Customer Reviews

Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle (Vintage Departures)

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If you like strange languages and exotic jungle adventures, you'll love this book. It has plenty of both!

The author, Daniel L. Everett, is Chair of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Illinois State University. He spent many of his younger years living with and studying the aboriginal Piraha people of Brazil. Their language "defies all existing linguistic theories" and "reflects a way of life that evades contemporary understanding." Unrelated to any other known language, the Piraha dialect is so confusing that most outsiders have given up on it. The Pirahas whistle and hum as they talk, and a given verb can potentially have as many as 65,000 forms. Everett, however, has been able to puzzle out the strange grammatical quirks of Piraha expressions.

This book tells in fascinating detail about Everett's struggles with the language, the land, and the culture of the Pirahas. This struggle ultimately cost the author his faith and broke up his family. The language theories which he developed as a result of his acquaintance with the Piraha tongue have also put him in conflict with the ideas of distinguished linguist Noam Chomsky.

However, it is obvious that Everett feels the Piraha experience has been the defining mission of his life and is well worth what it has cost him personally. I recommend this book both for its page-turning excitement and its insights on the nature of human language.

Daniel L. Everett is a linguist who first visited the Pirahă tribe as a family man and missionary. His experiences over the next 30 years broke up his family, put him at odds with the linguistic establishment, turned him into an atheist --- and have provided us with a fascinating book, which is part Boy Scout adventure, part reality TV, part crisis of faith, part anthropological study, and part linguistic treatise.

The Pirahă (pronounced Pee-da-HAN) are a little known tribe of Amazonian Indians who live on the banks of two rivers in territory that, before Everett encountered them, had never been assigned officially to the tribe but that they defended, occasionally to the death. Largely peaceful, they have intermarried and retained a very primitive lifestyle that they consider to be in every way superior to that of outsiders, including Americans, for thousands of years. They are far less colorful than many Amazonian groups, with no decorative arts or inventions. They purchase some pots and axes and make their own bows and arrows. If a plane comes, boys will make models of the planes but will throw them away days later. They live in the crudest of rudimentary stick and leaf shelters and survive by eating manioc, which simply grows nearby without being cultivated, and by hunting and fishing. They have no special rituals, and apart from the occasional visit from a spirit to frighten or inform them, they have no religion.

When Everett took his family and went to live for shorter and longer periods of time with this strange tribe, he was expected to learn their language, make a translation of the Bible and then convert the natives. What he learned was that the language itself held the key to their culture. And discovering the essence of that culture, he realized that they would never be converted --- not as long as they remained as they are --- and he saw no reason to change them, just as they saw no reason to change themselves.

There is an illustrative story (among many) of Everett being approached by men in the tribe who wanted him to buy them a big canoe from a neighboring tribe. With all the right instincts as a missionary and development agent, he did everything needed to transfer the skill of canoe construction to them. He invited the neighbors to come in and demonstrate, and insisted that the Pirahă men work alongside them. Not long afterwards, the same men came to him for money to buy another big boat. "I told them they could make their own now. They said, `Pirahăns don't make canoes.'"

Everett came to understand that the Pirahăns live entirely in the moment. They have no creation myths, no history past the living generations. Their language, which has only a few words, speaks primarily of immediacies, and is so dependent on tone that it can be hummed or whistled for clarification. All verbs have up to 65,000 combinations but only a handful of tenses. Everett is one of the few outsiders who ever learned to speak it, but he believes that after 30 years, the Pirahă people still do not regard him as a speaker any more than we consider a computer to be an English speaker. The tribe does not theorize or plan. They just exchange chit-chat. Yet the typical Pirahă is happier, Everett believes, "than any Christian or other religious person I have ever known."

