Jungle Lore [Hardcover]

Jim Corbett (Author), Martin Booth (Introduction)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195624874 | ISBN-13: 978-0940143586 | Publication Date: August 16, 1990 | Edition: 2

Jim Corbett, naturalist, shikari, and conservationist is famous for his tales of hunting in the Indian Jungle. Many years before the issues of conservation became understood, Corbett was obsessed with the jungle and animals of the Kumaon hills. This new edition of Jungle Lore offers Corbett's own story of his life and career. At the heart of the narrative is a cry for sensitivity to the fragility of nature, and despair over mankind's divorce from his environment--a message as vibrant today as it ever was.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jim Corbett is a renowned shikari. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 181 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press; 2 edition (August 16, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195624874
• ISBN-13: 978-0940143586
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,254,753 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE TRUE NATURALISTS BOOK., December 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Jungle Lore (Hardcover)

It will take you far, far into past, into the very heart of India, the land of jungles, of love, of true simplicity,

Jim Corbett will accompany you into the past with you and lead you into the future, this is a book that reiterates, that nature has no beginning as it has no end..., a revealing insight into one remarkable man, a britisher who was in India to live with its wonderful people and animals and who richly deserves the honour of being remembered even today, in the land he loved, and the place he tread, bears the call, CORBETT NATIONAL PARK.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining narrative with genuine depth, December 11, 2003

By 

David - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jungle Lore (Paperback)

James E. Corbett grew up in an India that was still a colony of Great Britain. This is an autobiographical account of episodes in his life -- by no means complete, but a taste of what it was like to grow up, not in the culture of British India, but in the jungles that surrounded it. He was a self-taught naturalist and tracker, learning to hunt, track, find direction, and survive in the jungles. The stories are mostly entertaining -- except toward the end, where I found myself flipping forward in some distaste because of his description of hunting tigers for sport. But Corbett himself demonstrates a healthy reverence for life, and moreover, a strong appetite for learning about the natural world, and for developing his sensitivity to it.

The book is largely narrative, but mixed in with it is a little bit of his philosophy of jungle law, and some material about what he has learned through his experiences, supplemented, of course, with more stories. This, like other anecdotal evidence, should be taken with a grain of salt and tested against one's own experience. For instance, he writes that venomous snakes, with one exception, are slower and so have to wriggle more in order to move around, and so their tracks will reflect this, while non-venomous snakes are speedy and agile and will have straight rather than wave-form tracks. A friend of mine who's very familiar with snakes disputes this.

But, as Corbett himself says, "Having stated that the book of Nature has no beginning, and no end, I would be the last to claim that I have learned all that is to be learned of any of the subjects dealt with here, or that this book contains any expert knowledge." Undoubtedly, though, through his extensive experience alone, he has learned enough to be a master, in harmony with his jungle.

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great nature book about a great naturalist and hunter, December 30, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Jungle Lore (Hardcover)

This an autobiographical book is about a turn of the century British Citizen growing up in India, who becomes fascinated about the Jungle and the inhabitants that live there at a very early age. He is mostly self taught by observing nature around him. He is also a great tracker and develops his awareness to a extraordiary level. He is motivated to increase his awareness and tracking abilities by his respect for the Leopard, Tigers and Cobras that fill his jungle.