The Unlikely Peace at Cuchumaquic: The Parallel Lives of People as Plants: Keeping the Seeds Alive by Martin Prechtel

The Unlikely Peace at Cuchumaquic: The Parallel Lives of People as Plants: Keeping the Seeds Alive Reviews

• 
  Paul

  I thought that I knew something about Indigenous worldviews, but little did I know how radically different the Indigenous and Civilized modes of thought are! Prechtel argues that the difference is what allowed Indigenous culture to be sustainable, whereas Civilized culture is clearly miserable in the short run and untenable in the long run. Through lots of stories and descriptions, culled from his life as a Pueblo, his apprenticeship as a Mayan Highlands shaman, and his subsequent scholarly research, Prechtel acquaints us with how Indigenous peoples live in harmony with the natural world--including how they think about what is sacred and how to relate to it. Toward the end he offers prescriptions for how we Civilized folk might start picking up Indigenous habits of mind--although the divide is so vast that I don't see myself doing so. He holds out hope for our dominant culture becoming sane through discovery of our roots in Indigenous cultures, but the task seems gigantic to me.
  
  Prechtel writes in a florid style, with plenty of long sentences, colorful metaphors, and no rush to get to the end of each story. I found myself skimming this large book, particularly as the library due date approached. I also was saddened and had to stop more than once, as he described the horrors descending on the Mayan villagers (in Guatemala) from earthquakes, civil war, and disaster capitalism.
• 
  Polly Lazaron

  Fabulous. Poignant. I appreciate the author's engaging, conversational, lyrical writing style,
  the compelling story and life enriching information in this extraordinary, timely book. I laughed, cried, took notes. Specific, personal and universal, Mr. Prechtel's gifted, zesty storytelling bridges cultures and history in ways that entertain as well as invite the reader into reflection and possibly transformation. A memorable, potentially life changing read, call to inspired action and sheer joy.
• 
  Esra Bestel

  
  "The wild was a magical court of the aristocracy of the Holy in Nature. One had to know how to act in this court. That was what being a human meant."
  
  Thank you Martin for this beautiful epic story of seeds and giving me a lot to think about where to start.
• 
  Amelia

  If we go back far enough, we all have indigenous ancestry in our lineage. Martin Prechtel writes with great beauty, humility, and poeticism about the seed of indigeneity that lives buried within each of us.
• 
  Erika

  I really enjoyed this book overall. There were a couple gendered issues that got under my skin --- but, the concept of "keeping seeds alive" was revelatory.
• 
  Animagus

  This is book is filled with some phenomenal perspectives and overall was worth the read, but Pretchel’s writing leaves much to be desired with paragraph-long sentences drowning in commas and his insistence on using the word “delicious” at least once per page for the first third of the book. I also nearly put the book down when he mentions pulling the invisible force field over himself to thwart the airports drug sniffing dogs as he’s smuggling seeds…I mean…c’mon. Otherwise, a very interesting read with plenty of tidbits I shared with friends and family. Don’t think I will seek out another one of Pretchel’s books, but I would recommend this to anyone with the caveat that you’re not going to miss much if you scan through the book as opposed to reading every word.
• 
  Melissa

  Intentionally loquacious, which makes for slow reading — a reader’s experience of the slowness that he demonstrates colonial cultures need. I learned a lot about 20th century Mayan culture and how we might slow down and really connect and live.
• 
  Carah Naseem

  Thirteen stars.