The Naming of the Dead (An Inspector Rebus)

The Naming of the Dead (An Inspector Rebus)
Average customer rating:

Inspector Rebus Goes It Alone Again

there are a lot better mysteries around!

A late bloomer to the series, I still found a thrilling Mystery

A fine crime novel, even in translation

Still in form

The Naming of the Dead (An Inspector Rebus)
Ian Rankin
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Police Procedurals | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Rankin, Ian | ( R ) | Authors, A-Z | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0316057576

Book Description

The leaders of the free world descend on Scotland for an international conference, and every cop in the country is needed for front-line duty...except one. John Rebus's reputation precedes him, and his bosses don't want him anywhere near Presidents Bush and Putin, which explains why he's manning an abandoned police station when a call comes in. During a preconference dinner at Edinburgh Castle, a delegate has fallen to his death. Accident, suicide, or something altogether more sinister? And is it linked to a grisly find close to the site of the gathering? Are the world's most powerful men at risk from a killer? While the government and secret services attempt to hush the whole thing up, Rebus knows he has only seventy-two hours to find the answers.

Customer Reviews:

Inspector Rebus Goes It Alone Again.......2007-09-19

Ian Rankin's Scottish Detective Inspector John Rebus drinks too much, smokes too much, is a loner, defies his higher-ups and the Special Branch London spooks, but has a moral compass that can't be tampered with. The G8 world leaders are meeting near Edinburgh, and Rebus is, as usual, a loose cannon, going his own way, defying orders, investigating four murders. The scenes of protest in the streets are vividly drawn and form a backdrop for the story. In this book Rebus's sidekick Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke comes into her own as a character and shares center stage. She'll be up for her own series soon.
The book at 452 pages is too long, is replete with scores of red herrings, implausible events, coincidences, and an overcomplicated plot, but Rankin is still sharp, original, almost brilliant in his storytelling--better than most crime writers out there. Rebus is "obsessed and sidelined, cranky and mistrusted." The book has wry and sardonic humor; Rebus even causes President Bush to fall off his bike during an exercise ride.
The ending is unsatisfactory. You may feel as if you've been taken for a circuitous ride to nowhere and forced to fall off your bike. We've met a lot of rogue maverick homicide cops in crime fiction like Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch, but who would want to always read about a "go by the book" copper like Ruth Rendell's Inspector Wexford? Rankin keeps turning out clever, absorbing books about his misfit, drowning detective who's gnawing away at the bad guys on both sides of the law.
Nine Lives Too Many
The Daemon in Our Dreams
The Rice Queen Spy

there are a lot better mysteries around!.......2007-09-04

I was disappointed in the book, the plot rambles on and on and doesn;t really tie into the story plot and the two main characters are not very bright.. the only thing good about the book was the ending.. 20 pages...

A late bloomer to the series, I still found a thrilling Mystery .......2007-08-06

Just as I leaving to take a long airline trip, my neighbor gave this book to read. Unfortunately, she forgot to tell me that this book was part of a series and that it was best that I read the earlier novels by Ian Rankin. Still, I struggled through "The Naming of the Dead" and finished it three days later. If you are a fan of this author and have read the series you probably are thrilled with the character Detective Inspector John Rebus, but coming in cold with this character I found myself trying to comprehend exactly who he was. One thing, I never found him to be boring and the plot kept my interest. I was hoping for an exciting mystery to unfold and by mid point in the story it did. The author's writing is style flows easily and he has a knack for describing in detail the scenes, police procedures, crime scenes and the traits of the characters. Overall, in my opinion this is a wonderful mystery novel, even though it is clouded by coming in late to the series. I'll definitely try another novel by Mr. Rankin that revolves around the Rebus character.

Another fantastic Mystery novel that I believe you would enjoy is The Monopoly Factor by Robert L. Saunders. This author has never disappointed me, and this story about corporate deceit, murder, creed and a bit of romance is a solid story that will keep you up till you finish reading the last page. It's a swift, no-nonsense story written in a highly effective, uncluttered fashion. Also, check out his dramatic Women's Fiction novel Gathering of Cans. Zoie Baker is the heroine and a dreamer that believes she can build a swimming pool by gathering aluminum cans along the dusty roads. It's a unique, warm and wonderful story. Don't miss this story, it's amazing. Have a super day.

A fine crime novel, even in translation.......2007-08-02

This covers a set of interlocking events, including several murders, around the 2005 G8 Summit in Scotland. It is a fine read as a murder mystery, but much of the fun comes from Rankin's study of the darkly cynical Detective Inspector Rebus's interactions with a wide range of G8 visitors and with the local troublemakers they bring out.

I was a student at Edinburgh and I enjoy the way Rankin captures the feel of the city, not just in the physical locations but in the mood and style of the locals. Unfortunately this flow is sometimes undermined by changes made for the American edition. In several places everyday British words are replaced with jarringly out-of-place American equivalents.

If you aren't familiar with British English then these relatively minor translation changes will probably be invisible and you should happily enjoy the American edition. But if you are accustomed to British English and prefer a more authentic style, you might want to consider buying via amazon.co.uk. (I plan to do that for other Rankin novels.)

In either version, it is well worth a careful reading!

Still in form.......2007-06-12

Ian Rankin has brought us another taut and compelling thriller about Edinburgh and the now aging Inspector Rebus. Arriving at the end of his career, Rebus still is driven to find politically inconvenient truths. He even revels in it. And Siobhan, his partner, may be heading in the same career derailing direction as she tries to manage the unfortunate nexus of her personal and professional lives. Well written, evocative of the time and place, and involving. Well worth the 5 stars.

Average customer rating:

Delicious slice of Edinburgh life!
Wonderfully Enjoyable Book
makes you want to visit Scotland
hilarious
A very enjoyable read

44 Scotland Street
Alexander Mccall Smith
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1400079446
Release Date: 2005-06-14

Book Description

Welcome to 44 Scotland Street, home to some of Edinburgh's most colorful characters. There's Pat, a twenty-year-old who has recently moved into a flat with Bruce, an athletic young man with a keen awareness of his own appearance. Their neighbor, Domenica, is an eccentric and insightful widow. In the flat below are Irene and her appealing son Bertie, who is the victim of his mother’s desire for him to learn the saxophone and italian–all at the tender age of five.

Love triangles, a lost painting, intriguing new friends, and an encounter with a famous Scottish crime writer are just a few of the ingredients that add to this delightful and witty portrait of Edinburgh society, which was first published as a serial in The Scotsman newspaper.

