Last Chance to See....

Rating:
Summary: entertaining and interesting
Review: This book took me by surprise. If you expect the usual twisted science fiction that Douglas Adams normally is associated with, you will be surprised as well. It is fascinating how someone can make a book on the subject "animals under threat of extermination" that not only is interesting and informative, but also highly entertaining. This book is just as funny as his other books, but in a completely different way.

Rating:
Summary: Last Chance to Read
Review: You know, I normally wouldn't read a book titled, "Last Chance to See". It wouldn't stick out to me or jump out when I walk by browsing, say at a library or something. If I did happen to pick it up by some miracle, and browse the summary and quotes of praise by various media types on the back, I still wouldn't take it home, in all honesty. Perhaps I'm close minded, mean, or just don't really care about the environment (The whole book is about saving animals and how importandt it is to do), but stuff like this has never gotten me excited.
Well, guess what, I go to school. And so you can guess that I read it. The story goes like this. A writer(Douglas Adams, the author) and his animal freak friend (Mark Carwardine)travel the world to view and report on various endangered species. As the book comes to a rather sad and moving cnclusion that what we are doing to out planet and it's inhuman inhabitants is, if not anything else, sad. And out of the whole book, through Douglas' various adventures and realizing the dire and extreme situation that some animals are in, that was the whole point of the book and the most influential to me: that what is happening is just sad. He doesn't scold the readers into this conclusion either, if that's what you're thinking, but just paints a realistic picture of the state of things that most people, himself included, don't usually think about.
So, am I glad that I read this book? Yes. There are a couple small parts that I lost interest, as in any book, but it's very interesting and entertaining as a whole. Douglas Adams has an exaggerated and deadpan sense of humor that makes situations that could be dry very funny and exciting. He talks about these animals that you've never heard of before and makes you want to know more about them. And although I'm not anywhere near sending money to save an endangered monkey or declining to buy a fur coat (that is if I wore fur coats), I would say that the book might have budged something a little in my brain to at least think, yeah, it is sad.
Should you read it? I don't know; should you? Just kidding. I would say if you are set on your views of this planet and don't really care whart happens to it, then this will give you the other side of that argument in a genuine and honest way. You don't have to be afraid of being called uncaring, or worry about pages and pages of facts and numbers on the death rate of a rare bug in Swahili (Well, maybe a little but it's not that bad). And if you love animals and are big on animal's rights, well then to read it would be a no brainer.
The writing is good and for the most part keeps you entertained. There are parts of the book that will make you laugh out loud. I don't think it's on the level of a life altering experience, but it's good. If I had to rate the book from one to five, I'd give it a four. To give it a five would be unrealistic, but to give it a three would make some of you decide not to read it at all, and, that would probably be just sad.