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Bird of Life, Bird of Death: A Naturalist's Journey Through a Land of Political Turmoil
Maslow does a fine job of presenting his quest for the the magnificent quetzal, legendary bird of the Mayans. The book chronicles not only his search for the bird & aspects of its natural history, but presents encounters with many other birds of Central America as well. Home to some wondrous birds in the almost magical rain forests, Maslow shows tho that the avifauna & the land they inhabit are threatened by unstable politics, unchecked population growth & deforestation. A must read for any interested in birds south of the border.--Tim F. Martin (edited)
249 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1986
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136 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Evan Maslow
8 books1 followerJonathan Maslow was a journalist and naturalist whose travels took him from the rain forests of Central America to the steppes of Central Asia. (NY Times)
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
February 16, 2022
From the introduction:
This is the authors three month visit to Guatemalaover the summer of 1983.
The birds in question are the Resplendent Quetzel, a magnificent blue/green bird with vivid red breast and, on the male a long streamer tail. These have a very small home range, supposedly from southern Mexico to northern Panama, but mostly in the cloud forests of Guatemala. Shy, habitual and poor fliers, they are now considered "near threatened" at the time of writing were 'endangered' and for some time considered extinct (although those living in the cloud forest would have known better).
The Maya (and the Aztec) considered the Quetzel divine, and the penalty for killing one was death. The birds do not survive in captivity, and for that reason are a symbol of liberty, still now to Guatemalans.
The other birds which feature heavily in this book are vultures, known as Zopilotes in Guatemala. These are very common in Guatemala, and occupy the city dump (where they compete with a whole neighbourhood of human scavengers, or can be found dining on roadkill and domestic waste as well as the sites of traffic accidents (!) "on-site burial being the custom for traffic fatalities"!
And to the political history, where I feel underqualified to offer much summary, other than to say that the period 1980 to 1985 was the period known as the Maya Genocide, which Wikipedia summarises as the massacre of Maya civilians during the Guatemalan military government's counterinsurgency operations. Massacres, forced disappearances, torture and summary executions of guerrillas and especially civilian collaborators at the hands of security forces. A March 1985 study by the Juvenile Division of the Supreme Court estimated that over 200,000 children had lost at least one parent in the war and that between 45,000 and 60,000 adult Guatemalans were killed between 1980 and 1985. General Efrain Rios Montt was the tyrant in power at the time of the authors visit.
While in Guatemala Manslow teams up with Micheal Kienitz (Mickey), a photographer who he met on a previous Central American trip, and roped in to accompany him. Together they plan their trip and provide the confidence each other need to undertake what is a dangerous trip to back-blocks Guatemala.
There is plenty of bird watching, and plenty of travel -some hair-raising. There is also plenty of Maya history and some more recent politics. They meet some interesting characters, and see first hand the effects of deforestation as the Indians clear to increase their cornfields, and no focus on conservation (well, there was a genocide going on).
Oddly, despite travelling with a photographer, not a single picture is provided in this book, although there is a helpful map.
At under 200 pages, this is a relatively quick read, but well worthwhile.
4.5 stars, rounded down.
This book is not, strictly speaking, a bird book, although it was written by a fanatical birder. Nor is it a true travelogue, even though I am an addicted traveller. Least of all is it a political history, although, like most men, I fancy myself something of a political expert. But this book does borrow shamelessly from all three genres.... and this is quite accurate. This book is almost exactly a split between the three.
This is the authors three month visit to Guatemalaover the summer of 1983.
The birds in question are the Resplendent Quetzel, a magnificent blue/green bird with vivid red breast and, on the male a long streamer tail. These have a very small home range, supposedly from southern Mexico to northern Panama, but mostly in the cloud forests of Guatemala. Shy, habitual and poor fliers, they are now considered "near threatened" at the time of writing were 'endangered' and for some time considered extinct (although those living in the cloud forest would have known better).
The Maya (and the Aztec) considered the Quetzel divine, and the penalty for killing one was death. The birds do not survive in captivity, and for that reason are a symbol of liberty, still now to Guatemalans.
The other birds which feature heavily in this book are vultures, known as Zopilotes in Guatemala. These are very common in Guatemala, and occupy the city dump (where they compete with a whole neighbourhood of human scavengers, or can be found dining on roadkill and domestic waste as well as the sites of traffic accidents (!) "on-site burial being the custom for traffic fatalities"!
