Llaverac reviewed The Edge of Memory by Patrick Nunn
So much geology
3 stars
This book is about indigenous stories that were passed on orally, for millennia sometimes, and that recount ancient geologic events (volcanic eruptions, dramatic sea level rises that engulfed coastal cities, islands that suddenly disappeared...), generally disguised as tales, probably because it made them easier to remember and pass to the next generation.
On one hand it's fascinating to think that peoples have been able to retain the memory of events that happened maybe 10 000 years ago, or that - at the coldest time of the last ice age - the global sea level was ~120m lower than it is today, which gave some parts of the world a very different geography. On the other hand, some chapters just felt like long lists of stories that were actually describing a certain kind of geologic event. I would have liked to learn more about how these stories were transmitted, and not …
This book is about indigenous stories that were passed on orally, for millennia sometimes, and that recount ancient geologic events (volcanic eruptions, dramatic sea level rises that engulfed coastal cities, islands that suddenly disappeared...), generally disguised as tales, probably because it made them easier to remember and pass to the next generation.
On one hand it's fascinating to think that peoples have been able to retain the memory of events that happened maybe 10 000 years ago, or that - at the coldest time of the last ice age - the global sea level was ~120m lower than it is today, which gave some parts of the world a very different geography. On the other hand, some chapters just felt like long lists of stories that were actually describing a certain kind of geologic event. I would have liked to learn more about how these stories were transmitted, and not just what they told: there are a few passages on the how, but most of the book is about tectonic plates, rising sea levels and the ice age.
I guess that if you want to make the case that Western science should pay more attention to indigenous stories and traditional knowledge, you better come up with a lot of evidence, and that's exactly what this book does, but I'm afraid it's not particularly thrilling to read. A longform piece would have been largely enough for me.