Date: 25 July 2021
Location: Bob & Linda
“In this rapturous memoir, writer and activist Laura Coleman shares the story of her liberating journey in the amazon jungle and falling in love with a magnificent cat who changed her life.”
As I told you when I recommended this book, I was doing so because it was a way to experience something that you would never experience in person. From your comments, I think that you agreed that it lived up to that billing.
Among the insights offered by the members were:
- Author’s literary skills were not outstanding
- Destruction of the environment as described was right on
- Description of said destruction was terribly impressive and enabled us to see and feel it internally, thus upping our awareness
- The filthy conditions in which the volunteer lived was incredible. Might it have been overstated because of the author’s state of mind?
- The mental status of the long term volunteers seemed as damaged as the animals’ and wasn’t really addressed by the author as if she wasn’t attuned to other people’s mental state. They all seemed to have problems dealing with what we might call a normal life.
- The rescue organization was trying to save animals who had been bought as pets, as well as those who had been driven from their natural habitats
Claudia noted that although she isn’t a pet person, she understood the need to not let the animal roam around damaged.
It was astonishing to live the experience of the author as she worked with her puma, Wayra to the point that this wild animal developed enough confidence in her to put its head in her lap. They seemed to have had a symbiotic relationship that helped heal them both. It was noted that some nursing homes use robotic cats to help their patients relate to other people.
One needs to remember the other heroes of the tale; over a hundred quirky animals, each as lost in its own way as the volunteers. They included a pair of suicidal, bra stealing monkeys, a frustrated parrot desperate to fly, and a pig with a wicked sense of humor. The humans too were a cause for laughter and tears. They included animal whispers, committed staff, wildly devoted volunteers, handsome heartbreakers, and a machete-wielding prom queen who carried Laura through the tough times. And there was the jungle itself – wild and gorgeous. All conspired to bring Laura to heal, love and become the person she was capable of being.
— Gina