This book relates the adventures of Kenneth Read, a young anthropologist who set off to do field work in the highlands of Eastern New Guinea. During the Second World War, Read had spent ten months living in the highlands as a member of the Australian armed forces, observing the reactions of the local people to the Japanese occupation. He found this experience both rewarding and enjoyable, and in 1950 when he became a research fellow at the Australian National University, he was eager to take an advantage of an opportunity to return to the area for field research. This second expedition, however, turned out to be much more challenging for Read, both socially and physically.
Read was invited to a village named Susuroka by a man named Makis, a member of a Gahuku tribe. Over the next two years, Makis would be Read's informant and friend in the village. During this time, Read observed the relations between people in the village, between the men and women, and between the adults and children. He was present at the ritual initiation of his houseboy, Asemo, and at the arranged marriage of a female friend named Tarova. He also became embroiled in a civil suit in the village centering on one of the town characters, Goluwaizo. The Gahuku were an aggressive people whose society was based on strength and power. As an outsider, Read felt continually vulnerable. Raised in the West, he had trouble coming to terms with this aggressive, unforgiving culture. He reacted by trying to make sense of the people and their motivations through psychological analysis. In the end, poor diet and stress led Read to develop bleeding ulcers, which necessitated his evacuation from the village. This is not a strictly formal ethnography, but a very personal record of the people who colored Read's stay. Nevertheless, the book is filled with ethnographical details that will inform students interested in the cultures of highland Papua New Guinea.
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