Customer Reviews

Hungry Lightning: Notes of a Woman Anthropologist in Venezuela

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Reading Hungry Lightning for an intro anthropology class, I groaned at having to plow through another boring account of some ancient culture's way of life. But then I opened the book, and entered a whole new world -- the world of the Pume. Vivid descriptions make their world come to life, and the reader is able to learn about their culture - and thereby extrapolate how other hunter-gather cultures would have lived millions of years ago. In addition, we see this culture from a female point of view, something lacking in many anthroppological studies. I would recommend this book to anyone - not just someone studying anthropology. This book enables someone to step back in time - and then realize that this culture still exists TODAY...and realize that without our help, this beautiful culture might disappear along with all the others that have preceeded it.

HUNGRY LIGHTNING by Pei Lin Yu

Hungry Lightning is one of the most delightful books that I have read in years. Although Doctor Yu was in Venezuela studying the Pume hunter gatherers on a grant from the Leakey Foundation for research purposes this book is ANYTHING but a dry academic tome. I'm certain that the rigid data filled, theory drenched, anthropology journal language encrusted, esoteric conclusion oriented version of this trip exists somewhere in the halls of academe - but this isn't it.

This is a wonderful working of Pei Lin's journal from a year and a half of observing the hunter gatherer Pume Indians. Pei Lin not only observes but becomes emerged in their lives.

First a synopsis: Pei Lin is asked by her long time friend (and lover?) Rusty to accompany him on a one and a half year project to gather data on a group of hunter gatherers in the remote Venezuelan grasslands. There are not many people like the Pume left in the world, and the few that are still living the traditional hunter gatherer lifestyle, I would imagine, are probably constantly being followed around by film crews from the National geographic and other similar organizations. These Pume folk, though, are still pretty original - if you catch my drift. Pei and Rusty have their daily duties of observing everything these folks do, cataloging and weighing their daily food intake, taking "anthropometric measurements," and what not.

But more than that Pei Lin is a keen observer of their personal lives, their humor (yes, there is a small section on stork hunting jokes), their religion and their dance ceremonies. In addition to that it is Pei's personal story. While they were there Pei and Rusty "went native" (my term, not theirs) and lived not only WITH but AS the Pume. They ate what they ate, (interestingly Pei Lin went from a nearly lifelong, well fed vegetarian to a half-starved wisp craving a tasty hunk of crocodile tail or anteater steak), drank what they drank, feared what they feared, and so on.

Pei Lin encounters death and illness in the Pume and nearly died herself from parasitic infestations. The subtitle of the book suggests that this book is from a woman's perspective and that it is. Pei gossips with the women while Rusty hobnobs with the men and participates in hallucinogenic rituals. When he accompanies the men on hunting expedition she accompanies the women on root and mango gathering trips, or stays at camp to help care for the children. She also aids a battered woman; participates in a tragic birth (wherein one of two twins dies, but the other survives); and must adhere to some strange menstrual rituals (no fish may be eaten while she was restricted to the menstrual hut - even if fish was all there WAS to eat on a given day.) And Pei has a particular fondness for observing and describing the old women in the group.

The book also includes some fascinating (but too brief) descriptions of Pei Lin's dreams while she was in Venezuela, and some descriptions of the day to day frustrations of life that follow one anywhere.

I LOVE THIS BOOK. This book is not only fascinating, it is tremendously fun and as a bonus he book is peppered with Pei's splendid illustrations. This book is for everybody, not just academic types, and has my absolute highest recommendations

As a former student of Ms.Yu's, I can say with absolute conviction that she is a truly remarkable and brilliant woman. Her journal, "Hungry Lighting", is typical of her tremendous ability as a first rate writer and story-teller. The passion with which she writes, to bring to life her Pume Indians, is contageous and begs the reader to continue their arm-chair journey into the lives of these remarkable people. Ms.Yu's easy style, gorgeous prose and personal accounts are captivating, exciting and truly heart-felt. Her adventures are nothing short of thrilling. This book is an absolute must for anyone who wishes to step, even if for a few precious hours, into the amazingly complex, always on the edge world of Pei-Lin Yu and the Pume Indians.

Pei-Lin Yu has done a wonderful job with this book and study of the threatened Pume of Venezuela. I, too, was assigned this book for an anthropology course and was not looking forward to it. I was expecting another dry, pompous read from some aging professor in Ohio, but instead I got a fascinating look at a culture I was completely unaware of. Yu makes you care for these South American Indians the way you care for your favorite characters in a novel -- actually, this field journal reads more like a novel than what is truly is. It is a true page-turner, with vivid descriptions, great illustrations by the author throughout, and an interesting and gripping plot (I use "plot" for lack of a better word -- the book is all true). If you enjoy reading -- anything -- you will love this book. It transcends a genre and is accessible and enjoyable to all. P.S. The professor (Ben Passmore) whose course I read this for is actually one of Pei-Lin's colleagues at SMU and says she is a wonderful, intelligent woman, and though I have yet to meet her, her work would lead me to believe the same.

Actually a very interesting book. Not so boring and dry as my other anthropology books are. Also came in a good condition!

As valuable as it may be as raw documentation, the author should have spent more time researching a little more about the society she was visiting. It is impossible to avoid societal preconceptions, but the picture she paints of Venezuela from the moment of her arrival (or South America, as she interexchangeably refers to it) is shallow and uninformed, like a grotesque caricature.

Key sources of such lack of research are demonstrated in mediocre references to Spanish (most words are incorrect in spelling, use and context), and incredibly poor information on population distribution in Venezuela or the true socio-economical situation at the time of the study. It is unfortunate that so much bias goes into what could have otherwise been an interestin study.

I tried picking the book back up time and time again, but it's hard to read through the condescending, uninformed background of the author.