Parrot

Animal Series

by Paul Carter

One of the more nonconformist figures in the animal kingdom, the parrot is linked to humans by its ability to speak—a trait many have found unsettling, though this discomfort is offset by its gorgeous plumage, which makes it one of the most popular members of the avian family. Unlike previous studies that have treated parrots as simply a curious oddity, Paul Carter offers here in Parrot a thoughtful yet spirited consideration of the natural and cultural history of parrots, discussing parrot portraiture, the role and significance of parrots' mimicry in human culture, and parrot conservation, as well the parrot's role in literature, folklore and mythology, film, and television worldwide.

Parrot takes three different approaches to the the first section, "Parrotics," examines the historical, cultural, and scientific classification of parrots; "Parroternalia," the second part, looks at the association of parrots with the different languages, ages, tastes, and dreams of society; and, finally, "Parrotology" investigates what the mimicry of parrots reveals about our own systems of communication. Humorously written and wide-ranging in scope, this volume takes readers beyond pirates and "Polly wants a cracker" to a new kind of animal history, one conscious of the critical and ironic mirror parrots hold up to human society.

Genres: Animals, Nonfiction, Birds, History

213 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2005

About the author

Paul Carter was born in England in 1969. His father's military career had the family moving all over the world, re-locating every few years. Paul has lived, worked, gotten into trouble and been given a serious talking to in England, Scotland, Germany, France, Holland, Norway, Portugal, Tunisia, Australia, Nigeria, Russia, Singapore, Malaysia, Borneo, Columbia, Vietnam, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Sumatra, the Philippines, Korea, Japan, China, USA and Saudi Arabia. Today he lives in Perth with his wife, baby daughter and two motorbikes.

Reviews

[J.]

“The argument of ‘Parrot’ (Red. the book) is not that the long history of parrot subjugation is a mirror in which we can see darkly inscribed our collective self-enslavement...”

This first sentence of chapter 3 ‘Parrotology’ sums up this book quite nicely. If you’re expecting a narrative driven book about parrots, this is not it. However, that could be forgiven if this book WAS an academic research paper on the impact of parrots on humans, the other way around, on pop culture,… or anything really.

Instead we get a book which touches on all subjects, yet blows past them because the author seems to have a fetish for saying humans are parrots and vice-versa. Not to show we should have respect for other animals, but as a hook to lambast the reader with trains of though the author presents as facts (no hypothesis, no real proof but just cherrypicking anekdotes), written in a forced and often cringeworthy archaic way.

The author seems more in love with himself as the centre presenting some pseudo research he did, thinking of random connections and creating a badly structured book, than he is with the subject he is writing about.

This isn’t a history book, this isn’t a biology book, this isn’t a book about conversation, this isn’t a book about art. Hell, it’s not even worthy of being called a philosophical treaty.

I’m not often negative about books. A lot of hard work goes into making even a simple one. Factual books are perhaps even harder to put together and I always presume that each book has a value of its own to someone. However, this time I can’t think of any redeeming factors.

The author succeeds in alienating any possible audience, from bird lovers to science-adepts all the way to researchers. The editor who green-lit this pamflet deserves eternal professional disgrace, even more so than the author Paul Carter ever deserved to be publicly chastised and flogged for ever putting pen to paper.

[dejah_thoris]

This is the third book in this series I've read and so far it's the worst. The book on otters discussed conservation and otter hunting in depth, but it did not rise to this level of guilt tripping. If that wasn't annoying enough, Carter approaches his subject at an academic level most people will not be able to follow, discussing things like the four ur-parrots or how parrots symbolize the collective imaginary. I just wanted to read about the history of birds! I definitely would not recommend this book to anyone, even strong-stomached academics. It's that off-putting.

[Noelani]

As someone who adores parrots I felt like this was a very poorly written book. Very difficult train of thought and written more for academics then general readership. This series focuses on animals and their place in human society, culture, and folklore, though I feel like the poor organisation of this book made it very difficult to get anything out of it.

[Scott Tienken]

dear whoever designs the covers for this series,
please collaborate with me. i will write novels purely to elevate your esthetic.
also, mental note, hook up my bro and sis in law with this book.
animal fosterers be my people.

[Marguerite]

Carter's discussion and discovery of parrot goes far beyond a mere history -- it delves into parrot as a vital part of our mythology.