Feather Fall: An Anthology
Essays discuss indigenous peoples, Africa, Japan, war, forgiveness, travel, society, artists, love, and the capacity for wonder
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This evocative and thought-provoking selection from the writings of Laurens van der Post distills the essence of the writer, thinker, philosopher, and man of action. It takes the reader on a trail of discovery through the themes and patterns, the ideas and passionate concerns which have informed his life and his work, from his childhood in Africa and his experiences in wartime Japan, to his thoughts on war and forgiveness, the Bushman and the storyteller, Jung and the dreamer, the endangered planet, history and memory, masculine and feminine, "the wonder and the mystery."Feather Fall is thematically arranged with insight by Jean-Marc Pottiez to show how these diverse elements in the life of Laurens van der Post form a continuum. In a sense this selection becomes the autobiography that van der Post has never chosen to write. The title - taken from an African fable about the search for truth - aptly echoes the lifelong focus of his work.Van der Post's devotees will rejoice in this collection, which brings back into print much of his earlier celebrated writing.The extraordinary life of Laurens van der Post is not easily capsulized. Author of twenty-three books, soldier, prisoner of war, political adviser to British heads of state, educator, humanitarian, philosopher, explorer, and conservationist are titles that barely indicate the depth and breadth of this rare individual. Born in 1906 in the interior of southern Africa, he lived among the people who created the first blueprint for life on earth, becoming the principal chronicler of the Stone Age Kalahari Bushmen. He was also one of C. J. Jung's closest friends for nineteen years. Van der Post has dedicated his life to teaching the meaning and value of indigenous cultures in the modern world, a world he feels is in danger of losing its spiritual identity to technology, prejudice, empty values, and a lack of understanding of the interconnectedness of all of life on earth. Awarded a knighthood in 1981, Sir Laurens presently lives in London.
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