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Sasquatch Rising 2013: Dead Giants Tell No Tales: How DNA Breakthroughs and Backyard Visits Reveal the Greatest Story of Our Time
- GenresMonsters
466 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
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20 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Noël
39 books5 followersAlso writes children's fiction as Chris Noël.
See also: Christopher Noël.
See also: Christopher Noël.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 13, 2014
Christopher Noël's Sasquatch Rising 2013 is quite simply one of the most fascinating books I have ever read. Despite being formatted so poorly that most of the chapter titles are truncated and/or barely readable when viewed on a hand held ebook reading device, I still found this book to be thoroughly engrossing, remarkably intriguing, sometimes downright chilling, and often delightfully surprising. And here I thought I already knew quite a lot about the Bigfoot/Sasquatch phenomenon!
Of course, whether every last detail related by the author is at all plausible is anybody's guess, but Noël certainly does a fantastic job of making it all seem perfectly believable. That is, until you've finished reading the entire book, and have had some time to really think it all over. Honestly, that's what it took for me. I finished reading this book more than a month before writing this review, but that... shockingly, is how long it took for yours truly to fully process some of the startling ideas that Noël presents.
It would be bad form to give too many specifics away in a simple review, so let's just say that a number of theories about the Bigfoot creature that are essayed in this book are controversial to say in the least. Not so much with the skeptical public at large, who tend to view the entire phenomenon as little more than an enduring (even somewhat endearing) myth, supposedly kept alive by attention seeking hoaxers down through the centuries (and all the presumably well meaning and easily hoodwinked city slickers who just don't spend enough time in the great outdoors of North America to be able to tell the difference between a bear and a species of unclassified primate), but more so by the diehard Sasquatch believing community, who tend to be fiercely divided in their assessment of just how either docile or dangerous the legendary "boss of the woods" may actually be.
Suffice it to say that Bigfoot is almost certainly much more than a single solitary creature long shrouded in myth and folklore. That much, pretty much everyone in the cryptid animal researching community seems to agree on. In fact, the ever mounting evidence clearly indicates that entire families (and almost certainly even multiple varieties/sub-species) of huge, hairy, bipedal creatures have somehow managed to range mostly undetected over very large tracts of mostly unexplored North American wilderness for countless centuries, even up to the present day. One thing is certain; most Native American tribes profess no doubt whatsoever that these creatures do in fact exist in one form or another.
Of course, one thing I already knew before reading this book is that these elusive hominids are hypothesized to be so intelligent that they may very well fall somewhere between humans and chimpanzees on the evolutionary scale. Just how closely related to homo sapiens they might be is still open to much speculation, of course. The direction that Mr. Noël chooses to go in to address this question is what makes his research both highly noteworthy and perhaps, a bit dubious. In fact, the author's work strongly suggests that these creatures may not only possess some form of spoken language (which is rapidly becoming a widely held belief in the Squatch hunting community), but that they may even exceed humans in at least one other form of communication. Though this last prospect is perhaps a bit far fetched, it none the less makes for quite fascinating reading.
Yet when delving further into the ancient North American primate enigma (far beyond the fanciful boundaries that Noël seems more than comfortable to be limited to) one may be presented with decidedly less warm and fuzzy possibilities - the likes of which the author continually sidesteps: as in, the very real possibility that Sasquatch are not only powerful and very dangerous wild animals that are not to be trifled with (something that the author of this book would almost certainly also readily agree with - but for decidedly different reasons) but, as alpha predators in their own right, they may very well prey on unsuspecting humans when the opportunity presents itself. Which is not something that Noël apparently lends much credence to. At least he does not put much emphasis on it in this particular book.
And all of the above is what really sets Sasquatch Rising 2013 apart from many other books on the subject. For you see, most of Noël's narrative is devoted to what is commonly referred to as "habitation" scenarios; or rather, situations where people living in remote locations have allegedly somehow managed to interact with various individuals or groups of Sasquatch for long periods of time. Such alleged encounters are usually typified by the "gifting" of food and various attempts at different forms of communication, with the intent to build a long standing trust based relationship between us smartypants humans and our notoriously shy but highly intelligent primate cousins. To be fair, not all of the habituation scenarios depicted in the book paint such a harmonious picture of human/Sasquatch interaction.
