mansirpetrie's review against another edition
3.0
Ah I really want to love this book but I have to agree with some of the more negative reviews.
I'm glad I read it has t it wasn't smooth sailing. One reviewer really nailed it for me - the writing style for me is confusing and amorphous. I also had a feeling that something was missing but at the same time or in pulses I had the feeling that I was reading a classic - that I was reading greatness if i could just let it be. I really loved his snow leopard book. This made me think about what good literature is- should it flow as well or be as easy to read?
I'm glad I read it has t it wasn't smooth sailing. One reviewer really nailed it for me - the writing style for me is confusing and amorphous. I also had a feeling that something was missing but at the same time or in pulses I had the feeling that I was reading a classic - that I was reading greatness if i could just let it be. I really loved his snow leopard book. This made me think about what good literature is- should it flow as well or be as easy to read?
djk2167's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Beautifully written. But extremely difficult to connect with the characters.
amypuckett's review against another edition
4.0
What happens when you question your faith? Just who are the “savages” and how much “help” do they need? These questions are central to Peter Matthiessen’s novel At Play in the Fields of the Lord. Martin Quarrier, a missionary from North Dakota, finds himself to be more of an ethnographer than a disciple. Meanwhile, Lewis Moon, a rugged expat with roots in a Native American tribe, finds himself at home with the Niaruna, a tribe of natives in South America. Originally recommended to me in an Anthropology class, I found the book to be an interesting look at culture, both that of the Niaruna and of North American missionaries and what can (and does!) happen when cultures clash.
kahale's review against another edition
2.0
A missionary and is wife go down to South American jungle and are thoroughly corrupted. Just not my kind of book.
bobbo49's review against another edition
4.0
Beautiful contemplation of the ongoing struggle between native South Americans, missionaries and governments, through the story of a native North American trying to find his identity.
toniapeckover's review against another edition
4.0
Not an easy read, in several ways. Matthiessen dumps characters and cultures into the narrative like he's emptying a gym bag, but eventually everything settles down and begins to make sense. He doesn't bother to make anyone likable - in fact, he seems intent on showing the worst of nearly everyone. The missionaries are horrid, the locals are squalid and reprobate, the natives unfathomable - until you begin to understand. Then you find yourself empathizing and hoping and dreading the inevitable unfolding. A book that in its time must have challenged assumptions and even now pokes at sensitive places. I won't forget it.
juliaglez's review against another edition
4.0
Misioneros católicos y misioneros protestantes se adentran en la jungla sudamericana e intentan llevar a las tribus nativas su respectiva versión de Dios. Mientras tanto, un mercenario se infiltra entre los niarunas y aprende a vivir como uno de ellos.
Lo que más me impactó de este libro fue la forma en que los personajes se enfrentan a los dilemas morales que implica el adoctrinamiento religioso y su paulatina pérdida de la fe.
Todo el libro está narrado de una manera descriptiva e impactante, sin embargo la primera mitad del libro me resultó muy lenta.
En general, es un muy buen libro que me dejó pensando por días.
Lo que más me impactó de este libro fue la forma en que los personajes se enfrentan a los dilemas morales que implica el adoctrinamiento religioso y su paulatina pérdida de la fe.
Todo el libro está narrado de una manera descriptiva e impactante, sin embargo la primera mitad del libro me resultó muy lenta.
En general, es un muy buen libro que me dejó pensando por días.
nycsquirrel's review against another edition
3.0
American Protestant missionaries vs. Spanish Catholics vs. Amazonian natives vs. Native Americans fight figuratively and physically in misguided battles for souls ("All of them were pinned like butterflies to the frame of their own morality."). It's clear what this book is attempting to convey, but the delivery is sometimes slow and clumsy and just misses the mark.
hayesstw's review against another edition
4.0
I've just read this book for the second time, after 12 years. I re-read it because I thought it raised some interesting missiological issues, and I've been asked to write an article on missiology in fiction.
It has a couple of American Protestant missionaries trying to evangelise an Indian tribe in South America, reoccupying a station that had been abandoned by Roman Catholic missionaries after one of them had been killed. Of the Protestant missionaries, one is culturally sensitive, while the other, his more-experienced superior, is not. There are also a couple of American mercenaries, and a local administrator who hopes to use them to subdue the Indians by force.
It is well-written,and though the characters seem in some ways to be caricatures, representative types rather than real people, the dilemmas they face, and the way they face them are real.
On my blog I've written a somewhat expanded review, including the film as well At play in the fields of the Lord
It has a couple of American Protestant missionaries trying to evangelise an Indian tribe in South America, reoccupying a station that had been abandoned by Roman Catholic missionaries after one of them had been killed. Of the Protestant missionaries, one is culturally sensitive, while the other, his more-experienced superior, is not. There are also a couple of American mercenaries, and a local administrator who hopes to use them to subdue the Indians by force.
It is well-written,and though the characters seem in some ways to be caricatures, representative types rather than real people, the dilemmas they face, and the way they face them are real.
On my blog I've written a somewhat expanded review, including the film as well At play in the fields of the Lord