Kon-Tiki By Thor Heyerdahl

The years haven't been kind to Thor Heyerdahl's thesis that Polynesia was first colonized by people from South America. Genetic, linguistic, and other lines of evidence suggest that the old, common sense assumption is true: the earliest human inhabitants of these islands migrated from Asia.

To his dying day, Heyerdahl refused to acknowledge any of the emerging evidence that contradicted his theory. It was a classic example of belief perseverance, and a cautionary tale about the dangers of becoming too attached to your own theories.

Nevertheless, I'd argue that Heyerdahl did make an important contribution. The knee jerk objection to his theory was that Polynesia is much closer to Asia than South America, and that ancient South Americans never developed nautical technology sufficient to traverse that vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. Heyerdahl proved not only that they could have done it, but that they could have done it rather easily.

He proved it by the most practical and definitive means possible. He built a balsa wood raft bound together with vines, on the model of vessels ancient Peruvians are known to have possessed. Then he sailed this craft, the famous Kon Tiki, from Peru to the Tuamotus Archipelago of Polynesia.

The voyage took 101 days. The Humbolt current carried them most of the way. There was no danger of starvation: fish literally leap up from the water to the deck to be harvested. Heyerdahl’s theory might have been wrong. But the most common objection to it was clearly wrong too.

Moreover, why did it have to be one or the other? Maybe ancient South Americans as well as Asians crossed the Pacific. Given the demonstrable ease with which they could have, it seems probable that occasionally they did—if only by accident, driven off course by storms and caught in the westward- flowing ocean currents. Even if native Polynesians are overwhelmingly of Asian descent, it doesn’t follow that they must be entirely of Asian descent. It’s possible that ancient South American explorers did leave a faint genetic and cultural mark on Polynesia. Heyerdahl’s theory might yet contain elements of truth.

Whatever the case, Kon Tiki is a thrilling story of true adventure. Thor Heyerdahl’s willingness to challenge conventional opinion no less than brave the hazards of the open Pacific makes for a most inspiring protagonist. Everyone with the slightest interest in anthropology or exploration should read this wonderful book. 240 9 out of 10

Kon-Tiki is a book about six men going on an expedition on a balsa raft from Peru to the Polynesian Islands. The author is a man named Thor Heyerdahl. Thor was interested in Polynesian culture. He had a theory that it was possible to sail from Peru to the Polynesian Islands on a balsa raft without sinking. He gathered five other men for his crew and started the complicated process of actually building the balsa raft.



SPOILERS


I’m not sure why I started reading this book. I had it on my shelves and I picked it up, looked at the cover, and decided that I wanted to read it. I’m glad that I read it. I learned a lot about Polynesian culture and a lot of sea terminology. This book was a little intimidating to read, because of the prose, and the constant discussion of different cultures, but it was explained very simply, and added to the experience. The description of sailing on this raft, despite all of its hardships, made me want to go out and experience something of the sort myself.

Overall, this was a thoroughly entertaining adventure book with wonderful, immersive descriptions of nature. I wasn’t a huge fan of some disturbing elements of this book (like the head-shrinking scenes (you’ll know if you've read this book)) but learning about these cultures was very interesting. Some things seem grotesque to us but are normal for many cultures around the world. But overall, I had a really good time reading this book, I’d definitely recommend it. This book has the best descriptions of an ocean voyage I’ve ever seen.

240 This was one of my boyhood books that inspired me to be adventurous, to think the unthinkable, to push beyond the usual. 240 Read this one a long long time ago. Heyerdahl was hero then. I wanted to go to the islands, too.
Subsequently revised my perception of Thor credibility, but remained interested in ancient sea travel.
***
Fascinated by earliest watercraft. Believe they were much more useful to earliest humans than taught in schools, as Sapiens explored and settled the world. Here's link about 'rafts.'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Col...
quoting Wiki - The antiquity of the use of sea-going rafts by the people of the Ecuadorian and Peruvian coasts has not been established as ancient balsa wood rafts have left few archaeological traces, but it appears that a maritime trading system from southern Colombia to northern Chile was established by about 100 BCE.
The sudden adoption of metallurgy in the civilizations of Mexico about 800 CE has led archaeologists to conclude that the technology was introduced, most likely by sea-going rafts, from the Ecuadorian coast of South America where metallurgy had been practiced for hundreds of years. Later advances in metallurgy in Mexico after 1200 CE resembled the metallurgy of the Chincha in Peru.
***
Tried Heyerdahl's Early Man and the Ocean. Quite disappointed by his beliefs. Four stars seems generous now for Kon-Tiki.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_He...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... 240 A crazy man with a migration theory tries to convince his Scandinavian buddies to float across the Pacific with him on a balsa wood raft in order to give credence to the theory. As they value adventure more than their lives, they are persuaded to join.

Follow his trail from the conception of the theory to the felling of the balsa wood trees, and from the launching of the craft to its disastrous landing on a fragile South Pacific island.

