Explorer: The Quest for Adventure, Discovery and the Great Unknown

by Benedict Allen

What does it mean to be an explorer in the twenty-first century?

Explorer is the story of what first led Benedict Allen to head for the farthest reaches of our planet - at a time when there were still valleys and ranges known only to the remote communities who inhabited them. It is also the story of why, thirty years later, he is still exploring. It's the story of a journey back to a clouded mountain in New Guinea to find a man called Korsai who had once been a friend, and to fulfil a promise made as young men. It is also a story of what it is to be 'lost' and 'found'.

Honest, sensitive and packed with insight, in Explorer Allen considers the lessons he has learnt from his numerous expeditions - most importantly, from the communities he has encountered: there is a value in disconnecting from all that we are familiar with, particularly in today's crowded world. And there is a value in connecting with worlds unfamiliar to us, some of whom have lived in harmony, not competition, with nature for generations.

We explore not to plant a flag, or leave a mark, but to open up and allow the place and people to leave their mark on us.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Adventure, Audiobook, Biography, Outdoors, Nature

288 pages, Hardcover

First published March 4, 2021

About the author

Benedict Colin Allen is a British writer, traveller and adventurer known for his technique of immersion among indigenous peoples from whom he acquires skills for hazardous journeys through unfamiliar terrain. In 2010, Allen was elected a Trustee of the Royal Geographical Society. He has recorded six TV series for the BBC, either alone or with partial or total use of camera crews, and has published ten books, including the Faber Book of Exploration, which he edited.[1]

Reviews

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

This man bless him is just so depressing like he just treks through awesome jungles being sad about literally everything

[Prayash Giria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Allen may be an accomplished explorer, but his writing skills left me far more wanting. The book shines most when he actually talks about his journeys through the Papuan highlands, documenting people, landscape, and animalia we’d barely ever read of elsewhere. However, a much larger portion of the book is devoted to his self-important and frankly half-baked ramblings about such white-conscience staples as ‘my calling’, ‘the spirit of exploration’, ‘finding myself among these people’, and ‘betraying them by embracing technology’. Maybe he was sincere, but it was frustrating to see that his desire to absolve himself of any privilege-shaming via schmaltzy philosophising became the central theme of this book rather than his genuinely interesting explorations.

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The name is quite apt as it was about the explorer and not much else. The author clearly loves exploring and putting himself in novel and possibly dangerous situations. Reflecting on his first journey to this particular community and then returning some decades later, leaving his family behind and reconnecting to his alternative family. It was very much a diary or reflection but not really sharing the likely interesting intricacies of the less known cultures.

[Thu Nguyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a lengthy recounting on a very personal level of the author's revisits to the jungle and mountain tribes he once knew in the Papua New Guinea. Can't say I enjoyed the story, as I found the "exploring" part to be quite dull, it certainly didn't spark any love for the dense tropical jungle in me.

What I really like in this book is the writing. Beautiful writing with rich vocabulary. Birds are not only birds, they are King of Saxony, Lesser bird-of-paradise, Spotted Jeweled Babbler... Same go for all the names of flowers and insects that I can't remember but enjoyed listening to regardless.

[Ruth Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be interesting but quite hard going at times. The author writes well and the recollection of people, situations and environment are detailed and it is easy to feel lost in the Papua New Guinean jungle yourself. However, the book also has a darker side; the author's conflicting feelings about exploration and trespassing on other cultures. I found the section where the author took along a reporter in a wheelchair to be very stressful reading - an altogether unnecessary and risky venture. The author comes across quite different in his writing to his television presence. A good read nonetheless.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brutally honest story about the explorer mindset, the drive and mentality not understood by all. A psyche misunderstood by the 21st century. Benedict Allen explains why he goes to the furtherest corners of the world and the lessons learnt from vulnerability.

[Kevin DeLong · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love to wander…

If you love to wander and you’re naturally curious, this is a great book. You may not want to explore the same things as the author, but I feel this is the best way to look at life. Find what you like and go check it out!

[Julie-Anne Borgias · Rating 3 out of 5]

not bad, some interesting points made.

[Dan Relluchs · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF - got about 2/3s through before abandoning, morose, navel-gazing that did not connect with me.

[Julian Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quite extraordinary book, examining the nature of exploration through past and present journeys the author has made, and in particular a return to a remote part of Papua New Guinea to reconnect with himself and tribal friends from his earlier life there.

Emotional, thought-provoking, and inspirational, this is a powerful and rewarding read.