At Play in the Fields of the Lord

By Peter Matthiessen

Book Overview

In a malarial outpost in the South American rain forest, two misplaced gringos converge and clash in this novel from the National Book Award-winning author. Martin Quarrier has come to convert the elusive Niaruna Indians to his brand of Christianity. Lewis Moon, a stateless mercenary who is himself part Indian, has come to kill them on the behalf of the local comandante . Out of this struggle Peter Matthiessen creates an electrifying moral thriller--adapted into a movie starring John Lithgow, Kathy Bates, and Tom Waits. A novel of Conradian richness, At Play in the Fields of the Lord explores both the varieties of spiritual experience and the politics of cultural genocide.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679737413
• ISBN13: 9780679737414
• Release Date: December 1991
• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

¡Madre de Dios!

I've always been a bit of an escapist, so this book was perfect for me. Peter Mattiessen is actually a travel writer, well qualified to describe the South American rain forest setting. What surprises is how well he conveys the brutal reality of what might befall us, should we find ourselves sitting at a rickety wooden table at La Concepción Taverna at the end of a mud street in the jungle.You will find yourself in the strangest...

An Exploration Into the Meaning of Identity

One theme I found to be particularly compelling in this book which has not been directly explored in the reviews currently posted is the search for identity which seemingly each character in this novel is engaged. Lewis Moon, a man who existes on the fringe of the dominant culture of the US, longs for validation in the culture of his ancestors, a culture which is tragically unavailable. The missionaries, Protestant and...

A theological allegory with an anti-hero to beat the devil!

This book carried me WAY beyond the story line, using the questionable character of Lewis Moon as transportation. The well-meaning Quarriers were as lost and out of place in the jungle as the natives would have been if you dropped them off somewhere between 42nd Street and Central Park. And the death of the innocent child is a sacrifice to that ignorance.The journey of Lewis Moon away from civilization into the native life...