Read The Shark God Online

Authors: Charles Montgomery

The Shark God (37 page)

BOOK: The Shark God
8.96Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads
About the Author

Charles Mongomery was named a 2003 Lowell Thomas Silver Award winner by the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation. Published originally in Canada as
The Last Heather
, this book won the prestigious Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction in 2005. The author divides his time between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Mexico City.

www.charlesmontgomery.ca

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

Credits

Man on boat: © Chris Rainer

Shark in water: © Steve Wrubel/Getty Images

Map: Bridgeman Art Library

Copyright

The epigraph for chapter 4 from James McAuley, “Captain Quiros,”
Collected Poems
(copyright © Norma McAuley), is reprinted with permission from HarperCollins Publishers Australia.

The epigraph for chapter 5 is reproduced with permission from Northrop Frye's
Notebooks and Lectures on the Bible and Other Religious Texts
, copyright © 2003 University of Toronto Press.

The epigraph for chapter 10 is reproduced with permission from
Solomon Islands
, 3rd ed., © 1997 Lonely Planet Publications.

THE SHARK GOD
. Copyright © 2004 by Charles Montgomery. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

EPub © Edition JUNE 2006 ISBN: 9780061856587

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Montgomery, Charles, 1968–

[Last heathen]

The Shark God : encounters with ghosts and ancestors in the South Pacific / Charles Montgomery.—1st ed.

p. cm.

Originally published: The Last heathen. Vancouver, BC : Douglas & McIntyre, 2004.

ISBN-10: 0-06-076516-X

ISBN-13: 978-0-06-076516-3

1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

About the Publisher

Australia

HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.

25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)

Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia

http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au

Canada

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor

Toronto, ON, M4W 1A8, Canada

http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca

New Zealand

HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited

P.O. Box 1

Auckland, New Zealand

http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.nz

United Kingdom

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

77-85 Fulham Palace Road

London, W6 8JB, UK

http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk

United States

HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

10 East 53rd Street

New York, NY 10022

http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com

*
Swear
is the Solomon Islands pidgin word for “curse,” a translation that reveals the cultural gap between Melanesians and Europeans. If swearing—or cursing—at people is the same as wishing them ill, then it makes sense that Melanesians view those words as synonyms. It also shows their inherent belief in supernatural power. For example, a British trader who yelled “God damn your eyes!” at an islander wasn't actually attempting to blind the man. He was just swearing. But for Melanesians, an invocation is an invocation. There is no difference between a curse and a
swear
.

BOOK: The Shark God
8.96Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Animals and the Afterlife by Sheridan, Kim
Mum's the Word by Dorothy Cannell
The Arraignment by Steve Martini
Dearly Departed by Georgina Walker
Magical Tendencies by Selena Hunter
Talent Is Overrated by Geoff Colvin
Second Chance Ranch by Audra Harders
The Spawn of Hate by Angel Flowers