Euphoria in Around the World in 80 Books

Aug 29, 2016 Andrea rated it liked it

Pretty good, probably better if you know less rather than more about the history of anthropology. Three young anthropologists, a husband and wife team and a single man, meet "in the field" in New Guinea in the 1930's. While trying to decipher that "grand scheme" of human cultures and thereby gain fame and advancement, the three, of course, learn more about themselves. Well told, but not terribly deep. Reinforces my view that most early anthropologists were basically narcissistic jerks most of th ...more

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Mar 27, 2018 Lindsey Z rated it really liked it

A fascinating look at early 20th century anthropology. King manages to philosophize about the practice of anthropology while still telling a compelling narrative story. Even though this book is often marketed as about a love triangle between the three main anthropologists (Nell, Barkson, and Fen), I was most intrigued by their process of studying indigenous peoples of New Guinea. Based loosely on Margaret Mead, Nell reinvents ethnographic observation by writing narrative observations in journals A fascinating look at early 20th century anthropology. King manages to philosophize about the practice of anthropology while still telling a compelling narrative story. Even though this book is often marketed as about a love triangle between the three main anthropologists (Nell, Barkson, and Fen), I was most intrigued by their process of studying indigenous peoples of New Guinea. Based loosely on Margaret Mead, Nell reinvents ethnographic observation by writing narrative observations in journals; in effect, she tells a story of the people she studies, which was groundbreaking in the 1930s. Because her journal observations become the meat of her anthropological publications, (I'm assuming) King chose to narrate portions of the novel from the point of view of Nell through her journals. The rest of the novel (minus one or two random and odd 3rd person omniscient narrator scenes) is told from the 1st person perspective of Barkson. Because we don't ever get Fen's perspective, he's really not much of a likable character. I was OK with that but his character felt a bit flat to me, especially considering the book is about the intense relationship between the three characters. Something quite tragic happens towards the end of the story and it didn't get the emotional charge that it warranted or that the novel had promised with its other acutely emotional scenes. That was a bit of a let down for me; essentially, I wanted to be more distressed at the end of this story just so it could really saturate me for a while after finishing it. Even with these faults, I was captivated by the place, which King captures brilliantly, and the work these scientists were doing. The novel provoked me to think about how and why we study "foreign" cultures, whether or not and how we measure those cultures against our own, and how to ethically and morally do this type of ethnographic work. It's worth recognizing that this novel in no way attempts to know or relate the perspectives of the indigenous peoples of New Guinea; because of this, the story is ontologically Western by default, but I appreciate how King doesn't become a presumptuous writer who attempts to colonize the voices of natives. In fact, the narrative possesses a subtle self-awareness of the fact that, even through the anthropologists' detailed and thorough observations and interactions with indigenous populations, we, as outsiders, can never truly know or understand their cultures and perspectives. Yes, another story (novel) from an indigenous perspective about anthropological studies is needed here to make the study of this science and time period more complete (and I would like to read such a story), but King is not the author to write that story and I'm satisfied that she didn't try to.

Here's an example of King's alluring and philosophical writing style:
"I asked her if she believed you could ever truly understand another culture. I told her the longer I stayed, the more asinine the attempt seemed, and that what I'd become more interested in is how we believed we could be objective in any way at all, we who each came with our own personal definitions of kindness, strength, masculinity, femininity, God, civilization, right and wrong." ...more

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