Set in British Guyana, the final two books (first published in 1962 and 1963) of The Guyana Quartet continue Wilson Harris's literary exploration of the legacy and future of the former colony, which began with The Palace of the Peacock. The Whole Armour tells the story of Christo, accused of a murder he didn't commit, and on the run in the jungle swamplands of the Pomeroon River. When the man who is harbouring him dies, and when it becomes clear that his resourceful mother, Magda, doesn't believe he is innocent in either ...
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Set in British Guyana, the final two books (first published in 1962 and 1963) of The Guyana Quartet continue Wilson Harris's literary exploration of the legacy and future of the former colony, which began with The Palace of the Peacock. The Whole Armour tells the story of Christo, accused of a murder he didn't commit, and on the run in the jungle swamplands of the Pomeroon River. When the man who is harbouring him dies, and when it becomes clear that his resourceful mother, Magda, doesn't believe he is innocent in either case, Christo stages his own death and steps into a dangerous otherworld, where hallucinatory premonitions keep pace with dreamlike reality. The Secret Ladder, the final book of the Guyana Quartet, follows the government surveyor Russell Fenwick, an unwilling and diffident captain of a strong-willed crew - all of them uneasy in one another's company - on a journey along the Canje River. When they encounter Poseidon, the oldest inhabitant of the area - descendent, so it is rumoured, of an escaped slave - his accusations of unfair dealings and the threat of rebellion that he carries with him upset the group further. As Fenwick, a scientist in a near-magical world, awaits the rain so that he can take his measurements, the clash between interlopers and rebels builds to a nightmarish climax.
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Seller's Description:
Fine. Trade paperback (UK). In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
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Seller's Description:
New. Trade paperback (UK). In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
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Good+ London: Faber and Faber, 1973. Paperback. First Thus (no additional printings listed). Good+. Prior reader's notes in pencil. Spine straight, tight and uncreeasd. Covers clean. Not from a library. No remainder mark. 259 pages. Set in British Guiana, the final two books of The Guyana Quartet continue Wilson Harris's literary exploration of the legacy and future of the former colony. The Whole Armour tells the story of Christo, accused of a murder he didn't commit, and on the run in the jungle swamplands of the Pomeroon River. When the man who is harboring him dies, and when it becomes clear that his resourceful mother, Magda, doesn't believe he is innocent in either case, Christo stages his own death and steps into a dangerous otherworld, where hallucinatory premonitions keep pace with dreamlike reality. The Secret Ladder follows the government surveyor Russell Fenwick, an unwilling and diffident captain of a strong-willed crew--all of them uneasy in one another's company--on a journey along the Canje River. When they encounter Poseidon, the oldest inhabitant of the area--descendant, so it is rumored, of an escaped slave--his accusations of unfair dealings and the threat of rebellion that he carries with him upset the group further. As Fenwick, a scientist in a near-magical world, awaits the rain so that he can take his measurements, the clash between interlopers and rebels builds to a nightmarish climax.
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Seller's Description:
London. 1973. Faber & Faber. 1st Paperback Edition of This Combined Edition. Very Good in Slightly Worn Wrappers. 057110231x. 259 pages. paperback. keywords: Literature Caribbean Guyana Black. FROM THE PUBLISHER-THE WHOLE ARMOUR tells the story of Cristo and Sharon, of Magda and Abram; a story of passion and violence, of crime and punishment. It will more than consolidate Mr. Harris's reputation as a gifted and entirely original artist whose work seems likely to endure. In THE SECRET LADDER Russell Fenwick, a young land-surveyor, is charting the upper reaches of the Canje river deep in the Guiana hinterland, in preparation for a new irrigation scheme. The tedium of the work, rivalries and resentments among the men of whom he is in charge, suspicion and hostility from the local population of poverty-stricken farmers and fishermen-all these combine to make Fenwick's position a precarious one in an atmosphere of powerful tensions in uneasy equilibrium. He stands at the point where the modern, the scientific and the benign meet the primitive and the mysterious. inventory #45503.