Customer Reviews:

Delicious slice of Edinburgh life!.......2007-09-24

This book was written for The Scotsman newspaper in serial form, as many of Charles Dickens's novels were. It's not Dickensian, but Smith's view of the purpose of fiction is certainly compatible with Dickens's - "to remind us of the virtues - of love and forgiveness, for example - and these can be portrayed just as well in an ongoing story of everyday life as they can on a more ambitious and more leisurely canvas." That is not to say that this book is dull or moralizing - far from it! Smith's sly wit enlivens each character and scene and makes me think more of Austen than of Dickens. It is no easy feat to write article-length chapters interesting in themselves, that are connected in theme and tone, with a central plot thread which is tied up satisfactorily in the end (at least for me...some reviewers have disagreed). Smith has done it.

The cast of characters here is presumably the one that we will meet in the next two novels of the series, Espresso Tales and Love Over Scotland. Smith has left loose ends for future exploration. These characters may not equal the popularity of his Botswana folks (Mma Ramotswe of the Ladies Detective Agency) but it's a very close call. It's satisfying to watch Pat (the twenty-year old in search of work and love and social life) grow in realizing and acting on her own very good judgment of people and situations. Pat's older sidekicks, Domenica and Angus, are witty sophisticates with a taste for the down-to-earth - Pat probably won't turn out to be like them, but they are an amusing counterbalance for her innocence and honesty.

Bruce - aaaahhhhh, Bruce! Bruce deserves his own paragraph, as he would certainly tell us. No more about Bruce, you gotta read it. Irene, our other over-the-top manipulator, is equally amazing, in a much more intellectual way. I still can't get over the idea of a Stockhausen ringtone...anyway, that's the snobby nouveau-riche side of Edinburgh for you. And Bertie, Irene's son, is right up there with Pat as the most interesting character. We are going to see much more of Bertie, I hope. Matthew, Pat's "boss" (if it is possible to think of Matthew as a boss), will continue to surprise us.

Edinburgh itself is a character in the book. Some of Scotland's poets and politicians appear in this book (the introduction fills us in on who is real and who is not), and as we get to know them and hear some of their poems (courtesy of Domenica and Angus), we feel that we are beginning to know this place, its past and present. Big Lou, the coffee-shop owner who reads Proust, is fictional, but I bet there is someone close to being Big Lou in Edinburgh somewhere. One day I'm going to meet her!

If you like the Botswana series, give this one a try! I'm betting you will be hooked.

Wonderfully Enjoyable Book.......2007-09-22

I picked this (and the sequel) up on my way back from a business trip in the U.K. I've read all of Mccall Smith's "#1 Lady Detective Agency Books" so I thought I'd give this a go.

The book is excellent and an incredible joy to read. I started and finished the book on the 7 hour flight back, and many times laughed out loud at some of the humor and the fascinating characters.

I'll say this - every book I read by Mccall Smith makes me want to go visit the country in which it's set. This is no different. Edinburgh in Scotland is high on the agenda for the next trip.

If you're traveling overseas, buy this first book for the trip over, then wait to get the sequel for the return flight.

makes you want to visit Scotland.......2007-07-29

Good characters, an alluring setting and a good tale make this series an enjoyable read. You will be eager to read the next one.

hilarious.......2007-05-21

This book is absolutely hilarious. The characters, while apparently quintessentially Scottish, are easily relatable to anyone of any nationality in that you sit there and think, "I know someone exactly like that!" You do not have to be from Edinburgh to find this book laugh-out-loud funny. True, there is not much of a resolution at the end, but this book is one of the few instances where the writing is the point, not the plot (which is enjoyable on its own anyway). I can't wait to read the sequel.

A very enjoyable read.......2007-02-22

I really liked this book. It was a joy to read. The characters are interesting and unpredictable. Also, it's been a while since I've laughed out loud while reading a book, but I did so with this one.

The Right Attitude to Rain: An Isabel Dalhousie Novel (Isabel Dalhousie Mysteries)

Average customer rating:

Needs More Substsance....
A little more introspective
Isabel Dalhousie takes a new direction
I finally love Isabel Dalhousie
Interesting and fun characters

The Right Attitude to Rain: An Isabel Dalhousie Novel (Isabel Dalhousie Mysteries)
Alexander Mccall Smith
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Women Sleuths | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0375423001
Release Date: 2006-09-19

Book Description

The delectable new installment in the best-selling and beloved adventures of Isabel Dalhousie.

When Mimi, Isabel’s cousin from Dallas, arrives in Edinburgh with her husband, Joe, several confounding situations unfurl. First, Mimi and Joe introduce Isabel to Tom Bruce–a bigwig back home in Texas. The roving eye of Tom’s young fiancée leads Isabel to believe that money may be at the root of her love for Tom. But what, Isabel wonders, is at the root of Tom’s interest in Isabel herself? Then there are the feelings that Isabel has for Jamie, which are certainly hard to ignore. And she mustn’t forget about her niece, Cat, who’s busy falling for a man whom Isabel suspects of being an incorrigible mama’s boy.

Of course, Jamie counsels Isabel to stay out of it all, but there are irresistible philosophical issues at stake–when to tell the truth and when to keep one’s mouth shut, to be precise–and philosophical issues are meat and drink to Isabel Dalhousie, editor of the Review of Applied Ethics. In any case, Isabel is certain of the ethical basis for a little sleuthing now and again–especially when the problems involve matters of the heart.

Customer Reviews:

Needs More Substsance...........2007-10-03

I've read McCall's entire #1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, the first of The Sunday Philosophy Club series and now this. His books are repetitive, with constant allusions to what was written about in previous books. Please, in the future, write a prologue for those who haven't read prior books in a series, so those who have, don't have to be reminded of what they know.
The protagonist in this series is Isabel Dalhousie, who edits a journal of applied ethics. She fancies herself to be a philosopher, and constantly rambles on and on ad nauseum about defining her duties to other people.
She, like Mms Ramotswe, in the detective series, longs for a more gentile time, where people were connected to others, and polite to everyone; is a woman who was left money; starts out being single; unwinds with tea; and has an assistant whose first name is Grace. Although this series is more substantive than the first, there isn't enough meat in it for me.
Should Isabel have an affair with Jamie, or shouldn't she? Will it affect her friendship with him or not? Will her niece be upset (since her niece had an affair with him in the past)? Does her niece have a right to be upset? Is their age difference a problem? What will her housekeeper think? Does it matter if others approve. Get the picture.
I believe authors should "show not tell" and this author tells from every angle possible. Repeatedly.
Why the book is considered a mystery, is the only mystery one will encounter.

