Not a Hazardous Sport

by Nigel Barley

Book Overview

In 1985, Dr. Nigel Barley, senior anthropologist at The British Museum, set off for the relatively unknown Indonesian island of Sulawesi in search of the Toraja, a people whose culture includes... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805009604
• ISBN13: 9780805009606
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
• Length: 206 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Amusing and interesting

Obviously, there is more to anthropology than simply going to some faraway land and relating tales about one's experiences there. But there's nothing wrong with doing just that, as Nigel Barley does in this book. He starts right out, in the first sentence, by saying that "Anthropology is not a hazardous sport." Anyway, he goes off to Indonesia (actually, to Torajaland, on the island of Celebes) to live, um, non-hazardously. An incident typical of the author's misadventures comes when some of the people he's visiting decide they need to consecrate a new rice barn with blood. They plan to sacrifice a pig to do this. But when they ask him to pass them a machete, he cuts his fingers badly on it. So badly that his blood suffices; they don't need to sacrifice a pig after all. I enjoyed this book, and I recommend it.

Funny and Informative

I am a student of African and Indonesian spiritual practices. This book, along with Mr. Barley's others, is a refreshing departure from long-winded, ivory-tower lectures. Funny and informative.