Thor Heyerdahl's Epic Adventure to Polynesia Aboard the Kon-Tiki Raft

Amazon Customer: Really enjoyed this book. He writes very descriptive so that you feel you are there on the journey.

United States on Nov 24, 2023

Amazon Customer: print too small

Canada on Oct 15, 2023

German Delacruz: I’m glad that I discovered this book by accident. I read this book a few years back when I was in high school and it was unlike any other adventure book I have read since then. Every high school student should read this book because it encourages young people to make their own adventures and take necessary risks.

United States on Aug 29, 2023

John Barry: As requested. Satisfied !

Canada on Apr 29, 2023

LA in Dallas: The biggest obstacle to the adoption of the most radical new scientific ideas is that they just seem crazy. Darwinian evolution, Quantum mechanics, Einsteinian relativity, the Big Bang, Continental drift, the endosymbiotic theory (this is the idea that the organelles in our cells were once bacteria) all faced this obstacle. All of those have been shown beyond any reasonable doubt to be true. Thor Heyerdahl had a crazy idea, that the South Pacific islands were settled by voyagers from South America. No one believed this, and it is pretty clear now that he was mostly or entirely wrong. However, the main objection back in the day was that it was not possible to cross 8000 km of ocean in a small open boat of the kind that the people of Peru built.

Heyerdahl proved this objection wrong in the most direct way possible. He built a balsa raft modeled as closely as possible on those the indigenous people of Peru used to build and sailed 8000 km across the Pacific Ocean from Peru to the Angatau atoll. Kon-Tiki: Across The Pacific By Raft describes the construction of the raft and the voyage. I read this not long after I began high school -- I'm guessing 1969. I loved it. It was a...

United States on Mar 26, 2023

Kindle Customer: "it was as though the fresh salt tang in the air, all the blue purity that surrounded us, has washed and cleansed both body and soul. To us on the raft, the great problems of civilized man appeared false and illusory- like perverted products of the human mind. Only the elements mattered. And the elements seem to ignore the little raft. Or perhaps they accepted it as a natural object, which did not break the harmony of the sea but adapted itself to current and sea like bird and fish. Instead of being a fearsome enemy, flinging itself at us, the elements have become a reliable friend which steadily and surely helped us onward. While wind and waves pushed and propelled, the ocean current lay under us and pulled, straight toward our goal.”

The passage is from ‘Kon Tiki- Across the Pacific by Raft’, a journal on the epic voyage on a wood raft across the deep and desolate ocean in 1947. In their attempt to prove a theory that Pacific Islands of Polynesia were first colonised by forgotten seafarers from South America, six hardy Scandinavian men led by Thor Heyerdahl, starting from Lima, Peru, rode a million ocean swells across the unchartered waters of Pacific only to crash...

United States on Jul 03, 2022

Amazon Customer: This is a real adventure which I read as a schoolboy over 50 years ago and again in 2017 when covering the area on a more comfortable cruise . We set off from the same port Callo in Peru and sailed to New Zealand via the beautiful Polynesian Islands of Easter Island ,Tahiti and Bora Bora. . The bravery of these men was brought home , but more importantly for the reader,it is brilliantly written and keeps the reader on the edge. The adventure on a balsa wood raft was a scientific experiment to see if it was was possible that people sailed from South America to the polynesian islands. The men did not have any experience of sailing and were warned of the dangers they would encounter,not to mention the limitation of the craft . They showed what could be achieved and that some of the problems of the construction did not turn out to be so. A great read.

United Kingdom on Jul 03, 2017

wezg: I’ve been to Polynesia, and stood out on a deserted beach, staring out at the vastness of the Pacific, it is only natural to imagine how these people first arrived in such a remote location. Thor Heyerdahl, in living memory, in one of the greatest sea voyages of all time, also wondered this, and set in motion a fabulous journey to emulate the ancestors of the modern day Polynesians, by sailing on a traditional pae-pae or raft from his theorized seeding point of the race in Peru. Kon-Tiki was a pre-Incan King who escaping from battle defeat on mainland South America, headed off into the Pacific Ocean sunset, seeking new lands. Thor and his five Scandic compadres repeated this adventure, having thoroughly researched every detail of it. Their voyage was viewed by most experts as a complete suicide mission. This book narrates wonderfully the ship’s log, as they trundled along the empty oceans on a unique epic of discovery. From the sea creatures they encountered en route, to the sparseness of their abode, Heyerdahl records in graphic detail every aspect of their plight. It is a truly enlightening tale, which reads exceptionally well. It is a real page-turner, which grips you as...

United Kingdom on Jun 23, 2015

Iain: I loved this book. A real story, wonderfully written and the antithesis of our "reality TV" world. Recalling my balsa wood models of this raft made at school, I had to see the film when it arrived here, and afterwards the book. The temptation to compare the two is strong, but I'll concentrate on the book. Heyerdahl made observations of the natural world and it's human inhabitants in the South Sea Islands and came to a conclusion regarding their origins. No-one among the accepted authorities of the time believed him. It was a matter of principle and he set out to prove it, resting on a theory. The book reveals the preparations taken, the huge difficulties he and his crew had to overcome just to get the logs to the shore, and the exceptional journey which followed.

The style remains stoically factual and innocent, uncluttered with petty thoughts and personal issues. He set out to document what happened, as did his colleagues with their notes and diaries, photos and film. They carried out some scientific research and tested equipment, using their time as usefully as possible. The attention to detail is balanced with overview and anecdote. The text remains lively and involves...

United Kingdom on Jul 04, 2013

Roger Carrier: I made some Mormons angry over my reviews of books that defend the Book of Mormon, and they have been slamming my reviews. Your "helpful" votes are appreciated. Thanks

On Kon-Tiki: I absolutely got lost in this magnificent adventure. Nevertheless, Heyerdahl's theory that civilization was spread around the world by some lost white race is simply bogus racism. Still, I enjoyed all his books, including "The Ra Expeditions," and "Aku-Aku."

It is sad to think that Heyerdahl's career as a fearless adventurer is marred by his zealous devotion to a dated idea. Yes, Peruvian Indians could have crossed the Pacific, but it is more likely that contact came from the other way. At any rate, Heyerdahl manufactured the archaeological evidence he found on Easter Island.

In the July 2002 issue of the "Smithsonian Magazine," Richard Conniff demonstrated that Heyerdahl actually paid the natives to make reed-boats relics (Kon Artist?" was the title). "A good story," said Conniff, "can be so compelling that teller and subject become entrapped together in its charms...." (p. 28). This astute observation could apply to novels claimed to be actual history, and anyone interested in the...

United States on May 25, 2007