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From the depths of Mexico’s Copper Canyon to the heights of theLeadville Trail 100 ultramarathon in Colorado, from thecenturies-old running techniques of Mexico’s Tarahumara tribe to aresearch lab at the University of Utah, author McDougallcelebrates, in this engaging and picaresque account, humankind’sinnate love of running. There are rogues aplenty here, such thedeadly narco-traffickers who roam Copper Canyon, but there are manymore who inspire, such as the Tarahumara runners, who show the restof the world the false limitations we place on human endurance.McDougall has served as an Associated Press war correspondent, is acontributing editor to Men’s Health, and runs at his home in ruralPennsylvania, and he brings all of these experiences to bear inthis slyly important, highly readable account.
内容简介
An epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt?
Isolated by Mexico's deadly Copper Canyons, the blissful Tarahumara Indians have honed the ability to run hundreds of miles without rest or injury. In a riveting narrative, award-winning journalist and often-injured runner Christopher McDougall sets out to discover their secrets. In the process, he takes his readers from science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultra-runners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to a climactic race in the Copper Canyons that pits America’s best ultra-runners against the tribe. McDougall’s incredible story will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that you, indeed all of us, were born to run. 作者简介
Christopher McDougall is a former war correspondent for the Associated Press and is now a contributing editor for Men’s Health. A three-time National Magazine Award finalist, he has written for Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, Outside, Men’s Journal, and New York. He does his own running among the Amish farms around his home in rural Pennsylvania. 精彩书评
"A journalist's adventures in a secluded Mexican community of the best endurance athletes in the world. On an unrelated assignment, Men's Health contributing editor McDougall (Girl Trouble: The True Saga of Superstar Gloria Trevi, Her Svengali, and the Secret Teenage Sex Cult that Stunned the World, 2004) uncovered the legend of the Tarahumara Indians, a tribe of astonishingly fit runners concealed deep within the Copper Canyons of Mexico. Determined to learn their secrets, McDougall braved uncharted territory and encounters with lethal drug-smugglers in search of Caballo Blanco, one of the only outsiders to befriend the bashful natives. The colorful Caballo recounts an enthralling story involving the arduous Leadville ultra marathon and Rick Fisher, a greedy, hotheaded opportunist who bribed the Tarahumara out of hiding to compete. The exploited tribesmen participated in the grueling event three times before they disappeared back to their villages for good. An inspired Caballo followed the Tarahumara back to Mexico, where he ran the local trails and lived peacefully in isolation. His dream was to draw the top American contenders to this remote locale to lock horns with the clan in the ultimate endurance exhibition, and he wanted McDougall's help to make it happen. The author returned to the Copper Canyons with a handful of prominent distance champions, including Scott Jurek and Jenn Shelton, and the story culminates in a final 50-mile showdown. McDougall's background as a magazine writer is readily apparent-his prose is light and airy, informative without being pretentious. Most passages are short and engaging with extra doses of drama and exclamatory phrases thrown in to great effect.McDougall wisely grounds the narrative in his own struggle to engage in the concluding race-he was frustrated with his tendency to get injured-and he offers insightful sidebars on a variety of topics, from the development of the modern running shoe to an evolutionary argument that humans are literally "born to run."A terrific ride, recommended for any athlete. First printing of 75,000. Author tour to Boston, Boulder, Colo., Denver, New York, Portland, Ore., Salt Lake City, San Francisco."
