Last Chance to See

Some of you might be forgiven for believing that The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was the pinnacle of writing by Douglas Adams.  That, however, may only be because you have not yet read Last Chance to See.  This book, in my humble opinion, is the book that Adams was born to write.  The Hitchiker-series was but merely a warm-up exercise.  Don't get me wrong though - it was a brilliant exercise nonetheless!    

In Last Chance to See, Douglas Adams went traipsing around the world with Mark Carwardine to go and visit some animals on the verge of extinction, such as the kakapo in New Zealand (LOVE the name of that bird!), the lemurs in Madagascar (would looooove to go and visit them!!!), the komodo dragons in Indonesia (GULP!) and numerous other weird and wonderful creatures.

Although the book was orginally published in 1990, it has just been rereleased with an additional foreword by Richard Dawkins.  Even though it might be somewhat dated, this book is amazingly well-written.  This is Adams the literary genius stepping to the fore and exposing his prolific talent for all to see!

An updated version of the book, written by Stephen Fry & Mark Carwardine was released towards the end of last year.  I still have to read this though and will give feedback to you later on the new book.  In the updated book, Stephen and Mark retraced Douglas & Mark's steps from the previous book and have a look-see how these animals have coped in the mean time.

Aside from the wonders he achieved in sci-fi writing, Douglas Adams was one of the first celebrities to draw attention to the plight of animals being brought to extinction by humanity.  He was a true environmentalist, in terms of loving the planet and the animals in it, before it became fashionable to do so.

Should you wish to make your reading of the book more meaningful, please feel free to make donations - either monetary or time-wise to the agencies mentioned at the back of the book.  Please also make your contribution to the planet by making other people aware of the plight of the animals and plants.

Aside from reading it yourself, this is the kind of book that will make a change in the life of anyone who reads it, so please feel free to hand it out as presents.  (See, I just saved you 5 minutes of pondering about birthday & xmas presents!)

Read & Enjoy!