The Spears of Twilight: Life and Death in the Amazon Jungle [Hardcover]

Philippe Descola (Author), Janet Lloyd (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1565842286 | ISBN-13: 978-1565842281 | Publication Date: August 1996

A Choice Outstanding Academic Book of 1997, The Spears of Twilight chronicles the experiences of Philippe Descola, student of Claude Lvi-Strauss, among the legendary Achuar Indians of South America. Combining ethnography, travelogue, and personal meditation, The Spears of Twilight is an engrossing account of the resilient and complex Achuar people, as well as an intimate and often poetic account of Descola's sojourn among them.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A trained ethnographer, you go tramping through the rain forest jungle in search of an isolated tribe. They welcome you, and you find that they live with an idealistic individualism and freedom only dreamed of by the staunchest Libertarian or Anarchist. They live in harmony with nature among the animated spirits of plants, streams, and prey. They also murder their friends, fear their neighbors, and cheat on their spouses. Philippe Descola transcribes the complex story of this people thoughtful, piquant prose reminiscent of the best in French literature.

From Publishers Weekly

The Jivaro Indians of Amazonian Ecuador have earned a somewhat sinister reputation among travelers and anthropologists because of their custom, only recently abandoned, of shrinking the decapitated heads of enemies. Descola, an anthropology professor in Paris, spent three years living among a Jivaro tribe, and this engrossing, minutely detailed chronicle of daily life gets past exotic stereotypes to delineate a band of individualists oscillating between gentle anarchy and factional solidarity. Obsessed with bloody vendettas against neighbors or relatives, the tribal group nonetheless reverentially communicates with a world of spirits, plants and animals, with the wandering souls of both the living and the dead. Descola explores Jivaro shamanism, dream interpretation, polygamy, marital violence against wives and the Jivaros' loose-knit, fluid cosmology, which makes no effort to impose coherence on the world. Sprinkled with Jivaro songs, chants, myths and the author's line drawings, this lyrically precise exploration of a people's lifestyle and consciousness is a work of enchantment.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 458 pages
• Publisher: New Pr (August 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565842286
• ISBN-13: 978-1565842281
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #402,973 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars absolutely outstanding -- deserves more than 5 stars, February 21, 2000

By 

elizabeth jill hirt - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Spears of Twilight: Life and Death in the Amazon Jungle (Paperback)

i don't usually read nonfiction, primarily because the writing styles do not appeal to me (dry, dry, dry). but this book is wonderfully written; descola made a conscious decision to write well and wittily and he succeeds. if you love traveling to unfamiliar worlds and are fascinated by different cultures, this book will capture your imagination and stay with you for years to come.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Knowing your neighbours, November 18, 2002

By 

Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Spears of Twilight: Life and Death in the Amazon Jungle (Hardcover)

Descola's sojourn in the Upper Amazon jungles reminds us of a sad truth: how much of our neighbours on this planet do we know or understand? Descola readily admits how poorly prepared he was for the study of the Achuar. Yet he was quickly disabused of any idea that this group of the "Jivaro" constituted a "simple native" community. His account shows the complexity of life they endure. Family relationships entwine political situations and Achuar society is sustained by a fine balance among many forces. Not the least of these are the roles played by every plant and animal in the surrounding forest. Each Achuar individual carries immense knowledge of his or her surroundings and performs daily activities within carefully prescribed limits. Living in an Ecuadorian forest is no more complex than dwelling in a "civilized" city in Descola's view. It's simply a matter of learning how.

Descola quickly settled in as guest of a family - unravelling the roots of interaction among its members took longer. Men's and women's lives follow preset roles, however the balance of power between genders, he shows us, must be constantly adjusted to changing circumstances. Marriages and separations are frequent, sometimes leading to long-standing vendettas, complicated by the relationships of the participants which are as twisted as the forest vines. Vendetta, it seems, is far more consequential in the lives of the Achuar than long-term traditions. The stereotypical "tradition bound" native is nonexistent here. Family and personal relationships also preclude the development of our familiar hierarchical society. No community leaders rise to particular prominence since family status has priority. These conditions, Descola points out, obviate the existence of political hierarchies, so dear to Western society.

Life among the Achuar is filled with rituals, from the morning cup of "wayus" through various rites of passage to, possibly, the achievement of "juunt," or "Great Man" status. Anthropology is rife with tales of powerful shamans who guide the behaviour of awed villagers. Descolas sweeps away this image, noting that shamans among the Achuar may be exiled or deposed, perhaps even killed if their powers prove futile, misleading or faulty. To be effective, the juunt must prove his abilities as a healer - a sorcerer will be rejected. Although the position of juunt takes years of effort to achieve, the role may be lost overnight. On the other hand, they are resourceful and caring - they make house calls. Sometimes at great distance, leading them to temporarily profess conversion to Christianity long enough to hitch a ride on the missionary's aircraft to the patient.

Descola's narrative is nearly a daily journal of his own learning and efforts. Although his wife Anne Christine accompanied him, she flits but wraith-like through these pages, nearly obscured by Descola's own revelations. Yet it's clear she provided information on the women's lives that might have endangered Descola had he attempted to garner it. Given the intricate structure of Achuar life, Descola may be forgiven this omission of detail.

Janet Lloyd's translation isn't lively, but the events and ideas Descola relates keep the reader's interest throughout the book. He manages to both dismiss faulty myths about South American peoples and impart a wealth of new information. Dreams, for example, considered random in the West, may actually be "created" among the Achuar depending on circumstances and needs. Dreams drive behaviour and vice versa. Descola sees Achuar dreaming as an extension of conscious thought - an assertion deserving intense study. This is but one example of what keeps this book interesting and valuable.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Caring for Rainforests, April 14, 2005

By 

R. J MOSS (Alice Springs, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Spears of Twilight: Life and Death in the Amazon Jungle (Paperback)

I hold this book with high regard. It's a rare ethnographic accounting of an indigenous society in the upper Amazon, as per the mid 1970s. The empathy Descola brings to these people is exemplary, and one soon senses a writer of rare discretion and self-reflexive capacity. The details of these lives are vividly told in prose that never gets burdened by their daily occurence. The book 'breathes' and Descola's place in these encounters is evinced sufficiently to give the sense of trust that must have existed during the experience. The indigenous world view is absolutely fascinating and reminded me of indigenous views I've encountered in Central Australia(and about which I'd recommend Michael Jackson's,'At Home In The World'for anyone who savours the poetics of the telling). The material on shamans, on valour, on retributive killing, on dreaming, or the spirit world have the very depth and veracity that Casteneda's Don Juan books, purporting to be reports of similar zones of experience during the same decade, lack. Levi Strauss may have inspired his pupil, Descola. Descola repays Levi Strauss, his subjects and the reader in raising the benchmark and restoring the reputation of anthropology.