Long Life, Honey in the Heart | 
 enlarge | Author: Martin Prechtel
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy New: $10.13
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Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 286866
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 392
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 155643538X
Dewey Decimal Number: 299.78420092
EAN: 9781556435386
ASIN: 155643538X
Publication Date: October 20, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 4 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Few left in stock - order soon. Code: R20090106234421H
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Product Description
Martin Prechtel continues the narrative of his unique life in Santiago Atitlan in Long Life, Honey in the Heart, an eloquent memoir replete with the subtle intelligence and sophistication of Mayan culture. Set against the dramatic backdrop of Guatemala's political upheaval in the 1980s, this heady mix of magic, humor, and spirituality immerses the reader in the experiences of Mayan birth, courting, marriage, childrearing, old age, death, and beyond, using the true story of Prechtel's own family and friends.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Prechtel's prose is beautiful but this is difficult to get your teeth into July 3, 2008
Prechtel's prose is beautiful but this is difficult to get your teeth into. If you can persist with it, then it is rewarding as it travels the gamut of shamanic experience, and is wildly entertaining at times. However, there are drawbacks. It is very long, and the pace sometimes tedious. It's a pity this wasn't edited better. Overall, a good introduction to shamanism. I would recommend starting with Patrice Some instead.
 Each on for the benefit of all May 20, 2007
Modern society has us born and abandonded. It does not take any interest in us unless we make lots of money or achieve some kind of fame. We have little purpose in it except to make money for others and that is pretty much the extent of it: nothing else is demanded of us.
Martin Prechtel's book describes a society where giving is more important than receiving, working together for a common cause of spiritual value rather than material value, opposed on both sides by the materialist communists and capitalists, neither of whom can see any value in their old ways of initiation.
Yet the initition creates a person of far greater value than those who sought to destroy it. Whether or not the reader can share the beliefs of the Tzutujil Maya, and for a modern reader it is of course difficult, the result of this system of society is the creation of real human beings, lives not devoid of meaning and afloat on a sea of worthlessness, but deeply intertwined with the living processes of the world, each one feeling that they contribute to the story of life, that they have value and love.
The difficult and dangerous passage of initiation that the adolescents of the village undergo to bring the goddess back to life gives them an inner power and wisdom that stays with them for the rest of their lives, meaning that they don't become disruptive, lost and alienated from the world but an integral part.
It is a shame to me that our modern societies, whatever their political system, cannot operate more in this way. Not to live exactly like they used to - before the modern societies imposed themselves - but to realise what they achieved and how it can benefit our cast-adrift generations.
I have given this book five stars because it offers a way out of the ever-tightening spiral of anguish that drives even the pleasures of modern life and it does so without preaching or spite. There are humourous passages throughout as well as more serious tracts. It is about the joy and beauty of life.
JUST AS GREAT AS HIS OTHER BOOKS! February 16, 2007
This is the third book I've read by Martin Prechtel. I wish there were 5 more to read. He is an excellent wordsmith and his experience with the Maya people of Lake Atitlan is much needed in these troubled times.
BLESS YOU MARTIN January 20, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
We saw Martin speak in Ashland, Oregon, and bought his books. they are nectar foods for the soul. nothing else like his writing, he will transport you with language to a place in your brain beyond language. Savory, delicious, honest, wildly reverent. but it and read it. then quit your job.
A glimpse of a loving and healthy world September 7, 2005
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Prechtel's retelling of his life as a part of a society based on ancient tribal traditions. It gives a rare glimpse of mankind caring for its own. A tale of a culture striving for health and balance between neighbors, generations, mankind and nature. It is a beautiful tale of human beauty dashed by the motion of time in the hands of modern man. As sad as it is to see the outcome I find these people living within me as a reminder of what society can accomplish when it is rooted in respect, dignity and love.
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