Gorillas in the Mist by Dian Fossey: book review

Gorillas in the Mist (1983) is Dian Fossey’s memoir of 13 years living with endangered mountain gorillas in the rainforests of the volcanic Virunga Mountains, from 1967 to 1980.

Fossey observed and studied four mountain gorilla families, of 51 individuals, in the Virunga Mountains, a range stretching into three African countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. She established the Karisoke Research Centre in Rwanda in 1967 with two small tents in the remote wilderness, that eventually became an internationally renowned research station.

Through births and deaths, Fossey witnessed the growth and development of the mountain gorillas, from infancy to adulthood. Through challenges, such as poachers, the natural demise of gorilla groups, staffing, student census workers and researchers, uninvited visitors, supply shortages, cabin fires, weather, funding, and changing governments, Fossey sits a lonely, but dedicated, individual on a deeply personal quest for understanding.

Beautifully-written, well-documented in meticulous detail, it is a combination of her personal story and her groundbreaking primate research in one of the longest-running field studies of gorillas in the world.

There is, however, a looseness with chronology, a preponderance of her views on how field studies should be conducted, and only a vague understanding of the controversy and events that led to her murder in 1985. It is refreshing when she writes of human contact, through visiting researchers. She skirts many personal issues, but, as far as the gorillas are concerned, they are the star characters in this day-to-day view of their social life, curiosity, tenderness, and brutality.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass

The Beggars' Strike by Aminata Sow Fall: book review

The Beggar’sStrike (1979 in French and 1981 in English) is set in an unstated country in West Africa in a city known only as The Capital. Undoubtedly, Senegalese author Sow Fall writes of her own experiences. It was also encapsulated in the 2000 film, Battu , directed by Cheick Oumar Sissoko from Mali. Mour Ndiaye is the Director of the Department of Public Health and Hygiene, with the opportunity of a distinguished and coveted promotion to Vice-President of the Republic. Tourism has declined and the government blames the local beggars in The Capital. Ndiaye must rid the streets of beggars, according to a decree from the Minister. Ndiaye instructs his department to carry out weekly raids. One of the raids leads to the death of lame beggar, Madiabel, who ran into an oncoming vehicle as he tried to escape, leaving two wives and eight children. Soon after, another raid resulted in the death of the old well-loved, comic beggar Papa Gorgui Diop. Enough is enou

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog