Time Among the Maya: Travels in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico

I purchased this book to learn a bit more about the Maya before I take a trip to visit ancient Maya sites this fall. The book does present some interesting information on the ancient Maya, particularly, their calendar and system of time. It spends more time discussing the problems faced by the Maya of today, which is enlightening, but I feel it spends too much time discussing politics and what is wrong with the governments in Maya lands today than what I need to prepare for my trip. I do feel that an understanding of the situation is important to have before visiting a third world country; I just find this a bit overburdening in light of what I need and want to know, especially since it reflects the situation in 1985. It does not tell me what to expect TODAY.

Although I found some information interesting and informative, the delivery was much too long. Far too many descriptions of scenes where one photo could have replaced three pages of text. In fact, he travels with his friend David who is taking photos... he should have used them! Very repetitious and redundant, really belaboring simple points that could be explained in one third the words. However I was reading to learn facts, I was not reading for entertainment. I cannot recommend this book for learning; but if you want a travelogue of one person's interpretations of his trip, this works well.

I read parts of it before going to Chiapas Mexico and then I read the section on Chiapas. It was fascinating to read his remarks and descriptions of what I was seeing. He writes very descriptive pictures.

Republished edition is one of the best and most comprehensive impressions of the era - during the Guatemalan Civil War - and its effects on the Maya populations in the surrounding countries.

Yes, I love this book. I have not finished it yet, nonetheless I can taste the experience, it is so good. Great read for anyone who loves visiting Latin or Central American countries.

Well written and endlessly fascinating.

Time among the Maya, Ronald WrightThis is a charming travelogue, particularly if you have experienced travel to some of the Maya Indian sites. Ronald Wright has given us an insight that could only be possible from someone who has spent considerable time and research into the politics and plight of the Maya people. There are some helpful maps for orientation. The writing is like a daily journal, which is charming in its observations and the attempts at a phonetic impression of the speech of the various populations that he encounters in his journey. There are references to some of the masterworks of more early explorers, such as John L. Stephens, with excellent drawings by Catherwood (Dover Publications), and the helpful translation of Popol Vuh by Dennis Tedlock. Ronald Wright gives us "food for thought" about the terrible things that have occurred in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico, as various political factions have battled for control.

Wright has done the modern Maya a service by calling attention to their continued existence.However, he seems infatuated with antiquity and the signs of its persistence and fails, sometimes in serious ways, to account for the nobility of the modern Maya's grim and successful struggle to survive.Wright also can't help slipping in "green" comments and digs at multi-nationals, stupid governments (oxymoron), and exploitative ladinos. These targets are too easy. For example, he sloughs off milpa agriculture almost entirely and even comes close to lamenting the "death of the forests" that some misguided types think it causes.What causes over-farming is over-population and neither I nor Wright will convince the Maya to let infant mortality assert itself again since its virtual demise in the last two decades.Wright does, however, have a feel for the Maya and that makes his book a worthy contribution. His search for X-Cacal Guardia and the resultant events should lead readers to study Yucatan's Caste War and further consider the Modern Maya's view of themselves.

very comprehensiveUsed for research

La meilleure histoire du peuple maya que j’ai lue , écrite par un érudit qui a de la terre sur ses bottes