Cod Streuth

This pretends to be the diary of the fictional Jacques le Balleur, a lusty, apostate, 16th century French Calvinist who travels with missionary zealots deep into the jungles of Brazil. Soon the Europeans meet cannibals, and immediately a deep schism erupts among the missionaries over the issue of how the "eating" of Christ's "flesh and blood" is to be interpreted and, hence, whether cannibalism is to be prescribed or proscribed. Le Balleur is persecuted by his brethren and flees to a tribe that awaits the delivery of a sacred book. The tribe seizes le Balleur's copy of Rabelais, which becomes the foundation of a Rabelaisian cult with le Balleur as king, a position he must hold onto by continuing to prove his sexual prowess. This novel is farcical and whimsical but not delightful enough to be Rabelaisian. Only mildly humorous, and having far too ambitious a plot for a book of its short length, this leaves the reader feeling (if not a little revolted) empty and bemused.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.