A little more introspective.......2007-08-27

Not as jolly fun as some of Mccall Smith, this book deals with fall summer romances and other topics on love and life after forty. Certainly not a mystery. No corpses in this book

Isabel Dalhousie takes a new direction.......2007-08-22

This is a wonderful, meandering story that gives the Isabel Dalhousie series a totally new focus. Isabel comes to the fore as a central character instead of her accustomed role as an observer of others. To be sure, the reader still gets the benefit of her ongoing philosophical mulling of virtually everyone and everything that happens in her life, but in this book, she actually HAS a life. And it's a life that has real emotion and serious romance. Throughout this book (and the rest in the series), the author, Alexander Mccall Smith, uses his characters so well to demonstrate the unceasing zig-zagging that marks everyone's interior lives and ultimately serves up a continuing story full of human foibles, generosity, uncertainty, warmth and love of all kinds. Like virtually all of Mccall Smith's books, "The Right Attitude to Rain" leaves the reader feeling better about human kind and reflective on how to better deal with life's fellow travelers.

I finally love Isabel Dalhousie.......2007-08-18

I was not sold on Isabel when I read the beginning portion of this series (I preferred 44 Scotland Street), but I loved this book. Isabel in particular came alive for me in this book. Smith is so amazing -- even a classic fiction ploy comes as a surprise at the end of this novel.

Interesting and fun characters.......2007-08-17

In another installment in the Isabel Dalhousie mystery series set in Edinburgh, Scotland, we see the wealthy philosopher in a different light. In previous books she was described as a middle-aged spinster, but in this novel Isabel has a suitor. Who cares that he is her niece's castoff? Or that he is fourteen years her junior? Isabel ponders these sticky details as she continues to fall in love with Jamie.

Isabel isn't an innocent; she has been married before and has seen much in her life. She is aware of how fortunate she is to have inherited a house and enough money to keep her in good stead for life. She enjoys a good relationship with her niece, Cat, and is hosting her cousin and spouse, Mimi and Joe, on vacation from America.

It is through Mimi and Joe that she is introduced to another couple from America. Tom and Angela were observed by Isabel in an Edinburgh museum before she met them. She noticed things out of kilter with their relationship on first view, and those things are only reinforced when introduced. Why is Angela with the older man whose face is partially paralyzed? Is it love? Of him or his money? Should Isabel tell Tom of her suspicions about his fiance? Always a philosopher, Isabel feels the need to think and talk these questions out with Jamie. Here lies my biggest, maybe only, problem with the book. Jamie seems to agree with her every spoken thought and seems to have no opinions of his own. He comes across as too malleable. It's hard to feel sexual tension in the story when he has so little personality.

But this series is about philosophical judgments and how they apply to everyday life, and this book is no different. Isabel Dalhousie is an intriguing, fun character. The other characters in the book are interesting and the dialogue is entertaining. The lack of strong mystery doesn't detract from the diversionary amusement value.

Alexander McCall Smith always makes the reader aware of the gentle nature of humans, and a genteel way of life. This book becomes more difficult to put down after the halfway point.

Armchair Interviews says: You can count on this author making you think about human nature.

Average customer rating:

great
Drug addiction and friendship
Grim and accurate portrayal of the drug scene in the UK
Choose Life
hard to understand, must be patient

Trainspotting
Irvine Welsh
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0393314804

Amazon.com

Irvine Welsh's controversial first novel, set on the heroin-addicted fringe of working-class youth in Edinburgh, is yet another exploration of the dark side of Scottishness. The main character, Mark Renton, is at the center of a clique of nihilistic slacker junkies with no hopes and no possibilities, and only "mind-numbing and spirit-crushing" alternatives in the straight world they despise. This particular slice of humanity has nothing left but the blackest of humor and a sharpness of wit. American readers can use the glossary in the back to translate the slang and dialect--essential, since the dialogue makes the book. This is a bleak vision sung as musical comedy.

Book Description

For the first time in hardcover with the original jacket art: "The best book ever written by man or woman...deserves to sell more copies than the Bible."—Rebel, Inc.

Trainspotting is the novel that first launched Irvine Welsh's spectacular career—an authentic, unrelenting, and strangely exhilarating episodic group portrait of blasted lives. It accomplished for its own time and place what Hubert Selby, Jr.'s Last Exit to Brooklyn did for his. Rents, Sick Boy, Mother Superior, Swanney, Spuds, and Seeker are as unforgettable a clutch of junkies, rude boys, and psychos as readers will ever encounter. Trainspotting was made into the 1996 cult film starring Ewan MacGregor and directed by Danny Boyle (A Shallow Grave).

Customer Reviews:

great.......2007-09-06

fantastic once you get the hang of the language and slang. Suggestion--watch the movie first to put a face with the characters. The movie is but a fraction of the book, so it won't spoil anything. LOVE IT!!!

Drug addiction and friendship.......2007-04-15

Once you get over the dialect (it is written a scottish accent), and it doesn't take long to do. You find a funny, sad and disturbing account of drug addiction and the nature of friendship.
There's so much more here than in the movie.
One of my favouries.

Grim and accurate portrayal of the drug scene in the UK.......2006-12-26

If you like the movie and you've also got the soundtrack cds then go the whole hog and give it a read. It consists of a series of vignettes that were woven together superbly for the film. Readers might be put off initially by Welsh writing in a scottish dialect, but once you suss it out, it works most effectively in setting the scene and the characters - and there's a almost complete dictionary in the back. Some of the scenes are a tad grimmer than the film portrayed - hence the beauty of books allowing character development etc. But that said the film captured the essence of the book very, very well. The cover shows the cast of the film, and I think they did a grand job matching up the characters to the actors especially Begby.

Welsh indicates how easy it is for the disenfranchised of the western world, and probably all cultures, to find themselves trying drugs "just the once, I can handle it" and then caught in the embrace of addition, needing the next fix and how to fund it etc.

A very powerful protrayal of the sad and seedy world of drug addiction. (The "Mile End" track by Pulp captures it perfectly).

Recommended!

Choose Life.......2006-10-18

As other reviewers have noted, Trainspotting is more a collection of short stories than an actual novel. Beyond the gritty surface, Trainspotting is more idea-driven than story-driven, as what ties it all together is the theme of addiction and acceptance.

On one level, heroin addiction is portrayed as a symptom of a moribund Scottish working-class, struggling to deal with a post-industrial, post-Thatcher UK. It's telling that the only thing for a healthy person to do in the book is to move to London or out of the country entirely.

