Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
7th out of 27 books
—
15 voters
Maya Roads: One Woman's Journey Among the People of the Rainforest
by
Mary Jo McConahay (Goodreads Author)
In Maya Roads, McConahay draws upon her three decades of traveling and living in Central America's remote landscapes to create a fascinating chronicle of the people, politics, archaeology, and species of the Central American rainforest, the cradle of Maya civilization. Captivated by the magnificence and mystery of the jungle, the author brings to life the intense beauty, t...more
Paperback, 272 pages
Published
August 1st 2011
by Chicago Review Press
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
87)
Mary Jo is an accomplished journalist and filmmaker who was a witness to Central American civil wars during the seventies into the eighties. Maya Roads is a unique kind of memoir in which she tells us about maya culture, history, language and philosophy through her varied personal experiences in Guatemala and Mexico in Maya countryside. I love how she tells us those stories: she went first as a tourist, then as a participant in an archeological dig, and then a long period as a journalist, with a...more
For starters, this is a most beautiful book--with its glorious cover photo and the illustrations of traditional Maya icons that preface each chapter. It's so rare to have pictures in adult books! But a book is the words, and how marvelously Mary Jo McConahay knits them together. Some of her images I will not forget--e.g. "at the nape of the neck, where the hair was gathered, each woman wore a clutch of dead birds. Those birds just hung there form the knots where the long, black hair had been pul...more
Maya Roads is an engrossing book, one of the best works of travel journalism I have ever ready. The author spent 30 years living and working in Guatemala as a journalist and war correspondent. Her love for the land and for the people is evident in every page. Her passion for social justice infuses the entire book.
The 52 countries reading challenge is certainly the best thing that has been happening to my reading life in 2012: so many books or countries I would not have read about. With Maya Roads, I went to Guatemala, or I accompanied the author as she visited and revisited the country in the span of a few decades.
Maya Roads is a very enriching book, full of the passion of the author for the beauty of the landscape and the people, different and hospitable; and for its rich history and archeology. But it...more
Maya Roads is a very enriching book, full of the passion of the author for the beauty of the landscape and the people, different and hospitable; and for its rich history and archeology. But it...more
Beautifully written book about the author's return to Mayan areas near Chiapas, Mexico and the Peten area in Guatemala that she had visited many years before. I learned a lot and loved her story.
This book was a great memoir but the presentation of historical facts is found more logically lain out elsewhere.
Very good information. Most upsetting - how US policies did not take into account the native people.
I wish I could say I loved this book. I wanted to. The author is a professional journalist who documented Central and South American wars, etc. It kind of reads like a National Geographic article...and at times I found myself lost, wondering if she had explained something and I had missed it, or perhaps she just assumed I had a previous knowledge of all of the atrocities that occurred on Guatemalan soil. I certainly learned a lot, although it also brought up so many other questions that I felt w...more
A wandering travelogue over a period of 20 years. Some parts were engrossing, others not so much. The author seemed fearless travelling alone into untravelled and sometimes dangerous areas of Mexico and Guatemala.
After one hundred pages I quit reading Maya Roads. At my age I do not have time to spend on things that do not hold my attention.
This book should be right up my alley. Maya, Guatemala, discovery--and all in a year when Mayans matter LOL. But it's a hard year for me and books, and I just could not get into this. I'm not sure if it was the pacing, the style, or just my own lack of interest once I got started, but I abandoned this about three (long) chapters in. Others may like it.
Jan 08, 2012
Val Wilkerson
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2012-books-read
Very interesting book written about a woman who did extensive traveling thru Mexico, Guatamala and Beliz over 30 years because of her interest in the Mayan People and history. This will make you want
to take a trip. Loved her vivid descriptions of the rain forests.
to take a trip. Loved her vivid descriptions of the rain forests.
Apr 30, 2013
Vicky
marked it as to-read
view 1 comment
Feb 26, 2013
Monica
is currently reading it
Feb 17, 2013
Amy
marked it as to-read
Feb 17, 2013
Scott Montgomery
marked it as to-read
Dec 01, 2012
Jill
is currently reading it
Nov 12, 2012
Linda
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Mary Jo McConahay covered the Central American wars as a journalist, and co-produced the prize-winning PBS documentary, Discovering Dominga, about a young American housewife who discovers she is a survivor of one of Guatemala's most egregious massacres. Maya Roads is a National Geographic Traveler Book of the Month and winner of the 2012 Northern California Book Award for Creative Nonfiction. Her...more
More about Mary Jo McConahay...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
