The Last Heathen: Encounters with Ghosts and Ancestors in Melanesia [Paperback]

Charles Montgomery (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre (September 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1553650727
• ISBN-13: 978-1553650720
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,498,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Terrific Read, October 15, 2004

By 

Nadine Au-Yong (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Heathen: Encounters with Ghosts and Ancestors in Melanesia (Paperback)

Fabulous book. Part travel, part history, part meeting of two cultures, the author lays it all before you with a delightful sense of humour, a discerning eye, and a sincere respect for the people of Melanesia. It opens up a window to a world most people know nothing about and are unlikely to ever encounter. For me, as a frequent visitor to that part of the world, it was wonderful a trip down memory lane.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars magic, September 17, 2004

By 

Tilo Driessen (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Heathen: Encounters with Ghosts and Ancestors in Melanesia (Paperback)

By the time a little packet of sand gets opened on page 2 of the book, I got swept up in a tale much grander than the postcard idyll of the cover seems to suggest. The narrator travels tough terrain and has adventures of the kind best experienced in an armchair; he tells them eloquently and passionately; but the real magic of the book is how these experiences are woven into larger and deeper ideas that elevate it past almost all travel writing.
It is beautifully written, it is a great book and like all great books, it transforms the reality of the reader; in the end it is their world that has changed, that has become less familiar, less certain, and strangely more alive.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Looking for Magic in Melanesia, June 10, 2006

By 

Laszlo Wagner (Hungary) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Last Heathen: Encounters with Ghosts and Ancestors in Melanesia (Paperback)

This is one of the best travelogues you will ever find about any place, anywhere!
Not to mention about countries as obscure as Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands - two rarely visited, but fascinaing archipelagos indeed.
The author does in-depth research about the history and culture of these places before setting out on a personal voyage retracing a route that was taken by his great-grandfather who had been a missionary in these parts. His homework pays off very nicely: not only does he succeed in getting everywhere he wants to, but also writes a book rich in background info in addition to his personal impressions and adventures. And he certainly does get to some remote parts of these remote countries: the Banks Islands and Maewo in Vanuatu, or Temotu province in the Solomons are out of the way places visited by very few.

Why only 4 stars then?
Well, even though the author claims to be an atheist and thus tries to examine the role of religion in local cultures objectively, he soon becomes obsessed with the idea of finding "magic" ("true" magic, that is) in these islands. He is hoping to find it performed by everyone and anyone from traditional medicine men to the local Anglican clergy, undeterred by the fact that he himself admits every single incident he has managed to observe was either a very obvious trick or at best the result of what could well have been a natural coincidence. This change in focus of the book became a bit annoying eventually.

But all in all, an excellent, amazingly well researched account.
Definitely recommended if you are interested in this region at all.
I read the book just before visiting Melanesia, and it was as good a reading as any to prepare me for my trip there.

And a tip: the book is still available in new copies on Amazon's Canadian site - have a look there if you can't find it here.