Euphoria

Euphoria Lily King 4.5/5	Published 2014 First Sentence "As they were leaving the Mumbanyo, someone threw something at them."
Publisher's Description: It’s that moment about two months in, when you think you've finally got a handle on the place. Everything clicks and it all feels within your grasp …at that moment the place feels entirely yours. It’s the briefest, purest euphoria.”  From the critically-acclaimed author of Father of the Rain comes a breathtaking novel about three gifted and groundbreaking anthropologists of the 30s bound together by an all-consuming passion. For years, English anthropologist Andrew Bankson has been alone in the field studying the Kiona tribe of Papua, New Guinea. Haunted by the memory of his brother’s public suicide, and increasingly infuriated with and isolated by his research, Bankson is on the verge of killing himself when a chance meeting with colleagues, the controversial and consummate Nell Stone and her wry Australian husband Fen, pulls him back from the brink. Nell and Fen have just finished their studies of the bloodthirsty Mumbanyo and, in spite of Nell’s ill health, the couple is ravenous for another new discovery. Together with Bankson they set out to uncover the Tam, a local tribe with an almost mythic existence. As the trio settle with the tribe in their paradisiacal surroundings, inspiration flows and mutual affections swell. In the midst of this new, unchartered territory, Nell, Bankson, and Fen must learn not only to adapt to their invigorating present, but to also confront their complicated and haunted pasts. Set between two World Wars, and based on the adventures of revolutionary anthropologist Margaret Mead, Euphoria is a luminous and remarkable story of the power of possibility, imagination, and memory, from accomplished author Lily King.
Dear Reader, I feel like Anthropologists are all the 'up-n-coming' rage. You heard it from me first, I'm just saying. I'm not going to compare this to The People in The Trees because the only similarity is just that, Anthropology. However, I loved both these books for different reasons and maybe the topic of Anthropology is an itch I didn't even know I needed scratched. Once a topic gets enough attention, you start seeing it everywhere. So wait for it... because I know this is destined to be the next "hip" topic. So yeah, this book revolves around a trio of Anthropologists living and studying the region of Papua, New Guinea. This trio includes a unnerving couple that don't seem to mesh well at all and a loner Anthropologist who is pensive and looking to ease his loneliness. Each of these people are incredibly gifted and show a very different side of what an Anthropologist is really all about. Nell, the warm but questioning one who wants to find the perfect balance of culture and ideas, and thinks this can be found my studying multiple tribes and comparing them with our own civilization. Fen, the husband, is all about living among the tribes and becoming one of them to better understand the why. Bankson is a little reserved and likes to stay back and observe from the shadows, without interfering with the people and their customs. You can't help fall in love with Nell, which seems pretty universal when it comes to those around her, I mean she was modeled after Margaret Mead! However, on the other side of the coin... you can't help but detest Fen for his arrogant, bullying, chauvinistic personality. The minute we see these two interact, you know there'll be trouble. He constantly dismisses and demoralizes her and at the same time you see her hesitate but think better of it and just relent to his constant dribble. This dynamic between the two is so stark and disturbing, the hatred for Fen can only increase from there. Then cue Bankson, the adorable and laid back guy who has only the utmost respect and adoration for Nell. You can't help but want them to fall into each others arms desperately in love. I guess this book has a lot of "you can't help" moments, and maybe the Author leads us down this path purposely. I won't give much away as to what happens, but I think this is a book with a few surprises for everyone. I've established that the characters are wonderfully written and have quite a bit of depth but what about the story-line, what about the tribes? Surprisingly, I don't remember much about them... little tidbits here and there but nothing substantial. I want to say that the brevity spent with the Tam rituals and culture took away from the meat and potatoes of the book, but it really didn't. I'm OKAY that it wasn't the focus, I think having the characters be the shining star really worked well for this book, I wanted to know more about the tribes, yes... but I also loved seeing them through the eyes of the different main characters. The realistic details the Author writes in, like how the bugs gravitate towards someones mouth because of the moisture in high temps. It's the little details like that which have a compelling but realistic look at what it might be like to live amongst a native tribe with hardly any new world comforts at your disposal. As much as I would love to visit places like this, I don't know if I would have the guts to live among them for months at a time. Overall, this story is one of my favorites this year and I'll highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good romantic triangle without the cheese, I will even recommend this to anyone who has that same Anthropological itch as me. Should I have pursued Anthropology as a career? Possibly! I do love to people watch! Does that count? Ha! Happy Reading, AmberBug

