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The Missionaries
The Missionaries is a story of the collision of three cultures. A brilliant tale of ineptitude, self-righteousness, and human folly, it combines the mordant wit of W. Somerset Maugham with a sense of humor reminiscent of P.G. Wodehouse.
When Dr. Sydney Prout is named the head of the United Nations mission to Elephant Island, he believes he is more than ready to meet the challenge of guiding its primitive inhabitants into the post-Colonial era, and eventually, full independence. But neither his many academic credentials nor the Journal of Race Relations have prepared Dr. Prout to reckon with the unrepentant bloody-mindedness of the natives, or anticipate the inventive ways their tribal philosophers will incorporate the most unlikely aspects of modern civilization into their religious lore and traditional way of life.
Author Owen Stanley is an Australian explorer, a philosopher, and a poet who speaks seven languages. He is at much at home in the remote jungles of the South Pacific as flying his Staudacher aerobatic plane, deep-sea diving, or translating the complete works of Charles Darwin into Tok Pisin.
When Dr. Sydney Prout is named the head of the United Nations mission to Elephant Island, he believes he is more than ready to meet the challenge of guiding its primitive inhabitants into the post-Colonial era, and eventually, full independence. But neither his many academic credentials nor the Journal of Race Relations have prepared Dr. Prout to reckon with the unrepentant bloody-mindedness of the natives, or anticipate the inventive ways their tribal philosophers will incorporate the most unlikely aspects of modern civilization into their religious lore and traditional way of life.
Author Owen Stanley is an Australian explorer, a philosopher, and a poet who speaks seven languages. He is at much at home in the remote jungles of the South Pacific as flying his Staudacher aerobatic plane, deep-sea diving, or translating the complete works of Charles Darwin into Tok Pisin.
165 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 24, 2016
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161 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
July 12, 2016
In previous centuries it was the clergy that carried the light of civilization to benighted tribal societies like those found in Africa and in even more extreme form in New Guinea. Today the Agents of Virtue, in Paul Theroux’s scornful term, work for NGO’s or the United Nations.
The author of “The Missionaries,” who pen name is Owen Stanley after the almost impassable mountain range in New Guinea, the worse stage for battle in World War II, clearly has worked for one of those well-intentioned but hapless bureaucratic engines of social betterment. His antic novel, equally influenced by Evelyn Waugh and Monty Python, is a madly entertaining send up of what happens when pompous officialdom not more than ordinarily detached from reality meets stone age savagery not fully removed from the head-hunting and cannibalism phase.
Dr. Sydney Prout, Ph.D. and lecturer in sociology, arrives at Elephant Island, a speck of land in the Pacific no one much bothered about up to now, to bring the gifts of hygiene and self-government to the indigenes (“natives” in less sensitive times) and challenge the authoritarian rule of the Resident Magistrate, an Aussie named Roger Fletcher who is an old-fashioned carrot-and-stick man whose methods have enjoyed considerable success keeping the warring factions from slaughtering one another for the cooking pot.
But UN factotums mesmerized by presentism object to these methods as a throwback to the bad old days when some cultures were deemed superior to others. Prout and Fletcher are soon at it before the wondering eyes of the locals. Prout maybe have all the forces of political correctness at his command, but Fletcher knows the native mind. The outcome is never in doubt, but it is a hilarious ride to the finish. "Owen Stanley” must never let his identity be discovered if he wants to keep his civil service pension.
The author of “The Missionaries,” who pen name is Owen Stanley after the almost impassable mountain range in New Guinea, the worse stage for battle in World War II, clearly has worked for one of those well-intentioned but hapless bureaucratic engines of social betterment. His antic novel, equally influenced by Evelyn Waugh and Monty Python, is a madly entertaining send up of what happens when pompous officialdom not more than ordinarily detached from reality meets stone age savagery not fully removed from the head-hunting and cannibalism phase.
