Las Aventuras De Mister Puttison Entre Los Mayas

Resumen del Libro

This is the first novel by Dr. Montejo, the distinguished Jakaltek Maya writer & scholar, already well known for his El Kanil, Man of Lightning, The Bird who Cleans the World, Testimony: Death of a Guatemalan Village, & other works. Las aventuras de Mister Puttison is a historical & satirical novel whose principal character is an American adventurer who suddenly turns up in a Maya community in the highlands of western Guatemala. The local people mistake him for a missionary, & with his arrival the rhythm of life of the community changes. Apart from the impact that he causes in the community by his strange customs & his very presence, the stranger also learns many things: the communal laws & the struggle of the Maya to keep the little land they have left against the invasion of outsiders. The customs & the traditions of Yulwitz are what maintain the unity of the community, & in spite of the forced labor the Maya are forced to perform, the community manages to survive & maintain its traditions. Through the oral traditions maintained during the most difficult years of oppression of the Maya by the dictators who governed the country, the reader discovers the world view seen by the Maya themselves. Lighthearted in tone, this novel nonetheless reflects some of the most serious concerns of the Maya in recent decades, & gives us a unique insight into their culture.