Shabono: A Visit to a Remote and Magical World in the South American Rain Forest

by Florinda Donner

'Shabono' – the name of the hamlets of palm-thatched dwellings where the Yanomama Indians of Venezuela and southern Brazil live – recounts the vivid and unforgettable experience of anthropologist Florinda Donner's time with an indigenous tribe in the endangered rain forest. Her rich images of daily life as she lives with the Yanomama and the magic of ritual in this native village unforgettably portray a world threatened by extinction.

Genres: Anthropology, Nonfiction, Native American, Spirituality, Philosophy

305 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

Reviews

[Cameron · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book features the convoluted adventures of a woman who decides to live in a community of Brazilian Indians. To those familiar with the Yanomami (I lived with them for 5 years) this is obvious fakery, although my edition of the book did not claim that the book was "a true story" or "nonfiction". Among other clues: she describes a Yanomami wedding ceremony--when in fact no such ceremony exists among the Yanomami, a fact you might know if you had read one or two of the many ethnographies on this tribe.

Florinda Donner is the pen name of Regina Thal, a Venezuelan of German descent who studied anthropology at UCLA, where she met Carlos Castaneda and became one of his followers. She wrote two other books describing her evolution as a bruja. Although she grew up in Venezuela there is no proof that she spent any time with the Yanomami.

Florinda Donner vanished after Carlos Castaneda died in April 1998. Her body was never found.

[Joseph Pfeffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A work of anthropological fiction that reads like a personal journey of self-fulfillment from the complacent certainties of Western civilization to the mystical joys of a simpler community life that dispenses with all the gadgets and gewgaws for a more deeply human experience. The term anthropological fiction is redolent of Castaneda's don Juan series, and that's no coincidence: Florinda Donner was one of Carlos Castanedas's "witches," the women who surrounded him in his later years and became part of his shamanic cult rituals, described in horrifying detail in Amy Wallace's "Sorcerer's Apprentice." Donner may have been the closest to Carlos. Some say she was his second wife. When Castaneda died in 1998, Donner disappeared the next day, and has never been found. She is assumed to have committed suicide in the desert. Shabono is a significant work because it tells the story of a woman who went to do research among the Yanomamo in South America, the world's most studied indigenous tribe, still a center of raging controversy. Sleuthing by the same sort of people who uncovered Castaneda's hoax revealed beyond reasonable doubt that Donner, like Carlos, spent her year among the Yanomamo cloistered in the UCLA library, researching the burgeoning number of books on the jungle culture. This comes through in the book itself: it all somehow seems too easy for Donner to make the transition from life in LA and Caracas to life in the heart of the rain forest. You don't get the wrenching otherness conveyed, for example, in Kenneth Good's Into The Heart, or even Ann Patchett's novel State of Wonder. Often, Donner seems to be describing a kind of coeducational wilderness camp, a back-to-nature enterprise in which the girls sit around and laugh at the boys' macho posing while at the same time admitting they need these guys to make them safe and make their lives interesting. One of the giveaways is the ease with which Donner learns the language. She enters the forest with rudimentary knowledge of it, but in six months is conversing with ease. Also, the treks through the vegetation don't seem nearly difficult enough, and people always have plenty to eat. For all that, her descriptions of the landscape and the way the rain and sun create indelible images are striking, and her lively, humorous interactions with the women and children ring true. Unlike Castaneda, she is not the naive apprentice learning about a strange, magical culture, always a few steps behind her mentors. Donner is interactive, with the locals learning as much from her as she does from them. She seems to spin her wheels throughout much of the body of the book, but the final chapters portray a convincing initiation into the true magic, the real otherness, what Donner might call the miraculous humanity, of the forest people. Like everyone else who gets deep into the life of the Amazon, she can never go back to her former world spiritually, whether or not she does physically. Her heart remains in the jungle.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. I loved this book when I was young. It is written as if a nonfiction account of the anthropologist's time in the rain forest, but seems to be a largely simplified plagiarism of the life of a woman kidnapped in the '30s - Yanoáma: The Story of Helena Valero, a Girl Kidnapped by Amazonian Indians.

How appalling. Florinda Donner, I am disgusted.

[Bob Newman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Florinda's Excellent Adventure

So, y'know, like, there's this really geeky anthropologist ? She's goin around with a notebook and tape recorder, and like sticking her nose in all these foreign people's business ? She probably even, like, goes in for all kindsa dorky music, you know, like Bay City Rollers or Lawrence Whelk ? But one day, she goes, "Whoa, dude ! Like I'm outta here." and like she disappears into the Amazon jungle with this Indian who's like totally cool. You shoulda seen his abs. She takes along a big diamond and a pearl, but no matches. She winds up hanging out with this Indian tribe deep in the forest who eat all kinds of totally yucky things, sleep in hammocks, and don't even have TV. Amazing. She shoots fish with arrows, goes around naked, gets into body painting, and really gets into the culture, you know what I mean ? And she really digs the Indian philosophy-`cuz y'know they're like really close to nature. They know stuff that we don't know, magic and everything. Awesome sunsets and storms too. The real downer was she lost all her notes and photos. What a bummer, huh ? But she gave them her diamond and pearl before she came back to L.A.

