Reviews for The Tree Where Man Was Born

The average rating for The Tree Where Man Was Born based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-04-16 00:00:00 Sheila Otis I purchased this book in anticipation of a journey to Africa. This chronicle is nonfiction, but it reads with the depth and intensity of poetry. Even though this book was written about the author's experience and impressions of Africa on a series of trips in the 1960's his insights remain timeless. The politics of Africa are convulsive and the boundaries of countries dynamic, but much of Tanzania and Kenya lands have been preserved and remain essentially the same as when Matthiessen visited 50 years ago. His descriptions of natural occurrences like the systematic attack of wild dogs on a new born zebra made me want to beg him to stop. But, he gives life to the landscape and all the animals that dwell there with same brilliant mastery of the language and pulls the reader forward. He does speak of mans beginnings as the title suggests, "Baboons in silhouette looked like early hominids hurling wild manic howling at my head." Even though the information about the descent of mankind is fascinating, for me it is Matthiessen's incredible descriptive powers that give magic to a land that is often harsh and unforgiving to man and beast. Speaking about Kilimanjaro he said, "The glacier glistens. A distant snow peak scours the mind, but a snow peak in the tropics draws the heart o a fine shimmering painful point of joy." I will read this book again when I return from Africa to compare notes and take lessons from a truly gifted writer.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-05-11 00:00:00 Wouter Schuddebuers The Tree Where Man Was Born is a series of belle lettres essays on various aspects of natural history and anthropology in northern Tanzania (with a bit of Ethiopia, Sudan, and Kenya thrown in). It is good for its time, but it was Peter Matthiessen's blessing and curse to live in a time before Barry Lopez, who surpassed him in every possible way (blessing, because his star was not outshined, but cursed, because he was never able to enjoy the master's works). Unlike Lopez's works, I felt that this book is best enjoyed during or after one has experienced the things Matthiessen is writing about. That's how I read it - while travelling in the Serengeti, Manyara, etc - and I definitely got more out of it than I got out of the parts I hadn't experienced myself. Matthiessen doesn't have the gift to transcribe things quite so vividly. The parts about culture were interesting (especially regarding the Hadzabe) but there is a strangely anachronistic fascination with race and genealogy that dates the book a bit and is sometimes kind of uncomfortable. Matthiessen loves telling then-current theories about which tribes are related to which and come from where, and extrapolates this probably too much into their current way of life and personality. Lopez would cover all that but still leave with more of a sense of respect for the people who are still living there now, doing these things, living normal people lives. Not so much exoticization of the "natives." And there are some moments when Matthiessen implies they're lazy or dumb, too, which isn't helpful. His mode of travel is certainly wonderful and admirable: he drives around the country in a seemingly self-sufficient Land Cruiser, staying with scientists and anthropologists and having them show him the things they are engaged in. But yeah, definitely worth the read.