Free Downloads Atlas Of Cursed Places: A Travel Guide To Dangerous And Frightful Destinations
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLEROliver Le Carrer brings us a fascinating history and armchair journey to the world's most dangerous and frightful places, complete with vintage maps and period illustrations in a handsome volume. This alluring read includes 40 locations that are rife with disaster, chaos, paranormal activity, and death. The locations gathered here include the dangerous Strait of Messina, home of the mythical sea monsters Scylla and Charybdis; the coal town of Jharia, where the ground burns constantly with fire; Kasanka National Park in Zambia, where 8 million migrating bats darken the skies; the Nevada Triangle in the Sierra Nevada mountains, where hundreds of aircraft have disappeared; and Aokigahara Forest near Mount Fuji in Japan, the world's second most popular suicide location following the Golden Gate Bridge.
Hardcover: 144 pages
Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal (October 6, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1631910000
ISBN-13: 978-1631910005
Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 1 x 10.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #54,743 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #22 in Books > Reference > Encyclopedias & Subject Guides > Mythology & Folklore #30 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Occult & Paranormal > Ghosts & Hauntings #31 in Books > Reference > Encyclopedias & Subject Guides > History
Hard to resist a title like that, right? But there are two problems right off the bat, no future pun intended. The first is the writing style, which is overwrought and often more decorative than descriptive, like someone trying to impress with their vocabulary. The other problem is with the title. How does one define “cursed?” If it’s meant to be literal—which is silly in itself—a lot of these entries lack a legend, someone’s death for example, to show why they’re cursed. If it’s meant metaphorically, then there must be millions of similar places in the world; why these? For instance, one of the entries is a place in Africa with tons of bats. . . this is cursed how? And what makes it more special than the similar place in Austin Texas, or Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, or Thailand? And that’s just the ones I know about. Some of these places are intriguing in that I’ve never heard of them, yet still have only tenuous links to the topic. Princess Joanna did not wed as a child; seems like the stories are merely repeated and not researched. On the plus side, I did learn a new word I wish I hadn’t: tophet. A lot of these supposedly cursed places are simply manmade environmental disasters: the slums of Nairobi, the islands of trash in the Maldives, the coal mines of India. Listed is a graveyard of old Soviet nuclear subs that’s stated to have 20 times the radioactive power of Chernobyl, but it doesn’t mention the spots in the old Soviet Union that are even worse. If you’re gonna say a part of Australia is cursed because it has crocodiles, then why not Florida and Louisiana and everywhere in between, as well as South America? Pirates, really?
Atlas of Cursed Places: A Travel Guide to Dangerous and Frightful Destinations by Olivier Le Carrer is a compelling, engaging volume that shares the history and insight into 40 different cursed locations across the world.Le Carrer points out in the introduction that not all places are cursed in the same way. Obviously, the first meaning is close to the original meaning of the word and based on the mystical, paranormal, or supernatural. The second group of cursed places is based on natural reasons that make the area blighted and present a danger. The third category consists of places that have been rendered inhabitable by human activity. All of the 40 cursed places discussed are organized into 8 different regions. This attractive and entertaining atlas includes vintage maps and illustrations.Much to my surprise and chagrin, one of the cursed places is relatively near where I currently live and is reputed to be the gateway to hell.
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