History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Average customer rating:

Bleak but powerful work of African American literature
Overlooked classic...
A Must Read!
Urban Mockingbird
Realism at its best!!!

The Street
Ann Petry
Manufacturer: Mariner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0395901499

Book Description

THE STREET tells the poignant, often heartbreaking story of Lutie Johnson, a young black woman, and her spirited struggle to raise her son amid the violence, poverty, and racial dissonance of Harlem in the late 1940s. Originally published in 1946 and hailed by critics as a masterwork, The Street was Ann Petry's first novel, a beloved bestseller with more than a million copies in print. Its haunting tale still resonates today.

Customer Reviews:

Bleak but powerful work of African American literature.......2007-04-21

Even though the story takes the view mainly from Lutie, Petry does leap into the viewpoint of the other characters to get a dark look into the mindset caused by oppressive conditions. It's interesting to just imagine life in an urban poor neighborhood and the way it can distort and shape the dreams of working folk. Another good title for this would have been "Dreams Deferred" because you get a sense of that throughout the novel. It's important to remember when reading the novel that the American Dream gave the working class a purpose in their efforts but for blacks at that time the dream was always above a glass ceiling.

Overlooked classic..........2007-03-14

I came across this book as a 1970 edition paperback, with a 'blaxploitation' looking woman dressed in colorful clothing c. 1970... It looked like a 1960s ghetto story... I was surprised to see the 1946 publishing date after I read a few chapters and found out that the story takes place in 1944...

Anyone who wonders about race relations, the 'ghetto', the plight of black men finding jobs and fitting into society should read this book; it lays it all plain, and the fact that it takes place in 1944 is all the more revealing in that the ghetto has probably been here all along since after slavery, as an extension of slavery... The book could very well have taken place in 1970, just with different vices and prices and popular music; the story would be the same...

This book is truly haunting for anyone who wants to know what America is really like underneath; there is a color barrier, and a land of haves and have nots, and not enough decent jobs to go around...

Also surprising is that this book was not already made into a movie, since it screams out cinematically... even with its rawest of subject matter, I could picture Halle Berry as the lead, a Morgan Freeman as Jones, Wesley Snipes as Boots, etc. It would be surely controversial, since a lot of its strongest lines and ideas are a bare condemnation of the America societal system, history, economy, and the creators of the 'United States' and the Euro-American cultural millieu...

As an observer of American history and life, I have come to realize that the African American Black experience may in the end turn out to be the quinessential one, what with the old world slavery in the new world, the Civil War, jazz and blues forming the great part of America's truly original music, continued discrimination from much of 'mainstream' society in forms of integration... Ann Petry's THE STREET is one of America's great novels written by anyone of any color, but it really tells the whole truth, and nothing but, and all that no one wants to hear or admit...

America still has many problems, and this book is certainly a reminder of that... Let it be read by all walks...

A Must Read!.......2006-09-23

I have to admit, initially I found this book difficult and tedious due to the author's tendency to at times go into far too much detail. This is especially the case when we are privy to the protagnist's (Lutie Johnson)stream of consciousness. Sometimes when she is on a mental diatribe about how unfair the world is (in her opion due to White oppression) you find yourself wanting to say Alright! We get it already! Ultimately though the author weaves a heartwrenching tale that will make even the most jaded reader ponder why it is that some of us come into this world destined for a life of misery. Anyone from a privileged background would be well served to read this story to get some inkling of what it's like to be on the opposite end of the spectrum.

Urban Mockingbird.......2006-02-28

I listened to the out-of-print audio version on cassette, magnificently read by Lynne Thigpen (The Chief in Carmen Sandiego). The last tape was broken - gah - so I was forced to finish the book in paperback. The spoken word was much more powerful, but the brutal force of this story cannot be denied in any format. The supporting characters - Mrs. Hedges, Mr. Jones, Boots, Min - each have their own tortured tale deftly told, and each is defeated by the vicious racism of the times. Petry has written the urban version of "To Kill a Mockingbird", minus any redemption or hope. An afternoon in the life of Bub, a young boy left on his own while his mother(despite her obvious intelligence and drive) ekes out a paltry living as a file clerk, has him making a game out of watching starving dogs moving slowly and painfully through heaps of trash.

This would also make a powerful film - Spike Lee or John Singleton, attention should be paid!

