If, for example, you put to sea on a wooden raft with a parrot and five companions, it is inevitable that sooner or later you will wake up one morning out at sea, perhaps a little better rested than ordinarily, and begin to think about it...
Could anyone, after reading that introduction to a book, put it down?
Well, I certainly couldn't when, in the 5th grade of Glennon Heights Elementary School in south Denver, I first came across Thor Heyerdahl's epic Kon-Tiki. And indeed, this true story of adventurers who make and board an ancient balsa wood raft and sail across thousands of miles of the Pacific Ocean to prove the legitimacy of a ethnological theory, still captivates and inspires me. I've re-read Kon-Tiki probably 6 or 8 times in my life and last night I started the adventure all over again.
Have you ever taken this thrilling raft ride? By all means, don't miss it.
(My last reading of Kon-Tiki elicited this post on The Book Den which you might find of interest and an amazing piece of trivia about the original manuscript of Kon-Tiki is here in this post.)