On another level, heroin addiction is portrayed as a symptom of existential angst. Mark Renton AKA Rent-Boy is a nihilist for whom heroin is simply the most ready-made, prepackaged form of self-negation that he has access to. He fancies himself a martyr for the cause of oblivion, but as he himself attests, this martyrdom is childish, romantic, and entirely ego-centric.

I would argue that, in essence, Trainspotting is a coming-of-age story. It deals with a group of young adults who are addicted to self-pity in varying degrees, in this case in the form of heroin. Some of the characters are able to get beyond their own fear and needless self-loathing and become full-fledged human beings. Others are not so lucky; the book is littered with psychic debris. In a more just society, more people might make it, but not everybody. That's life, and nobody can make you choose to live it.

hard to understand, must be patient.......2006-06-16

i was real excited about reading this, being a big fan of the movie and all, but in the end was dissapointed. It just seemed to be a bunch of random scenes with no connection, and it was depressing, people shooting heroin, getting AIDS and dying all the time, getting off the heroin, and then going back to it. Also, the hard scot dialect was difficult to read, even out loud and irritating...this is a book that requires a lot of patience

Process and Reality (Gifford Lectures Delivered in the University of Edinburgh During the Session 1927-28)

Average customer rating:

The Timaeus and Process and Reality
Poor writing style
"The shock of a great philosopher."
The Brilliance of Hard Work and Imagination
uplifting but difficult....

Process and Reality (Gifford Lectures Delivered in the University of Edinburgh During the Session 1927-28)
Alfred North Whitehead
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0029345707

Customer Reviews:

The Timaeus and Process and Reality.......2006-12-11

If you can read closely, this is not as difficult as many would have you believe. It is a brilliant analysis of that which comes before any study of physics and how you can understand general and special relativity theory through meta(that which comes before)physics. A wonderfu exercise is to read it side by side with Plato's TIMAEUS. Doing so will blow your socks off.

Poor writing style.......2005-03-23

"Whitehead" doesn't refer to something on the face. Although, like puss spewing therefrom, the book is a morass of grotesque prose. What is Whitehead getting at that so many scholars seem to ignore completely? At the core of Whitehead's philosophy is "bifurcation of nature." From this, Ph.D's have waxed eloquent and stated, "Aha, Whitehead is a panentheist," meaning, the universe contains a god like a spirit in the body. Hmmmm. Modern democrats espouse an unusually similar theory that cannot be coincidence. Nevertheless, everyone has missed the point. First and foremost, to his credit, Whitehead had great command over mathematics and modern ideas in science. More noteworthy is the fact that quantum mechanics (micro physics) and relativity theory (macro physics) cannot be reconciled (unless we use Hermann Weyl's guage theory, which implements methods from group theory, which is nothing but mathematical formalism and reconstruction with no physical meaning). The theories are irreconcilable since relativity predicts via E=mc squared that an electron, which approaches the speed of light, must approach infinity. Yet, the physical fact is that an electron is of finite weight (although, I think a clue to this problem is in nuclear fission, aka the fact of the atom bomb). Whitehead resolved to accept that both quantum mechanics and relativity theory are both true, or rather, complete unto themselves for the domain of physical phenomena they addressed, and resolved to accept they cannot be reconciled. This resolution is formulated in his fundamental hypothesis about the bifurcation of reality. Case closed.

"The shock of a great philosopher.".......2001-08-26

I approached this book as an influence to Ken Wilber. In his book, SEX, ECOLOGY, SPIRITUALITY, he recognizes Whitehead "as one of the first great philosophers of vision-logic" (p. 191). As Editor Donald Sherburne acknowledges in the Preface to this edition, PROCESS AND REALITY "is highly technical and far from easy to understand" (p. v). In fact, Whitehead (1861-1947) makes reading Ken Wilber seem easy.

First published as a series of lectures in 1929, PROCESS AND REALITY sets forth Whitehead's philosophy of speculatve metaphysics. "Speculative Philosophy," he writes, "is the endeavor to frame a coherent, logical, necessary system of general ideas in terms of which every element of our experience can be interpreted" (p. 3). Whitehead integrates the the works of Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Locke, Hume, and Kant (p. 39), as he looks into the nature of all things as an ongoing process. (About Plato, Whitehead says, "the safest general characterization of the whole Western philosophic tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.")

I do not profess to fully understand Whitehead, but his basic premise appears to be that reality is in an organic process of becoming, and is never complete. That is, he asserts the many become one and are then increased by one. So, too, God is a process of becoming. Whitehead's philosophy is revolutionary. "Philosophy never reverts to its old position after the shock of a great philosopher" (p. 11), he writes. I have given this book a four-star rating only because Whitehead's writing style is difficult and at times impenetrable, which detracts from his five-star content.

G. Merritt

The Brilliance of Hard Work and Imagination.......2000-12-18

Early in this century American philosophy made a 'linguistic' turn that determined the direction it would take all the way to the present day. In the spirit of the times, language made its way to the forefront of philosophy, the end result being (among other things) Positivism and a scientistic approach to the Geisteswissenschaften. It is a turn many of us, looking back, wish it had never made. Because of this turn, certain philosophers and ways of doing philosophy all but stopped being considered. Among these philosophers were Dewey and James. These thinkers have in recent decades been resurrected by contemporary neopragmatists, most notably Richard Rorty, who look back at the arid desert of mid-twentieth century philosophy and wonder how far we have come after all. To quote Rorty (who is certainly no Whiteheadian), American philosophical thought 'began taking its cue from Frege rather than Locke.' Broadly considered, this meant that language rather than experience, mind rather than body, was taken to be the most serious matter for philosophy.

Whitehead stayed with Locke. Whitehead wanted to critique most Modern philosophy with what he termed the 'philosophy of organism;' that is, Whitehead insisted that experience or 'feeling' rather than disembodied thinking was the hallmark of human existence, and that all experience was subjective. Now, this does not sound like Locke. Anyone writing this side of modernity knows that Locke was the quintessential modern philosopher, with all the baggage that entails. But when Whitehead wrote in the preface to Process and Reality that `the writer who most fully anticipated the main positions of the philosophy of organism is John Locke,' he was stressing the fact that Locke discarded metaphysics, seeking rather to look at what was actually happening, as far as he could tell.