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The People in the Trees

The People in the Trees Hanya Yanagihara 4/5	Published 2013 First Sentence "I was born in 1924 near Lindon, Indiana, the sort of small, unremarkable rural town that some twenty years before my birth had begun to duplicate itself, quietly but insistently, across the Midwest."
Publisher's Description: In 1950, a young doctor called Norton Perina signs on with the anthropologist Paul Tallent for an expedition to the remote Micronesian island of Ivu'ivu in search of a rumored lost tribe. They succeed, finding not only that tribe but also a group of forest dwellers they dub "The Dreamers," who turn out to be fantastically long-lived but progressively more senile. Perina suspects the source of their longevity is a hard-to-find turtle; unable to resist the possibility of eternal life, he kills one and smuggles some meat back to the States. He scientifically proves his thesis, earning worldwide fame and the Nobel Prize, but he soon discovers that its miraculous property comes at a terrible price. As things quickly spiral out of his control, his own demons take hold, with devastating personal consequences.
Dear Reader, Every now and then you read a book and after you've finished you sit there wondering if you liked it or not. This was one of those books. The People in the Trees is very well written, has all the makings of a good novel including adventure, science, culture, even a little bit of mystery. The book is essentially about this scientist who is invited to join an anthropologist to an island rumored to contain a lost tribe. Before we even get to this plot line, we're introduced to the scientist's associate, who is the narrator of the book. Even before that, we're introduced to the scientist through a scandal involving him and some children, yes... he was accused of inappropriate relationships with some of his children (who've been adopted by him). This is all within the first few chapters, after that the narrator (his associate) wants to clear his name and tell the story of a great scientist who did wonderful things and adopted children from this mysterious island (children who would have become destitute). What I loved about this book was the vivid way the Hana Yanagihara describes this tribe, the people, the language, the customs, the novelty of it. Clearly, this is a book that involves so many controversial topics. If we come upon a hidden society/tribe, should it be kept a secret?  When first introduced to the tribe, you notice that the people have it together, more than we do even. They hunt, gather, trade, live, love... all the things that satiate our needs in life. Can technology bring them easier ways of doing things, un-complicating tasks that take time and effort? Yes! Should we bring this technology them to "better" their lives? This is a question that gets answered in the book and they results are rather interesting. Technology can be a dangerous thing, especially when brought into the wrong hands. It brought this question to my mind; Are morals and ethics culturally relative? I'd be inclined to say they aren't but this is a question that could create week long discussions. The Author brings life to this tribe with intricate stories, the storytelling in the book is fantastic. We have this long lost tribe that apparently can "live forever", after performing a ceremony where they eat some meat from a local turtle (native only to this part of the island). There is much more to this ceremony and "why" they do this, you'll have to read it yourself to find out because it's fantastic made-up folklore, giving the tribe even more depth and interest. This is where the story starts to turn ugly, the turtle is found and the scientist believes he can use it to create eternal life. This life comes at a cost though, the elderly people of the tribe who've lived over a hundred years, closer to two hundred, start to act strangely. They become different, can't remember things, the body stays healthy and fertile while the mind slowly disintegrates. Perina, the scientist, believes he can harness the ability to skirt death while also removing the problems. I don't think we're suppose to like Perina, at least I didn't. I understood he had a very scientific brain that didn't include much room for emotion, especially empathy but doesn't a person without empathy also describe a psychopath? This is exactly how I felt about him. I did like the many ideas and questions his personality made me think about though. I started pondering about the brain a little more, different personality types, what truly makes a psychopath. I could go on and on about the ideas this book burned into my brain. I think this might be why I gave it four stars. I didn't particularly like any of the characters, the story was solid but kind of slow paced but the Author brings you into this discussion, almost like he wants to have a fun lengthy debate about ALL sorts of things. I liked that, I really did. I would suggest this book to someone who likes pondering over profound ideas, maybe even someone who flirts with culture and finds anthropology fascinating. I will warn you ahead of time, there's things in the book that aren't for the faint of heart. If you can't stomach certain things involving child molestation, animal cruelty, etc... you might need to pass this up. I don't like reading about these things but can admit that they exist and books reflect life, sometimes we need to be reminded that life has horrible things in it. Happy Reading, AmberBug

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