# Calling Tony Hillerman fans: Recommend a book where non-Western religion is important **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 29, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-tony-hillerman-fans-recommend-a-book-where-non-western-religion-is-important/494767 "2009-04-29T20:49:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-tony-hillerman-fans-recommend-a-book-where-non-western-religion-is-important/494767/1 "2009-04-29T20:49:25Z")
So, I’m teaching the Anthropology of Religion course again come fall, and I’d like to use a novel. At the moment, I’m leaning towards Tony Hillerman, but which title? Or someone else? My critera are: - A religion the students are not intimately familiar with must be an important part of the novel (though not necessarily of the plot). Basically, anything other than Christianity or Judaism for this campus. (About 97% of the students are Christian, Jewish, agnostic, or atheist.) - Ideally, it’s religion in a specific cultural context (Shinto in Japan, Islam in Uzbekistan, Wicca in Berkeley). - Realistic with regard to religion. I don’t mind if details are stretched or bent, but I’d prefer an author who has done his or her homework. - Must be a good read, and reasonably accessible. My students have varying reading levels, but if it’s written like an A.S. Byatt novel, it will be beyond most of them. - Available in paperback: I don’t want to break the bank, and they probably won’t be able to sell it back. - I’ll consider a science fiction novel with an author-created religion, but I’d prefer one where I can assign supplementary materials. I don’t mind what genre. I’m particularly open to young adult or mystery. Any suggestions? I’ll start the bidding with Hillerman’s _The Blessing Way_. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-tony-hillerman-fans-recommend-a-book-where-non-western-religion-is-important/494767/2 "2009-04-29T21:23:23Z")
[Things Fall Apart](http://www.amazon.com/Things-Fall-Apart-Chinua-Achebe/dp/0385474547), by Chinua Achebe. It is a good read, and very culturally centered. Religion plays a big part in the story - I’m not sure of the specific religion, but it is a Nigerian tribal religion - both before and after colonialization and the introduction of Christianity. The main character has multiple wives and there is at least one account of ritual human sacrifice in the novel. It is an extremely popular novel worldwide, but not in the U.S. for some reason. It is accessible to a high school student. ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-tony-hillerman-fans-recommend-a-book-where-non-western-religion-is-important/494767/3 "2009-04-29T21:47:16Z")
[The Chinese Bell Murders: A Judge Dee Detective Story](http://www.amazon.com/Chinese-Bell-Murders-Judge-Detective/dp/0060728884/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241041327&sr=8-9) is worth a look. It is set in China circa 900AD, and is carefully researched. Judge Dee himself is Confucian, and he interacts with (and has a low opinion of) Buddhists. It has a lot to say about the cultural context of the time and place, written to be accessible to Westerners. I think that a discussion of whether or not Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism are religions would be of interest. On the other hand, it is not really about religion in any particular way. It would probably challenge high-school students, and it does have a fair amount of sex in the background. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-tony-hillerman-fans-recommend-a-book-where-non-western-religion-is-important/494767/4 "2009-04-29T21:51:41Z")
Thanks for the replies so far! These are college students, so sex and death in the novel is not a problem; they’re just not necessarily reading at a college level. Thanks No Child Left Behind! (Most of the rest of their reading will be college-level, but I want to ease them in.) ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-tony-hillerman-fans-recommend-a-book-where-non-western-religion-is-important/494767/5 "2009-04-30T01:20:47Z")
I suppose it depends on whether or not you consider Wicca to be “Western”. But the series by S.M. Stirling that starts with Dies the Fire has a considerable Wiccan element, as on of the most important characters is a witch. In the later books you see Wicca and Wiccans interacting with people of other faiths, particularly Christians. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-tony-hillerman-fans-recommend-a-book-where-non-western-religion-is-important/494767/6 "2009-04-30T15:30:17Z")
I was using “Non-Western” as a kind of a shorthand — Wicca is definitely Western, but would certainly count for my purposes. This thread isn’t garnering much interest [I probably shouldn’t have put Hillerman in the title]. Just in case anyone is following, I’m also considering Keith Hartman’s _The Gumshoe, the Witch, and the Virtual Corpse_, set in futuristic Atlanta. It has Southern Baptists, Wiccans, and Cherokees. I really like the book, but it is a little long and the copyediting is terrible, so it’s low on my list of possibilities. ---
**Author:** ![Elysium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@Elysium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysium)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-tony-hillerman-fans-recommend-a-book-where-non-western-religion-is-important/494767/7 "2009-04-30T16:05:45Z")
Guy Gavriel Kay’s [Lions of Al-Rassan](http://www.amazon.com/Lions-al-Rassan-Guy-Gavriel-Kay/dp/0060733497/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241107281&sr=8-1) looks at the interactions between Christianity, Islam, and Judaism in an alternate universe analog of Spain in the 12th century. The religions are renamed but the central tenets are the same and the politics of the religions are well explored. The three central characters are a female Jewish doctor, a male Muslim courtier/soldier, and Christian El-Cid character. It’s a really good read and deals with racism, sexuality, religion, and war very nicely. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-tony-hillerman-fans-recommend-a-book-where-non-western-religion-is-important/494767/8 "2009-04-30T16:40:10Z")
How about Kim Stanley Robinson’s _Years of Rice and Salt_? In which the Black Death didn’t just devastate Christian Europe but wiped it out. We see several characters reincarnated through the centuries as the new world shapes up. Islam, Hinduism, the religions of China & Native American beliefs fluorish. Not a perfect book but a very interesting one. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-tony-hillerman-fans-recommend-a-book-where-non-western-religion-is-important/494767/9 "2009-04-30T23:07:18Z")
Okay. I’ve checked _Things Fall Apart_ out of the library: so far, this one is great. Regarding the Kim Stanley Robinson book, I was looking at reviews online and they all seemed to say that the first ¾ of the book was worthwhile, but the ending not so much. Would you agree with that? I’m not mad on KSR (exception: _Escape from Kathmandu_). As it stands it’s rather long for a class. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-tony-hillerman-fans-recommend-a-book-where-non-western-religion-is-important/494767/10 "2009-05-01T00:59:12Z")
_Sacred Games_ by Vikram Chandra would be on topic, but at 900 pages it’s way too long. The protagonist is a Sikh, and other key characters are Muslim and Hindu. The story is sort of a crime novel, but more of sprawling epic. Bonus - learn Hindi curse words. I haven’t read it yet, but \*Life of Pi \*might be another option - from the Publisher’s weekly review “His curious mind also makes the leap from his native Hinduism to Christianity and Islam, all three of which he practices with joyous abandon.” ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-tony-hillerman-fans-recommend-a-book-where-non-western-religion-is-important/494767/11 "2009-05-01T02:15:23Z")
I’ll second _Life of Pi_. Pi grows up in India, and his takes on Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam are very interesting and I thought they were quite enlightening. They also lead to one of my favorite scenes. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-tony-hillerman-fans-recommend-a-book-where-non-western-religion-is-important/494767/12 "2009-05-01T02:46:21Z")
My daughter recommended Aztec, by Gary Jennings, but it’s looong. Probably more than you want for your class, but she said it was good, and it has pretty good depictions of Aztec rites and beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-tony-hillerman-fans-recommend-a-book-where-non-western-religion-is-important/494767/13 "2009-05-01T03:31:04Z")
_Between the Rivers_ by Harry Turtledove: Turtledove actually manages to make an interesting historical novel out of ancient Mesopotamian theology and trade relations.