And to the political history, where I feel underqualified to offer much summary, other than to say that the period 1980 to 1985 was the period known as the Maya Genocide, which Wikipedia summarises as the massacre of Maya civilians during the Guatemalan military government's counterinsurgency operations. Massacres, forced disappearances, torture and summary executions of guerrillas and especially civilian collaborators at the hands of security forces. A March 1985 study by the Juvenile Division of the Supreme Court estimated that over 200,000 children had lost at least one parent in the war and that between 45,000 and 60,000 adult Guatemalans were killed between 1980 and 1985. General Efrain Rios Montt was the tyrant in power at the time of the authors visit.
While in Guatemala Manslow teams up with Micheal Kienitz (Mickey), a photographer who he met on a previous Central American trip, and roped in to accompany him. Together they plan their trip and provide the confidence each other need to undertake what is a dangerous trip to back-blocks Guatemala.
There is plenty of bird watching, and plenty of travel -some hair-raising. There is also plenty of Maya history and some more recent politics. They meet some interesting characters, and see first hand the effects of deforestation as the Indians clear to increase their cornfields, and no focus on conservation (well, there was a genocide going on).
Oddly, despite travelling with a photographer, not a single picture is provided in this book, although there is a helpful map.
At under 200 pages, this is a relatively quick read, but well worthwhile.
4.5 stars, rounded down.
January 3, 2018
Bird watching and civil war
A little anger isn't bad. When you think of the collection of knaves, brutes, and simple ^$%@#s who rule many of the world's countries, you can get pretty steamed up, especially if you happen to see some of the happy results in person. What would be weird is if you didn't get angry. OK, Jonathan Maslow did go to Guatemala to trace the fate of the quetzal, a long-tailed bird that is not only the national symbol of that troubled Central American nation, but also gives the name to its currency. The quetzal has been important to Central Americans perhaps for thousands of years. Their great green tail plumes of the male bird were traded up and down from New Mexico to Peru. Indian armies believed that the quetzal flew overhead and blessed their endeavors. To kill a quetzal merited the death penalty. Just as the Maya people survived (despite all attempts to wipe them out) in Guatemala and make up more than half the population today, so the quetzal survived as a symbol. There even used to be a Quetzal Restaurant right near here, in Lynn, Mass., run by Guatemalan immigrants.
But Maslow did not just let it go at that---a trip into the forests to find the quetzal. He took note of what was going on around him and got angry. Good for him. The vulture was more of an apt symbol for the brutal, even crazy military rulers of Guatemala in the 1980s, unhappy country. He went to check out the vultures too, in a hellish dump. Massacres, executions, assassinations, disappearances, torture---these were the norm in Guatemala. When it was all over, some years after Maslow left, it is estimated that 200,000 people had died. Nobody will ever really know. At the same time, the country's poverty (in a rich land with hard working people !) meant that Indians had to keep on cutting the forest to make more cornfields, which, thanks to total lack of care by the government, would erode quickly. Maslow paints two sides of the picture very clearly---the beauties of nature, the general kindness of the local people (quetzal)---and the suspicion and disinterest of the official class living in gated luxury coupled with the signs of war all around (vulture). Such an approach could be simplistic, but it is very effective. One man, a rich landowner named Don Alfredo, who owns part of a mountain where quetzals live, seems to straddle the two groups, trying to protect his property at the same time as preserving the quetzals and treating the local peasants fairly. BIRD OF LIFE, BIRD OF DEATH is a good book because besides being well-written, it doesn't hesitate to go beyond its orignal objective---birds---and portray with considerable ironic or sarcastic anger the ugliness of a society at war with itself.
A little anger isn't bad. When you think of the collection of knaves, brutes, and simple ^$%@#s who rule many of the world's countries, you can get pretty steamed up, especially if you happen to see some of the happy results in person. What would be weird is if you didn't get angry. OK, Jonathan Maslow did go to Guatemala to trace the fate of the quetzal, a long-tailed bird that is not only the national symbol of that troubled Central American nation, but also gives the name to its currency. The quetzal has been important to Central Americans perhaps for thousands of years. Their great green tail plumes of the male bird were traded up and down from New Mexico to Peru. Indian armies believed that the quetzal flew overhead and blessed their endeavors. To kill a quetzal merited the death penalty. Just as the Maya people survived (despite all attempts to wipe them out) in Guatemala and make up more than half the population today, so the quetzal survived as a symbol. There even used to be a Quetzal Restaurant right near here, in Lynn, Mass., run by Guatemalan immigrants.
