ไม่อินกับ The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ของอดัม แต่ยอมรับว่าเล่มนี้สนุกมาก แม้ว่าจะเขียนมาแล้วกว่าห้าทศวรรษ

อดัมเล่าเรื่องราวการเดินทางได้มีสีสันมาก ธีมที่สนุกและเข้าถึงง่ายกลายเป็นการตามหาชนิดพันธุ์หายากบนโลก ตั้งแต่มังกรโคโมโด นกคาคาโพส โลมาแยงซี ฯลฯ เฉพาะการเดินทางในประเทศโลกที่สามก็บันเทิงมากๆ

แนะนำครับ สำหรับคนอยากหาอะไรอ่านเพลินๆ

This book I have had for years - I picked it up not really knowing much about it as I was collecting his works after reading the hitchhikers guide. All I really knew about it was that it was a natural history exploration which sadly Douglas Adams died before completing. All that saw release was the book. I will be reviewing the book that Stephen Fry was involved with later - so much as to say that years later the project was resurrected and completed with great success, so much so that even after the release of the book further TV programs were made.
As a result I came back and read this book and was greatly surprised - it contains all the wit and word play you would expect with Douglas Adams and yet it carries all the weight and knowledge of such an important subject - the slow and silent decline of the diversity of animal species in the world and our blind ignorance of their plight. Sadly the contents of the book are as important and relevant today was they were when the book was first written.

Ein ungewöhnlicher Reisebericht, von einem Autoren, der eigentlich für seine humorvollen Sci-Fi Romane bekannt ist.

Trotz der sehr lustigen Erzählweise, ist der Bericht an vielen Stellen sehr nachdenklich und hat mich regelmäßig Tiernamen, geografische Orte und anderes in die Suchmaschine eingeben lassen, um mehr über die verschiedenen Gegenstände der Reise zu erfahren.

Die Thematik des durch den menschen verursachten Aussterbens ist zwar aktuell wie nie, aber dennoch merkt man an vielen Stellen, dass die Reise und der Bericht darüber von Douglas Adams und dem Biologen Mark Carvadine bereits an die 35 Jahre zurückliegt.

Ein etwas anderes Buch, zu einem immer noch relevanten Thema, auf das man immer wieder aufmerksam machen sollte und das nicht an Aktualität verliert. Und wenn es nur dadurch weiterhin Aufmerksamkeit bekommt, dass es von einem berühmte, unterhaltsamen Sci-Fi Autoren erlebt und geschrieben wurde - warum nicht?!

Die besten und eingängisten Worte hat für mich jedoch Mark Carwardine in seinen abschließenden Worten gefunden, die seine Liebe zur Natur- und Tierwelt ausdrücken, die wir Menschen immer mehr bedrohen und zerstören.

Yes, I do have to admit that because two of the critically endangered animals species featured in Douglas Adams' 1990 Last Chance to See are now definitely or at least very likely extinct in the wild (the Yangtze River Dolphin and the Northern White Rhinoceros), I knew right from the onset that reading Last Chance to See would more than likely be majorly depressing and infuriating (but that I was of course more than willing to put up with this and that yes indeed, for certain species, such as for example the Kakapo, things are actually and happily now looking up a bit conservation and protection wise).

However, as much as I have indeed found Last Chance to See an important and educational read (and I definitely do very much appreciate and loudly applaud how vehemently Douglas Adams and absolutely with total justification rants against not just poachers but also against the vile and brainless individuals who buy, who use things furnished from rhinoceros horn etc., as it is of course they as demanding consumers who truly enable poaching and keep it flourishing and prosperous), I also have to admit that I was actually expecting a bit more science and a bit less of an admittedly often quite satirical and humorous travelogue with Last Chance to See. In other words I would definitely have preferred more hard-core academic information about the featured animal species, about science and ecosystems and less detail (and in fact much less detail) on how Douglas Adams and David Carwardine were travelling, what their accommodations looked like, how locals and tourists behaved and so on and so on. For honestly, during Last Chance to See I often did feel as though I was constantly needing to weed through Douglas Adams' chatty and witty travel impressions in order to get to the nitty gritty textual meat so to speak, in oder to obtain the animal species, the ecosystem, the scientific information I wanted, I needed (and yes, that I somewhat in error, it seems, had thought would be the main focus of Last Chance to See). And therefore, while I have certainly in no way regretted perusing Last Chance to See, I do have to admit that personally, I have found Douglas Adams' writing style and that he focusses so much on making funny and snarky asides a bit frustratingly taxing and definitely would have enjoyed Last Chance to See considerably more had there been more of a distinct focus on science and zoology.