Realism at its best!!!.......2006-02-25

Ann Petry's "The Street" still remains one of the quintessential masterpieces on race relations in America. Although written in the mid-century, its perspective on race briliantly depicted by its characters is so hauntingly real. The story focuses on Lutie Johnson, the first Afro-american protagonist in literature who struggles in the city to raise her eight-year-old son, Bub. Interestingly, Lutie understands the existence of race and privilege that Petry so methaphorically refers to as the wind and the street. The wind represents the racial force that presses against blacks such as Lutie to hold her and her ambitions hostage. The street actually is methoporical of an actual prison that houses all the victims of racism. Although Lutie understood the existence that there was racism, she failed to understand its complexities and failed to see how racism is actually not about money and the lack thereof, but is acutally about privilege which equates to access of opportunity. Furthermore, Lutie failed to understand male dominance and it connection with race when she fails to understand her postural position between two male characters. However, the beautifual motif is at what point do we contribute to our own victimization? This still remains one of the best pieces of literature that I have ever read alongside Native Son, by Richard Wright. Thank you Ann Petry for this gift.

Harper American Literature, Single Volume Edition (3rd Edition)

Average customer rating:

Possibly the best available U.S. lit anthology
I've taught using this book
I've used textbooks before...

Harper American Literature, Single Volume Edition (3rd Edition)
Donald McQuade , Robert Atwan , Martha Banta , Justin Kaplan , David Minter , and Robert Stepto
Manufacturer: Longman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0321012690

Customer Reviews:

Possibly the best available U.S. lit anthology.......2001-09-10

No anthology of United States literature is going to be ideal for every student, teacher, or general reader. But "The Harper Single Volume American Literature," under the general editorship of Donald McQuade, is probable the best overall anthology of its kind. Weighing in at about 3000 pages, this is a huge gathering of American voices. The third edition of this text includes some major changes.

The anthology starts out with such foundational texts as Native American myths, an excerpt from an Icelandic saga about the discovery of the New World, and writings of Christopher Columbus. There follows a good sampling of 17th century Colonial literature. From there, the anthology moves chronologically to the contemporary era.

There is a great diversity of material here: poetry, autobiography, letters, speeches, short stories, excerpts from novels, plays, political documents, and more. The authors chosen represent the ethnic diversity of the U.S.: there are Asian American, African American, Native American, Jewish, Latino/a, and other voices. There is a good balance of male and female authors, and an interesting representation of lesbian and gay literature (most notably the first part of Tony Kushner's play "Angels in America"). Through it all, most of the great names in U.S. literature appear.

There are informative introductions to each of the book's separate sections. Also fascinating are the several "Cultural Portfolios" scattered throughout the book. These are gatherings of texts and (in most cases) images that reflect a focused theme: the Salem witch trials, the Harlem Renaissance, etc. The most interesting of these Cultural Portfolios, in my opinion, is the one entitled "Who Is an American Writer?" This portfolio questions why some writers are "excluded" from the "canon" on the basis of birthplace, citizenship, or language in which they write; the portfolio includes examples of the writings of Vladimir Nabokov, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Maria Irene Fornes, Bharati Mukherjee, and others.

As excellent as this anthology is, there are some flaws. There is a virtual exclusion of important science fiction authors. Isaac Asimov, Octavia Butler, Ursula LeGuin, Ray Bradbury, Samuel Delany: neither these nor any of the other great sci-fi writers appear. The neglect of this important genre is lamentable.

I also question the inclusion of Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" in its entirety. This book is a pivotal masterpiece, but it is widely available in a number of inexpensive additions. I would have used the space in the anthology to include a variety of other works by Twain and other authors, and let interested teachers order a copy of "Huckleberry" separately.

Despite its flaws, this is a truly outstanding anthology. If you have a serious interest in the literature and history of the United States, I recommend that you get this book.

I've taught using this book.......2001-08-17

This is a nice collection for the 21st century, including lots of new voices while still maintaining enough of the canon for a good survey course. It's a big, heavy book (for a paperback) that might have been easier to read in two volumes, but as far as content goes, this one has Norton's beat by miles.

I've used textbooks before..........2000-11-16

but this is undoubtedly the best Anthology of American Literature available, if only because of the sheer variety and bulk of literature contained in it. As an added plus, there's background information on every author contained in the book. The writing varies from Columbus's diaries to late 20th century poetry, so there's something to interest everyone. All in all, it's a wonderful buy for the price.