Dr. Sydney Prout, Ph.D. and lecturer in sociology, arrives at Elephant Island, a speck of land in the Pacific no one much bothered about up to now, to bring the gifts of hygiene and self-government to the indigenes (“natives” in less sensitive times) and challenge the authoritarian rule of the Resident Magistrate, an Aussie named Roger Fletcher who is an old-fashioned carrot-and-stick man whose methods have enjoyed considerable success keeping the warring factions from slaughtering one another for the cooking pot.
But UN factotums mesmerized by presentism object to these methods as a throwback to the bad old days when some cultures were deemed superior to others. Prout and Fletcher are soon at it before the wondering eyes of the locals. Prout maybe have all the forces of political correctness at his command, but Fletcher knows the native mind. The outcome is never in doubt, but it is a hilarious ride to the finish. "Owen Stanley” must never let his identity be discovered if he wants to keep his civil service pension.
July 25, 2016
Quick, fun, humorous
A easy fun read and a classic example of how self declared experts ruin everything. Easy to see the author knows his subject matter, has ability to develop characters quickly, and kept the plot moving.
Buy, read, smile, repeat.
A easy fun read and a classic example of how self declared experts ruin everything. Easy to see the author knows his subject matter, has ability to develop characters quickly, and kept the plot moving.
Buy, read, smile, repeat.
April 6, 2022
In the run up to a South Pacific Island’s independence, a liberal expert with high minded progressive views squares off against an old-guard colonial officer who takes a carrot-and-stick approach to managing the natives. Hijinks ensue as the expert and his minions try and fix what isn’t broken, or simply can’t be made better. It isn’t long before the situation on the Island declines into hilarious chaos.
I would highly recommend it to anyone who has spent any time listening to academic types smell their own farts on the issue of colonialism. It is short too; the book has the sense to end before the fun wears out. I had a lot of fun reading this. The Missionaries is the funniest book I have had the pleasure of reading in some time.
I would highly recommend it to anyone who has spent any time listening to academic types smell their own farts on the issue of colonialism. It is short too; the book has the sense to end before the fun wears out. I had a lot of fun reading this. The Missionaries is the funniest book I have had the pleasure of reading in some time.
April 27, 2022
Hilariously honest microcosm of every U.N. effort
This book is a fantastically insightful little peak into the reality of U.N. efforts throughout the 20th century. Even though it’s fictional and focused on a tiny pacific island, every chapter is a funny chronicle of hubristic, over-educated, condescending leftist snobs treating native peoples poorly and learning very hard lessons as a result. The ending is very satisfying.
This book is a fantastically insightful little peak into the reality of U.N. efforts throughout the 20th century. Even though it’s fictional and focused on a tiny pacific island, every chapter is a funny chronicle of hubristic, over-educated, condescending leftist snobs treating native peoples poorly and learning very hard lessons as a result. The ending is very satisfying.
March 21, 2022
Oh my goodness, 4.75 stars. This book a trip. A hilariously horrifying, ridiculous, and irreverent little satire where there are no good guys and no one truly has the moral high ground. Where is the line between cultural relativism and absolutism? Is there one? Should all progress mean “making others think like me”? Lots of thought provoking stuff here if you dig in but even without that this manages to read like a rollicking comedy.
March 7, 2020
Misionárov som zopárkrát chytila do rúk a stále ich odložila a vrhla sa nejakú inú knihu. Teraz som si povedala, že sa prekonám a prečítam si ju celú. Prekonala som sa a prečítala som si ju. Musím priznať, že pri čítaní som dosť trpela. Nebolo to spôsobené dejom, ale skôr zdĺhavými opismi prostredia a situácie. Niekedy som vážne nerozumela, prečo mal autor potrebu popisovať na celú stranu nejakú rieku, ktorá so samotným dejom nemala nič spoločné. Všetky popisy som príliš kvetnaté, aj keď vtipné. Akoby sa autor nasilu snažil vložiť vtip do každej jednej vety. Priznávam, vtipné to bolo, veľa som sa nasmiala, ale občas to na mňa pôsobilo násilne.
