Last Chance To See

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Summary: Douglas Adams--In the Real World!
Review: This book is pure Douglas Adams--totally hilarious with a bit of political commentary. But, unlike his sci-fi, it is about real stuff. Specifically, about amazing, highly endangered animals, the people around them and places where they live.

The imagery is great: consider the Komodo dragon slowing swallowing a live chicken one had been traveling with in an open boat which one had been intending to eat oneself; or the day-long effort to buy a condom in 1980's Beijing--desperately needed for a purely technical purpose I will leave to your imagination.

This is among the funniest, most poignant, and most culturally interesting books I have ever read.

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Summary: Beautiful, Sad... witty yet regretful
Review: A race to document a dying species... Adams' wit and humor make an enjoyable read out of what could only otherwise be called a depressing topic. Still, through Adams' intelligent yet non-zoological eyes, we are shown areas of the world we will otherwise never see. The portrayal of the Kimono dragons, early in the book, is a shocking representation of what a a majestic reptile has been reduced to, and at the same time a morbid reminder of how wretched humans can be. Yet, due to Adams' skill we are able to feel his wonder and his fascination. We are able to get past the uncomfortable aspects of animal extinction, so that we can look it square in the eye and learn from it.

As much value on a humanitarian, ecological and zoological level as on a literary one. Adams' himself calls it his most prized and significant writing (I'm paraphrasing, read "Salmon of Doubt" to get his words).

I'd give it three thumbs up, but I only have two.

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Summary: Engaging narration of endangered species & their protectors
Review: Adams narrates his adventures travelling the globe with an experienced Zoologist, Carwardine, to see first hand the plight of several seriously endangered species. `Seriously'? Well, as he points out in his `rare or medium rare' chapter, one ecologist might panic about there only being hundreds of one species left - but that's the dream of another ecologist working to save a species with only fifteen: `Hundreds is common'.

I suppose there's some level of compassion-fatigue with endangered species - I was not surprised at the content of most of this book, much as I'm a little dismayed that I'm not more dismayed (if you know what I mean).

Adams, as you might have picked up if you've read any of his books, isn't too bad at this writing thingy, and the prose is engaging, amusing and occasionally insightful. Adams is good company, he's not preachy or condescending, doesn't claim to have all the answers, and describes what he sees without forcing it into some brutal agenda.

To be honest, my greatest pleasure in the book was not being informed - I'm sure you could find out this and more detailed information from other sources - it was in being informed by this particular narrator. I particularly enjoyed his presentation of some of the wonderful boffins in the field, particularly the Australian poisons expert - hilarious. Towards the latter part of the book I found some of these portraits more obviously contrived (and somehow the birds failed to interest as much as the earlier beasts).

That being said, there's enough fascinating people, places and fauna throughout - plus Adams' quirky perspectives, friendly company, consistent wit and occasional comic triumphs to recommend the read.

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Summary: Explaining a tragic situation - the Douglas Adams way
Review: Adams used his extraordinary narrative abilities to describe - in language at once humorous and brutally forthright - not only the endangered creatures he was looking for but how they became endangered. You'll feel an urgency to act while there is still time.

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Summary: A Wonderful Surprise
Review: Although I'm a huge Douglas Adams fan, I didn't touch his 1990 book "Last Chance To See" for 14 years because it wasn't a "proper" Adams novel. This isn't a fictional, funny book about the exploits of Arthur Dent & friends as they roam throughout the galaxy, or a fictional, funny book about the exploits of detective Dirk Gently. Instead, "Last Chance To See" is a non-fictional travelogue book that Adams co-wrote with zoologist Mark Carwardine, chronicling their year-long trek around the world in search of endangered species. While I appreciated what Adams was trying to do with this book, I just didn't care to read it. Now, 14 years later, I realise what an ignorant fool I'd been. "Last Chance To See" is a wonderful, funny, *important* book, and Adams has written it with the same wit & flair that he used for his best "Hitchhiker's" and "Dirk Gently" books. It is also very powerful and sad at times, in it's depiction of the grave circumstances that many of these endangered animals are in. But Adams never jumps on a soapbox and he doesn't lecture. He simply tells you of his travels and he gives you his very clever insights about these very precious animals and their situations, while mixing in some very good information & quotes about these creatures supplied by Carwardine (who also wrote the book's epilogue). And the travels of these two men is very funny at times, such as their problems at an African airport, Adams' battle with mosquitos, their search for condoms in China (though NOT for the reason you think), and the hilarious, hair-raising episode with a reckless Land Rover driver. And all the while, the reader learns about the plight of such animals as the Komodo dragon, the Kakapo, the blind river dolphins of China, the white rhino, and the silverback gorilla (and excellent photos of each are also included). And although Adams never preaches, he succeeds in making the reader aware---and saddened---of how thoughtless the human race has been in the past in the treatment of these animals. And finally, Adams concludes the book with a very powerful story he heard when he was young about the 12 books of knowledge that puts the whole thing in perspective.Whether you're a Douglas Adams fan, or simply interested in endangered species, this book is an absolutely essential purchase. Sorry, Douglas, that it took me so long to get to it! But I'm very glad that I finally read it. "Last Chance To See" is a funny, touching, thought-provoking book.

