The Open Cage: The Ordeal of the Irian Jaya Hostages: Murder and Survival in the Jungles of Irian Jaya |
 |
 click here for more details, find new or used items |
Daniel Start
|
|
Pages: 356 (Paperback)
ISBN: 0006530095
Pub: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Pub date: 1998-05-05
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 569648
Reader Reviews:
A Truly Outstanding, Excellent Account! (4/4 people found this helpful)
.
This is one of the very best books ever written about West Papua!
The author was the leader of a British-Indonesian zoologist expedition into the remote highlands of the Lorentz Nature Reseve. The entire team was kidnapped by OPM guerillas fighting for West Papuan independence, and held hostage for several months until being freed by the Indonesian army - minus the two Indonesian male members of the expedition who were executed by the OPM.
This could easily have been turned into a shallow account of hardship and horror, but instead the author has used the experience to give us probably the most interesting and insightful account of West Papua ever. Rather than just concentrating on how the hostages themselves felt during their ordeal, he is painting a thorough picture of the background to the kidnapping, and excellent descriptions of the Papuans' psyche and motivations. His observations are sharp and balanced, and instead of pointing fingers at any party, he leaves us with an understanding of the tragic circumtances that lead to the kidnap, and the hopeless situation that continues in Papua to this day.
We also get to "experience" the down-to-earth lifestyle that was a horrible ordeal to the hostages, but is in fact the everyday reality of life in the extremely isolated Papuan highlands.
Having spent months in West Papua myself, I also found the book entirely free of factual errors, hype and exaggrations that abound in other travelogues of this "exotic" place.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone planning a longer trek through the mountains of Papua.
Don't let it put you off visiting - there has been no similar incident ever since. Read it for its description of life in this singular, remote part of the World.
Similar Products
Wild Swimming: 150 Hidden Dips in the Rivers, Lakes and Waterfalls of Britain
Wild Swim: River, Lake, Lido and Sea: the Best Places to Swim Outdoors in Britain
Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart
An Evil Cradling
The Cloud Garden: A True Story of Adventure, Survival, and Extreme Horticulture
Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> History -> Countries & Regions -> Australasia & Pacific -> Melanesia
Books -> Subjects -> History -> Countries & Regions -> Australasia & Pacific -> General AAS
Books -> Subjects -> History -> General
Books -> Subjects -> History -> General AAS
Books -> Subjects -> Biography -> True Endurance & Survival
Books -> Subjects -> Biography -> General AAS
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
Books -> Refinements -> Age (feature_two_browse-bin)
Books -> Refinements -> Format (binding_browse-bin) -> Paperback
Books -> Refinements -> Condition (condition-type)