Throwim Way Leg : " Adventures In The Jungles Of New Guinea " : - Hardcover

Cornill, Carl Heinrich; Johnston, Christopher

4.09

733 ratings by Goodreads

9780297842729: Throwim Way Leg : " Adventures In The Jungles Of New Guinea " :

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0297842722 ISBN 13: 9780297842729

Publisher: Sagwan Press, 2015

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The Hilarious, riveting and sometimes terrifying adventures of an Australian field bioligist in the jungles and mountains of New Guinea, one of the last frontiers left on earth. In New Guinea Pidgin, throwin way leg means to go on a journey. It describes the action of thrusting out your leg to take the first step of what can be a long march. Flannery observes the collision of cultures as Catholic missionaries seek to reform traditional beliefs and mining companies exploit the huge gold and copper resources of the island.

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Review:

Mammologist Tim Flannery assumed the age of exploration had died with Darwin. Upon arrival in New Guinea, though, he realises just how wrong he's been. Hilarious and riveting, Thowim Way Leg chronicles Flannery's adventures among the mountain people of New Guinea while in hot pursuit of giant rats, tree-kangaroos, bats, possums and bandicoots. In the local pidgin, "throwim way leg" describes the first decisive step in a journey. Flannery takes that step--and soon he's clambering up steep peaks; braving jungle critters like sweat bees, hairy spiders, pythons and the occasional crocodile; and perilously close to ending up in hot water more than once. Cannibalism, he assures us, is a thing of the past, but when he comes into contact with the Miyanmin--a people who refer to a neighbouring tribe as "bokis es bilong mipela" (literally, "our refrigerator")--we're left wondering how he got out alive.

Flannery's exuberance over the wildlife he encounters is interesting enough, but it's his ability to capture the indigenous perspective that makes this book worth reading. When his new-found friends learn, for instance, of the widespread custom of circumcision, they fall about in paroxysms of laughter. Equally perplexing (to an elderly gentlemen who has never seen rice) is how Flannery and his cronies could chance upon so many delectable ant-eggs. With 14 pages of colourful, enticing, "wish-I-could-go-there-right-now" photos. --Martha Silano

Review:

`An enthralling introduction to the mountain people of New Guinea-
unimaginably remote,. Charming, cunning, cruel - and to their magnificent
land' -- The New York Times

`This book combines an irresistible author with an irresistible subject...
it is so hard to put down' -- Jared Diamond

`Tim Flannery is in the league of the all-time great explorers
like Dr David Livingstone' -- Sir David Attenborough

`an extraordinary book... you can hear the thunderstorms, smell
the hunting dogs...a journey through and beyond fear'
-- Sunday Age

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