Page 375 "I honestly felt the presence of God with every whiff of nectar..."

Top: Astrocaryum palm; bottom: awarra and a detail drawing of one of the stingers from the Astrocaryum

From page 375 of the book:  “My limbs were shaking,” he explained, “since I was so stupid as to walk out into the darkness unassisted.  I had no gun.  Foolish man, I know but I honestly felt the presence of God with every whiff of nectar from the red blooms of the manil tree; I felt his presence in the poisonous spines of the Astrocaryum palm and the Bactris.  You rub up against them and you’re as good as a dead man because of their stingers.”



Page 374 "...along the Approuague River..."

Fishing on the Approuague River.

From page 374 of the book: In remote villages along the Approuague River, he shared the communal lands with an unbounded natural museum of rare and exotic birds, unusual plants, brilliant colored amphibians, and bizarre insect species, as well as with mountain lions, squirrel monkeys, giant otters, tapirs, and white-tail deer.

The Approuague River

[Photos Copyright by Robert Hardin]

Page 374 "Yes, I was there, in French Guiana, decades ago."

Table mountains of the northern part of South America; "they called them Tepuis"

Another view of the tepuis

The forest canopy of French Guiana

From page 374 of the book:  "Yes, I was there, in French Guiana, decades ago.”
“You must’ve pissed somebody off to get sent there.”
“No, no, I requested it, after Vietnam. But, Christ! The sun there was like a razor blade against my skin. I lived between the river forests and the table mountains, they called them the Tepuis, with my very simple people, the Javanese, the Creole French, and the Arawak Indians, and all kinds of strange creatures.”

"...with my very simple people, ...the Arawak Indians,..."

"...and all kinds of strange creatures.”

Top: two views of a tapir; bottom:  squirrel monkeys







Page 372 "...the freezing glimpse into the nameless Eternal."

Caravaggio's "Salome with the  Head of John the Baptist" (1607)

From page 372 of the book:  Owen was exhausted by the time he finished his confession, like the executioner who delivered the Baptist's head to Salomé.  Owen carried the broken tablets, the freezing glimpse into the nameless Eternal.

Jean Benner's "Salome" (1899)

Pierre Bonnaud's "Salome" (1865)

Movie poster for Al Pacino's film "Wilde  Salome" (2011)

Caravaggio, "Salome with the Head of John the Baptist" (1609)

Page 357 "the fish and the symbol of Saint Peter blending together around his face."

From page 357 of the book: I felt in my blood the lance of betrayal that he imagined had piked him.  I saw the streamers flowing from the lance, characters of the fish and the symbol of Saint Peter blending together around his face.

Painting of St. Peter's crucifixion

A composite I made of a lance piercing the symbol of St. Peter, the Vatican

[In ecclesiastical heraldry, the Papal coat of arms contain the keys of the office of St. Peter. The Keys of Heaven were, according to Christian tradition, received by Saint Peter from Jesus, marking Peter's ability to take binding actions.[1] Thus, the Keys are seen as a symbol of Papal authority still to this day. "Behold he [Peter] received the keys of the kingdom of heaven, the power of binding and loosing is committed to him, the care of the whole Church and its government is given to him [cura ei totius Ecclesiae et principatus committitur]

Page 346 "Shanzenbach suddenly began to sing 'The Marseillaise.'"

From page 346 of the book:  Shanzenbach suddenly began to sing "The Marseillaise," the French national anthem, with Owen providing accompaniment.
    "How I love that song," cried Revenant. "Tell the Good Walter about 'The Marseillaise.'"
    "I don't want to give a history lesson," said Ebert. "I'm half drunk."
    "You know, Walter," began Revenant, "it was composed in 1792, at the beginning of the Revolutionary Wars. That little man, Napoleon, he didn't like it. Screw him."

David's portrait of Napolean in 1792

http://www.alldownloadlinks.com/french-napoleonic-infantry-tactics-1792-1815-elite_225241.html

Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle, composer of The Marseillaise

Posters for Jean Renoir's 1938 film.

Page 343-344 "The fools.... I drank because it tasted good."

Mourvedre grapes

Vineyard of Mourvedre grapes.  The Mourvèdre grape produces tannic wines that can be high in alcohol, and is most successful in Rhone-style blends, with a particular affinity for Grenache, softening it and giving it structure. It often has a wild, gamey or earthy flavour, with soft red fruit flavours. (Text courtesy of Wikipedia)

Ambrose Dudley painting of Phocean Greeks defeating Cathaginians

Domaine Bandol

Greek plate depicting...yes, the serving of wine

From pages 343-344 of the book: "I walked into a café on the rue September Fourth," he continued. "I sat down and ordered a bottle of wine. Romassan. I drank the entire bottle and ordered another. When I'd begun my third bottle, I could hear voices at a table in the corner. Men were watching me. They felt sorry for me. They said, Look, there's Ebert, drowning his sorrows in wine because his boy is dead. They said, Look, Ebert will drink away his pain. Notre frère boirá les afflictions du monde.
  "But they were wrong," he said. "The fools. I was drinking because the wine was superb. The vintage was Mourvèdre. Its vines were carried over by the Phocean Greeks five centuries before Christ, you know. La balance! L'harmonie! La bouquet! All were...uplifting. I drank because it tasted good!"