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frahorus's review against another edition
4.0
Il cacciatore di serpenti libera la fanciulla in pericolo
I misteri della Giungla Nera ci porta in India, esattamente nel Delta del fiume Gange ed esattamente sei anni dopo le vicende di Sandokan narrateci ne [b:Le tigri di Mompracem|237646|Le tigri di Mompracem|Emilio Salgari|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1232871618s/237646.jpg|2059288]. Ma stavolta interrompiamo le mitiche vicende della Tigre della Malesia per seguire le non meno avventurose vicende del Cacciatore di serpenti Tremal-Naik il quale, un giorno, vede in mezzo alla giungla una bellissima ragazza (no, non è Lady Marianna!) e se ne innamora perdutamente. Assieme al suo schiavo Kammamuri si inoltra nella foresta per approfondire tale apparizione (inizialmente crede addirittura che ella sia una dea scesa sulla terra!) e scopre l'amara verità: ovvero che la ragazza è inglese e si chiama Ada ed è tenuta prigioniera da una setta che adora la sanguinosa dea Kalì, la quale deve essere nutrita con sacrifici umani... Il loro nemico è il capo della setta, Suyodhana, che farà di tutto per uccidere i nostri amici che vogliono liberare la fanciulla... E anche qui troveremo tante avventure piene di tensione e belve feroci!
I misteri della Giungla Nera ci porta in India, esattamente nel Delta del fiume Gange ed esattamente sei anni dopo le vicende di Sandokan narrateci ne [b:Le tigri di Mompracem|237646|Le tigri di Mompracem|Emilio Salgari|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1232871618s/237646.jpg|2059288]. Ma stavolta interrompiamo le mitiche vicende della Tigre della Malesia per seguire le non meno avventurose vicende del Cacciatore di serpenti Tremal-Naik il quale, un giorno, vede in mezzo alla giungla una bellissima ragazza (no, non è Lady Marianna!) e se ne innamora perdutamente. Assieme al suo schiavo Kammamuri si inoltra nella foresta per approfondire tale apparizione (inizialmente crede addirittura che ella sia una dea scesa sulla terra!) e scopre l'amara verità: ovvero che la ragazza è inglese e si chiama Ada ed è tenuta prigioniera da una setta che adora la sanguinosa dea Kalì, la quale deve essere nutrita con sacrifici umani... Il loro nemico è il capo della setta, Suyodhana, che farà di tutto per uccidere i nostri amici che vogliono liberare la fanciulla... E anche qui troveremo tante avventure piene di tensione e belve feroci!
kiwi_fruit's review
2.0
Nostalgic re-read of a childhood favourite. Sadly, some books, like this one, have a perfect age and time after which they lose their magic.
caroni's review
3.0
I will be presenting a cool Italian author. He happens to write incredible adventure stories and to be the most famous Italian writer in this genre. He is the Italian version of Jules Verne (you know, the guy behind Twenty Thousand Leagues under The Sea). He lived between 1862 and 1911 and most of his books were translated in many languages and subsequently adapted on the big screen.
Now, I know what you're thinking. The dude lived in a century so far away, what on Earth could he possibly write that you can't read somewhere else, like written by someone who knows what a microwave is. And whatever the incredible countries on which he wrote, you can google map these countries a-ny-time. Plus in the 18th century, people clearly had issues with hygiene, and that's just eww.
And you would be entirely right.
Except that. Writing about wild foreign and mysterious countries from the point of view of an 18th century Indian hunter in the Black Jungle, hardly compares to anything you have read before. What is interesting is how this book is written and what people thought at this period about those foreign countries. This book is beautifully written and you dream of being part of this adventure, and you discover these exotic (for us) cultures that characterised India in the 1800.
The story is set in India in 1851, in the surroundings of the Black Jungle. Tremal-Naik is a renowned and feared hunter, being one of the few daring to live in the terrifying Black Jungle where tigers, rhinoceros and pythons hide. One of his men is found dead, and with the help of his faithful servant Kammamuri, he sets on a quest in the Black Jungle to find who is responsible for the murder and save the beautiful woman, Ada, he keeps seeing in his dreams. He is fearless and has tamed a tiger that helps him through his quest. Tremal-Naik will have to fight a strange cult that has enslaved his Ada.
The book is divided in two parts, and the second part sees the appearance of new characters and new situations which put Tremal-Naik always further away from his beloved and makes him despair over their future.
This book is the first one of the Pirates of Malaysia Series (11 books).
