Superficially, Tristes Tropiques is an account of Lévi-Strauss' travels in Brazil. But it begins "I hate travelling and explorers" and is hardly your typical travel story. There are some extended lyrical descriptive passages, including an eight page description of a sunset, and the narrative is interrupted by extended digressions. These include whole chapters devoted to philosophical ruminations on such topics as the status of anthropology and the differences between the higher religions.

Tristes Tropiques is certainly among the most approachable of Lévi-Strauss' works, and should be read by anyone with an interest in modern philosophy. It is guaranteed to make the reader stop and think, and then think again. It closes with the wonderful phrase "or in the brief glance, heavy with patience, serenity and mutual forgiveness, that, through some involuntary understanding, one can sometimes exchange with a cat."

August 1992

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Related reviews:

- books by Claude Lévi-Strauss
- more French literature
- books about South America + South American history
- more anthropology
- more travel