Customer Reviews

Reflections of Eden: My Years With the Orangutans of Borneo

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Unlike the two other primate researchers Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey I had never heard of Galdikas when I found this book a few days ago in the bookshop. Galdikas describes in this book more than 20 years of her life with the Orang Oetans in a nature reserve in Kalimantan, Indonesia. The story is an very enyoable read and tells a lot about the way Orang Oetans live. Instead of viewing all Orang Oetans as similar she describes a lot of different individuals. She's not only studying the Orang Oetans but also tries to free captivated Orang Oetans and tries to relocate them in the reserve. The story is very well written and also very well translated in Dutch. I'm looking forward to read the books by Fossey and Goodall.

Louis Leaky hand-picked three women to conduct studies of primates in their natural habitats. Jane Goodall was sent to study chimps in Gombe, Dianne Fossy: Gorillas in Zaire, and finally Birute Galdikas was sent to Borneo to study orangutans. Having read the work of all three remarkable women, Reflections of Eden stands out as one of the more well-written and engrossing books. Whether or not you are interested in primates, I would recommend this book as a story of one woman's determination and personal development in the face of daunting challenges.

The other two "angels" on their mission of Great Ape rescue were of course Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey who studied respectively Chimpanzee's and Mountain Gorillas.(Fossey we know died for her cause). Birute Galdikas started later than the others (1971) and her Great Ape - Orangutans - were also less known and in some respects, less regarded than the others.

Does Galdikas' work in Borneo and her story in REFLECTIONS OF EDEN remedy this oversight? Only somewhat as this book is as much an autobiography as it is a natural history of the "men of the forest". Galdikas' affection for her mentor Louis Leakey is obvious as is her fondness for her fellow primatologists. "Dian, Jane Goodall, and I were family. Louis Leakey had recognized us as kindred souls and become our spiritual father." This connectedness she felt extended to the mystical. When Fossey was murdered in Rwanda in 1985 Galdikas tells us "even before I learned of her death, I knew Dian would be killed, I knew this was her destiny."

It should not be a surprise to read here that a scientist that feels this way will express a high degree of passion about her subjects. All three of these primatologists at different times have talked about "my apes" and this attachment is certainly reciprocated by the Orangutans. Galdikas tells about Sugito an orphaned young male "who selected me as his one and only, his mother". Orangs are the most arboreal and reclusive of the Great Apes and this naturally provides a challenge to studying them. Galdikas has nevertheless learned more about their social behavior than any other researcher. She mixes these insights in with her own life in the jungle at "Camp Leakey" and with life in Indonesia as a whole. In this context Galdikas even recognizes that for a Third World country like Indonesia, conserving and rehabilitating the Orangutans is yet just another priority that they must effectively juggle with. With this book she continues to encourage both them and us to care.

I was lucky enough to be one of Galdikas' undergraduate students in her Primate Behaviour course here in Simon Fraser University, Canada. She is very inspirational and I have great admiration for her life-long commitment to the orangutans. This book reflects this commitment and love plus adds lots of interesting facts on orangutan behaviour. I enjoyed her engaging writing style and found this book to be a quick read. Definitely a book that I would recommend to not only inspiring biologists, but to the general public as well.

I bought this book on sale from Amazon online and enjoyed reading it. B. Galdikas provides powerful insight into the study of orangutans in the forests of Borneo. Although I felt that she over stressed the important metaphors she used to explain experienced conflicts and personal desires, I cherished the real life feel of this autobiography. Birute and her twin soulmates, Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey, have something I think truely important to say about primates, environmental activism and humankind.

If you are inspired by dedicated peoplewith vision and or conservation this is a must read. Professor Galdikas is an amazing woman and is part of the Leakey sisterhood ie Fossey, Goodall and Galdikas, who have made life time studies of apes.

While working in Jakarta, Indonesia, a co-worker showed me this book and I was fascinated. I ordered it immediately from Amazon and loved it. Of course, my interest in orangutans may have influenced my decision. After reading the book, I was able to make a trip to Tanjung Puting/Borneo in September of 2008. Reading the book provided the knowledge to make the trip much more interesting. Reading about Birute Galdikas' accomplishments with these animals and her devotion to them is an amazing story.

Galdikas provides an essential insight into the lives of orangutans before the current torrent of rainforest destruction. In this day of "Orangutan Island" and other necessary rescue efforts, it is helpful to learn the patterns of truly wild orangutan life before sanctuaries and rehabilitation. I found myself constantly highlighting and making notes in the margin of this book -- which I usually don't do.

Galdikas also gives a passionate and honest narration of the early days of orangutan advocacy, which she helped spur. Like many Westerners, I find the appearance of apathy on the part of Indonesian government utterly appalling. More than any other book that I've read on the subject, she explains the Indonesian culture driving their governmental policies and (in)actions.

This is a "must read" for anyone seriously interested in saving the orangutans. BUT you must follow it up with A Dark Place in the Jungle: Following Leakey's Last Angel into Borneo, a book by Linda Spalding that provides an insight into Galdikas. Spalding's book is essential to understanding why orangutan advocacy today is splintered between groups who lack transparency and, arguably, effectiveness.

Wonderful book! Galdikas brings us from her very beginnings as a young woman studing Orangutans to a true scientist breaking new ground as Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey did. The information and descriptions she passes along to the readers is endearing, educational, and brings you to another world. Read this yourself, you will be enchanted, you will cry, you will be happy you experienced this book. Thank you Birute!

I highly recommend this book to anyone who plans to persue a career in the research sciences, who loves animals, or both. The book reads very easily, yet packs in tons of facts. If I had to name one book I've read recently that will change my life, it will likely be this one.