And here is definitely where we start wading into arguably troubled waters. You see, Bigfoot researcher Christopher Noël seems to think that it is relatively safe to sleep alone (without so much as a tent or even a firearm) in remote wooded locations where reportedly massive primate creatures (standing perhaps eight to ten feet tall and weighing as much as eight hundred pounds OR EVEN MORE) are likely to dwell! He writes of his experiences of having done just exactly that many, many times, and even though he has as yet emerged unscathed, one can only hope that his luck will not one day run out. And just exactly why does Mr. Noël make a habit of exposing himself to such seemingly obvious dangers, one might rightly ask? Why, to make quite historic CONTACT, of course. Time and again in the book, in fact, he makes it abundantly clear that he would like nothing better than to one day hopefully join the ranks of well known primatologists such as Dian Fossey, Jane Goodall and Birutė Galdikas, all of whom contributed greatly to the study of known primate species.
Hmm.
Therefore, although I would fully recommend this book to anyone - in so much as it is absorbing, fascinating and quite sensational reading material - I'm afraid I cannot in good conscience recommend it to any budding Bigfoot researcher; or even and especially anyone who has even a passing desire to encounter one of these potentially quite dangerous creatures. The need for valid scientific research and preservation of cryptids is one thing, but something very reminiscent of bald faced naivete when dealing with animals in the wild is clearly another. Surely, almost any hungry predator in the wild can eventually be enticed to show itself on brief or somewhat limited terms, but that is where this book, despite its numerous strengths, comes off as being almost... well... just a little irresponsible. But only a little. I mean, other habituators have been hanging with Sasquatch in relative safety for years and years now, right? I mean, how bad can this whole habituation thing be anyway?
As the old saying goes, "you can take the boy out of the jungle, but you can't take the jungle out of the boy." Or should that be, "You can't take the backwoods out of the Sasquatch?" Either way, there have been several recent, highly publicized cases that involved chimpanzee pets that eventually became not just uncontrollable, but suddenly and quite unexpectedly hyper violent to such an extreme that a number of body parts were gnawed on, completely bitten off, or otherwise unceremoniously ripped from their still living human care givers and/or associates. So... if a chimp can do that, what could a Sasquatch in a really, really bad mood do?
Think about it.
Okay. Fine. I give in! This is a very interesting book! I enjoyed reading it immensely, and maybe I really would recommend it to any novice Bigfoot hunter - but only as a cautionary tale of what they really should NOT do in the course of their investigations. 'Cause let's be honest, folks! Sleepin' alone and defenseless, out in the middle of practically nowhere, in Sasquatch infested locales...? I'm afraid I'd have to put that one firmly in the PLEASE DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME category. But who am I to judge, right? Maybe the literally thousands of people who've vanished, often without a trace, over the years in heavily wooded areas of State parks just got lost and succumbed to death by exposure and other natural causes. Maybe all the stories down though the ages that suggest that Sasquatch are "cannibals" is all just so much B movie style hooey!
Hmm.
Of course, if you don't believe in Sasquatch anyway, and you don't like to spend quality time in the deep, dark woods, you almost certainly will never have anything at all to worry about, right? I mean, we're talking about a mythic creature here anyway, right? Maybe.... But, if you do happen to crave an eyeful of one or more of those legendary cryptid primates, I caution you to NOT take too much stock in Christopher Noël's perhaps all too casual approach to Squatch hunting. I would think all of the above would be simple common sense, but I guess it is true; that some of us bipedal hominids really do tend to be a bit smarter than others.
So I guess the real question for me is, are YOU smarter than a Sasquatch? Better yet, is a Sasquatch smarter than a fifth grader? But hey! Legendary Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin was definitely smarter than a stingray. But it didn't stop him from being stung and killed by one, did it? Ahh! Questions, questions! Maybe one fine day we'll have all the answers, but until then, please stay safe, everyone!
Sure, of course, be a typically inquisitive higher order of primate with a big brain and your trusty opposable thumbs. Do that modern human thing we all do so well, baby! Be adventurous - as often as humanly possible, any old way you can get away with it, brother. But for crying out loud, people... PLEASE... use some good old fashioned common sense when dealing with any and all creatures in the uncharted wilderness. Stay safe, my friends.
Of course, whether every last detail related by the author is at all plausible is anybody's guess, but Noël certainly does a fantastic job of making it all seem perfectly believable. That is, until you've finished reading the entire book, and have had some time to really think it all over. Honestly, that's what it took for me. I finished reading this book more than a month before writing this review, but that... shockingly, is how long it took for yours truly to fully process some of the startling ideas that Noël presents.