Yes, sorry about that. SHABONO is an excellent read----descriptions of the jungle, the Indians, and adventures galore. I would say it is engrossing and well worth a few hours of your time. If, however, you are looking for anthropology, if you are looking for information about the oft-studied Yanomamo, the world's official "Primitive People", then give this book a miss. It's unbelievable. Donner definitely knew something about the Yanomamo, but how much time she ever spent with them is open to question. This book could have been written as anthropo-fiction. If that is the case, then I owe the author an apology because it deserves five stars as an effort in that direction. But with endorsements by Carlos Castaneda on front and back covers, I think she wanted readers to believe that this all happened. No way, dude.

[Aida · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s interesting... I’ve been listening to all of the Carlos Castaneda books as well as these books by Florinda Donner, back-to-back. I haven’t taken any breaks in time between books. They’re really well written if you’re not following the story and noticing the inconsistencies between storylines and characters in each book. I can’t tell the difference between Carlos Castaneda’s style of writing and Florinda Donner’s. They’re nearly identical styles. I do enjoy the different perspectives Florinda has given of the 3 kinds of Indians and shamans she has described in her books. This one was my least favorite. Less believable than the others. Less takeaways. Entertaining nonetheless.

[Stef Rozitis · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am going to update this to say I have just learned that it is a fiction. There are elements of anthropological writings and ideas incorporated (some say "plagiarised") into it. Nothing about this book should be considered "fact" which makes the latent racism all the more disturbing.

There seems to be an exploitative parasitical relationship at the heart of this sort of anthropology. There are white supremacist assumptions about meaning and who gets to make it- like misogynist men writing novels about women.

The protagonist/author is a white woman. It seems she does not get named in the book. She has no label she is always "I". She brings nothing to the Indians except her curiosity. They explicitly tell her "live with us but don't make us into anthropology- this is early in the book and is presented as one of the first valuable things she learns. Yet here we are... She takes no role with them, performs only what labour takes her interest (mainly children's work) and eats their valuable food while writing down how exotic and fascinating these "other" people, these "savages" are. The fact she becomes one of them in a way is not really the point. She is always "special" in every episode of the story but remember who gets to tell it to us, and who does not.

I felt uncomfortable reading this. I don't see anywhere on the book any permissions from Yanomama leaders for her to profit from their stories and their knowledges. To be honest this shocked me, people in the 80s were still doing projects like this?? It does show the effects of colonisation quite well although not in detail.

[idylliqs · Rating 5 out of 5]

"There's no goodbye in my language. For goodbye is said with the eyes."

I feel so enchanted! When you read this book, you will be instantly be emerged into this magical world that makes you rethink about your ideology on life. This book teaches you about things that you couldn't even imagine happening in reality. The narrator (we don't even learn her name) is so open-minded that you feel the same way when seeing the different customs of the tribe. They welcomed her with such kindness and generosity. I can only hope there are still people like that now. I love seeing how much faith the tribe members had in their beliefs of spirits. It's only adds more to the feeling of euphoria. The narrator created so many relationships that were so fascinating. It was like they were creating bridges between different worlds. Milagros and the narrator's relationship was my favorite. 100% recommend if you're looking for a refreshing book to clear your mind from everyday stress.

[William Guerrant · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating and wonderfully entertaining account of the author's time in a small Indian village in a remote South American jungle. Readers should be aware that this book is best appreciated as a memoir, not as anthropology.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

No matter if the story is real, fictive, or inspired by others experiences, it is written in such a personal and captivating manner that it is an absolute joy to read it and to dream in and with a world so foreign and yet so close to the core.

[David Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. The ending made cry remembering my stay in Brazil.

[Teo Ojog · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful world!

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up at a library sale because of my interest in anthropology. I liked it up until I decided to do a deep-dive into the author's background. My deep dive proved shallow, as I discovered that her account of a spontaneous year living with the Yanomami of northern Brazil likely never actually happened. Born Regine Thal, she did study anthropology but then gave up her doctoral studies to become a cult follower of Carlos Casteneda. She changed her name, obscured her background, and published this supposedly true account that has been panned in anthropological journals and is almost certainly fictional.

How convenient that she burned all her field notes and gave away her camera to an Indian who deliberately exposed the film - yet she remembered everything about that year in precise detail. How convenient that she had no pressing matters, no obligations, and literally no responsibilities anywhere, so that she could give up her current field work and trek into the jungle on a whim and be gone for an entire year with no outside contact. How convenient that she was "immune" to mosquitoes and snakebite, never got her period the entire time, and apart from a brief fever never experienced any illness or physical discomfort. How convenient that her only pair of underwear lasted an entire year in the jungle intact despite her not wearing any pants.

