Customer Reviews

Beyond Here Be Dragons

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It not often that a non-fiction book can keep me turning the pages as if it were a work of fiction. I hated to put down BEYOND HERE BE DRAGONS. The book traces the life of a family whose intentions were to move to Alaska, yet somehow ended up in southern Mexico, and finally in Guatemala. It is an account of the 25 years that photo-journalist Jacques Van Kirk, and his wife Parney, also a photojournalist spent in the jungles of Guatemala. To add to the suspense, they had their two young daughters with them. Even though I knew they came out of their adventures relatively unscathed, as I read, I was afraid for them. Life in the Guatemala jungle proved to be far different from what they had ever known and far more rewarding than they ever expected. The reader gets the vicarious experience of the trials and joys of these twenty-five years.

Beyond Here Be Dragons is a marvelous book. The reader comes away with a great deal of admiration for the author and his entire family in this Swiss Family Robinson-like adventure in the wilds of Guatemala. The narrative voice is warm and engaging and this adventure is told with a splendid sense of humor. This story of an American family in the rain forest of Guatemala's Peten is not just a story of man against nature. It is a story of man, woman, and children against nature as the author, Jacques VanKirk, includes the tales of his sharpshooter wife, Parney, and his two adorable daughters, Parney Lynn and Gayle as they adjust to life in this dangerous and beautiful land. VanKirk recounts not only the dangers of the forest in terms of poisonous snakes and blood-thirsty jaguars but does not shy away from the treacherous politics of Guatemala in the late 60's and early 70's. Jacque Van Kirk, author of the classic Remarkable Remains, is a hunting guide who is not your typical "great white hunter." He is a man of compassion and insight with a good eye for the foibles of human beings. He fills his tale with a colorful cast of characters, each one well drawn and engaging. Beyond Here Be Dragons sets the reader dreaming of far away places in the spirit of Paul Thoreau's travel books. In reading this tale of an American family hacking out a way of life for themselves in a remote part of the world, the reader is reminded that each of us must face life head-on and slay our own breed of jaguar. A compelling, well written, funny, exciting, and inspiring book.

It not often that a non-fiction book can keep me turning the pages as if it were a work of fiction. I hated to put down BEYOND HERE BE DRAGONS. The book traces the life of a family whose intentions were to move to Alaska, yet somehow ended up in southern Mexico, and finally in Guatemala. It is an account of the 25 years that photo-journalist Jacques Van Kirk, and his wife Parney, also a photojournalist spent in the jungles of Guatemala. To add to the suspense, they had their two young daughters with them. Even though I knew they came out of their adventures relatively unscathed, as I read, I was afraid for them. Life in the Guatemala jungle proved to be far different from what they had ever known and far more rewarding than they ever expected. The reader gets the vicarious experience of the trials and joys of these twenty-five years.

Reading this memoir, I felt as if I were continuing the conversation with Jacques VanKirk begun many years ago at El Indio Perdido, a lodge near the Belize-Guatemala border. He is a superb story-teller with the rare ability to translate that into his writing. Because of my brief connection with Parney and Jacques VanKirk, I found his account of the rigors the family faced in their daring move to the Peten region especially fascinating. My more recent visit to Guatemala's Maya ruins included many of the sites so vividly described in the book, including Rio Passion, Dos Pilos, and Sayaxche. Despite flawed editing, the book held my attention to the end, which maintained verisimilitude by not tacking on a phony climax.

Just when we think we know everything we find out we know nothing. Jacques VanKirk has the ability to mesmerize you with his storytelling ability. This is a series of recollections of a family that give up all the modern world has to offer to gain everything the world can offer in a jungle environment. Companionship, love, family, responsibility, danger and excitement. Is there anything else?