The Pirahăns did not accept Jesus because they had never met Him. Their simple view deeply affected Everett, who had been well trained as a missionary to confront and overcome almost any challenge --- superstition, malaria, filth, alligators. But this startling way of looking at life as entirely evidential shook his faith and eventually caused him to confess that he had lost it. Everett not only shocked his missionary peers and fractured his marriage; he sent ripples through the linguistic establishment with his claims about the construction of the Pirahă language, saying it did not build upon itself and was not recursive, which challenged the theories of the great Noam Chomsky. Chomsky's linguistic doctrine postulates a universal grammar, ever-increasing, ever able to branch out and express ever more complex concepts. Everett was saying that, perhaps unique in the world, here in the Amazon was a group of people whose language did not grow, whose experience did not expand with increased contact with the outside, and who liked it that way.

As Chair of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at Illinois State University, Everett has proven his points and earned his laurels. He still visits with the Pirahă.

--- Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott

The Pirahă are the "Show me!" tribe of the Brazilian Amazon. They don't bother with fiction or tall tales or even oral history. They have little art. They don't have a creation myth and don't want one. If they can't see it, hear it, touch it or taste it, they don't believe in it.

Missionaries have been preaching to the Pirahăs for 200 years and have converted not one. Everett did not know this when he first visited them in 1977 at age 26. A missionary and a linguist, he was sent to learn their language, translate the Bible for them, and ultimately bring them to Christ.

Instead, they brought him to atheism. "The Pirahăs have shown me that there is dignity and deep satisfaction in facing life and death without the comfort of heaven or the fear of hell and in sailing toward the great abyss with a smile."

Not that they have escaped religion entirely. Spirits live everywhere and may even caution or lecture them at times. But these spirits are visible to the Pirahăs, if not to Everett and his family, who spent 30 years, on and off, living with the tribe.

But they don't have marriage or funeral ceremonies. Cohabitation suffices as the wedding announcement and divorce is accomplished just as simply, though there may be more noise involved. Sexual mores are governed by common sense rather than stricture, which means that single people have sex at will while married people are more circumspect.

People are sometimes buried with their possessions, which are few, and larger people are often buried sitting "because this requires less digging." But there is no ritual for each family to follow.

"Perhaps the activity closest to ritual among the Pirahăs is their dancing. Dances bring the village together. They are often marked by promiscuity, fun, laughing, and merriment by the entire village. There are no musical instruments involved, only singing, clapping, and stomping of feet."

Everett's language studies began without benefit of dictionary or primer. None of the Pirahăs spoke any English or more than the most rudimentary Portuguese (Among their many eccentricities is their total lack of interest in any facet of any other culture including tools or language - not that they won't use tools, like canoes, they just won't make them or absorb them into their culture).

Amazingly, "Pirahă is not known to be related to any other living human language."

At first it seems rather deprived. There are only 11 phonemes (speech sounds). There are no numbers, no words for colors. No words for please, thank you or sorry. There are, however, tones, whistles and clicks. And the language comes in three forms - regular plus Humming speech and Yelling speech.

Over the years Everett comes to the conclusion that the Pirahă language reflects and arises from their culture in its directness, immediacy and simplicity. Ultimately he defies Noam Chomsky's theory of Universal Grammar (Pirahă lacks a basic requirement) and starts a firestorm in the linguistics field. Everett alludes mildly to this in the book, but a little Internet browsing will leave readers shocked - shocked! - at the way linguists talk to one another.

There are plenty of anecdotes involving the reader in Everett's adventures, hardships, terrors, epiphanies and the pure strangeness of daily life with a people who live in the immediate present and whose most common "good-night" is "Don't sleep, there are snakes." (sound sleep is dangerous and, besides, toughening themselves is a strong cultural value - foodless days are also common).

Fascinating as both anthropological memoir and linguistic study, Everett's book will appeal to those interested in very not-North American cultures and in the ways people shape language and it shapes us.

It's a book that rouses a sense of wonder and gives rise to even more questions than it answers.

My introduction to linguistics came in the late 60's, in the heady early days of the Chomskyian revolution. I remain fascinated by human language, and this book was like intellectual candy. Everett's heroic efforts to understand the Pirahă language and culture have touched off firestorms in several academic fields. It will be most interesting to see what's left when the dust settles. At the moment, it appears that Chomsky and his faithful are redefining some of their terms in an attempt to rescue their dogma.
There are a few minor inconsistencies in the book that Everett should fix in a second edition. For example, he states unequivocally that the Pirahă have no number words, then later translates a passage as meaning "There were two pigs." I contacted him and he explained that this translation was done early in his research, when he believed the language did have number words; a more accurate translation would be "There were a larger quantity of pigs."
As I said, fascinating.

