . . They were all over my boots, too, and three particularly brave individuals were trying to make their way in via the air-holes. There were more on the way – in fact they were moving towards us across the jungle floor from every angle, their damp brown bodies half-camouflaged against the rotting leaves.
“Oh God,” said James, “they are really pleased to see us.“
p. 117
sukahutan's review against another edition
5.0
As someone who has spent a lot of time in Borneo, working in conservation and with local people in the forest - this book is an excellent description of life and experiences to be had there. Beautifully written and with great descriptions, it transforms me every time I read from it.
susanhert's review against another edition
1.0
I can't understand how anyone would rave about this book. O'Hanlon doesn't seem to know that in order to engage a reader you must introduce the characters in some fashion and preferably reveal the whole point of the story.
gengelcox's review against another edition
4.0
This was sent me by [a:Windy Baboulene|856817|Windy Baboulene|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], who also sent me [a:Peter Mayle|19316|Peter Mayle|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1236522940p2/19316.jpg]’s [b:A Year in Provence|40189|A Year in Provence|Peter Mayle|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1494896848s/40189.jpg|940715]. Both of these books are considered humorous books on travel, but they couldn’t be more different. Mayle’s book is like a TV sitcom in some ways–that is, everything is familiar enough to us at sight, but it is the occurrences that seem to work at odds. In O’Hanlon, we are lifted bodily out of the world we know and placed in a situation where it is truly difficult for the modern person to cope. O’Hanlon understands the modern fears–of insects, leeches, snakes, aboriginals–but instead of horror, he plays them as mock horrific. Repetition breeds humor (as fans of Saturday Night Live know well). Still, this book is also full of information. Things like: a) the “palang”– a nail or other object that Bornean men drive through the head of their penis so as to give women maximum pleasure during sex; b) the longevity of memory in a place fairly devoid of writing, seen through the relations between the Ukit and Iban tribes; and c) the descriptions of the leeches, including the thin, threadlike one which hides in the water, attached to a rock, waiting to be drunk by some animal, and then attaches itself to the inner walls of the throat. Overall, an excellent book; however, I was more amused by the Mayle.
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