The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Package 1: Volumes A-B

Average customer rating:

Wrong Product
"Canon" balls
Terrible...F-
Not revisionism, breadth
More Mathers Please

The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Package 1: Volumes A-B

Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0393977935

Book Description

Now available in a portable multi-volume format, The Norton Anthology of American Literature is the classic survey of American literature from its sixteenth-century origins to its flourishing present.

The Sixth Edition offers the work of 242 writers—30 newly included—representing the extraordinary wealth and diversity of American literature. Among the many major works included in their entirety are Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Thoreau's Walden, Douglass's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Clemens's Huckleberry Finn, Chopin's The Awakening, Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire, Larsen's Quicksand, Ginsberg's "Howl," Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross, and Parks's The America Play. Informative introductions, headnotes, footnotes, and bibliographies accompany the texts.

Package 1, "Literature to 1865," contains two slipcased volumes: "Literature to 1820" (Volume A) and "1820-1865" (Volume B).

Customer Reviews:

Wrong Product.......2007-02-08

Seller would not accept return or even respond when informed about it being the wrong product.

"Canon" balls.......2005-02-26

Except for the silliness of Avishai Mallinger, I can sympathize with the view points of all the reviews of the anthology. I am using the 1820-1865 vol in a class right now and must say, I find the selections over-all quite varied and enjoyable. I do fear that in our pluralistic society, the American Literary Canon is being distorted to fit material that is only included due to the minority status of it's author, or the political correctness of its subject matter. An example, I think, is the inclusion of the rather churlish William Apess.

I have always been dismayed by the American pedagogy's fetish for slavery, and that preoccupation is well exemplified here. I must ask if the inclusion of both Harriet Beecher Stowe AND Harriet Jacobs was strictly necessary, and I find it unnecessary to sound the beautiful deeps of Thoreau to bring up his opinion of the same institution. And not only his, but Longfellow's as well. And not only his, but Emerson's as well. In my own class, "Nature" was dismissed with a cursory glance, while "Last of the Anti-slavery Lectures" became a paper topic.

However, if the Canon were not revised, I might not have been treated to the wonderful Margaret Fuller or the fascinating Enlightenment piece of the first of the Cherokee Memorials. It is only by reading and testing such material that we can determine if it is truly worthy of being canonized. Anthology revision, in it's successes and failures is a part of that process.

Terrible...F-.......2004-09-13

As a student who is forced to read this book, I must say that it is one of the most dense and boring compilations of literature I have ever read. All of these writings are so dull and pointless that they just make me want to rip up this junk. But then again I want to re-sell this at the end of the semester to get some kind of money back. I can buy like 6 CDs or 3/4 DVDs for the amount of money i had to waste to support the Norton series. I now associate having to read any kind of Norton book with hell.

Not revisionism, breadth.......2003-10-24

The reviewer who complains about the great authors being excluded in favour of the mediocre is missing the point. For me, to study American literature is not just to study the great works. Instead, it's to study American literature. That includes slave songs, native American chants, and anything else that was produced with a commitment to art and expression rather than simple commerce. We can't, of course, read everything but have to limit ourselves to reading representitive samples. And those representitive samples will include the great works which should, rightly, dominate. But to exclude the rest of the American works that those great works grew out of is to give, I think, a perverse view of what "American literature" means. Do you read only the flowers or view the field as a whole and see the flowers as they fit into the ecology? Is it a study of American literature or a study of selected great works? Lately, the Norton anthologies have been moving towards the broader view. It may not be what you want to do but to disparage it as unworthy is wrong.

More Mathers Please.......2003-10-01

Is this all the Mathers you get? What about Jerry and Marshall. And we all know that early American lit is more boring than the late stuff. This anthology would really benefit from some Chuck Palaniak.

My favorite novel included is Mary Rowlandson's Captivity Narrative. I can't imagine how hard it must have been to go without church for all that time. She really had strength.

Book Description

"This is a novel in the guise of the tape-recorded recollections of a black woman who has lived 110 years, who has been both a slave and a witness to the black militancy of the 1960's. In this woman Ernest Gaines has created a legendary figure, a woman equipped to stand beside William Faulkner's Dilsey in The Sound And The Fury." Miss Jane Pittman, like Dilsey, has 'endured,' has seen almost everything and foretold the rest. Gaines' novel brings to mind other great works The Odyssey for the way his heroine's travels manage to summarize the American history of her race, and Huckleberry Finn for the clarity of her voice, for her rare capacity to sort through the mess of years and things to find the one true story in it all." -- Geoffrey Wolff, Newsweek.

