by Andrew Revkin
I like some of the music by Mana, and one of their songs "Cuando los Angeles Lloran" begins like this:A chico Méndez lo mataron
Era un defensor y un ángel de toda la amazonia
él murío a sangre fría
Lo sabía Collor De Melo y también la policia
Roughly translated, that says:
They killed Chico Mendez
He was a defender and angel of all the Amazon
He died in cold blood
Collor de Mello knew it, and so did the police...
I had no idea what this song was really about, until I read The Burning Season, one of the books my husband brought into our home. In an easy-flowing, detailed narrative, Revkin relates the plight of the Amazon rainforest, and political turmoil in Brazil. Chico Mendes was a native Brazilian whose living came from extracting rubber and gathering brazil nuts from the trees, in a carefully planned manner which left little impact on the forest and kept the resource renewable. In 1988 he was murdered by a group with conflicting interests: cattle ranchers who were clearing the land for their own use. I felt astonished, dismayed and outraged at what I read in this book. It taught me a lot about an issue I've always heard of, but felt far removed from. Have any of you read this book?
Rating: 4/5 336 pages, 1994
That sounds like some book. I haven't read it but it is an issue that great concerns me. Thanks for the review Jeane!
ReplyDeleteI haven't, but now I'd really like to. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
ReplyDeleteI read sections of this book in Spanish culture class (my major being Spanish) at Oregon State U. I loved it, and I LOVE mana!!! I went to see them in Spain a while back (pre-kids, so long, time now!). I will buy this one on amazon...I need to own it. Thanks for the review,
ReplyDeletehappy sunday and memorial day tomorrow to you!
Wow--thanks for the review. I haven't heard of this one, but I'm going to put it on my list of books to watch out for. Sounds like an eye-opener.
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