Play Book Tag discussion

I'm not sure where the title of this book came from, but I can say that at times I felt euphoric reading it. The book is set in New Guinea in the 1930's, with Nell Stone and her husband, who are both anthropologists studying tribes in the region. I'm fascinated by culture and anthropology, and I was completely absorbed by the story. I felt like I was on a jungle island along with them. (Which means that sometimes I felt hot, sticky and itchy - especially when she mentioned the bugs.)

Note if anyone is looking for another book to read this month - this has 13 Africa tags, and Audible members can listen to this book for free right now.

The story is loosely based on the anthropologist Margaret Mead, soon after she published her very popular and controversial book about Samoan teenagers (and their sex lives). Nell and her husband meet a British anthropologist who is working alone, and they all become friends. Their relationships are productive and exciting, but complicated. I really loved reading about their work, and how they interacted with the people they were studying. Nell was learning about the women, and her husband was spending time with the men, and I couldn't wait to hear how they would compare them.

This probably would have been a 5 star read for me already, but a few things clinched it. The narration by Xe Sands (and Simon Vance) was so appealing that after sampling it for 5 minutes, I wanted to read it immediately, despite having other books planned. I wanted to know more about this woman. She was on a boat returning from the long visit with a brutal tribe. She was dirty and sick with malaria. She had cuts, aches and pain all over. Yet her mind was still sharp as she talked to some well dressed partygoing women on the boat. In her head she was interpreting their behaviors as though she was observing people from another culture. (I found it funny and recognizable.) She tried not to show too much interest when they started talking about her book (they didn't know who she was).

I was also fascinated by a discussion they had towards the end, when they were beginning to create a way to categorize all cultures they knew on a 2x2 grid. There are many ways to categorize cultures today, but I found it fun to try to guess where other cultures belonged on their grid.

I read (and loved this) quite a long time ago. It stayed with me. Lily King is one of a collection of local Boston authors.

Great review! I read this in January for my first Fly the Skies destination and quite enjoyed it as well. I took cultural anthropology classes in grad school and it is such fascinating work and the story is so well told as it unfolds.

I do have to say that I'm totally perplexed by so many tagging this as Africa...

Great review - and I'm really glad you enjoyed it! I have had my eye on this one for a while. I suggested it to my book club as a discussion book, but it didn't get picked this time around.

Jen K wrote: "Great review! I read this in January for my first Fly the Skies destination and quite enjoyed it as well. I took cultural anthropology classes in grad school and it is such fascinating work and the..."
Jen K wrote: "Great review! I read this in January for my first Fly the Skies destination and quite enjoyed it as well. I took cultural anthropology classes in grad school and it is such fascinating work and the..."

Your review is the reason I read it, and I'm sure glad that I did!

I liked reading about the actual day to day lives of the researchers. I studied it in grad school too, but I learned more about organization culture than international cultures. It's funny - some of the language used to describe a brutal organization culture today sounds a lot like terms that might have described a brutal tribe 100 years ago.

I read the book this month because of the 12 Africa tags, but I don't think there was more than a passing reference to it. Maybe there is some other connection that isn't obvious to us (e.g. every Isabel Allende book has Chile tags even if the book doesn't mention Chile).

Kimber wrote: "Great review - and I'm really glad you enjoyed it! I have had my eye on this one for a while. I suggested it to my book club as a discussion book, but it didn't get picked this time around."

I'm going to try to get my local group to read it too. I think it could stimulate a good discussion, but it probably depends on the people in the group.

Amy wrote: "I read (and loved this) quite a long time ago. It stayed with me. Lily King is one of a collection of local Boston authors."

Did you read any of her other books? Any recommendations?

Nancy, I read Father of the Rain when it first came out. It was beautifully written, but very sad. It's about the relationship of a young woman with her alcoholic father. It's a haunting book, that is memorable.

Writers & Lovers is a much lighter book and may be more appealing. Many readers loved it, but I did not feel the same way about it. You may want to read reviews of each book.

l really enjoyed this one. Glad you did too

NancyJ wrote: "Amy wrote: "I read (and loved this) quite a long time ago. It stayed with me. Lily King is one of a collection of local Boston authors."

Did you read any of her other books? Any recommendations?"

Amy, I loved Writers and Lovers, by King.

It’s on both my TBR and my shortlist!

Xe Sands is one of my favorite narrators and she really made this book come to life.

Sadly, I bet that the the people who tagged this book Africa were just wrong and thought New Guinea was in Africa, especially if it was mentioned that the natives were black.