--Kirkus Reviews
荒野低语:一窥人类迁徙的史诗与自然之声 书名: 荒野低语:一窥人类迁徙的史诗与自然之声 (暂定名) 作者: 阿瑞安娜·维拉 (化名) 页数: 约 550 页 出版社: 远方行者出版社 --- 内容简介: 《荒野低语》并非一本关于极限运动的指南,也不是一部聚焦于当代跑步文化的论著。它是一部深入人类文明根源的史诗性探索,追溯的是我们祖先在地球上留下的、最原始的“移动”方式——行走、奔跑、迁徙,以及这些行为如何塑造了我们的生理结构、社会形态乃至精神内核。 本书的作者阿瑞安娜·维拉,一位经验丰富的文化人类学家兼野外生存专家,花费了近二十年的时间,足迹遍布五大洲的偏远角落。她深入考察了那些仍旧依赖双足力量完成长途跋涉的古老部落,记录了他们世代相传的路线、知识体系以及与环境之间近乎神谕般的联系。 第一部:回响在骨骼中的节奏——生理学的原点 本书的开篇,维拉将读者的思绪拉回到数百万年前,探讨人类从四足行走转向两足直立的革命性意义。这不是简单的姿势改变,而是一场生态适应的全面升级。作者结合最新的古人类学发现和生物力学分析,细致描绘了人类足弓的形成、跟腱的进化以及呼吸系统的优化过程——所有这些,都是为了一个目的:耐力。 维拉强调,我们的身体并非为爆发性的冲刺而设计,而是为了持续不断的、高效的长距离移动。她详细分析了人类独特的“散热系统”——汗腺的广泛分布,使得我们在赤道烈日下能够比任何其他哺乳动物跑得更久而不至于过热。这种对“热力学效率”的追求,是人类得以走出非洲、占领全球的关键。 书中穿插了对当代人类足部健康、姿势力学等议题的批判性审视,质疑了现代鞋类对我们固有移动能力的束缚,并邀请读者重新感受赤脚与大地接触时,神经末梢传来的、被现代文明过滤掉的丰富信息流。 第二部:大地上的地图——迁徙的文化密码 人类的历史,就是一部迁徙的历史。《荒野低语》的第二部分,将目光投向了那些被历史书遗忘的“移动者”——游牧民族、狩猎采集者,以及那些为了生存而不得不跨越山脉、穿越沙漠的族群。 维拉将她对撒哈拉沙漠图阿雷格人、西伯利亚冻土带的涅涅茨人、以及南美洲安第斯山脉古老印加信使(Chasqui)系统的田野调查成果进行了详尽的呈现。她发现,在这些文化中,“奔跑”或“行走”绝不仅仅是到达目的地的手段,它们本身就是一种语言,一种信仰的表达,一种社会契约的维护方式。 例如,书中详尽描述了如何通过观察天空、植被的细微变化、甚至是动物的粪便气味来构建“活地图”——这种知识的传递,完全依赖于身体的亲身参与和经验的累积,无法被简单的书面记录所替代。她探讨了“路途的意义”:在许多古老文化中,对某条路线的掌握,等同于对家族历史和生存资源的绝对控制权。 第三部:声音与寂静——与自然环境的对话 本书的精华在于对人类与环境关系的深刻反思。在现代社会中,我们习惯于用机械的噪音来屏蔽周遭的世界,但维拉带领我们重返寂静之地,去倾听“荒野低语”。 她描述了长时间、持续性移动如何改变人类的感知阈值:风穿过耳廓的声音、沙砾滚动的细微摩擦声、甚至遥远动物的心跳声,都可能成为至关重要的生存信息。这种对环境细节的极度敏感性,是现代人普遍缺失的“感官带宽”。 维拉引入了“共振行走”(Resonant Pacing)的概念,这是一种古老的、与自然节奏同步的移动状态。在这种状态下,个体的疲劳感被环境的宏大节奏所稀释,身心达到了罕见的和谐统一。她认为,正是这种与自然界能量流动的同步能力,赋予了早期人类超越蛮力的生存智慧。 第四部:回归原初的召唤 在全书的最后部分,作者提出了一个尖锐的当代命题:在拥有了汽车、飞机和数字导航的时代,我们是否失去了作为“移动的生物”的本能,从而导致了精神上的漂泊不定? 《荒野低语》并非号召所有人都放弃现代交通工具,而是倡导一种“意识上的回归”。它鼓励现代人重新审视自己的日常移动模式——从办公室到家、从超市到健身房。通过有意识地放慢速度,去感受双脚与地面每一次短暂而真实的接触,去重新连接被钢筋水泥隔绝的生态系统。 这本书是一封写给那些渴望发现自身潜能、寻找更深层生活意义的读者的情书。它探讨的不是“跑得多快”,而是“如何与大地同行”——这是一场关于人类本质、关于生存智慧、关于重拾与世界建立原始连接的深刻旅程。 本书适合读者: 对人类起源、文化人类学和生物进化史感兴趣的读者。 户外探险家、野外生存爱好者,以及任何希望加深对自然环境理解的人。 寻求突破日常思维定势、渴望探索个体与环境和谐共存之道的思考者。 --- (注:本书的语言风格旨在模仿严肃的人文地理学著作与野外考察报告的结合体,力求文笔沉稳、论证详实,充满对原始知识的敬畏。)