It would be bad form to give too many specifics away in a simple review, so let's just say that a number of theories about the Bigfoot creature that are essayed in this book are controversial to say in the least. Not so much with the skeptical public at large, who tend to view the entire phenomenon as little more than an enduring (even somewhat endearing) myth, supposedly kept alive by attention seeking hoaxers down through the centuries (and all the presumably well meaning and easily hoodwinked city slickers who just don't spend enough time in the great outdoors of North America to be able to tell the difference between a bear and a species of unclassified primate), but more so by the diehard Sasquatch believing community, who tend to be fiercely divided in their assessment of just how either docile or dangerous the legendary "boss of the woods" may actually be.
Suffice it to say that Bigfoot is almost certainly much more than a single solitary creature long shrouded in myth and folklore. That much, pretty much everyone in the cryptid animal researching community seems to agree on. In fact, the ever mounting evidence clearly indicates that entire families (and almost certainly even multiple varieties/sub-species) of huge, hairy, bipedal creatures have somehow managed to range mostly undetected over very large tracts of mostly unexplored North American wilderness for countless centuries, even up to the present day. One thing is certain; most Native American tribes profess no doubt whatsoever that these creatures do in fact exist in one form or another.
Of course, one thing I already knew before reading this book is that these elusive hominids are hypothesized to be so intelligent that they may very well fall somewhere between humans and chimpanzees on the evolutionary scale. Just how closely related to homo sapiens they might be is still open to much speculation, of course. The direction that Mr. Noël chooses to go in to address this question is what makes his research both highly noteworthy and perhaps, a bit dubious. In fact, the author's work strongly suggests that these creatures may not only possess some form of spoken language (which is rapidly becoming a widely held belief in the Squatch hunting community), but that they may even exceed humans in at least one other form of communication. Though this last prospect is perhaps a bit far fetched, it none the less makes for quite fascinating reading.
Yet when delving further into the ancient North American primate enigma (far beyond the fanciful boundaries that Noël seems more than comfortable to be limited to) one may be presented with decidedly less warm and fuzzy possibilities - the likes of which the author continually sidesteps: as in, the very real possibility that Sasquatch are not only powerful and very dangerous wild animals that are not to be trifled with (something that the author of this book would almost certainly also readily agree with - but for decidedly different reasons) but, as alpha predators in their own right, they may very well prey on unsuspecting humans when the opportunity presents itself. Which is not something that Noël apparently lends much credence to. At least he does not put much emphasis on it in this particular book.
And all of the above is what really sets Sasquatch Rising 2013 apart from many other books on the subject. For you see, most of Noël's narrative is devoted to what is commonly referred to as "habitation" scenarios; or rather, situations where people living in remote locations have allegedly somehow managed to interact with various individuals or groups of Sasquatch for long periods of time. Such alleged encounters are usually typified by the "gifting" of food and various attempts at different forms of communication, with the intent to build a long standing trust based relationship between us smartypants humans and our notoriously shy but highly intelligent primate cousins. To be fair, not all of the habituation scenarios depicted in the book paint such a harmonious picture of human/Sasquatch interaction.
And here is definitely where we start wading into arguably troubled waters. You see, Bigfoot researcher Christopher Noël seems to think that it is relatively safe to sleep alone (without so much as a tent or even a firearm) in remote wooded locations where reportedly massive primate creatures (standing perhaps eight to ten feet tall and weighing as much as eight hundred pounds OR EVEN MORE) are likely to dwell! He writes of his experiences of having done just exactly that many, many times, and even though he has as yet emerged unscathed, one can only hope that his luck will not one day run out. And just exactly why does Mr. Noël make a habit of exposing himself to such seemingly obvious dangers, one might rightly ask? Why, to make quite historic CONTACT, of course. Time and again in the book, in fact, he makes it abundantly clear that he would like nothing better than to one day hopefully join the ranks of well known primatologists such as Dian Fossey, Jane Goodall and Birutė Galdikas, all of whom contributed greatly to the study of known primate species.
Hmm.
Therefore, although I would fully recommend this book to anyone - in so much as it is absorbing, fascinating and quite sensational reading material - I'm afraid I cannot in good conscience recommend it to any budding Bigfoot researcher; or even and especially anyone who has even a passing desire to encounter one of these potentially quite dangerous creatures. The need for valid scientific research and preservation of cryptids is one thing, but something very reminiscent of bald faced naivete when dealing with animals in the wild is clearly another. Surely, almost any hungry predator in the wild can eventually be enticed to show itself on brief or somewhat limited terms, but that is where this book, despite its numerous strengths, comes off as being almost... well... just a little irresponsible. But only a little. I mean, other habituators have been hanging with Sasquatch in relative safety for years and years now, right? I mean, how bad can this whole habituation thing be anyway?
