A Franciscan missionary battles drug-runners and Shining Path terrorists on behalf of Peruvian Indians: a story competently told with the help of the Hoffers, specialists in coauthoring tales of Third World trauma (Midnight Express, Not Without My Daughter). When Gagnon, a New Hampshire native, sets up his mission in 1969 among the Ashaninka Indians of central Peru, his task is formidable but predictable: to educate an indigenous people—who paint their faces, hunt with bow and arrow, and stride around half-naked—to enter the modern world without decimating their traditional ways. Gagnon's success is marked: Under his supervision, the Ashaninka build an airstrip, become literate, learn to function in a cash economy. But then anonymous ``narcos'' appear, appropriating the airstrip to ferry shipments of cocaine to points north and offering Gagnon large sums—which he spurns with disdain—for his cooperation. The real horror, however, arrives with the Maoist Shining Path guerrillas, who terrorize Gagnon, torch the mission, demand young men as conscripts for their slave armies, and castrate or crucify Ashaninka who refuse to cooperate. When Gagnon goes to Lima for help, both the American embassy and the Church hierarchy resist his pleas, although a contingent of Green Berets finally escorts him back into the rain forest. Further battles with the Shining Path lead to two evacuations and newspaper sketches of Gagnon as a rifle-packing padre. While he rejects this cartoonish image, Gagnon comes off here as sharp-tongued, hotheaded, and utterly committed to the cause of the Indians. He provides a token defense of liberation theology, but this is basically a visceral story of good against evil, told by a man with little tolerance for subtleties. A moderately gripping story of a modern-day hero, despite the warts. (Photos)
Pub Date: Aug. 25, 1993
ISBN: 0-688-11796-1
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1993
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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