But Maslow did not just let it go at that---a trip into the forests to find the quetzal. He took note of what was going on around him and got angry. Good for him. The vulture was more of an apt symbol for the brutal, even crazy military rulers of Guatemala in the 1980s, unhappy country. He went to check out the vultures too, in a hellish dump. Massacres, executions, assassinations, disappearances, torture---these were the norm in Guatemala. When it was all over, some years after Maslow left, it is estimated that 200,000 people had died. Nobody will ever really know. At the same time, the country's poverty (in a rich land with hard working people !) meant that Indians had to keep on cutting the forest to make more cornfields, which, thanks to total lack of care by the government, would erode quickly. Maslow paints two sides of the picture very clearly---the beauties of nature, the general kindness of the local people (quetzal)---and the suspicion and disinterest of the official class living in gated luxury coupled with the signs of war all around (vulture). Such an approach could be simplistic, but it is very effective. One man, a rich landowner named Don Alfredo, who owns part of a mountain where quetzals live, seems to straddle the two groups, trying to protect his property at the same time as preserving the quetzals and treating the local peasants fairly. BIRD OF LIFE, BIRD OF DEATH is a good book because besides being well-written, it doesn't hesitate to go beyond its orignal objective---birds---and portray with considerable ironic or sarcastic anger the ugliness of a society at war with itself.
March 14, 2015
Although I classified this book under the sciences, the author being an ornithologist and the book being about his quest for the quetzal, it is just as much about the history of Central America, Guatemala in particular, and its dismal politics, the disappearing quetzal contrasted to the hegemonics of rapacious capitalism and the meddling of successive governments of the United States of America.
September 28, 2013
I thoroughly enjoyed this book actually written in my birth year of 1983 depicting a nothing short of epic journey of life and culture shock of an educated ornithologist and his adventures through South America tracking the beautiful and elusive Quetzel that is not only so important to Guatemalas to be the bird featured on the flag but also the namesake of the currency depicted in exchange in a quite humorous trade through a modern day changed land that changed the land of the Quetzel into a land ruined by foreign Spanish inquest paving a feeding ground for the vultures to feast upon human flesh hence the title of this action packed book. Touching on culture, politics, nature and conservation of a dying species of aviofauna and the beautiful and luxurious rainforest in which they inhabit along the mountain ranges up in the clouds are gripping tales of hope and progress for a young explorer. From run ins with scandalous hotel/motel managers taking him by whore houses that aren't his forte to coffee plantations and Mayan landings where the Indians now cater to American tourists in a sad existence this book is painted vividly in the narrator's non fictional story and life event. I wish I owned a copy of this book because it was quite a good read and very educational. Not just for bird lovers but also for anyone wanting to expand their mind. 5star book! :)
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May 11, 2013Fascinating book. Naturalist Maslow travels trough Guatemala during the reign of dictator Rios Montt, during his search for the bird of paradise Maslow also describes the horrors of modern dicatorship.
July 1, 2023
When I was a Teaching Assistant at UCLA during the 1980s I told my students BIRD OF LIFE, BIRD OF DEATH, was "Marxist ornithology". Bueno, yes, in that in searching for specimens of Guatemala's national bird, the Quetzal, Jonathan Maslow, an ornithologist by training, was forced to confront the military dictatorship, the genocide of the Mayan Indians, the guerrilla underground organizations and multinational organizations destroying the Quetzal's natural habitat; a classic case of "I didn't set out to be political, politics found me". There truly is such a thing as "the political economy of bird-watching". Yet Maslow is no Marxist. He does not uncover what economic forces the military junta, which in total killed some 200,000 civilians, mostly Indians, between 1954-1986, served at home and abroad, nor does he conclude socialism will save the Quetzal. I highly recommend this intriguing, eccentric book to those who feel everything is political, and you can't hide behind your binoculars.
July 28, 2019
Rarely do I recommend a book to someone, but this one I did. It is a little Edward Abbey-esque, and that is certainly why I like it. It is so niche in content though, and I think that is what makes it special. It isn't 100% politically correct, and while that can be cringing, you know it's real and you feel the time that it was written. How else could a book be about two white men visiting a poor and tumultuous country for the "pure" quest of seeing the quetzal, a nationally and spiritually important symbol for Guatemala. It is both a pure and impure quest.
August 26, 2019
Read this book after traveling to Guatemala the first time and before venturing back a second. Enjoyed learning about the quetzal and it’s conservation (or lack thereof) in the country. It’s also a good depiction of the country itself and the inhabitants at the time of Marlow’s writing, although things have changed a lot since then! His style of writing is beautifully descriptive and at times funny.
