• Set against the lush tropical landscape of 1930s New Guinea, this novel charts British anthropologist Andrew Bankson's fascination for colleagues Nell Stone and her husband, Fen, a fascination that turns deadly. How far does the setting play a role in shaping events? Is there a sense that the three have created their own small universe on the banks of the Sepik River, far removed from the Western world? If so, by whose rules are they playing? • 'She tried not to think about the villages they were passing the tribes she would never know and words she would never hear, the worry that they might right now be passing the one people she was meant to study, a people whose genius she would unlock, and who would unlock hers, a people who had a way of life that made sense to her' (p. In the light of this quote, discuss Nell Stone's passion and need for anthropology and find ways in which they differ from Bankson's and Fen's.

Talk about the significance of her childhood dream of being carried away by gypsies. • Continue your discussion by considering Nell's statement: 'If I didn't believe they shared my humanity entirely, I wouldn't be here I'm not interested in zoology' (p. Ishowu Hd Keygen Mac Photoshop here. Find instances in the novel in which she demonstrates this.

How far do you agree, as Nell states, that it is an anthropologist's role to encourage self-analysis and self-awareness in the tribes he/she studies? • Over the course of the novel we learn a great deal about Bankson's childhood and young adulthood.

Talk about the reasons and life events that brought him to anthropology. What has led him to the brink of suicide? How seriously do you think he views his statement: 'The meaning of life is the quest to understand the structure and order of the natural world—that was the mantra I was raised on.

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To deviate from it was suicide' (p. • Given his upbringing and his father's passion for 'hard' science, Nell's focus on humanity instead of zoology must hold great appeal for Bankson. What else draws him to Nell, leaving him with 'Fierce desires, a great tide of feeling of which I could make little sense, an ache that seems to have no name but want. What exactly does Bankson want? • Discuss the ways in which Bankson's attitude toward his work changes as he gets to know Nell and her research methods.