CONTEXTS - The Rough Guide to Panama - page 456

Salvador Mary Lyn (ed.) The Art of Being Kuna: Layers of Meaning among the Kuna
of Panama . Glossy coffee-table book full of fascinating photos and scholarly insights on the
interweaving of Guna art, culture and environment.
Michael Perrin Magnificent Molas . Lavishly illustrated, this guide explores the molas or
fabric “paintings” of the Guna women, tracing the links between the patterns used and tradi-
tions and rituals in the lives of the women.
Anton Rajer Paris in Panama/Paris en Panama: Robert Lewis and the History of His
Restored Art Works in the National Theatre of Panama . Intriguing bilingual book tracing
the history and restoration of Panamanian-born Roberto Lewis's (1874-1949) masterpieces
painted in Paris but installed in the National Theatre of Panama (see Teatro Nacional ) .
Joel Sherzer Stories, Myths, Chants and Songs of the Kuna Indians . The author, a linguistic
anthropologist, lived among the Guna people photographing and recording their oral tradition
of songs and ritual performances. He reveals their clo s e association with plants and animals
and their belief in myths and magic.
Jorge Ventocilla, Heraclio Herrera and Valerio Nuñez Plants and Animals in the Life of
the Kuna . Written by two Guna biologists and a Panamanian colleague, this guide is aimed at
the Guna reader as well as outsiders, providing fascinating insights into the Guna perspective
on ecology and cosmology as they relate to environmental issues.
FICTION
Iain Banks Canal Dreams . More nightmare than dream in which an unloveable famous
Japanese cellist is trapped on a ship in the Panama Canal that is captured by guerrillas. The
violence she and her lover suffer at their hands leads her to an equally violent revenge.
Jane Bowles Two Serious Ladies . An avant-garde classic of 1943, this story follows two
ladies seeking freedom from the confines of social convention. On holiday in Panama, one
falls in love with a young prostitute and leaves her husband to live in the brothel in Colón.
Offering a glimpse of the city's red-light district, it also includes a scene in the historic Wash-
ington Hotel .
Douglas Galbraith The Rising Sun . A detailed, somewhat rambling historical novel about
the Scottish expedition to the Darién, fuelled by human greed but leading to unbelievable
hardship and the eventual bankruptcy of Scotland. It is difficult to warm to the main character
who tells the story, but the horror comes across.
James Stanley Gilbert Panama Patchwork Poems . A fascinating collection, published
between 1901 and 1937, by a one-time employee of the Panama Railroad Company. Though
“Poet Laureate of the Isthmus” may be a tad exaggerated, his accessible verse provides a
powerful evocation of pre-canal hardships for settlers in Colón.