13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
See things from a different perspective, September 16, 2001
This review is from: Go and Come Back (Mass Market Paperback)
This excellent book is the story of two American anthropologists who went to live with a tribe in Peru. One of the main characters is a young girl who is trying to raise an adopted baby and becomes friends with the anthropologists. The story shows all of the cultural differences and misunderstandings that arose between the anthropologists and the people of the village because they had different values and ideas about how people should behave. The book does a good job of showing how people of one culture can try to do things that they see as polite and kind and can be perceived by people of a different culture as stingy or mean. It is challenging to readers because it helps them think about what is important to them and how that is expressed in what they do. It helped me see ways that my actions are not really consistent with what I say is important to me. It also gave me a good sense of some of the basic difficulties and joys of living in a different culture.
One caution: if you would be offended by open talk about sex, this book is not for you. It shows a culture in which sex is discussed openly and people tell children more about it than in the U.S.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Different People, Different Cultures, January 10, 2002
A Kid's Review
This review is from: Go and Come Back (Mass Market Paperback)
Go and Come Back is an odd yet moving novel written by Joan Abelove. The book is very well written, captures the reader almost instantly, and has great character development. In the book, a small Indian village in a Peruvian jungle is host to two strange, white women, coming from New York, named Joanna and Margarita. They are anthropologists coming to the Isabo (the Indian tribe) village to do research. Alicia, an indifferent Isabo girl, thinks the women are "stingy and stupid". But later, when she adopts a non-native baby, she begins to understand the women better, and they start to understand her. Later, the anthropologists have to leave, but by then will Alicia be too close to them to bear it? Find out by reading this wonderful book on how two narrow-minded people can suddenly fit in so easily and be liked so much by a totally different kind of people, who have a totally different culture.
Go and Come Back is a book I highly recommend because of the way the author shows how different cultures can be and how ignorant they can be of each other. For instance, when Joanna and Margarita came to the village, they were doing things horribly wrong according to Alicia's customs, such as not sharing all their food to every single person in the village immediately. It is very interesting to see the different cultures mix, and it's even funny! Another reason why this is a good book is because of the character development. Go and Come Back is a 1st person narrative novel "told" by Alicia herself. With any 1st person book (especially this one), it is very easy to see the personalities of the characters when the main character tells the story. You get to know Alicia very well throughout the story, and you can almost feel her own feelings. Those are a few of the reasons why I recommend this book.
One reason why someone might not want to read it was because it can be unclear sometimes. During the story, the author makes some points that are unclear. The reader would know there is a point, but he/she wouldn't know what it is. The metaphors are hard to catch too. Sometimes the reader can't understand what the author is even talking about, but only sometimes. Don't let that stop you, though, from reading this wonderful book, because everyone and everything has some flaws (and that's even one of the points made in the book).
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another point of view, November 2, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Go and Come Back (Mass Market Paperback)
As an anthropologist having done fieldwork in another part of Amazonia, I recognized myself in Alicia's descriptions of the awkward, annoying, and funny situations, with two young women trying to get a grip on the culture they want to study. I think anthropologists should read this book to become more honest about the way they gather their "data", initially understanding half of what was said, to say nothing of the context in which it was said. On the other hand, Abelove obviously succeeded in her own fieldwork, understanding and conveying another point of view so well. She writes with care and respect for the two different cultures, with modesty, and with humor. She does NOT standardize the witty characters and does NOT create a native paradise, nor a native hell. I wished more anthropologists would use her human approach in addition to writing academic, "objective" books. It could bring us a wider readership, which in turn could help to create more respect for "the other" in an increasingly hostile and racist world.
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