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The Last Heathen
by Charles Montgomery
- Used
- Very Good
- Paperback
- Condition
- Very Good/N/a
- ISBN 10
- 1553650727
- ISBN 13
- 9781553650720
- Seller
-
Palgrave, Ontario, Canada
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
When Charles Montgomery was ten years old, he stumbled upon the memoirs of his great-grandfather, a seafaring missionary in the South Pacific. Poring over the faint text and faded pictures, he was entranced by the world of black magic and savagery the bishop described, and couldn't help but wonder what drove the Victorian to risk his life among people who had shot, drowned, or clubbed to death so many of his predecessors.Twenty years later and a century after that journey, Montgomery sets out for the reefs and atolls of Melanesia in search of the very spirits and myths the missionaries had sought to destroy. He retraces his ancestor's path through the far-flung islands, exploring the bond between faith and magic, the eerie persistence of the spirit world, and the heavy footprints of Empire.What he discovers is a world of sorcery and shark worship, where the lines between Christian and pagan rituals are as blurred as the frontiers of fact, fantasy, and faith. After confrontations with a bizarre cast of cult leaders, militants, and mystics, the author, in his quest for ancient magic, is led to an island in crisis -- and to a new myth with the power to destroy or to save its people forever.Alternately terrifying, moving, and hilarious, with overtones of Melville and Conrad, The Shark God is Montgomery's extraordinary and piercingly intelligent account of both Melanesia's transformation and his own. This defiantly original blend of history and memoir, anthropology and travel writing, marks the debut of a singular new talent.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Hockley Books
(CA)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 008211
- Title
- The Last Heathen
- Author
- Charles Montgomery
- Format/Binding
- Trade Paperback
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Jacket Condition
- N/a
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10
- 1553650727
- ISBN 13
- 9781553650720
- Publisher
- Douglas & McIntyre
- Place of Publication
- Vancouver, Bc, Canada
- Date Published
- 2004
- Keywords
- Travel, Melanesia
Terms of Sale
Hockley Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Hockley Books
About Hockley Books
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Trade Paperback
- Used to indicate any paperback book that is larger than a mass-market paperback and is often more similar in size to a hardcover...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- Flap(s)
- The portion of a book cover or cover jacket that folds into the book from front to back. The flap can contain biographical...