I had first heard about this tribe and their language a year or so back in hearing an interview with the author. I found it interesting then, and was pleasantly surprised when I found out a book had been written on the subject. The first half of the book recounts the author's experiences with the Piraha tribe over a 30 year span. This includes some harrowing tales, such as his wife's brush with death from Malaria, and when tribesmen almost killed he and his family. It reads like a thriller novel in places- a real page-turner. One gets to know some simply fascinating details about how the tribe views themselves and the world, and how their language reflects this. The author makes some linguistic assertions that may or may not proved to be true, but his analysis is definitely well thought out and detailed. Some readers may find this section of the book to be a cumbersome and overly complex read. The descriptions and stories about the piraha themselves are really enough of a reason to buy this book, even if you decide to skip out on the technical section.
I personally read this book in one day, after a late night out at a bar and 3 hours of sleep. That ought to tell you about how much of a great read it is!! I feel like I have look at the world slightly differently since this read- it puts things into perspective, and reaffirms to me that you can be happy and content without belief in the supernatural (Christians- no, this book does not attack God or belief in any way. The author happened to be a missionary who ended up converting to atheism due to what he learned from the Piraha tribe. To truly understand his path, you have to read the book. You will not have strong faith shaken by this book).

I first got wind of Daniel Everett's work on the Piraha from a fantastic article that appeared in the New Yorker a few years ago (see the link below if you're interested). I was immediately and deeply intrigued: the article presented a captivating glimpse into what by all accounts was groundbreaking work--work that had the potential to upend the current framework in which we think about language, culture, and the mind. After reading the article, I was hungry for more information and specifics about the Piraha people and their language, and a few years later, when I saw that Daniel Everett had published a book, I eagerly picked up a copy, excited to delve deeper into his work.

The good news is that "Don't Sleep There Are Snakes" does indeed provide much more detail, both about the Piraha culture and the language. At the end of the book, the reader has a much better idea of what the Piraha are all about and what lessons they can teach us. And this is what I ultimately wanted to get out of the book.

The bad news is that Everett is not much of a writer, or even a particularly good storyteller. None of the narrative grace of the New Yorker article is present in this book, and before long, this gets irritating. Which is a shame, because Everett's story is such a fascinating one, one that could by all means make for a fantastic book. But Everett's style is clumsy and ham-handed; the individual chapters do not connect well with one another, and even within the chapters paragraphs can seem poorly pieced together. Perhaps not everyone will agree with my opinions here, but I think one should be aware going into this book that Everett is no prose master.

Part of the problem with the book's style is a conflict of aims. On the one hand, the book is written for a general audience, and I think it does a very good job in this regard. It presents all its information (even the more difficult academic bits) in an easy-to-follow manner, with plenty of examples to illustrate its points. There's nothing wrong with this approach in itself, but it flounders in this case because of the book's less than stellar composition.

On the other hand, the book is also trying to present years of academic research and, more importantly, to make a point, and a controversial one at that. And here its general-audience presentation works against it. Everett's discussions of conceptual issues in linguistics are just too watered down to carry any weight. His arguments against Chomsky (which I'm very sympathetic to) are mostly just knocking down straw men, and do not give a honest presentation and refutation of Chomsky's and others' views. Even Everett's arguments for his own ideas come off as superficial, lacking the rigor and precision they would need to really convince (me, at least). In addition, Everett's discussions of his actual research stop short of full detail, and still left me with further questions.

All this being said, however, I still think this is a worthwhile book. Sometimes the content of a subject matter can outshine even the worst of presentations. And Everett's work really is fascinating, in more ways than one. If you're interested in language, culture, and the connections between the two (as well as those with psychology, philosophy, and more), this book is definitely of interest. Just don't go in expecting a flawless work.