In many ways, and though they wrote at the same time but in complete isolation from each other's thought, Whitehead and Heidegger were searching for the same thing, the thing both philosophers thought that Plato and Aristotle had known, but that had been forgotten in the intervening centuries: what it actually meant to experience something, or, as Cooper puts it, how `to make intelligible our immediate experience so that we can discover how it is possible to have any experience of the actual world.' Rather than reading Whitehead as an elaborate and old-school metaphysician, one ought to read him as a phenomenological empiricist, if such a beast exists, and thus find an answer to the people who dismiss Whitehead as `behind the times,' people who simply don't bother to actually read Whitehead.

It is true that thinkers still committed to a reductionist/linguistic approach to philosophy will not see Whitehead's importance as a critic of closed systems (Whitehead's is expressly open and revisable, one reason it has endured as long as it has without being widely read in philosophy departments). It is also true that American philosophy left Whitehead behind. However, the blind alleys linguistic analysis and positivism lead us into should cause us to wonder if we were led in the right directions, or if we should have left in the first place. Leaving something behind certainly does not necessarily mean progressing beyond it. Whitehead's goal was expressly NOT the goal of philosophy in America after his time, though Whitehead's goal had been an important part of James's `Radical Empiricism,' ironically. Whitehead looked back to James and Dewey, and Bergson on the continent, hoping `to rescue their type of thought from the charge of anti-intellectualism, which rightly or wrongly has been associated with it.' Present-day neopragmatism, noting how vapid and unsatisfying most rationalist and linguistic philosophy has become in American thought, also looks back to Dewey and James, but to the pragmatism rather than to the empiricism of these two masters. It has become axiomatic that the only way to read James and Dewey is as pragmatists, after all.

However, the axiom is not true. A `rediscovery' of Whitehead by contemporary American philosophy might lead to another and equally valid reading of James and Dewey. James, Dewey, and Whitehead were thinkers of the same ilk. If you like any two, you should at least consider reading the third. Similarly, the relations between Heidegger and Whitehead have only recently been resurfacing, and deserve closer scrutiny. Analytic philosophy never took seriously the questions raised by Heidegger because they weren't precise enough for logical analysis. When a grandfather of the analytic movement, Wittgenstein, began distancing himself from his earlier work, his own disciples balked because, they said, he seemed to be retreating into metaphysics! It is much more likely, however, that Wittgenstein realized that life cannot be reduced to propositions and truth tables. This was also Whitehead's view. Whitehead was also not precise enough for the analytic philosophers (I always wonder who is). Whether or not the fact that he did not measure up to their standards (and still does not) should be seen as an indictment or a complement remains to be seen.

Whitehead is an immensely difficult writer. Hosinski's Stubborn Fact and Creative Advance (1993) is a brilliant introductory work, and I highly recommend it, especially if you have to read Whitehead for a class Sherburne's Key is also very helpful, though you get a lot of Sherburne, too. At issue is usually Whitehead's neologisms. To draw another analogy between Heidegger and Whitehead, however, both men were notorious for creating new words because what they wanted to explain was both so uncanny and yet so obvious that the old words didn't work. Don't let the language scare you away. Whitehead rewards hard work, and you will likely never forget what you learn from him. The ideas that we are beginning to take much more seriously these days about holistic thinking, interconnectedness, interdisciplinarity, non-dualism, commensurability between science and religion, and creativity were all covered by him seventy years ago. Don't let your professors tell you that Whitehead is an outmoded metaphysician. His `philosophy of organism' is as inherently open-ended, properly understood, as anything passing today as postmodernism. Read Whitehead.

uplifting but difficult...........2000-06-02

Whitehead carries on the tradition of turgidity inaugurated by Hegel and even buys into the philosophy-as-system game; on the plus side, however, his key concepts make sense, especially his emphasis creativity and on reality as process. If you're new to Whitehead, read someone else's stuff about him before attempting this book.

Edinburgh and Dore Lectures on Mental Science

Average customer rating:

A must read
Excellent
Troward Lectures
The Spirit Is Always Waiting To Be Called Forth
Great foundation

Edinburgh and Dore Lectures on Mental Science
Thomas Troward
Manufacturer: DeVorss & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Metaphysics | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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The Creative Process in the Individual (New Edition)
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ASIN: 0875166148

Customer Reviews:

A must read.......2007-07-24

Another reviewer wrote...

"Although many "New Thought" Authors quote Troward or credit him as being a pioneer in this movement, they depart from most all of his basic tenents in their wrtings. Most portray God as Mind which Troward does not. The main difference is whether we use God as most of the other Authors state or allow God to use us, which is the major line of demarcation between them and Trowad, and Scripture(s)."

... and I couldn't agree more. From "Think and Grow Rich," through, "The Secret," many authors and public speakers have claimed a lineage to Judge Troward's thoughts, but as the above reviewer noted, they part paths with him at one critical juncture. Whether it's through their inability to understand his works, or their desire to make it more appealing as some sort of "quick-fix," the essential message contained in Troward's writings is lost.

Troward's central message about a Creative power in the universe - which is basically the root cause for all existence - is shared by quite a few "new thought" proponents. However, this is generally where the similarities end. The latter authors claim this principle/power can be harnessed to bring about the things and life we desire, and while Troward doesn't disagree with our ability or capability to do so, he tries to nudge the reader and/or student away from this line of thinking.

The central point in Troward's teachings, as to interacting with this Creative power, is that we must allow It to direct us to It's ends - rather than trying to use It to attain our own. This may seem like a minor, inconsequential distinction, but it's essential to truly understanding his works.

The central premise woven throughout his writings is that for this Creative force to even exist at all, every part must essentially be working in harmony, otherwise one part working against another would take away from the whole rather than adding to it. Which would ultimately go against two fundamental principles of It's own existence, namely, Life and Growth.

In his words:

"What we are to dwell upon is the idea of an Infinite Power producing the happiness we desire, and because this Power is also the Forming Power of the universe trusting it to give that form to the conditions (in our life) which will most perfectly react upon us to produce the particular state of consciousness desired."

Rather than going on and on, I would urge whoever is seeking a very old path and trying to understand a very old principle, to not look elsewhere for the answers. Troward's works truly stand alone. The "Edinburgh & Dore Lectures," along with, "The Creative Process in the Individual," present the core of his teaching, however the others may help gain some perspective or clarify some of his points.

Excellent.......2007-07-14

This book was required for a class. Having purchased and returned unread a different Troward book a few years ago out of frustration, I thought I was going to struggle through this one. Troward wasn't fond of punctuation -- or, more specifically, periods. His sentences tend to be very long. However, this time around, I stopped noticing after two or three pages in. Troward had a knack for explaining certain things in an exciting, thorough, and articulate way. The class I used this for also used Ralph Waldo Emerson and Emma Curtis Hopkins. Though I've always loved Emerson, his writings can be laborious to get through at times. After reading Emerson, Troward was a refreshing breeze because his writings aren't flowery like Emerson's. There's nothing to try to figure out. (Ironically, after having read Hopkins, even Emerson seemed simple!) I highly, highly recommend this Troward book.

