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13th out of 38 books
—
51 voters
Journey of the Pink Dolphins: An Amazon Quest
Scientists call them "Inia geoffrensis," an ancient species of toothed whale whose origin dates back about 15 million years. To the local people of the Amazon, pink river dolphins are "botos," shape shifters that, in the guise of human desire, can claim your soul and take you to the Encante, an enchanted underwater world.As tributaries braid into a single river, "Journey o...more
Paperback, 320 pages
Published
March 13th 2001
by Simon & Schuster
(first published January 1st 2000)
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I was really looking forward to this book as I'd lived up the Amazon myself at one time but it was a dud. Just plain precious, somewhat overwritten and ultimately irritatingly bad.
I knew no more about pink dolphins at the end of the book than I did after the first few chapters. The author did say that no-one knows anything much about the pink dolphins, including researchers who had studied them for years, so why write the book if you don't know anything much about them either?
Don't tell me that...more
I knew no more about pink dolphins at the end of the book than I did after the first few chapters. The author did say that no-one knows anything much about the pink dolphins, including researchers who had studied them for years, so why write the book if you don't know anything much about them either?
Don't tell me that...more
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Montgomery goes in search of the pink dolphins of the Amazon which have thoroughly captured her heart and imagination (though not her soul just yet), and brings us along for the ride.
The more I read about the rainforest regions of South American, the more fascinated I become. Yes, the dolphins she's after are really pink! Not only are there all kinds of environmental and cultural issues surrounding them, there are also scores of legends and stories about their interaction with humans--sometimes...more
The more I read about the rainforest regions of South American, the more fascinated I become. Yes, the dolphins she's after are really pink! Not only are there all kinds of environmental and cultural issues surrounding them, there are also scores of legends and stories about their interaction with humans--sometimes...more
Need a book to help you remove your head from the sand? This is it. Follow Sy to and through the Amazon on her search for pink river dolphins, the botos, and learn their myths and stories. The book is so much more than the physical journey, although walls dissolve and you are suddenly in an aluminum boat floating through the flooded forests, a rain of biting ants falling on you, but you learn about the people, the tribes, the rubber barons and gold miners, the medicine men and the scientists...i...more
Uneven in tone and too focused on the legends of the dolphin rather than it´s reality, I was still sucked in by those amazing pink river dolphins.
Amazing reading from my Research and Documentary writing class. Montgomery shocked and pleased me with her sensual presence in the story.
Not something I would pick -up and read but was recommended by a friend. Interesting from many perspectives.
Slow, but intriguing research and stories of living in the Amazon.
Sadly, a poorly written book about amazing creatures.
SM
I've had this since 1998 and I finally read it while recovering from surgery. I completely fell in love with it and I can't believe I waited more than 10 years to read it!
Montgomery's descriptions are fantastic, her love for the animals is apparent, and her tenderness and insight are wedded magically. Like Robert Payne's Among Whales, this book made me want to drop everything and go observe some animal, any animal, in its native habitat. I want to read everything she's ever written now.
Montgomery's descriptions are fantastic, her love for the animals is apparent, and her tenderness and insight are wedded magically. Like Robert Payne's Among Whales, this book made me want to drop everything and go observe some animal, any animal, in its native habitat. I want to read everything she's ever written now.
Either I'd forgotten how purple Montgomery's prose could be or this one was purpl-ier than the rest. Either that I just wasn't in the right place for an evocative purple nature book, because I had trouble getting through this one. The fact that there actually aren't very many dolphins in the book--but there is a lot of looking for them--may also have been a contributing factor.
I didn't even know there were freshwater dolphins, let alone Pepto-Bismol-pink ones, before I read this book. I read it again after traveling along the Peruvian Amazon and seeing the dolphins,and enjoyed it even more the 2nd time. Fascinating information about the dolphins as animals and about the foklore that the river people weave around them. Also a fun adventure travel story.
Fascinating travel/animal/nature look at the Amazon Rain Forest. Montgomery combines factual information with dolphin mythology. Author won the New England booksellers award for non-fiction. Lack of index and summary of facts would prevent this from being useful for a school report.
To be honest, I didn't even know pink dolphins existed before we read this book. It also gave a very nice overview of the creatures, plants and people of the Amazon and the problems they are facing. A says that she thinks pink dolphins are her new favorite water animal.
I have always been fascinated by dolphins and The Amazon... this book fulfilled my expectations of both. Now I just wish I could afford to go there myself. I would start out in Manaus too.
Sep 03, 2007
Krista the Krazy Kataloguer
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-childrens-books
I really like the way Mongomery writes-- as if you're right there with her. This book introduced me to pink dolphins, which I'd never heard of before.
This book reads like you are actually touring the Amazon.
It was very beneficial to my Brazil/Amazon trip...
Photographs by: Dianne Taylor-Snow
Jul 22, 2010
Andrea
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommended to Andrea by:
Gift from my daughter (she knows her mom)
If you love learning new things and love nature a great book to add to your collection. Very well written and filled with more wonders of the world!
I really loved this book about pink river dolphins!
May 13, 2013
Ying
marked it as to-read
May 06, 2013
Dawn Rose
is currently reading it
May 05, 2013
Chris
marked it as tbr-and-have
May 01, 2013
Sarah
marked it as to-read
Apr 20, 2013
Mara
is currently reading it
Apr 08, 2013
Sherri
marked it as to-read
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Part Indiana Jones, part Emily Dickinson, as the Boston Globe describes her, Sy Montgomery is an author, naturalist, documentary scriptwriter, and radio commentator who has traveled to some of the worlds most remote wildernesses for her work. She has worked in a pit crawling with 18,000 snakes in Manitoba, been hunted by a tiger in India, swum with pink dolphins in the Amazon, and been undressed b...more
More about Sy Montgomery...
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