Aby som nebola nespravodlivá, kniha obsahovala veľa zaujímavých situácií, pri ktorých som nechápala, ako je to možné a zároveň som si to dokázala predstaviť naživo. Príbeh popisuje situáciu, kedy nestačí teória a príručky, ale niekedy je potrebný aj praktický rozum, aj keď poniektoré metódy hraničili s brutalitou, no boli účinné.
Celkovo túto knihu hodnotím ako priemer, a to najmä kvôli tomu, že aj keď mi pripadala veľmi vtipná a originálna, zároveň po jej prečítaní som na ňu hneď zabudla. Na záver chcem poďakovať @vydavatelstvo.araxon za zaslanie knihy, aj keď toto nebola moja šálka kávy. No čo už, asi sa zameriam na iné žánre.
Aby som nebola nespravodlivá, kniha obsahovala veľa zaujímavých situácií, pri ktorých som nechápala, ako je to možné a zároveň som si to dokázala predstaviť naživo. Príbeh popisuje situáciu, kedy nestačí teória a príručky, ale niekedy je potrebný aj praktický rozum, aj keď poniektoré metódy hraničili s brutalitou, no boli účinné.
Celkovo túto knihu hodnotím ako priemer, a to najmä kvôli tomu, že aj keď mi pripadala veľmi vtipná a originálna, zároveň po jej prečítaní som na ňu hneď zabudla. Na záver chcem poďakovať @vydavatelstvo.araxon za zaslanie knihy, aj keď toto nebola moja šálka kávy. No čo už, asi sa zameriam na iné žánre.
March 1, 2019
Very, funny. Felt slow at first, but by the end I couldn’t put it down. As part South American Native, it was hard not to see some Morok-like behaviour amongst my co-nationals. The book was hilarious and helped me put into perspective my country. It was really a special lesson. I wish more westerners read it.
It’d be hilarious to have it read to a native from the region and see what they think about it.
This book wasn’t just funny and light, but it’s also a manual for third worlders like me on how to deal with white leftist.
It should be read in all western schools, once the modernist nightmare is over.
It’d be hilarious to have it read to a native from the region and see what they think about it.
This book wasn’t just funny and light, but it’s also a manual for third worlders like me on how to deal with white leftist.
It should be read in all western schools, once the modernist nightmare is over.
July 25, 2016
George Orwell/Barack Obama parody. Why would I say that?
The writing and locale reminds me of an essay from Orwell's colonial missions. The foolishness of the missionaries idealism in the book along with the fictional writing portraying real life reminds me of how Barack Obama.
The writing and locale reminds me of an essay from Orwell's colonial missions. The foolishness of the missionaries idealism in the book along with the fictional writing portraying real life reminds me of how Barack Obama.
January 4, 2020
Reads like it was written in the 1930s; I don't mean that in a good way.
September 13, 2025
Essentially self-published garbage. Poorly written, only intended to provoke but it doesn't do that well. Imagine someone with Kipling's racial views and politics (but without his incredible love of language) writing in 2016.
May 28, 2019
A very funny satire
June 5, 2019
It's a great start when you laugh out loud in the first few paragraphs. It was a very enjoyable and quick read. Great for a weekend at the in-laws.
September 14, 2020
A fantastic black comedy that surpasses Kurt Vonnegut's Mother Night and Joseph Conrad's The Duel.
June 9, 2022
Best book I've read in years.
Brilliant, clever, unputdownable, funny, such a breath of fresh air. Sanity in a mad world. Read it in one day.
Brilliant, clever, unputdownable, funny, such a breath of fresh air. Sanity in a mad world. Read it in one day.
August 26, 2024
The funniest book I've ever read!
June 28, 2016
As a kid, I loved trailing my finger over maps of the world wondering what life was like in far away places. This novel perfectly captures a sense of place in its tale of the misadventures of UN do-gooders on a remote South Pacific island as it is being pushed out of colonial governance and into independence. The plot was fun, breezy, and had a decent number of laugh out loud spots, especially toward the end. The translation of a speech from English to the Morok's language was priceless. Highly recommend!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews