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Lucy Plays Panpipes for Peace

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Book Review: Lucy Plays Panpipes for Peace by Lynette Yetter

By Richard Weekley

"Appreciate the sun - it's where life comes from. / Appreciate the night - a time to rest. / Appreciate your mom - without her you wouldn't be here. / Appreciate your Dad - ditto as above. / Appreciate when someone is a jerk - your are learning self-control. / Appreciate the harsh weather - you are learning endurance. / Appreciate not having everything you want - you are learning to value what you do have. /
Appreciate everything - for everything is part of your very life itself."

Lynette Yetter's Lucy Plays Panpipes for Peace is laced with gems of wisdom--simple, straight forward, and direct from the heart. In fact, this novel is like entering a good and trusting heart, a heart that believes that following one's inner intuition leads to the ultimate unfolding of life's essence. Which is not to say that the path is easy, or popular, or that the heart doesn't get broken more than once. Yet, it is not the "heart-breaks" that matter, but how Lucy forges on and seeks a deeper teaching when her expectations and hopes shatter.

It was the noted mythologist, Joseph Campbell, who urged others to "follow your bliss." This is where Lucy begins, a place most of us only intellectually consider. Upon hearing panpipes Lucy, just another California woman, devotes herself to going to where the panpipes are played, meeting and speaking with the players and becoming a piper herself. She equips herself with Spanish, Quechua, pure passion, and a plane ticket to Peru.

How little Lucy knew.

And so it is we readers get the ride of our lives as we are plunged into the unknowns of place and culture. Lucy's bus gets blockaded by angry farmers who refuse to let it pass. And, even before she is ready, Lucy thrusts herself into the role of peacemaker and ultimately defuses and tranquilizes the situation with panpipes and dancing on an Andean hillside.

Sound too fanciful to be true?

Such is the charm of Lucy Plays Panpipes for Peace, Lynette Yetter has intricately woven the actual stands of her genuine Bolivian journey into her book. What often seems "unbelievable," really happened. In fact so much of it is "true" it is barely a novel.

Be prepared for a window into feeling what it is to be "the outsider," "the stranger," "the gringa." A woman living an adventure alone in a foreign land. The sexism, the misconceptions. Be prepared to see the collateral damage of the U.S. "war on drugs" on the peasants who must live with it. Feel the endless chill of 12,000 foot La Paz, Bolivia--the world's highest capital.

Oh, and don't be surprised if you stumble on wonderful illustrations and a woodblock print. Poems and collages springing organically from Yetter's talent and inner spirit--enhancing the journey.

How's your Quechua? Your Spanish? Your knowledge of Bolivian customs? Your sense of Nichiren Buddhism? Not to worry, a delicious glossary makes Lucy Plays Panpipes an enjoyable learning experience, and "what's next?" will likely be your dominating thought.

Lucy isn't a sleek, curvaceous Hollywood protagonists, but ample, full of life, and most of all "real" -- like her direct, accessible writing style. No nonsense, no tricks, no slight of hand, just clear-headed honesty and genuine love for what is.

Like Lucy, let "your panic fade" and immerse yourself in this transcendent adventure. Allow yourself to become "a wonder struck child" and watch "the magic of dust motes in a sunbeam."

An open-minded, open-hearted idealist sets out on an adventure to do her part for world peace.
At first, I kept wishing for more exposition, but then I realized this book is not trying to be a standard novel--it's storytelling. From then on, I enjoyed it thoroughly. (Expectations can really get in the way, can't they?)
A good story always makes me wonder--"what would I do in a situation like that?" Lucy demonstrates how a Buddhist might handle some very challenging situations, resulting in win-win resolutions.

I just finished "Lucy" and am impressed. It is so easy to read that quite a few pages go by before I notice I've been reading awhile.The greatest strength of the book is its forthright, straightforward language and purpose. I enjoyed it all, and certainly hope a paper edition goes strongly.

- Lewis Ellingham, author of Poet be like God: Jack Spicer and the San Francisco renaissance (1995), and The Birds and Other Poems (2009)

Just finished reading Lucy. A very addicting read, that I suspect is more than bit autobiographical, which would explain how the words ring of truth. I enjoyed the points of reference, made from a soul awoken during the 1970's. I could relate. Dug the peppering gabs throughout exposing the raw power of greed flowing across the globe from the hearts of soulless little men living in pentagons and other white houses. Enjoyed the transformation of Lucy, from a Disney chick to a woman whose soul reaches deep into the mountains to discover the true nature of her soul. Very uplifting and encouraging. Loved your slices of real life that would flow so smoothly across the pages, sparkling with color, of tears and life.

The structure of your novel is unique, insertions of poetry (yeah!) with art, and an on going letter with Aunt Bert, who seems to be Lucy's guiding light. At roughly 60,000 words you have created a world that breathes real, and draws the reader with passion. Good job Lynette.