The Tree Where Man Was Born (1995) - Plot & Excerpts
I have often heard Peter Matthiessen described as one of the all-time best nature writers, but my first experience with his work (The Cloud Forest) didn't do as much for me as I had expected it to. This one though? This one got me. While reading The Cloud Forest, I mostly had the impression that Matthiessen didn't really much enjoy his time in South America, and I felt that in many of his descriptions of the people, he seemed to be looking down on them, which, you know, made me not really like him all that much. In this book he seemed far more respectful of the people, the history, the wildlife, the geography (although yes, as this was written in 1972, and we've come a long way since then, there are some descriptions that might sound a little...awkward to our ears four decades later). Though he was certainly far from comfortable at times, he never seemed to sneer or disparage. And I really appreciated the way he described the problem of poaching, for instance, in a way that was very well-balanced and non-judgmental. At the same time though, I could feel a certain distance between himself and the people he met and the places he travelled throughout a lot of the book, and while there are a lot of very beautiful and informative descriptions, I didn't get the sense that much actually touched him until near the end, when there's this:"Lying back against these ancient rocks of Africa, I am content. The great stillness in these landscapes that once made me restless seeps into me day by day, and with it the unreasonable feeling that I have found what I was searching for without ever having discovered what it was. In the ash of the old hearth, ant lions have countersunk their traps and wait in the loose dust for their prey; far overhead a falcon--and today I do not really care whether it is a peregrine or lanner--sails out over the rim of rock and on across the valley. The day is beautiful, my belly full, and returning to the cave this afternoon will be returning home..."It makes me think that Africa actually opened something up and changed something in him, and isn't that what travel to new places should do? So I liked that.My copy is the large, hardcover coffee-table-book-sized edition with photographs by Eliot Porter, and those also added a lot to the experience--there are some really fantastic images of the African landscape, wildlife and people. Anyway, in the end, I really loved this. And I am now looking forward to reading more of Matthiessen's work, and with far fewer reservations than I had before reading this one!
Nature through the eyes of Peter Matthiessen is not the hazy, romantic view observed by a poet, horizontal in a field, flowers in his hair, giving anthropomorphic shapes to the clouds overhead: a hawk, a cat, a croc.The nature we see is beautiful, yes, particularly if you have an edition of this book that includes the photos of Eliot Porter, but nature here is alive, teeming with organisms, reptiles and large mammals that can kill. If a theme is to be found in a world that does not want to be tamed it is that man here remains unchanged. On one excursion, Matthiessen has a rare find from primitive man:“One day, by a depression that holds water in the rains, I found a chipped flake of obsidian, much used by primitive man for his edged tools. There is no obsidian on the plain; the chip had been brought here long before. I wondered about the men who brought it—what size and color were they? Were they in hides or naked? What cries did they utter? Staring at the sun, the sky, were they aware of their own being, and if so, what did they think?”Later he observes native women, foraging: “The still air of the hillside quakes with the pound of rock on rock, and in this place so distant from the world, the steady sound is an echo of the Stone Age.”And finally Matthiessen explains the beliefs of one tribe: “The Hadza have no chiefs, no villages, no political system; their independence is their very breath. Giga speaks of an old man who wandered off last year and was thought lost. Three months later he turned up again, well rested from the stress of human company.”Matthiessen's expeditions to East Africa originated with an assignment from The New Yorker though this book is not as specifically focused or as meditative as his classic, The Snow Leopard. The East African people, animals and landscape won't allow for such an easy classification. Through millions of years of evolution, often in unbearably harsh conditions, all have merged to become indivisible from one another, all have merged to become one.
What do You think about The Tree Where Man Was Born (1995)?
The Tree Where Man Was Born made my short list of books to hurriedly read before my trip to Africa this summer. Fortunately I actually didn't get around to starting it until well over a month following my return. And looking back, the timing was perfect. I don't know that I would've truly appreciated the depth and the passion of Matthiessen's writings in advance of my travels. In short, Peter Matthiessen recounts his multiple travels across East Africa beginning in the 1960s, but primarily those in Tanzania. The Tree… is part ethnography, part nature writing, and part adventure, all of which are sprinkled with a dash of subtle spirituality and self-discovery. Matthiessen clearly articulates that his travels in East Africa are life-changing, and perhaps the reason this book resonates with me so heavily is that I feel as though I share Matthiessen's sentiments. On a more micro-level, having already experienced the people, the places, and the awe-inspiring nature that he recounts, his prose conjured up many great memories and provided the context really needed (I believe) to fully appreciate this book.In one of the final pages of The Tree…, Matthiessen writes: "Lying back against these ancient rocks of Africa, I am content. The great stillness in these landscapes that once made me restless seeps into me day by day, and with it the unreasonable feeling that I have found what I was searching for without ever having discovered what it was…" Couldn't have said it any better myself. This one's not for everyone, but it's one of the greatest books I've ever picked up.
—Ian
I saw this title in my goodreads feed because a goodsreads-only acquaintance added it her to-read list without commentary. I immediately requested it from the library.Most of the books I read before my trip were about climbing Kilimanjaro and wasted my time, and then I tried a book Rich was reading that, he claimed, was about Africa. I started it but I couldn't get past the author's justification for hunting.This, in contrast, is gorgeous. The prose is lovely, the landscape and peoples he describes are lovely, and it's 40 years old so there were more elephants. He met a few people who knew Bror von Blixen and Dennis Finch-Hatton; he camped under the stars; he didn't kill a buffalo. More like this, please.
—Lisa Houlihan
An excellent read on the writer's journeys through East Africa in the 1960's. The writer gives a unique description of the nature, wildlife and tribal cultures of the region. The descriptions of the various tribes was particularly interesting due to the writer's ability to visit and gain insight into the various traditions of different tribes including Maasai, Hadza, Bantu and many others. Wildlife is also well described as are the animals, including very clear descriptions of predators hunting. The writer focuses special attention on leopards, lions and elephants with excellent insights into the ways of those three animals, especially the elephant. Overall - an excellent review of timeless nature and a vanishing way of life.
—Mark