"Three hours crept by like three centuries for the hunter who desired nothing more than to see his beloved Ada"
*awww*
Style
The style of writing is very similar to other adventure books of the same period like The Three Musketeers where the dialogues and general reactions are quite over the top, some people are always overcome by emotion, talk or whisper what they think out loud and finally where others interject each other with "scoundrel" and "wrench" every 5 pages. I find it highly amusing and entertaining.
I would qualify this book as a page turner. The plot is full of exciting events which are very well described and which take place in a very fast-paced rhythm that makes you want to know immediately what will happen next.
About that, it is not a good idea to read this book in public, you get so excited from the story that you want to brandish your sword with a barbarian scream and go defend the poor and hopeless from the ruthless evil hands of mean people.
Yeah very bad idea at 8am in the tube, I can guarantee...
One of the best things of this book is the description of Indian and Hindu traditions. It feels as much an adventure story as a book on India in the 1800 during the British colonisation. It's very interesting.
As a lot of books written in this period, the characters have very definite personalities and roles in the story. I don't want to spoil the plot too much, but each character has a very interesting role to play, and since the story is told from a third person point of view, you get glimpses of everybody and it really is a plus.
For a picture of the commemorative plaque of Emilio Salgari in Verona:
http://portrait-of-a-woman.blogspot.com/2010/05/lost-in-translation-2-18-may-1-june.html
Now, I know what you're thinking. The dude lived in a century so far away, what on Earth could he possibly write that you can't read somewhere else, like written by someone who knows what a microwave is. And whatever the incredible countries on which he wrote, you can google map these countries a-ny-time. Plus in the 18th century, people clearly had issues with hygiene, and that's just eww.
And you would be entirely right.
Except that. Writing about wild foreign and mysterious countries from the point of view of an 18th century Indian hunter in the Black Jungle, hardly compares to anything you have read before. What is interesting is how this book is written and what people thought at this period about those foreign countries. This book is beautifully written and you dream of being part of this adventure, and you discover these exotic (for us) cultures that characterised India in the 1800.
The story is set in India in 1851, in the surroundings of the Black Jungle. Tremal-Naik is a renowned and feared hunter, being one of the few daring to live in the terrifying Black Jungle where tigers, rhinoceros and pythons hide. One of his men is found dead, and with the help of his faithful servant Kammamuri, he sets on a quest in the Black Jungle to find who is responsible for the murder and save the beautiful woman, Ada, he keeps seeing in his dreams. He is fearless and has tamed a tiger that helps him through his quest. Tremal-Naik will have to fight a strange cult that has enslaved his Ada.
The book is divided in two parts, and the second part sees the appearance of new characters and new situations which put Tremal-Naik always further away from his beloved and makes him despair over their future.
This book is the first one of the Pirates of Malaysia Series (11 books).
"Three hours crept by like three centuries for the hunter who desired nothing more than to see his beloved Ada"
*awww*
Style
The style of writing is very similar to other adventure books of the same period like The Three Musketeers where the dialogues and general reactions are quite over the top, some people are always overcome by emotion, talk or whisper what they think out loud and finally where others interject each other with "scoundrel" and "wrench" every 5 pages. I find it highly amusing and entertaining.
I would qualify this book as a page turner. The plot is full of exciting events which are very well described and which take place in a very fast-paced rhythm that makes you want to know immediately what will happen next.
About that, it is not a good idea to read this book in public, you get so excited from the story that you want to brandish your sword with a barbarian scream and go defend the poor and hopeless from the ruthless evil hands of mean people.
Yeah very bad idea at 8am in the tube, I can guarantee...
One of the best things of this book is the description of Indian and Hindu traditions. It feels as much an adventure story as a book on India in the 1800 during the British colonisation. It's very interesting.
As a lot of books written in this period, the characters have very definite personalities and roles in the story. I don't want to spoil the plot too much, but each character has a very interesting role to play, and since the story is told from a third person point of view, you get glimpses of everybody and it really is a plus.
For a picture of the commemorative plaque of Emilio Salgari in Verona:
http://portrait-of-a-woman.blogspot.com/2010/05/lost-in-translation-2-18-may-1-june.html
kamaria's review against another edition
2.0
When I was a child, I was a fan of Sandokan, both the cartoons and the TV mini series starring Kabir Bedi. I am also a fan of classic adventure novels, as cheesy as they are. It was only a matter of time to get my hands on The Mystery of the Black Jungle, the first book on The Pirates of Malaysia series, which deals with Sandokan and his crew.
Well, I finally did, and I didn't love it.