This is the story of Thor Heyerdahl's original voyage. He would later go on to write a large tome about his ideas (probably not available at you local library) and build and test several other primitive watercraft to prove that people could have gone from here to there in vessels you would probably trust less than a rubber raft. 240

Kon-Tiki

Is there a greater classic among adventure books than the reckless Thor Heyerdahl’s story about a 104 day long raft ride through the Pacific in 1947? It is just as crazy as it is heroic and makes your jaw drop everytime. The 6 men fighting the elements on a hand-made balsa wood vesel are at the mercy of the acient Gods of South America and the Pacific. Encounters with wonderful Verne-like creatures of the sea bring the Pacific to life. Squids and giant sharks are right under your feet, fish and octopus fly into your face daily. You just have to put your toothbrush in the water and a fish bites on it vehemently. Myths accompany the Scandinavian crew all the way, it’s an uplifting tale of a pursuit of dreams. Mandatory for armchair explorers. I am prepared to fight everyone who says it’s a children’s book.

http://mukikamu.wordpress.com 240 From memory: 4Stars - I really liked it

As an early teenager, I attended a small boarding school (actually a junior seminary😇) where we suffered enforced silence during meals for most days of the week. During these meals, students, on rotation, would read aloud from a 'sacred' book, most often the Lives of the Saints🙄, or the like, or a 'suitable' novel. I remember very clearly that I was fascinated by and very much enjoyed Kon-Tiki. I won't listen to it or read it again, because it has a special place in my memory, but what a great story and a very suitable novel it was! 240 We had a power outage with a winter storm the other day so I looked around my bookshelves and came across a book I was fascinated with many years ago and decided to read it again. The book is Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl. The hardcover book I have was published in 1950. It was given to me by my mother for my birthday in 1950. I read this book at least twice a year in the fifties and sixties, but somehow it got put aside. This book is one of the key items that helped me decide on a career in the sciences with secondary interest in archaeology and anthropology. Of course, early on I studied primarily marine sciences and biology.

The book is well written with lots of photographs. The voyage of the Kon-Tiki took place in 1947. The part I liked best was the descriptions of the sea life that came around the raft. This time I was more intrigued with how the raft functioned and how the ancient people of Peru came about to design it in a certain way and why they chose the certain woods they used. Many times, after reading a book that I had enjoyed, I no longer like it and wonder what I saw in it. But that is not the case with this book. I was as fascinated with my current reading as I was back in the 1950s. I did note that they saw no garbage and no plastics floating in the water. Today that is a big problem when sailing the oceans. If you are looking for a different adventure, give this book a try.

I read this as a hardcover book that is 308 pages. Published in 1950 by Rand McNally & Company.
240 Every Norwegian family we knew had a copy of this book on their shelves. I read it with much familial encouragement at an early age, mostly as a travel adventure, which it is, and not so much with any regard for the scientific hypothesis the author was testing. Aku-Aku followed soon thereafter.

In 1978, in the summer following seminary graduation, I was invited by mother to visit her in Oslo before moving from New York City back to Chicago. It was a great trip filled with many memorable events. One of them was revisiting the Kon-Tiki Museum there which I hadn't seen since the last time in Oslo at age ten. In the parking lot who should be standing there but Thor Heyerdahl himself? Although he was talking to another man, Mother interrupted them as if she knew him to introduce me to the great man as her son. Polite nothings were exchanged. He was very, very tall.
Did she know him? It's a small country.

Mom did know the former prime minister, Gro Harlam Brundtland, and once, walking down Karljohan, Oslo' main drag, with her boyfriend, she recognized, but couldn't exactly place, the portly gentleman walking his dogs in front of them--someone from Chicago, she thought. Anyway, she broke away from Egil, the boyfriend, and darted up to the old fellow, saying she recognized him, but, sadly, couldn't remember his name. Perhaps, Madam, it is because I am your king, Kong Olav replied.
240 WOW!!! This book was recommended to me back in the 1950s by my favorite teacher, Mr. Bailey, who ttaught 8th grade in Paso Robles, CA. I remember going to the Paso Robles library and handling the book back then, but never reading it until now. It took me this long to become interested in seafaring stories. My first one was The Wreck of the Mary Deare, which made me realize that books about the sea can be very entertaining. This book tops all. 240

Kon-Tiki is the record of an astonishing adventure - a journey of 4,300 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean by raft. Intrigued by Polynesian folklore, biologist Thor Heyerdahl suspected that the South Sea Islands had been settled by an ancient race from thousands of miles to the east, led by a mythical hero, Kon-Tiki. He decided to prove his theory by duplicating the legendary voyage.

On April 28, 1947, Heyerdahl and five other adventurers sailed from Peru on a balsa log raft. After three months on the open sea, encountering raging storms, whales, and sharks, they sighted land - the Polynesian island of Puka Puka.

Translated into over sixty languages, Kon-Tiki is a classic, inspiring tale of daring and courage - a magnificent saga of men against the sea. Kon-Tiki

Thor Heyerdahl Ô 3 review