At Play in the Fields of the Lord

Rating:
Summary: tragic, beautiful work
Review: This should be required reading for all missionaries intent on bringing Western values and religion to indigenous peoples. Perhaps they can see the folly of attempting to change a culture that predates Christianity by several thousand years. I do not want this to turn into a personal attack on Christians, but the last Stone Age tribes that exist beneath the canopy of the rain forest have lived, loved, fought, died and thrived for untold millenia without the help of white missionaries who more times than not bring with them illness that these people have never been exposed to (smallpox ring any bells?), and end up doing more harm than good. We have no business meddling in the affairs of a culture that most of us cannot understand and want to change because it is so unlike ours. The Niaruna in this book, the Yanomani in present day Brazil, need the light of white Christianity about as much as Masai of Africa need a McDonald's franchise in the Serengetti. Shrouded in darkness and demonism indeed. When will we learn to leave good enough alone?

Rating:
Summary: tragic, beautiful work
Review: This should be required reading for all missionaries intent on bringing Western values and religion to indigenous peoples. Perhaps they can see the folly of attempting to change a culture that predates Christianity by several thousand years. I do not want this to turn into a personal attack on Christians, but the last Stone Age tribes that exist beneath the canopy of the rain forest have lived, loved, fought, died and thrived for untold millenia without the help of white missionaries who more times than not bring with them illness that these people have never been exposed to (smallpox ring any bells?), and end up doing more harm than good. We have no business meddling in the affairs of a culture that most of us cannot understand and want to change because it is so unlike ours. The Niaruna in this book, the Yanomani in present day Brazil, need the light of white Christianity about as much as Masai of Africa need a McDonald's franchise in the Serengetti. Shrouded in darkness and demonism indeed. When will we learn to leave good enough alone?

Rating:
Summary: My favorite novel ever
Review: Unforgettable. Impossible to put down. Brilliant

Rating:
Summary: A truly outstanding work!
Review: While made into a disappointing film, this is a truly great novel that is on one level aobut missionaries in the "Amazon" trying to **save** the natives and on another level about the clash of egos that can consume us all. It is also a great character analysis of different types of male behavior