She claimed to have struggled to learned the tribe's language and dismissed herself as not being fluent. But all conversations rendered in the text (in proper English syntax and grammar) are deep, advanced, occasionally philosophical, rich in vocabulary as well as poetry and song. She relates conversations that would be impossible for anyone not fluent in a language. She immediately made friends with everyone and had a deep sister-wife connection with several women in the tribe. She had no enemies apart from the men in another tribe who wanted to kidnap her for the novelty of having a white woman. She thought this was funny. She giggled way too much throughout the entire book, even at the thought of rape. And yes, she was raped - by a shaman, and she enjoyed it.

Despite those disappointments, it's actually written well, very lyrical, and the descriptions of the village were so precise that when I saw photos of a Yanomamo shabono they were exactly what I'd pictured in my head when reading. But it shouldn't be regarded as anything but fiction that was patched together from other researchers' field studies and publications.

[Lea Kielsholm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Det er en svær bog at anmelde. Som en anden skriver, hører den nok mest under "antropologisk fiktion". Den kan i hvert fald ikke antages for at være en nøjagtigt beskrivelse af livet i stammen. Jeg tror simpelthen ikke på, at alle de begivenheder og samtaler der beskrives har fundet sted, ligesom det virker af allerhøjeste usandsynlighed at forfatteren har kunnet forstå komplekse sammenhænge på et fremmed sprog hun påstår at have lært på ualmindeligt kort tid. Jeg har i øvrigt læst, at der generelt kan sås tvivl om forfatterens generelle antropologiske "evner". Så hvis man læser den, skal man nok blive underholdt - man skal bare tage alle historierne med et gran salt.

[Judith Schimmel · Rating 3 out of 5]

De schrijfster wil de lezer doen geloven dat dit een waargebeurd verhaal is. Maar, zo ontdekte ik na een paar hoofdstukken en mbv Wikipedia, dat is helemaal niet zo! Ze zoog het uit haar duim! Ze heeft blijkbaar niet bij de Yanomami gewoond maar maakte een mooi verhaal gebaseerd op literatuurstudies over de Yanomami.
Goh, dat maakt me niks uit, dacht ik nog, ik lees ook graag fictie, dus ik lees lekker verder.
En toch vond ik het raar. Ik voelde me een beetje in de maling genomen. Het boek is sowieso op bepaalde niveaus best heel raar. En tegelijkertijd interessant en leuk om te lezen. Ik weet niet wat ik ervan moet denken. 3 sterren dan maar.

[Katarina Kremer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ein Buch nach wahrer Begebenheit.
Über indianische Völker, die in brasilianischen Urwälder wohnen. Eine Forscherin kommt zu ihnen und lebt mit ihnen. Die Art und Weise wie dieseMenschen mit allem verbunden sind, ist sehr schön. Es gibt aber sehr viele Triggerpunkte, die schwer verdaulich sind.
8/10

[Judith the Book Gobbler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Women should read this!

[Anja Ovaskainen · Rating 4 out of 5]

lepo je nekad pobeći iz civilizacije:)
sad želim i ja

[Liv Bloemhard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Idk.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not that bad, and certainly worth checking out if you're into the genre. If you're someone who really gets off on the hard science end of Anthropological and Ethnobotanical stuff, like I do, you'll be disappointed, but amused. I think that I got more out of reading her florid descriptions and thinking back to the more clinical stuff I'd read (by Wade Davis, for instance) to match up what she was talking about with what was really going on. I probably missed a lot of the art that she brought to it by reading it that way, but it would have driven me nuts otherwise.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating tale of months spent with an Amazonian tribe by a women that goes from interested research scientist into active member of the tribal family. She hunts, heals, participates in cannibalistic funeral remembrances. A Wild, wild tale - not quite as wild as "Keep the River on Your Right". This one is about a deeper, more personal, intimate transformation.

[Trisha Hallam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an inspiring read of adventure in the Venezuelan rain forest with a tribe that was both in awe and full of fear for the author. She quickly became family and tells of special rituals and the everyday lives of the people. This is such a fascinating read and remains my all time favourite book. I first read it in the 1990s

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, but I think this anthropologist got a little TOO close to the tribe she was studying.

[Ahrimea · Rating 5 out of 5]

v sanjanju

[Diana Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great tale, lovingly wrote, of the experiences of a female anthropologist's encounter with a rain forest people. What they make of her and she of them.

[Astrid Johanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Shabono er en meget langtrukken og forvirrende bog. Man behøver ikke at læse Shabono mere ind en gang.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like anthropology you will love to eat bananas with the shabono. fun adventure.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another anthropological love letter. I loved it too.