Troward Lectures.......2007-03-12

Tom Troward spent 25 years of his life in India, was a judge, a student of spirtuality and well respected Scottish scolar.
His lectures on spiritually reflect his broad experience, education and wisdom.
The lectures are a key contibutor to the foundations for the new thought movement in the United States. Mary Baker Eddie, Ernst Holmes and Eckhart Tolle to name a few have been influenced by his analytical approcah to ubderstanding the roots of spiritually. His wisdom can be applied in your daily life.

The Spirit Is Always Waiting To Be Called Forth.......2006-09-14

When I first decided that I wanted to become a Religious Science Practitioner, I was forewarned that I would probably have to study the writings of Thomas Troward. Most of the people I talked to said that his writing was pendantic, awkward, and cumbersome. When I finally did get into a class that exposed me to Troward, I wondered if I was reading the same man that these others had dismissed.

I love this book. I really do. One reviewer said it was an "imperfect work". Well, mmmm...maybe...sure...why not...but if there is one thing that I have learned over the years of studying metaphysics and attemting to boldly apply my spirituality in "Ordinary, every day living" and that is, the Perfect is always within the Imperfect; that the Living God that makes all things new is waiting to be called forth in each and every moment.

Troward does tend to write very long sentences without much puncuation and they can be awkward to read at times. But do not go into the reading looking for grammatical flaws, because if you do, you will surely find them. Instead, go into the reading with a willingness to know at a deeper level that God, the Infinite Source of all Creation is right where you are and this One Source is constantly supplying your every need.

Life is always responding to our thoughts...to our feelings...look around your life...what is it reflecting? If you are undergoing illness, or personal tragedy, or setbacks, allow yourself to gently and quietly return to your Source. Not out of shame or regret or remorse or guilt, but out of a deep knowing that this Perfect Spirit will shine through the imperfect channel and make Itself known to you and through you.

This is great book and it deserves to be in any great collection of metaphysical books. I recommend it highly for every page has at least one nugget of pure gold just waiting for you to embrace and make your own.

Here's knowing that you are always in the right place at the right time and that God is always guiding you to your Highest and Best.

Peace and Blessings.

Great foundation.......2005-09-22

Although many "New Thought" Authors quote Troward or credit him as being a pioneer in this movement, they depart from most all of his basic tenents in their wrtings. Most portray God as Mind which Troward does not. The main difference is whether we use God as most of the other Authors state or allow God to use us, which is the major line of demarcation between them and Trowad, and Scripture(s).

This is great book to establish this and other basic Truths and to begin to come into the understanding of the relationship of the personal to the Universal. I totally recommend this book and Trowad's other books The Creative Process in the Individual and Bible Meaning & Bible Mystery as essential addtions to the library of the serious Disciple.

A Question of Blood: An Inspector Rebus Novel

Average customer rating:

What a find!
More of a Whydunit than a Whodunit
Good characters, reasonably good mystery, fun
A very winding road
We all need Rebus - he makes our lives look so uncomplicated

A Question of Blood: An Inspector Rebus Novel
Ian Rankin
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0316095648

Amazon.com

Given his contempt for authority, his tendency to pursue investigative avenues of his own choosing, and his habitually ornery manner, it's a wonder that John Rebus hasn't been booted unceremoniously from his job as an Edinburgh cop. He certainly tempts that fate again in A Question of Blood, which finds him and his younger partner, Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke, trying to close the case of a withdrawn ex-soldier named Lee Herdman, who apparently shot three teenage boys at a Scottish private school, leaving two of them dead, before turning the pistol on himself.

"There's no mystery," Siobhan insists at the start of this 14th Rebus novel (following Resurrection Men). "Herdman lost his marbles, that's all." However, the hard-drinking, chain-smoking Rebus, who'd once sought entry into the same elite regiment in which Herdman served (but ultimately cracked under psychological interrogation), thinks there's more motive than mania behind this classroom slaughter. Perhaps something to do with the gunman's role in a 1995 mission to salvage a downed military helicopter, or with Teri Cotter, a 15-year-old "Goth" who broadcasts her bedroom life over the Internet, yet keeps private her relationship with the haunted Herdman. Rebus's doubts about the murder-suicide theory are deepened with the appearance of two tight-lipped army investigators, and by the peculiar behavior of James Bell, the boy who was only wounded during Herdman's firing spree and whose politician father hopes to use that tragedy as ammo in the campaign against widespread gun ownership. But the detective inspector's focus on this inquiry is susceptible to diversion, both by an internal police probe into his role in the burning death of a small-time crook who'd been stalking Siobhan, and by the fact that Rebus--who shies away from any family contacts--was related to one of Herdman's victims.

Now middle-aged and on the downward slope of his pugnacity (the high point may have come in 1997's Black and Blue), Rebus has become the engine of his own obsolescence. Overexposure to criminals has left him better at understanding them than his colleagues, and he only worsens his career standing by fighting other people's battles for them, especially Siobhan, who risks learning too many lessons from her mentor. To watch Rebus subvert police conventions and fend of personal demons (that latter struggle mirrored in A Question of Blood by Herdman's own) is worth the admission to this consistently ambitious series. --J. Kingston Pierce

Book Description

When a former soldier and recluse murders two 17-year-old students at a posh Edinburgh boarding school, Rebus immediately suspects there is more to the case than meets the eye. Army investigators show up to snoop around the scene of the crime, and links between the killer and a local group of "Goths" (a morbid clique of black-clad teens who listen to heavy metal music) begin to surface. But just as Rebus finds himself in the thick of the murder inquiry, he's threatened with suspension from the police force: a man who had been menacing his partner and friend, Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke, dies in the same house fire that has left Rebus with horrible, painful burns. Rebus is immediately suspected of foul play. Now Rebus is faced with two harrowing missions: He must get to the root of the boarding school killing even as he tries to clear his own name.

Download Description

When a former soldier and recluse murders two 17 year-old students at a posh Edinburgh boarding school, Inspector John Rebus immediately suspects there is more to the case than meets the eye. Army investigators show up to snoop around the scene of the crime, and links between the killer and a local group of "Goths" (a morbid clique of black-clad teens who listen to heavy metal music) begin to surface. But just as Rebus finds himself in the thick of the murder inquiry, he's threatened with suspension from the police force: a man who had been menacing his partner and friend, Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke, dies in the same house fire that leaves Rebus with horrible, painful burns, and Rebus is immediately suspected of foul play. Now Rebus is faced with two harrowing missions: he must get to the root of the boarding school killing even as he tries to clear his own name.

