Last Chance to See
by Douglas Adams, Mark Carwardine

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Book Reviews of Last Chance to See

Book Review: The Vogons aren't going to destroy this one...
Summary: 5 Stars

"This isn't at all what I expected," to borrow the opening line of Last Chance to See. The potential for a highly serious novel, preaching at the reader to `save the earth', is quelled by Douglas Adams' enormous skill for satire. In his lifetime, Adams had a long history of support for the wildlife cause, although he was better known for his unorthodox humour. In this novel Adams succeeds in finding comedy in the most unlikely situations: While preparing to enter a snake-infested island in search of komodo dragons, while unexpectedly coming face-to-face with a two-metre high Silverback Gorilla, and while attempting to mime the word `condom' to puzzled Chinese shopkeepers.

Last Chance to See is witty and well-crafted. Adams shows, rather than tells, the native attitudes and challenges for these animals. The trip to Zaire to see one of the 22 remaining northern white rhinos is introduced with the shocking image of leopard skin, made into a "rather natty" pill-box hat adorning the country's president in an airport photo. Amusing and disconcerting descriptions of bureaucratic extortion efforts and ask-questions-later poaching patrols follow.

The vivid and powerful descriptions of scenery add to the poignancy of the writing since many of the species disappearing are losing habitat. Adams writes of Fiordland, New Zealand, "The land is folded and twisted and broken on such a scale that it makes your brain quiver and sing in your skull just trying to comprehend what you're looking at." The quest of this journey is the kakapo, a fat, flightless bird with strange mating habits that involve acoustically controlled booming. In this case, their search was limited by the government's reluctance to allow anyone access to the few remaining and protected birds.

In addition, Adams and Carwardine also pursued a glimpse of a baiji river dolphin in China, and many endangered birds, along with Rodrigues fruit bats in Mauritius. The writing deftly recreates some of the rather eccentric characters they encountered along the way, some of whom are included in the colour-photo inserts. As a travel book, Last Chance to See provides a glimpse at the primitive nature of travel into the `third world.' Rather than promote the places mentioned, Adams introduces a reason for escaping the commercial tourism arena very early in the novel. Kuta Beach in Bali is described as "lined with gift shops and hamburger bars and populated with crowds of drunken, shouting [Australian] tourists, kamikaze motorcyclists, counterfeit watch sellers and small dogs"(pg.15).

This novel is hardly a piece of promotional literature for Bali or even Africa and China. Each place's degradation is presented as a product of mass tourism, namely endangering the already endangered animal species. Adams does point out, in his ironical style, that funding in such countries is only obtained through the lure of the `tourist dollar'. Bureaucratic governments see environmental protection as a waste unless tourism dollars can be earned in exchange for `bumping up' the local wildlife population. China is largely exempted from these bureaucratic measures - 2001 reports state that only 5 Baiji dolphins remain in the Yangzte River - another Adams irony come to fruition perhaps?

In contrast to this, Mauritius, Komodo (Indonesia) and New Zealand are seen as the last bastion of untouched beauty. "The only roads that approach the Fiordland National Park [New Zealand] peter out quickly in the foothills, and most tourists only ever explore the fringe scenery...very, very few experienced campers try to get anywhere near the heart of it" (pg.100). Yet, it is these places that are presented as having the most prolific amount of endangered species (an irony in itself?). Komodo, Mauritius and Fjiordland are all presented as remote and difficult to reach by commercial methods, and yet endangered species still continue on their journey to extinction.

Last Chance to See brilliantly brings the environmental situation to the readers, evoking gasps, laughter and tears. Although it was written over a decade ago, this work doesn't feel outdated. It is unfortunate that Adams' relatively recent death preceded another series of journeys. Mark Carwardine's final chapter evokes a sense of unfinished business. Although his writing tries to bring optimism to a desperate situation, the reader is left with a feeling of hopelessness. The enormity of the `endangered' list, and the small number of people dedicated to the `cause' are desperately unbalanced.

Adams presents some brilliantly humorous insights into the absurdity of human nature. It is this that brings the reader to a rapid conclusion. This is the last chance to see. The inevitability of extinction for the animals visited on Adams and Cawardine's journey is felt with sadness - yet it is accepted as a given. Adams' somewhat Darwinian approach to `the wild' is rapidly picked up by the reader until, by the final chapter, Cawardine's attempt at optimism is almost dismissed.

Summary of Last Chance to See

Ecology Books

• Books > Subjects > Science & Math > Biological Sciences
• Nature & Ecology > Animal Rights
• Natural Resources
• Reference
• Endangered Species