Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The scariest book I've ever read, August 3, 1999
By A Customer
To me, the scariest things in the world aren't monsters, ghosts, or demons. These are the province of the horror fiction writer, and while they may give a good scare for a few moments, while reading a book or watching a movie, the scare has no resonance ten seconds later. Let's face it: these things are supernatural, beyond the grip of everyday, primal fear. Being in the dark, and knowing that something else might be out there--not a monster but a real-life animal or human--that is bent on your destruction, is a basic fear as old as humanity. And in his writings, Jim Corbett nails it. He tells of real-life encounters with real-life predators, situations where man was definitely not at the top of the food chain. I am a grown adult who lives nowhere near wild tigers or leopards, but Corbett's stories can actually make me want to sleep with a light on. They are that frightening. They depend heavily on many, many surprises, and you may read on in confidence that I will spoil none of them for you. The highlight of this book is the otherwise hard-to-obtain "Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag," a tale so compelling I read it in a few white-knuckled hours, and am now reading it again. Corbett was an expert tracker of wild animals, and he often hunted down man-eating big cats, but he took no real pleasure (or monetary compensation) in killing these animals, for he loved them, and as years went by he hunted less and less. But when he was on a man-eater's trail, no on was more tenacious or skilled. And in the leopard story, he is tracking a living nightmare, an animal that killed at least 125 people over a period of eight years (1918-1926) in colonial India. The animal didn't just stalk people outdoors; it broke into homes when people became too frightened to go outside after dark. It became so good at this, it is no wonder that some villagers thought it was a supernatural being. It was capable of entering a room, walking past several sleeping people, and killing one so quickly and quietly that the others would not wake up. Corbett's usual means of trying to kill the leopard was to wait, armed, by its kills after dark, hoping for it to return. Usually he sat above ground (not very comforting, since leopards can climb trees), sometimes with colleagues, but often alone (with only a half-eaten human or animal corpse for company). These are some of the most terrifying scenes in all literature. Imagine sitting alone in the dark for hours, knowing that a swift, silent killer might be watching you every second. How did he do it? He must have had nerves of steel. This book also contains two stories from Corbett's best-selling "Man-Eaters of Kumaon," about his hunts for man-eating tigers. Although a hunter, he was also a conservationist, and his legacy lives on in India, where a national park is named for him, and preserves some of his beloved wilderness. It is a shame that many of his writings are out of print or hard to find; he was a storyteller of great talent. Fortunately we have some of these stories still, to read and marvel at.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Man of Quality, October 20, 2003
First, I must say this is a beautifully published book in every respect, as are all the books in the Adventure Library - the binding is actually sewn, the endpapers are very nice, the type is clear and easy on the eyes, and the illustrations throughout are magnificent. It is just a pleasure to hold and read this book. In an age where hardcover bindings are glued in and crack after one reading and the average book is rushed to press before the typos are weeded out, this book reminds us that a book itself can be an object of art. This book contains the writings of Jim Corbett, a civil servant in British India who happened to be a crack shot and game tracker. Mr. Corbett was hired by the Government on several occasions to dispose of man eating leopards and tigers. What makes Jim Corbett's writings so noteworthy is their direct honesty and utter sense of humanity. Let me say upfront that I love tales of big game hunting, and I bought this book because, among big-game hunting literature, Jim Corbett's books are considered classics, along with the writings of more traditional hunters like Walter Bell and Frederick Courteney Selous. Among these big game hunting classics, Corbett's writings are unique in that, unlike most big game hunters, Corbett didn't seem to derive any "thrill of the hunt." He was doing a job he was very good at to save innocent lives, pure and simple. He had love and sympathy for the animals he was killing, and he became committed to killing them reluctantly. This feeling of respect for the animal and reluctance in its destruction is most evident in The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag. Once committed, however, Corbett seemed to take personal responsibility for every individual the man-eating leopard killed, and his sense of depression and guilt over each fresh kill done on his watch is palpable in these pages. This particular leopard stalked travelers and towns along the pilgrim's road that led to the shrines in Kedernath and Badrinath, often selecting children or the aged. Reading Corbett's plain, effective prose, the deadly situation takes on a religious significance. Corbett is defeated several times, each failure resulting in more pilgrims killed, and the pilgrims and people in the towns came to believe that the leopard was an evil spirit that had taken on material form. Let me wrap up by saying that Corbett was a man to be admired for his basic, down-to-earth humanity and his complete lack of self-congratulation. He was simply a man of high character and wrote plainly about being exhausted, disgusted with his failings, and just flat scared. He was also a very humble man and always seemed embarrassed by the extreme expressions of gratitude given him upon his ultimate success in bagging the man-eater. The final scene, where villagers come to the bazaar where the leopard is on display, is extremely moving. The people came in droves and one-by-one showered Corbett's feet with flowers while reciting tales of their children or loved ones that had been killed by the man-eater. Suffice to say this is one of the most simple and beautifully rendered scenes I have read in any book. Of all the big game hunting books I have read, Corbett's writings hold a special place for me. His skill as a hunter saved hundreds of lives, ending the suffering of more hundreds, perhaps thousands. Yet he never thought himself a hero. Perhaps that was the very quality that made him heroic.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best of Jim Corbett, August 8, 2001
If (like me)you've read about the adventures of Jim Corbett in the works of Capstick or other writers and wanted to get a real taste of the man-eater hunter in his own words... then this book is an absolute MUST HAVE.Corbett was the premier rogue cat exterminator in the first quarter of last century and highly regarded as the best ever. This collection contains his most challenging hunts including The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag, The Chowgarh Tigers, and The Thak Man-eater. Corbett personally had over a dozen real life assignments against known man-killers and these stories are the best of the best. His targets were reportedly responsible for over 1500 human deaths and countless injuries. Given the remote locations and the fact that deaths resulting from infection, etc. were not counted, that total can probably be doubled or even tripled. Corbett, in his writings, takes you right into the jungles of 1920s India and you'd be hard pressed to find a man more familiar with his environment. In reading these stories, you will find that Jim Corbett is not a man out for fame, trophies, or money. In fact, his respect and admiration for the great cats that he hunts goes without question. You find no hatred for these maneaters and in his first words discusses typical reasons these cats turn to human flesh. Its refreshing to see a man in his position with such an objective point of view. At any rate, these tales are the stuff of legend and should be savored by any person interested in hunting, adventure, or the true history of early 1900s India bush life. If you fall into any of these categories, you will love this collection. Guaranteed!
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