Customer Reviews:

What a find!.......2007-06-11

This is the first Ian Rankin novel I've read, but I'll make a point of reading them now. A really well designed mystery/police procedural by a Scottish author set in Edinburgh. The story begins with a school shooting, unfortunately an all too common event today, and not limited to the U.S. There was an earlier shooting in Scotland by a man who burst into a school, similar to Rankin's book. The actual shooting, as well as the whole gun control debate, are brought up in A Question of Blood, as well as other current issues U.S. readers will be familiar with, such as teenage gangs, the drug trade, Internet pornography and Goth kids, who might have stepped out of Columbine. The action is continuous and although there are a lot of characters and various subplots, you don't feel they get in the way of the story. Although the Scottish criminal justice system is somewhat different from the American, police and other personnel face similar problems. I found the book fascinating (I really hate that pseudo-word unputdownable) and recommend it to anyone who likes the mystery genre. Also on the school shooting theme, Jodi Picoult's Nineteen Minutes, in a U.S. setting, is a good comparison read.

More of a Whydunit than a Whodunit.......2006-11-23

The novel starts with a murder suicide; an ex-SAS serviceman walks into a posh private school and kills two students, wounds another and then turns the gun on himself. The Question is why would the killer walk pass all the other students on the Quad, and down a hall to this specific room?

So begins another John Rebus novel, but this one is a different presenta- tion: it's split into seven sections (each representing a day of the week) and follows Rebus and company as they methodically follow the clues to the culmination of the inquiry. One of the victims turn out to be the son of John's cousin, who he hasn't spoken to in years, another the son of a judge; and the wounded child is the son of the local MSP (Member of Scottish Parliament). Are there any connections?

Once again John is in hot-water and suspended, why? Seems that a "villian" who has been harassing Siobhan, had turned up dead in a fire. John was last seen leaving a bar with the victim, hours before the fire. John has turned up at St. Leonard's with his hands in bandages, that he says are the result of a "scalding". Things don't look good for our anti-hero.

But we know that in the end, all things will turn our right enough so that John will be able to stay on the force and go on his un-merry way. What makes the book so good, is that nothing that happens along the way is a turnabout, or a HUH? Everything that happens and the way all of the characters follow the clues are realistic and make for a believable chronology. Rankin is a master at developing a plausible story from beginning to end.

Good characters, reasonably good mystery, fun.......2006-06-18

The strength of Rankin's works is the realistic outlook of John Rebus and Siobhan Clarke: in a society that operates by mechnical principle, they are purely organic and in fact feral, which is what keeps them devoted to truth (in a world where lies are publically rewarded) and allows them to solve mysteries with several layers of implication. Rankin's layering technique is flawless, and his mysteries relatively realistic and logical, which combined with actors who are likable characterizations of threads of thought required to find a balance between society and soul, make for a powerful and fun read. We the readers feel we could live in this world, and even more, we want to, since these characters fight the same quintessential adaptation-or-conflict seesaw we ourselves must undergo. For those who non-critically enjoy a solid mystery that feels as if it could happen in our newspapers, if not our world, Rankin has produced another treat.

A very winding road.......2005-06-27

It kept me hooked, but there were so many characters and scenarios
going on, it was a little confusing. No great payoff until the end. My friend guessed the ending by reading the back cover.

We all need Rebus - he makes our lives look so uncomplicated.......2005-05-02

Ian Rankin and his DI Rebus are soo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o good! And the Scottish locales are so-o-o-o-o-o-o-o well described! And these story plots are just the best - they aren't about crime; they are about wrestling with morals and ethics and questions about whether the end justifies the means in the big picture of police work. As always, there are at least three plots going on here, and the main thread is snatched from the headlines of real-life tragedy: school shootings. Our moody, sullen, irresistible Rebus has his hands full, as usual, and is in hot water with his superiors, as usual. That seems to be when he does his best work. There is an unusually heavy dose of coincidence in this particular book and it propels the book along at an artificial pace but Rankin has earned our (or at least my) trust and forgiveness. It is still a tale well told.

Average customer rating:

Great book, poorly printed

This Is Edinburgh (This is . . .)
Miroslav Sasek
Manufacturer: Universe
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Travel | People & Places | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0789313871
Release Date: 2006-02-21

Book Description

Following the runaway bestsellers This is New York and This is Paris, Universe is pleased to reissue another title from M. Sasek's beloved and nostalgic children's travel series. Like the other Sasek classics, This is Edinburgh is a facsimile edition of the original book that is still timely and current in every way. The stylish, charming illustrations, coupled with Sasek's witty, playful narrative, make the book a perfect souvenir that will delight both children and their parents, many of whom will remember it from their childhood. The brilliant, vibrant illustrations have been meticulously preserved, remaining true to his vision more than forty years later and, where applicable, facts have been updated for the twenty-first century, appearing on a "This is ... Today" page at the back of the book. M. Sasek has captured the very spirit, pride, and grandeur of one of the noblest places on earth in This is Edinburgh, first published in 1961. Sasek is right at home in Scotland, with its famous sights, unique character, and iconic traditions of kilt and tartan, pipes and pipers, whisky and haggis.

Customer Reviews:

Great book, poorly printed.......2006-02-24

Although the drawings and text in this classic shine through, the illustrations make out badly in this reprint. With the exception of the cover, all the colors look drab and "washed out" when compared to my very tattered ex-library copy.

Fleshmarket Alley: An Inspector Rebus Novel

Average customer rating:

Murder and Once Again John Rebus is in the Thick of it
A betrayal
Not the best but Still Love Rebus
My first taste of Rankin...I'll have more, please.
Rebus Redux

Fleshmarket Alley: An Inspector Rebus Novel
Ian Rankin
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

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Police Procedurals | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

A Question of Blood: An Inspector Rebus Novel (Inspector Rebus Mysteries)
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The Hanging Garden (An Inspector Rebus Novel)

ASIN: 0316010405

Book Description

#1 international bestseller Ian Rankin sends Inspector John Rebus into the dark streets of Edinburgh's flesh trade when a shocking murder exposes an even more sinister underworld.

Inspector John Rebus has confronted Edinburgh's most hardened criminals, its bloodiest crime scenes, and its most dangerous backstreets--but nothing could prepare him for what he finds on Fleshmarket Alley.

