The Kon-Tiki Man: Thor Heyerdahl

by Christopher Ralling

Excellent Book

Genres: Biography, Adventure, Nonfiction

335 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Christopher Ralling has had a long and distinguished career in broadcasting and had won many international honors which include 2 Emmys and 2 British Academy Awards.

Reviews

[Pramod Nair · Rating 5 out of 5]

If we compile a list of the greatest adventurers of twentieth century, then the Norwegian explorer ‘Thor Heyerdahl’ will be right at the top of the list. He was an extraordinary explorer, scientist and anthropologist who was most famous for his ‘Kon-Tiki’ expedition of 1947 – a cross-ocean expedition in which he along with other five explorers sailed 8,000 km across the Pacific Ocean, from Peru to the Tuamotus Islands, French Polynesia, in a hand-built raft primitively constructed from balsa wood and other native materials. This heroic and inquisitive expedition was conducted to test the scientific theory that the ancient Peruvians could have made contact with the Polynesian Islands after braving 4000 plus miles of deadly ocean on similar crafts. Heyerdahl’s much acclaimed adventure memoir ‘Kon-Tiki Expedition: By Raft Across the South Seas’ gives a fascinating narrative of this epic ocean journey, which lasted 101 days.



‘The Kon-Tiki Man: Thor Heyerdahl’ by ‘Christopher Ralling’ is a fantastic coffee table style book which tells the reader about the story of the life of Thor Heyerdahl in a part biography, part travel adventure format. In this beautifully illustrated book Christopher Ralling accompanies Thor Heyerdahl during a two-year preparation for a TV series, which retraces his most famous voyages and creates a detailed chronicle of the life of Heyerdahl. By inspecting the purpose of the missions that Heyerdahl undertook, Christopher Ralling, with his excerpts from Heyerdahl’s original book and his own free flowing narrative educates the reader on the significance of his voyages in the study of early ocean travel and cross-ocean colonization of human beings. Even though Heyerdahl’s theory of the Polynesian Islands being populated by ancient Peruvians has been refuted by modern anthropologists, it takes nothing away from Heyerdahl as an epitome of free spirit and adventure and the epic nature of his voyages.

Published by BBC Books, this book is printed on high quality paper and is jam-packed photographs, maps and many rare sketches by Heyerdahl himself. An excellent reference volume for lovers of true-life adventures.

[Gry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a terrific overview of the life and works of Thor Heyerdahl. Heyerdahl's voice is ever present throughout the text, as Ralling quotes many of Heyerdahl's most thrilling passages from Heyerdahl's own books. Having read almost all of Heyerdahl's books, much of this book was quite familiar to me. I enjoyed Heyerdahl's books very much, so those chapters, while fun to read and remember, did not offer me a lot of new information. This is still a worthwhile read however, as Ralling does a great job of showing readers the big picture and overarching themes of Heyerdahl's work. Also, the pictures are fantastic--this is an "illustrated" biography after all. I had no idea Thor Heyerdahl was such a talented artist. I really enjoyed his sketches and drawings that were included in this work. There are also some photos I had not seen elsewhere as well. Heyerdahl even wrote a short piece especially for this volume, which you can find at the end of the book.

[Harriet Lobascio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this to better understand Mr. Heyerdahl. What a parent challenger and then what a wanderlust adult. He accomplished so much in one lifetime. His Kon-Tiki accomplishments allowed him to continue on the quest to understand all kinds of theories. Here's to his "never stop trying" attitude. PS. A great number of photos accompany the bio.

[Bree · Rating 2 out of 5]

Notes:
great overview for anyone who hasn't read all his books; author directly quotes each of Thor's books to summarize them; includes lots of pictures -- all from the books; this is more of a compilation than a biography to me

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great True Adventure

[Jennifer A · Rating 5 out of 5]

The inspiring trip of a handful of men floating on a balsa wood raft to the Polynesian islands. The richness of detail conjures images of tropical peoples and their customs. My favorite part is the bird they adopt while on the raft. The abundance of fish keeps them nourished while traveling which they find is much better than their rations. This book was so inspiring to me I traveled to Norway to visit the museum where the raft is housed.

[Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If the 'greenhouse effect' causes the level of the sea to rise so that half of Bangledesh is submerged, will the other nations of theworld be ready to welcome their homeless and destitute neighbours, not by the thousands, but by the millions?" p. 325

[Corben Laidler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I googled a lot of cool historical sites due to this book but he's definitely an egoist and wrong about a lot of stuff. Definitely gave me wanderlust

[Bryan Spahr]

read for school in 10th grade