I actually have mixed feelings about this one. Even for a classic adventure, the characters are rather flat and every little mystery that conforms the plot is really very illogical. Tremal-Naik, the hero, is too impetuous and empty-headed to be a proper main character - he is not a good adventure leader. Kammamuri, his servant, is a far more interesting and intelligent character. Unfortunately, he only appears in the first half of the novel. But honestly, at some point Tremal-Naik faces an horde of enemies armed with some sort of gun and his knives. And what does he do? Discard the knives, discharge his gun in a lake, and start hitting thugs with the gun butt. Not the best plan there, pal. As readers, we are supposed to ascribe his lack of brains to his sudden infatuation with Ada (who, according to classic adventure novel standards is the only female in the whole book, nothing more than a love interest/object). The same flat characterization can be found in Suyodhana, the main antagonist. But it all just comes across as comical, when it should induce tension. On top of that, the (rather ludicrous) central conflict wouldn't exist if one of the characters hadn't randomly decided to change his name. The rushed ending, anagnorisis included, spans only about a page and a half.
Fortunately, although The Mystery of the Black Jungle has very many problems, it isn't devoid of virtues. For one thing, the representation of POC is by far the best I've encountered in a novel of this time and age. They are varied. It's amazing how something so simple can feel so refreshing. They aren't all Indians and that's it - Salgari respectfully describes changes in skin tone, facial hair, eye shape and colour, and how these features were usually associated with people from different geographical areas. At some point, Tremal-Naik even uses the racial prejudices of a white man as an advantage to carry out a risky plan, and it pays out. These descriptions don't feel out of place, since Salgari was describing what was considered an exotic place to Europeans who hadn't travelled all that much. He also makes a point about the peaceful coexistence of different religions, and shows customs from an 'inside' point of view, trying to make a Western reader understand that something which can seem barbaric or ridiculous to us is just a religious or superstitious custom as good (or bad!) as those present in Europe. He sometimes slips unrespectful comments or expresses disgust at some traditions, but Salgari was definitely quite open-minded for a 19th-century Italian man. And he doesn't stop there. He makes his characters very vocal about British colonialism - how they were destroying traditions and standardizing everyone to fit in their mold of savages in order to rule more easily over India.
At the end of the novel, I was thankful for the purposeful ambiguous ending and for its political stance, but it definitely wasn't a very entertaining read.
Well, I finally did, and I didn't love it.
I actually have mixed feelings about this one. Even for a classic adventure, the characters are rather flat and every little mystery that conforms the plot is really very illogical. Tremal-Naik, the hero, is too impetuous and empty-headed to be a proper main character - he is not a good adventure leader. Kammamuri, his servant, is a far more interesting and intelligent character. Unfortunately, he only appears in the first half of the novel. But honestly, at some point Tremal-Naik faces an horde of enemies armed with some sort of gun and his knives. And what does he do? Discard the knives, discharge his gun in a lake, and start hitting thugs with the gun butt. Not the best plan there, pal. As readers, we are supposed to ascribe his lack of brains to his sudden infatuation with Ada (who, according to classic adventure novel standards is the only female in the whole book, nothing more than a love interest/object). The same flat characterization can be found in Suyodhana, the main antagonist. But it all just comes across as comical, when it should induce tension. On top of that, the (rather ludicrous) central conflict wouldn't exist if one of the characters hadn't randomly decided to change his name. The rushed ending, anagnorisis included, spans only about a page and a half.
Fortunately, although The Mystery of the Black Jungle has very many problems, it isn't devoid of virtues. For one thing, the representation of POC is by far the best I've encountered in a novel of this time and age. They are varied. It's amazing how something so simple can feel so refreshing. They aren't all Indians and that's it - Salgari respectfully describes changes in skin tone, facial hair, eye shape and colour, and how these features were usually associated with people from different geographical areas. At some point, Tremal-Naik even uses the racial prejudices of a white man as an advantage to carry out a risky plan, and it pays out. These descriptions don't feel out of place, since Salgari was describing what was considered an exotic place to Europeans who hadn't travelled all that much. He also makes a point about the peaceful coexistence of different religions, and shows customs from an 'inside' point of view, trying to make a Western reader understand that something which can seem barbaric or ridiculous to us is just a religious or superstitious custom as good (or bad!) as those present in Europe. He sometimes slips unrespectful comments or expresses disgust at some traditions, but Salgari was definitely quite open-minded for a 19th-century Italian man. And he doesn't stop there. He makes his characters very vocal about British colonialism - how they were destroying traditions and standardizing everyone to fit in their mold of savages in order to rule more easily over India.
At the end of the novel, I was thankful for the purposeful ambiguous ending and for its political stance, but it definitely wasn't a very entertaining read.
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