In the city's red-light district, men go to live out their fantasies, and women with no other choice sell their bodies to make a buck. It's a neighborhood of lost inhibitions, scruples, and dreams. In its seediest clubs, refugees seeking asylum in Scotland are subjected to the whims of the most ruthless characters in the crime world--men Rebus knows all too well.

With his singular knack for making crime captivating, Ian Rankin delivers his most explosive mystery to date, fulfilling the promise millions of readers in the United Kingdom and America have seen throughout his accomplished career.

Customer Reviews:

Murder and Once Again John Rebus is in the Thick of it.......2006-12-01

Detective Inspector John Rebus and DS Siobhan Clark have been relocated from their old and familiar offices to Gayfield Square, which isn't all that far away. It's a well to do district, but close to Knoxland, which is one of Edinburgh's low rent housing development's.

And it's in Knoxland that an illegal immigrant is found stabbed to death. While trying to solve the case Rebus is forced to think about the fact that the powers that be would like him to retire, however police work is his life, he has nothing outside of that, so he has no intention of being made redundant, not now, not ever.

Knoxland is home to many immigrants, legal and otherwise and it's occupants have been the source of many racial attacks, so naturally it looks like a race crime. During his investigation Rebus learns much about the difficulties illegal aliens must face in Scotland. Including the legal ones, like the detention centers women and children are locked up in as they wait to find out if they are going to be allowed entry or if they're going to be deported.

Also, as this case is developing, Siobhan is approached by the mother of a teenage girl who has disappeared. Siobhan worked the prior case of the missing girl's sister three years earlier. The girl had been raped and then killed herself, so even though the case is now out of her jurisdiction, Siobhan decides to work it anyway.

And to make Rebus's and Siobhan's life even more complicated, they are called out to a bar in Fleshmarket Alley (Fleshmarket Close in the British version) where the remains of an infant and a woman have been discovered under the concrete floor during renovations.

The genius of Ian Rankin is that he can connect the dots, make us believe that as impossible as it might seem, all these cases are connected, but of course, it takes Rebus and Siobhan a while to put it all together and that makes for just one very, very good story. Mr. Rankin has given us plenty of John Rebus books and they just keep getting better.

Reviewed by Vesta Irene

A betrayal.......2006-03-29

I'm halfway through this book and like other readers, will probably give it up as soon as I find another book to read. I feel betrayed by an author who lures you into spending your money buying his book and your time reading it and then proceeds to batter you over the head with a political agenda. Never mind that I realize most of his points are valid; he could have gotten them across more effectively by just allowing the situations to speak for themselves. If an author feels he must espouse a cause, please let him do it subtly or, even more honestly, express his views in non-fiction. We get such a ceaseless diet of this type of thing every day from the media that some of us would like to just enjoy a good mystery, especially from an author we had trusted to deliver one.

Not the best but Still Love Rebus.......2006-02-05

Note to TV watchers: a completely different plot than the TV show of this name!

Way too many characters and subplots for me to keep track of. And Rebus seems less of a tortured soul than in the other books. But I still love to be with him and Siobhan. And, of course, ridiculous that they changed the title.

If you have only seen the John Hannah version of Rebus, I'd like to say that the book are, while still dark, far wittier.

My first taste of Rankin...I'll have more, please........2006-01-14

Am so glad I discovered this entertaining author--I know, I know, he's been around a long time, where have I been? That having been sad, many of our newest authors of police procedurals should take a lesson from this master. It can't be just about the story...it has to be about the writing. This guy can pen some snappy dialog...you can practically hear it jump off the page, just the way 3-dimensional people talk. He makes it seem so effortless.

So why did I only give it 4 stars? The plot was a little disconnected, perhaps too much going on to maintain the cohesion that I would've liked. I will definitely seek out previous works though...they're sure to be a lively read.

Rebus Redux.......2005-12-01

Ian Rankin isn't the bestselling mystery writer in the UK for nothing. His main man (alter ego?) Inspector John Rebus is a living, breathing anachronism in a jaded world and it is a pleasure to travel in his orbit, even if it means being drunk an awful lot of the time, or so it seems. Rebus is one of those people who has apparently reached an equilibrium with his booze and has achieved a certain ability to operate where most of us would be on our faces. This book could drive you to join Rebus with its unstinting look at the treatment of immigrants and refugees in Scotland and elsewhere in the world and the vulnerability at the hands of a system where they are easily prey to fleshmongers and slave traders. It isn't a pretty picture and it isn't a pretty book, but the story is clean and solid and the story is one that absolutely needs to be told.

The murder that starts this book is almost incidental to the journey of discover that it causes for Rebus and his compatriots. There is a subordinate story that may or may not hook into the primary murder involving the search for a missing girl. It is a heartbreaking development following the suicide of her sister, who was raped and never mentally recovered from the ordeal. The rapist is now out of prison and we don't know what to make of this information. Did he nab her as well? When he turns up dead, she moves from potential hostage to potential murderer...but nobody can find her.

This is more quickly paced than most Rebus books and with denser plotting. You don't need to know Scotland to read this effectively, but it is a good idea to keep track of the story locations in your mind. It might tend to get a little confusing, and "place" means everything to the effectiveness of this story. As if that weren't enough, there is also a very unusual potential romance for Rebus in this book that will have you scratching your head right along with him!

Average customer rating:

Great Map!
Edinburgh walks & sights

Streetwise Edinburgh (Streetwise)
Streetwise
Manufacturer: Streetwise Maps
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Map

World | Atlases & Maps | Reference | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1886705461

Book Description

STREETWISE(r) EDINBURGH
Revised yearly, STREETWISE(r) is the best-selling map of EDINBURGH, with coverage from port of Leith to Holyrood Park. Localities covered are the Royal Botanic Garden, John Knox's House, and Edinburgh Castle. Points of interest such as museums, hotels, parks, and popular sites are highlighted and fully indexed. The Edinburgh Area Map is clearly indicated on a map inset, and there is an area map of Scotland. Laminated for durability, accordion folded to fit in your pocket or purse, STREETWISE(r) gives you EDINBURGH in a clear, concise, and convenient format.

Customer Reviews:

Great Map!.......2007-09-29

This is a very easy to read map. It folds neatly and can be carried with you as you travel.

Edinburgh walks & sights.......2007-06-09

A serious visitor to Edinburgh (Ed n bur a) would find this most helpful if one actually studies it beforehand, plans by research, instead of willy-nilly browsing. What a wealth of history to experience.

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