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Summary: Excellent mix of fact and humor
Review: Douglas Adams brings the dreadful statistics to life with humor and an approach that makes it easier to understand why people care - and what we can do. Even if you don't care about extinctions, this is a good read.

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Summary: Ford Prefect should read this book
Review: Douglas Adams could have worked comfortably within his sci-fi niche for the rest of his career knowing that he had left his mark on the literary world. He chose to take a chance and write a non-fiction account of some of the most unique and fascinating animals on our planet (the same one that Ford Prefect, from the increasingly inappropriately name Hitchhiker's Trilogy, considered "Mostly Harmless").

His addictive writing style made this book impossible to put down. His accounts of the Komodo Dragon and the Kakapo bird are two of the most humorous, yet informative pieces that I have had the pleasure of reading.

I was fortunate enough to hear Adams speak at a local university a few years ago. The crowd was decidedly Hitchhiker fanatics but by the end of the evening, he had us all running to the bookstore to find Last Chance to See.

Read this book. You'll laugh. And you might even learn something, too.

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Summary: British humor, makes fun safari!
Review: Douglas Adams' Last Chance to See is a book that takes the reader on his journey visiting endangered species. This could be the most boring topic to read about, but the way British writer Adams' writes is so funny the reader cannot help but laugh their way through the book. Above all about this book, the reader comes away with so much knowledge about these animals.
When it came to endangered species I was one of those people that would know the least about the topic, but because of Last Chance To See, I am familiar with all kinds of animals now. The book begins with Adams going to Madagascar going to see the aye-aye which is a lemur near extinction. Come to find out the aye-aye is a nocturnal lemur and is very strange looking. The book goes on to talk about komodo dragons, keas, kakapo, north island robins, echo parakeets and so many more animals. My favorite to read about was the Qi-Qi baiji dolphin. The information about the animal was absolutely fascinating.
Humorous comments about situations Adams finds himself in are written so cleverly. One of my favorites comments Adams makes is in reference to scrunching up Norway taking out all the moose's and filling it with birds would be a waist because it was already a place, New Zealand. Little comments and events that happen cause me to be even more interested in the book and enjoy reading more of it.
Adams non-fiction Last Chance To See is just a really well done book on endangered species. Adams makes a strong point in the book that if no one cares, and lets these animals become extinct, we can never bring them back. The world will never have these fascinating creatures if we don't put and end to the animals that are becoming extinct by the thousands every year. If anyone is interested in learning more on the subject and having some good laughs I would tell them to stick out the first chapter and once you get into the book you will really enjoy reading Last Chance To See.

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Summary: A hitchhiker's guide to the animal kingdom
Review: Douglas Adams' sense of humour is so strong, it could inject a bucketful of laughs into an obituary. Needless to say I wasn't surprised when this book, his elegy for endangered species, turned out to have a welcome balance between laughter and melancholy.

Adams is joined by zoologist Mark Carwardine, as they use their last chance to see a variety of animals on the brink of extinction, such as the Komodo Dragon, the White Rhinos of Zaire, New Zealand kakapos, and Yangtze river dolphins. Adams, amateur wildlife lover, is wise enough to know the purpose of his journey: to shine some of the glare from his celebrity as a "science-fiction comedy novelist" on the issue of global extinction. He does wisely not to downplay the plight of these animals in the favour of commerciality, but manages to produce an entertaining work nonetheless. Carwardine, and the other people we encounter, sometimes come off as little more than characters in a Douglas Adams novel. I am hesitant to believe that everyone he encounters has the same dry, deadpanned British sense of humour. Nonetheless, the characters' eccentricities further shed light on the kinds of people who are willing to undertake the monumental task of saving these beautiful beasts. It is not work for the dispassionate.

"The great thing about being the only species that makes a distinction between right and wrong," he notes at one point, "is that we can make up the rules for ourselves as we go along." Which brings up the second theme he hopes to illustrate here. Humans are dumb. No, that's too simple. Humans are egotistical, selfish, wasteful, materialistic, impudent, and dumb. The single, overwhelming reason why most of these animals must fight for their survival is the sheer audacity humans have in moving into their natural habitat, and upsetting the balance of nature. Adams has no time for individual moments of human idiocy, best exemplified by his wonderful line skewering young Yemeni men who insist on wearing rhino tusk costume jewelry: "How do you persuade [them] that a rhino horn dagger is not a symbol of your manhood but a signal of the fact that you need such a symbol?" His exasperation is evident in this and other such pearls of prose.

I admit that I read this book more for Adams himself than for the subject matter. It is a credit to the author that by the end, I felt some sense of emotional investment in the animals, without the bitter feelings that usually emanate whenever I am subject to an overt tug at my heartstrings. Adams walks that fine line quite well.

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Summary: A Surprising book from an unusual author
Review: For an author who specialized in writing odd, strange, and bizarre science fiction, this book was a real surprise. A very good one. He brings his bizarre sense of humor into a very dry subject, and makes it more real. Makes it more approachable, easily understandable, even for those who might not be interested in the topic.

Although it's sad, knowing that the Baiji dolphin pictured in the book has now passed away, and that a dam was built on that river, destroying that species' habitat, such as it was. It's like watching a very bad part of history happen in front of your eyes, knowing a friend has passed away. That's how approachable this book makes the topic.