Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle

Fascinating anthropology.

Daniel Everett's Don't Sleep There Are Snakes is a memoir in two parts. Part I recounts Everett's experiences and adventures living with the Paraha tribe of the Maici River in the Brasilian rainforest. Part Margaret Mead, part Albert Camus, and Part Indiana Jones, it's a rich account of travel, wildlife, cultural immersion, and profound learning, alternated with times of fear, peril, and profound alienation. Part II centers on the particulars of Everett's linguistics research and drags the reader on a (somewhat less-stimulating) anthropological voyage through the esoteric jungle of grammar, intonation, and recursion. One of the most unique books that will be published this year, Don't Sleep There Are Snakes drips with emotion, teems with science, and reminds us all why we all want to be anthropologists (okay, archaeologists--close enough) when we grow up.

The book "Don't Sleep, there are snakes" is about the study of the Piraha Indians in Brazil by the linguist Daniel Everett. Everett sets out with his family in 1977 to study the unusual language of the Piraha Indians, and to convert them to Christianity. Referring to the quote above Everett and his family do not get what they expected. Instead, the author finds himself admiring the natives, and their non-violent culture so much that he finds himself tolerating, and learning from their practical ways. Everett grows disenchanted with the christian religion as a result of his living with the Pirahas. The Piraha language is like no other in existance, and does not seem similar to any other languages. There are very few vowels in their language, and consonants that are pronounced one way in this language are pronounced very differently in Piraha. There are few if any references to personal property in the culture or in the language, and there is no mathmatical system. Everett also discusses the differences in the Piraha culture and the American culture. Sexuality is very open, and the author cites many references to nudity and sexual occurances that are done publically. The Piraha culture have few to no rituals, even involving when a death occurs. There is evidence of marriage, but no ceremony to determine when someone is married. And there is virtually no health care-if someone gets sick and dies, it is all seen as the way of the world, and no attempts are made to do anything to prevent a death from disease or a wound. Everett feels that the Pirahas are the most content and at peace people he has ever seen, despite the fact they have no desire to know about how the universe works or to better themselves. One of the many things that fascinated me about this book was that the author only aluded to his own life, and did not discuss in depth his personal, inner struggles with the difficult environment. The author's brother died at age 6, and his stepmother died when he was 11. We only get brief glimpses of how this affected him. Also, at some point, the author's marriage broke up. When did this happen? How? Was it a direct result of living in the jungle with the Pirahas? What is his relationship like with his three children? If Everett is no longer a Christian, then what is he now? Everett's book is enchanting, and engrossing. It is very difficult to put down once you begin reading it (even if you do not have a background in linguistics). The pictures of some of the people Everett encountered also add to the content of the book.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When Rome is a fairly small tribe called the Pirahã, it means that Dan Everett has to give up numerous cultural and ideological foundations that are so second nature to him (and all of us) that he, for a time, no longer noticed that he exhibited them. Picture no counting, at all, ever. No names for colors. No personal property. These are the hallmarks of the seemingly alien Pirahã, and as one could imagine they led to nothing less than a jarring and sometimes terrifying culture shock. Originally venturing to the tribe in an attempt to convert them to Christianity, to try to teach them something, Everett found himself baffled and enticed by the Pirahãn language and method of thinking and living, and ended up becoming a student of their way of life, as opposed to the other way around. In an intense and deeply absorbing account, Everett opens up completely and lays his encounters with these mystifying people out for all to see. Taking on the Pirahãn "The past is the past and does not matter. Only now matters." attitude, he includes all of the most gruesome, embarrassing, and enlightening details of his journey with no regard to how any of it may be perceived. What results is a genuine and engrossing book that is both sharp and intuitive; it closes around you and reaches inside of you, controlling your every thought and movement as you read it. You breathe when it breathes, you go where it goes, and after you're finished a large part of it remains behind, so that it is impossible to forget. Reviewed by Jordan Dacayanan

If you like strange languages and exotic jungle adventures, you'll love this book. It has plenty of both! The author, Daniel L. Everett, is Chair of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Illinois State University. He spent many of his younger years living with and studying the aboriginal Piraha people of Brazil. Their language "defies all existing linguistic theories" and "reflects a way of life that evades contemporary understanding." Unrelated to any other known language, the Piraha dialect is so confusing that most outsiders have given up on it. The Pirahas whistle and hum as they talk, and a given verb can potentially have as many as 65,000 forms. Everett, however, has been able to puzzle out the strange grammatical quirks of Piraha expressions. This book tells in fascinating detail about Everett's struggles with the language, the land, and the culture of the Pirahas. This struggle ultimately cost the author his faith and broke up his family. The language theories which he developed as a result of his acquaintance with the Piraha tongue have also put him in conflict with the ideas of distinguished linguist Noam Chomsky. However, it is obvious that Everett feels the Piraha experience has been the defining mission of his life and is well worth what it has cost him personally. I recommend this book both for its page-turning excitement and its insights on the nature of human language.