Rating: 
Summary: This book is wonderful.
Review: Kon Tiki is one of the best books I have ever read. Thor Heyerdahl describes the journey so vividly, it almost seems as if you were there. This book will transport you into another world far away from the troubles of modern society. Read Kon Tiki, and experience the wonders of primitive sea travel.
Rating:
Summary: Courage, comrades, an idea, and the ocean
Review: Kon-Tiki starts with an idea, conceived during Heyerdahl's stay on a South Seas island researching his doctoral thesis: could Polynesia have been colonized by trans-Pacific emigres from the pre-Colombian cultures of South America?A true scientist, Heyerdahl isn't satisfied with deciding "yes" - he must test the theory! In the hands of a lesser man this would have produced a musty old thesis collecting dust on the back shelf of an anthropology library. Instead, Heyerdahl marshals five friends of heroic spirit, acquires 9 giant balsa wood logs and some other supplies, and within a few months he sets sail from Peru to cross the Pacific. Drinking fresh water stored in hollowed-out bamboo shafts and eating fish that leap aboard the raft, they make their way across the ocean, well knowing that despite the advanced radio technology of 1936, their chance of rescue in the event of mishap is nil. The only sea book I can think of to rival this for sheer interest and adventure is Verne's "20,000 Leagues under the Sea," - a fantasy. Heyerdahl's work is true, and his heroic heart shines through in every word. His love and reverence for the ocean and the primitive culture he sought to imitate, combined with his scientific clarity of exposition, make it a joy to read and will instill the sea-lust into even the most devoted landlubber. I think everyone ought to read this book, for sheer pleasure, and as an example of what can be done with stout heart, clear head, and good will. I recommend it to you without any reservation.
Rating:
Summary: Edge-of-seat-couldn't-put-dow-adventure
Review: Mr.Heyerdahl's narration entices you into joining he and his 5 shipmates on a journey across the sea. You experience the trials and tribulations of building the raft and putting to sea amidst sharp criticism. He leaves you feeling everything from the salty sea air to the taste of the fish caught to the exhiliration of utter solitude at sea and finally of the exotic celebration upon landing after over 100 days at sea.
Rating:
Summary: True Fiction
Review: The events that occur in the book I read, Kon-Tiki, seem so fantastic and unbelievable that if you didn't know any better, you'd swear they were made up. It is a book written by a world-renowned archeologist, Thor Heydrahl, about his real-life adventure. To prove his theory that a long-extinct race in South America was actually descended from a people that came from, and then later returned to Polynesia, Heydrahl set out on a remarkable journey. He, along with five others, made a raft out of balsa logs, and without using metal of any form, sailed thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean. Their adventures and struggles, both on and off the raft, combine to make an incredible tale of knowledge, bravery, and luck.
Rating:
Summary: "Lucky Adventurer" or Visionary Theorist?
Review: The voyage of the Kon-Tiki ranks as one of the great adventures of ourera. But was Heyerdahl's journey that of a "luckyadventurer" whose theories could be justly dismissed as"junk science" by the archaeological establishment? Or didhis knowledge that the seas were virtual conveyor belts unveil thepossibility that ancient peoples were not limited to migration overland bridges but could more easily have voyaged in rafts over openseas? Tom Dillehay's dating of the Monte Verde site in Chile to 12,500years ago -- hundreds of years before the Mackenzie corridor openedthe remote possibility of Beringia (dry Bering Sea) migration -- seemsto have driven a stake into the theory that man first migrated by landto the Americas. Now paleontologist Walter Neves has revealed that a11,500-year-old skull from central Brazil ("Luzia") has theround eyes, large nose and pronounced chin characteristic ofAustralian aborigines and native Africans. Will Heyerdahl's theoriesfinally receive the attention in academic circles they have longdeserved?
Rating: 
Summary: Overseas Adventure
Review: This book is a surprisingly fresh read for a book written more than forty years ago. Heyerdahl's raft journey would have been survived by few men. It's a tribute to what determination and preperation can do. A very enjoyable read.
Rating:
Summary: the most exciting real-life adventures you will ever read
Review: this book is an absolute classic. It tells of six men determined to prove the theory that polynesia was populated by humans travelling the open seas on reed rafts. To test this theory they built a raft and set sail. An inspiration to everyone and a book that should be compulsory school reading.
