Kon-Tiki

When I was growing up there was a copy of Thor Heyerdahl's account of drifting across the Pacific on a balsa raft in my parents' bookshelf.  I must've read it ten times.

For some reason, a couple weeks ago I remembered this, and started googling.  Found a 1950 movie of the real (reel?) footage online (still photo above), and watched it.  Found a 2012 movie that dramatized the trip, fairly accurately.  Found a coffee table book "The Kon-Tiki Man" which is a companion to a multi-part BBC television special, which I have NOT found.

Still a remarkable story, and a remarkable man.

Heyerdahl was a shockingly good writer.

The hardback edition of “Kon-Tiki” I bought for cheap online is a first edition eighth printing, dated February 1951. Three years before I was born.

And yet, apparently it’s never been read. The pages are rough-cut from larger sheaves, and so far three of them missed the blades and were still one piece of paper across two pages. I’ve had to cut them open to read the book.

Cool.

I haven't read Kon-Tiki, but I did read The Brendan Voyage. Actually inspired by Kon-Tiki, I think, a group decided to build and sail a reed boat from Ireland to North America. There is a story, long considered a legend, that Saint Brendan and some monks actually did this. The story has a lot of elements that seem to resemble real things they might have encountered, so it seemed like a worthwhile effort.

Also an interesting read.