Encounter with an Angry God: Recollections of My Life with John Peabody Harrington

...or maybe a bit of both. This is a simply fabulous book that talks about John Peabody Harrington's noble fight to record the dying languages of the dying Southwest Indian cultures -- and his utter lack of understanding when it comes to the needs of humans, particularly his wife. It's got love, sex, drama, linguistics -- what more can you ask for in a book? I've read it over and over, yet I will read it again, I'm sure.

I picked up this book not really knowing what it was about, but as soon as I began reading, I was hooked. This true story was written when the author was in her 70s. She depicts the life of a student of anthropolgy early in the 20th century, and the indiginous people on the west coast whose history she and her famous husband were trying to preserve. More fascinating, however, is the love story which creeps into the narrative almost without the reader realizing it. It is an intimate story of two people who, according to the culture at the time, should never have been together, but who found a simple and profound joy in being together. The author's strength of character shines through this book.

I was married to Carobeths grandson. I disagree with the other 2 reviews. Carobeth was a proud, highly intelligent woman who's special ability to learn language was just what Harrington was looking for. He set her up to record the languages and moved on to the next village. The two of them compiled the only known documentation of many California Indian languages and mythology. True, he was obsessed, but aren't all researchers?

Carobeth Laird was the wife of the legendary John P. Harrington, one of a group of "new" anthropologists rushing to record the fast disappearing culture of the aborigine Californians. Native studies was not considered respectable work by establishment academia.Field anthropology, with its hard physical work, was dominated by tough men. None were tougher and more determined than Harrington.Everything in turn-of-the-century California was changing at a breathtaking pace. What was happening to the Indians, the bulldozers were doing the same to this rural State.Into this maelstrom walked in Laird, a pampered middle class girl with her Sunday hat. How she coped, eventually abandoning Harrington for one of his Indian informers, is the story of this book. Sensitive sketches, tender recounts of the loves of her life -- Laird writes very well.

J.P. Harrington's drive to collect the words of dying American Indian languages pushed him towards obsession and frustration. Not content with his ability as a human to collect this information, he married one of his energetic students, Carobeth Laird. While the novel provides insight into linguistic field work, it also demonstrates the side effects of immersing oneself in work to such an extent that the every day in lost. Laird's account is not about Harrington alone, but also about her struggle as a woman within the burgeoning field of anthropology