(The New Yorker article about Everett and his work can be accessed here: [...])

Daniel Everett's Don't Sleep There Are Snakes is a memoir in two parts. Part I recounts Everett's experiences and adventures living with the Paraha tribe of the Maici River in the Brasilian rainforest. Part Margaret Mead, part Albert Camus, and Part Indiana Jones, it's a rich account of travel, wildlife, cultural immersion, and profound learning, alternated with times of fear, peril, and profound alienation. Part II centers on the particulars of Everett's linguistics research and drags the reader on a (somewhat less-stimulating) anthropological voyage through the esoteric jungle of grammar, intonation, and recursion. One of the most unique books that will be published this year, Don't Sleep There Are Snakes drips with emotion, teems with science, and reminds us all why we all want to be anthropologists (okay, archaeologists--close enough) when we grow up.

The book "Don't Sleep, there are snakes" is about the study of the Piraha Indians in Brazil by the linguist Daniel Everett. Everett sets out with his family in 1977 to study the unusual language of the Piraha Indians, and to convert them to Christianity. Referring to the quote above Everett and his family do not get what they expected. Instead, the author finds himself admiring the natives, and their non-violent culture so much that he finds himself tolerating, and learning from their practical ways. Everett grows disenchanted with the christian religion as a result of his living with the Pirahas.

The Piraha language is like no other in existance, and does not seem similar to any other languages. There are very few vowels in their language, and consonants that are pronounced one way in this language are pronounced very differently in Piraha. There are few if any references to personal property in the culture or in the language, and there is no mathmatical system.

Everett also discusses the differences in the Piraha culture and the American culture. Sexuality is very open, and the author cites many references to nudity and sexual occurances that are done publically. The Piraha culture have few to no rituals, even involving when a death occurs. There is evidence of marriage, but no ceremony to determine when someone is married. And there is virtually no health care-if someone gets sick and dies, it is all seen as the way of the world, and no attempts are made to do anything to prevent a death from disease or a wound. Everett feels that the Pirahas are the most content and at peace people he has ever seen, despite the fact they have no desire to know about how the universe works or to better themselves.

One of the many things that fascinated me about this book was that the author only aluded to his own life, and did not discuss in depth his personal, inner struggles with the difficult environment. The author's brother died at age 6, and his stepmother died when he was 11. We only get brief glimpses of how this affected him. Also, at some point, the author's marriage broke up. When did this happen? How? Was it a direct result of living in the jungle with the Pirahas? What is his relationship like with his three children? If Everett is no longer a Christian, then what is he now?

Everett's book is enchanting, and engrossing. It is very difficult to put down once you begin reading it (even if you do not have a background in linguistics). The pictures of some of the people Everett encountered also add to the content of the book.

This book is a mix of adventure & academia. If you're interested in languages & want to get a feel for the language context this one is for you. I was fascinated by the author's change of religious faith from an evangelical missionary to someone who just wants to let people live their lives as they wish. Instead of changing the lives of the Amazon tribe, they changed his life. There are some slow sections but overall I enjoyed it immensely.

What leads anyone in our western culture to try to convince
the so called primitive to change and find salvation?
Daniel L. Everett account of his journey in the Amazonian jungle
answers that question for me. It is an amazingly brave story about a family who have the courage to live their faith.
Is it the belief that the other is as lost as we are in
our violent, bomb infested culture that drives the missionary. Surely the mess where in can
be solved by prayer, no doubt salvation is just around the corner.
If faith in the New Testament can give hope to our crazed culture what miracles the Bible will accomplish in the Jungle. Linguistics is interesting but not as compelling as the changes that accompanies the shock to Everett when his beliefs do not help the Pirahas find happiness but his beliefs are cover ups for his own confusion. The Pirahas have no need for the Bible as their
day to day life which is fascinating is similar to our lost dream of the Garden. Why read
a book, see a movie when family and friends solve the riddle of lost purpose. The Pirahas have no need to understand linguistics,
they already have a satisfying culture.