As the old saying goes, "you can take the boy out of the jungle, but you can't take the jungle out of the boy." Or should that be, "You can't take the backwoods out of the Sasquatch?" Either way, there have been several recent, highly publicized cases that involved chimpanzee pets that eventually became not just uncontrollable, but suddenly and quite unexpectedly hyper violent to such an extreme that a number of body parts were gnawed on, completely bitten off, or otherwise unceremoniously ripped from their still living human care givers and/or associates. So... if a chimp can do that, what could a Sasquatch in a really, really bad mood do?
Think about it.
Okay. Fine. I give in! This is a very interesting book! I enjoyed reading it immensely, and maybe I really would recommend it to any novice Bigfoot hunter - but only as a cautionary tale of what they really should NOT do in the course of their investigations. 'Cause let's be honest, folks! Sleepin' alone and defenseless, out in the middle of practically nowhere, in Sasquatch infested locales...? I'm afraid I'd have to put that one firmly in the PLEASE DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME category. But who am I to judge, right? Maybe the literally thousands of people who've vanished, often without a trace, over the years in heavily wooded areas of State parks just got lost and succumbed to death by exposure and other natural causes. Maybe all the stories down though the ages that suggest that Sasquatch are "cannibals" is all just so much B movie style hooey!
Hmm.
Of course, if you don't believe in Sasquatch anyway, and you don't like to spend quality time in the deep, dark woods, you almost certainly will never have anything at all to worry about, right? I mean, we're talking about a mythic creature here anyway, right? Maybe.... But, if you do happen to crave an eyeful of one or more of those legendary cryptid primates, I caution you to NOT take too much stock in Christopher Noël's perhaps all too casual approach to Squatch hunting. I would think all of the above would be simple common sense, but I guess it is true; that some of us bipedal hominids really do tend to be a bit smarter than others.
So I guess the real question for me is, are YOU smarter than a Sasquatch? Better yet, is a Sasquatch smarter than a fifth grader? But hey! Legendary Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin was definitely smarter than a stingray. But it didn't stop him from being stung and killed by one, did it? Ahh! Questions, questions! Maybe one fine day we'll have all the answers, but until then, please stay safe, everyone!
Sure, of course, be a typically inquisitive higher order of primate with a big brain and your trusty opposable thumbs. Do that modern human thing we all do so well, baby! Be adventurous - as often as humanly possible, any old way you can get away with it, brother. But for crying out loud, people... PLEASE... use some good old fashioned common sense when dealing with any and all creatures in the uncharted wilderness. Stay safe, my friends.
October 21, 2016
Pretty good
The format of this book is a little confusing. There are some musings by the author, some excerpts from other writing, and some reviews and discussions of other books. It is still interesting, and I was able to choose some other books on the topic that seem to be addressing Sasquatch in a manner that interests me from his sections on other books. I don't care for sensationalization or on the other hand material that is too dry and clinical. This is not a problem here. He is anecdotal and sympathetic without becoming maudlin. His stories are believable, unlike some authors. I am at the stage of deciding where I stand on Sasquatch, and I was surprised by how much more evidence there is since I last checked out the topic. This author takes me farther down the path of believing than anything I've read so far..
The format of this book is a little confusing. There are some musings by the author, some excerpts from other writing, and some reviews and discussions of other books. It is still interesting, and I was able to choose some other books on the topic that seem to be addressing Sasquatch in a manner that interests me from his sections on other books. I don't care for sensationalization or on the other hand material that is too dry and clinical. This is not a problem here. He is anecdotal and sympathetic without becoming maudlin. His stories are believable, unlike some authors. I am at the stage of deciding where I stand on Sasquatch, and I was surprised by how much more evidence there is since I last checked out the topic. This author takes me farther down the path of believing than anything I've read so far..
September 2, 2016
First of all, this book is no literary masterpiece. It looks more like a first draft or a compilation of notes. But in this case, it's the enthusiasm that counts! You can find a lot of interesting information in it and it will probably significantly change your perspective on the whole bigfoot issue.
July 16, 2013
Great book on the subject. Discusses habituation sites rather than capturing. Much insight on this subject.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews