Reviews for Keep the River on Your Right

The average rating for Keep the River on Your Right based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-07-26 00:00:00 Terrie Mclachlan Completely dissatisfied with the 1999 documentary of the same name, I decided to pick up Tobias Schneebaum's book "Keep the River on Your Right" to learn more about his experiences in Peru myself. In the mid-1950's Schneebaum walked into the jungle in search of acceptance and became a member of a tribe of cannibals. He lived amongst them, naked, painted and yes, eating flesh from their dead enemies, for more than seven months before he turned around and walked back out to civilization. The book is less an interesting anthropological study than a look at Schneebaum himself -- he finds it easier to say that he was a cannibal than to say he is a gay man who fled a 1950's society that wouldn't accept him. His sexuality is very much up front throughout the book, but he never addresses it head on. He paints a rather romantic view of the "noble savages" who accept him into their tribe, despite their raid of another camp, where they murder the men and kidnap women and children. If you're looking for a ton of information about Peruvian tribes, this book isn't it. However, it is a fascinating look at the lengths a man will travel to find a place to fit in and belong.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-11-24 00:00:00 Steven Burgess 4.9999 I'm sure the story of his journey is a little fictionalised, but as one who believes fiction can tell truths better, I in no way object to that. A couple of pages late in the piece had a Biblical resonance, like an Old Testament lament (King James of course). He makes a big deal of his encounter with cannibalism - which he also makes symbolic. He doesn't judge, and nor is this a 'heart of darkness' situation, since what he seeks and finds is beauty and love. Alienated from his own society, he begins with an aversion to having any people whatsoever in evidence around him -- then dives into a society where touch is far more personal than his old allows, where you sleep in a heap and are never alone. In content, psyche and style, he reminded me of TE Lawrence whose Seven Pillars meant so much to me when young.