November 20, 2022
It’s a pleasure to find, unexpectedly, that a writer’s prose really shines
February 1, 2019
Although I enjoyed this book, I enjoyed it less than I did when I read it in the early 90's after myself returning from a trip to Guatemala where I too visited El Biotopo looking for quetzals. I even took photos of some colorful birds (probably not quetzals) only to discover later that I had black and white film in my camera; Ilford as I recall.
The book is part travelogue, and a birding field guide interspersed with asides on political history. As I reread the book, I couldn't help but be reminded of the late Anthony Bourdain's show, Parts Unknown. Maslow seems to be a credible ornithologist, and like Bourdain, an amazing storyteller. However, his writing style is a little gonzo-like which somewhat detracted from the narrative. He has a sense of humor that borders on snark at times which I can generally tolerate, but in spots the sarcasm comes across as condescending when he describes indigenous people and their impoverished living conditions. To his credit, he does not blame the people for their own poverty owing it largely to the policies of brutal and exploitative regimes that have governed the country over the years. He clearly respects both the indigenous and the people he featured who were trying to preserve the natural resources of a country that was once home to plentiful numbers of quetzals, some of the most beautiful birds and most important symbols of Mayan culture.
The book is part travelogue, and a birding field guide interspersed with asides on political history. As I reread the book, I couldn't help but be reminded of the late Anthony Bourdain's show, Parts Unknown. Maslow seems to be a credible ornithologist, and like Bourdain, an amazing storyteller. However, his writing style is a little gonzo-like which somewhat detracted from the narrative. He has a sense of humor that borders on snark at times which I can generally tolerate, but in spots the sarcasm comes across as condescending when he describes indigenous people and their impoverished living conditions. To his credit, he does not blame the people for their own poverty owing it largely to the policies of brutal and exploitative regimes that have governed the country over the years. He clearly respects both the indigenous and the people he featured who were trying to preserve the natural resources of a country that was once home to plentiful numbers of quetzals, some of the most beautiful birds and most important symbols of Mayan culture.
February 9, 2017
An interesting mix of birdwatching, travelogue, and political commentary, well-written and readable. Given that he traveled with a photographer, however, the absence of pictures is glaring.
November 16, 2008
One of those books I thoroughly enjoyed reading... though using the word "enjoy" for a book with such vivid descriptions of poverty and the impact of a brutal military regime on impoverished Guatemalans seems more than a little wrong. Maslow is a great writer with a gift for original phrasing, sharp observation, keen insight, and able to convey a lot information - birds, politics, Mayan history, agriculture, etc - in a light and easy way. I wish the book were longer. I will certainly re-read it.
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June 19, 2020I read this book years ago and have always remembered it as sad but well-written. Having re-read it the past few days, I still think that. Maslow was a good writer and the book is a fine combination of natural history, human history, travelogue, and political commentary. It's not always easy to mix such things and get a good result, but Maslow could. Since Maslow's trip to Guatemala was in the 1980s, the situation there for the people and the quetzals has changed enough that his book could be said to be outdated, but that is about its only flaw.
April 2, 2010
I need to read this one again - I carried a tattered copy with me on my aimless travels through Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica back in 1986 and 1987 - but it stays with me as a great book, one that was lyrical and informed about Guatemala and also unstinting and raw in the graphic pictures it left in my imagination, especially that of the zopilotes - vultures - feasting on human bodies tossed aside at the city dump, victims of political violence.
October 16, 2007
From the NYTimes Review: In his introduction, Mr. Maslow suggests the book is "a kind of essay in political ornithology." While correct in believing this is "a field that does not quite exist, at least yet," he demonstrates why naturalists have had to become politically engaged: increasingly, it seems, everything is in peril.
November 5, 2008
If you're into birds, read this. If you're not particularly into birds, read it anyway. It's not really about birds; more the complexities of conquest and division and what's left behind in Central America. It's also sort of a rogue travel book, full of observations, insights and vivid inmages that remain with the reader.
February 26, 2016
I discovered this non-fiction book in the late 1980s, and spent an atmospheric, rainy vacation day, reading about the adventures of two American ornithologists in Guatamala, a very poor Central American country in the midst of a political upheaval. It is one of my favorite reading experiences.
January 13, 2008
This is a book about some guy trying to find a quetzal. Read it and learn about quetzals.
March 3, 2009
Read this during a trip to Guatemala, so very timely. Interesting organization around the bird, good journalistic style and historical background, pretty well-written I thought.
June 3, 2012
Now a bit dated, but still a fascinating tale of natural beauty amid the storm of political destruction in modern Guatemala.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews