In this “immersive, densely reported, and altogether remarkable first book [with] the texture and color of a first-rate novel” (New York Times), journalist Doug Bock Clark tells the epic story of the world’s last subsistence whalers and the threats posed to a tribe on the brink. A New York Times Notable Book A New York Times Editors’ Choice Winner of Lowell Thomas Travel Book Award Silver Medal … Winner of Lowell Thomas Travel Book Award Silver Medal
Finalist for William Saroyan International Writing Prize
Longlisted for Mountbatten Award for Best Book
Telegraph Best Travel Books of the Year
Hampshire Gazette Best Books of 2019
One of the favorite books of Yuval Noah Harari, author of the classic bestseller Sapiens, “on the subject of humanity’s place in the world.” (via Airmail)
On a volcanic island in the Savu Sea so remote that other Indonesians call it “The Land Left Behind” live the Lamalerans: a tribe of 1,500 hunter-gatherers who are the world’s last subsistence whalers. They have survived for half a millennium by hunting whales with bamboo harpoons and handmade wooden boats powered by sails of woven palm fronds. But now, under assault from the rapacious forces of the modern era and a global economy, their way of life teeters on the brink of collapse.
Award-winning journalist Doug Bock Clark, one of a handful of Westerners who speak the Lamaleran language, lived with the tribe across three years, and he brings their world and their people to vivid life in this gripping story of a vanishing culture. Jon, an orphaned apprentice whaler, toils to earn his harpoon and provide for his ailing grandparents, while Ika, his indomitable younger sister, is eager to forge a life unconstrained by tradition, and to realize a star-crossed love. Frans, an aging shaman, tries to unite the tribe in order to undo a deadly curse. And Ignatius, a legendary harpooner entering retirement, labors to hand down the Ways of the Ancestors to his son, Ben, who would secretly rather become a DJ in the distant tourist mecca of Bali.
Deeply empathetic and richly reported, The Last Whalers is a riveting, powerful chronicle of the collision between one of the planet’s dwindling indigenous peoples and the irresistible enticements and upheavals of a rapidly transforming world.
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I enjoyed reading this book. The author has spent many years living among the Lamalerans in Indonesia. When the book begins the tribe is surviving by fishing and whaling. As the years pass the modern world begins to arrive. The older members of the tribe worry about the younger members and the loss of tradition. The younger members have to decide whether to stay in the village or work in the cities. The author does a very good job with introducing a few key members of the tribe and following their lives and staying objective. At the end he does speculate about the continued impact of globalization. Enjoy this immersive journey.
One family, one heart, one action, one goal. Lamaleran saying
Lembata, in Southeast Asia, is home to the Lamalerans who arrived there 500 years ago. They settled on the beach under a cliff, surviving by fishing for sperm whale and Manta ray and flying fish. Those who are successful in the hunt share with aging family members and community members. They are one of the few hunter-gatherer societies left in the world. But industrialized society is crowding in on them. Their children are enticed to the cities for education and jobs. Some remain for the air conditioning and running water. Outboard motors and smaller boats are replacing the handcrafted boats propelled by oar and the young carry cell phones.
In the middle of the typhoon is life–Lamaleran song
The songs were more than music—they were prayers. from The Last Whalers
Over three years, Clark spent a year living with the Lamalerans, participating as a community member, even eating manta ray brains.
The whalers risk their lives to kill the whales by jumping off their boats and using their body weight to drive long-handled spears deep into the animals. The ropes attached to the spears can entangle a man. The whales fight back, overturning the boats. It is all quite horrendous and brutal. But without the whale meat, the people starve. The dried meat get them through the hunger months. They trade the dried meat for rice and vegetables with the people at the top of the hill who are farmers.
The Last Whalers is marvelous because readers come to know these people intimately. A young man dreams of becoming a harpooner, the most honored position in their society, yet also dreams of life in the city. A young woman receives an education but committed to care for her elders must return to the village. The elders must preserve the old ways and knowledge while accepting that change is inevitable. To leave the village is to also leave the unity of one family, one heart, one action, one goal. It is hard to walk away from the strength of community to live in isolation with only yourself to depend upon.
Clark respects their traditions and way of life, noting that we should honor all cultures and be able to take the best each has to offer, learning from each other, cultural diversity perhaps essential to the survival of humanity.
The Lamalerans’ experience, then, speaks not just to the danger faced by earth’s remaining indigenous peoples but to the greater cultural extinction humanity is suffering. from The Last Whalers
Preserving the old ways and values in a changing world–it is what we all are dealing with, the universal challenge.
I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.