Rating:
Summary: Reawaken the hardy adventurer in you, answer this books call
Review: This book is for the voyeur that wants a window into the lost age of adventure, those years before 1940. The book is rightly regarded as one of the greatest accounts of real life adventures ever written. It paints exhilarating, vivid pictures of risk taking, and of the human hunger for adventure and desire to return to experiencing life through ones primal instincts. This book is about survival, a chase, and pushing the boundaries of what is possible. It sets The Sea against Man, thin odds against practical ingenuity, conventional academic thought against independent, irreverent, defiant thinkers. Reading about the author's 4,000-mile journey across huge expanses of treacherous ocean brings out the would-be adventurer in the reader. The adventurers' single mindedness and determination against all odds and in the face of nay saying experts (who condemned the journey from the start as foolish, and said their voyage never would or could succeed), sets an inspiring example of how determination and perseverance can lead to accomplishing what self-appointed experts and nay Sayers declare impossible. During their voyage the author and his team pushed the boundaries and commonplace notions of what is possible. The author in part wants us to understand that not all seemingly adventurous fools and are so foolish; that determination can see one across barren, stormy oceans, be they real or metaphorical. On completing the book, all that remains is for the reader to respond to its heed, to push ones own limits to their edge. In a corporate world where too often money is the primary force in leading us to act, where the value of an activity is measured by its potential financial payback, it is refreshing to be reminded of other motivations for action, and of other rewards. The ultimate reward of this book is that it can reawaken in the reader a primal instinct to pursue, instincts which often seems irrelevant or far away in our modern, comfortable lives... this book also reminds the reader of how to dream and the virtues of following dreams. The book serves to remind us of how, why, and where to find adventure ... personally, I walked away from the book exhilarated, and convinced that anything is possible, should I choose to look beyond conventional thought or lifestyle and reach for the stars. ***** Highly Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: An eye opener to a lost age of adventure
Review: This is an immensely inspiring account of human adventure and perseverance. It sets man against sea, thin odds against practical ingenuity, conventional academic thought against the independent thinker. This four thousand mile journey across barren, treacherous seas can't help but inspire the would-be adventurer. The adventurers' single mindedness and determination, in the face of naysaying world experts (who said they would never succeed, and that their boat would sink at mid-sea), shows how determination and perseverance can lead to accomplishing what some may view as impossible goals, and in so doing it pushes the boundaries and commonplace notions of what is possible. We see that not all adventurous fools and are so foolish; that determination can see one across a massive barren and stormy ocean, real or metaphorical. On completing the book, all that remains is for the reader to respond to its call for adventure and begin plans for achieving personal goals or adventures ... all the tools needed for accomplishment are demonstrated in this voyage. In a corporate world where too often money is the primary force in leading us to act, where the value of an activity is measured by its potential financial payback, it is refreshing to be reminded of other motivations for action, and of other rewards. Can this book reawaken a spirit of adventure which may seem irrelevant to modern social or commercial life? Can it remind us how to dream and the virtues of following our dreams? I am reminded in these pages how, why, and where I can find adventure ... one walks away from the book convinced that anything is possible, should I choose to look beyond conventional thought or lifestyle and reach for the stars.
Rating:
Summary: Like Nothing Else I Have Ever Read Before
Review: When I was very young my father used to read my brothers, my sister and I books from his collection. Yesterday I picked up this book, by chance, in a store and could not put it down. I bought it, read it last night and realized that this was one of those books that had been read to me so long ago. It's funny to think this, but looking back on it I realize that I always believed the story to be fiction. Nothing like this could ever really happen!...but it DID happen, and not too long ago either. Last night I sat down with this book and could not put it down until it was finished. You are drawn into the planning of the expedition, the day-to-day life of the crew and, by the end of the book, you feel as though you were ON the Kon-Tiki with these six men. You reach the end of the book and instantly crave another adventure, or another thousand pages. I would be doing this book an injustice by trying to explain the feeling it gives the reader, but to say that it has effortlessly toppled every notion I ever had about what makes a "good" book would be very accurate indeed. A must read--for anyone of any age in any country.
|