"Stunning. I know of no black novel about the South that excludes quite the same refreshing mix of wit and wrath, imagination and indignation, misery and poetry. And I can recall no more memorable female character in Southern fiction since Lena of Faulkner's Light In August than Miss Jane Pittman." -- Josh Greenfeld, Life

Customer Reviews:

Moving.......2007-05-12

This is the story of an incredible, 110 year old black woman, as told to a writer on tape. Jane, born Ticey, was born a slave on a Louisiana plantation and lived through slavery, with all of its cruelties, the Civil War, WW2 and the beginning of the civil rights movement. It's a fascinating glimpse into the lives of people born as slaves with no rights whatsoever, and follows them as they progressed through the following 100 years, learning to assert themselves, gain an education and aiming for better lives for themselves and their children. Some of the language was a little incomprehensible to me as a non American and I couldn't make out the meaning of a lot of phrases that local readers would understand immediately. I'll now try to find the movie on DVD to go with the book.

Miss Jane Pittman.......2007-02-21

I read the Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman as an independent reading project for my English class this year, and I loved it. Although it was a little dry at times, it was a very thought-provoking book with a plot that made you want to keep reading. Although it is fictional, the author has a way of writing that will make you believe this story is a true autobiography. While reading, I could actually imagine being there with Jane, working by her side in the fields as a slave. It was almost as if I could feel the exact emotions she was feeling and all the pain that she was going through. Along with being entertaining, I also found this book to be educational. I learned so many things about the Civil War and slavery that I never knew before, but it was actually fun to read about. That's more than any text book can offer. My only warning for anybody who is planning on reading this book is that it's terribly sad in some parts. Some passages include a lot gory details, which I think are necessary to show what the characters are really going through, but others may find them to be a little excessive. In spite of that, I still ejoyed reading The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. My next step will be renting the movie. If that is anywhere near as good as the book, I'm in for a treat.

Great if you like this sort of thing.......2007-01-06

This was a really interesting book, but it was a slow read and it wasn't very exciting to me. It was also very depressing. I did learn a lot from this book. For all you history and/or Civil War/Civil Rights fanatics, this is the book you need to read. For all you fantasy/adventure fans, you might want to read something else.

Ahhh, such a classic.......2006-01-14

I have been a fan of the movie forever. It inspired me and moved me ever since i have been a little girl! it's soo funny that i have had this book forever and i finally finished it. miss jane has such an inspirational story. thsi is a classic that no one should miss! for the longest time, i thoght miss jane was a real woman who lived and walked this earth for real. but i realized as i got older that her story is the story of my ancestors and i feel even more inspired! a great read, don't miss it!

Very Interesting but also very dry........2006-01-12

I sorta enjoyed the novel it was not really one of my favoorites but I was fascinated with the civil war era. The main thing I didnt like about this book was that it focused to much on the part of the united states where she lived Lousiana. But its definatly worth reading.

Nothing But the Truth: An Anthology of Native American Literature

Average customer rating:

Nothing But the Truth: An Anthology of Native American Literature
John L. Purdy , and James Ruppert
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0130116424

Average customer rating:

Not sure yet
It came true
Simply riveting; 1960s and Today: It holds its power
Great language
WOW! loved this book!

The Fire Next Time
James Baldwin
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 067974472X
Release Date: 1992-12-01

Amazon.com

It's shocking how little has changed between the races in this country since 1963, when James Baldwin published this coolly impassioned plea to "end the racial nightmare." The Fire Next Time--even the title is beautiful, resonant, and incendiary. "Do I really want to be integrated into a burning house?" Baldwin demands, flicking aside the central race issue of his day and calling instead for full and shared acceptance of the fact that America is and always has been a multiracial society. Without this acceptance, he argues, the nation dooms itself to "sterility and decay" and to eventual destruction at the hands of the oppressed: "The Negroes of this country may never be able to rise to power, but they are very well placed indeed to precipitate chaos and ring down the curtain on the American dream."

Baldwin's seething insights and directives, so disturbing to the white liberals and black moderates of his day, have become the starting point for discussions of American race relations: that debasement and oppression of one people by another is "a recipe for murder"; that "color is not a human or a personal reality; it is a political reality"; that whites can only truly liberate themselves when they liberate blacks, indeed when they "become black" symbolically and spiritually; that blacks and whites "deeply need each other here" in order for America to realize its identity as a nation.

Yet despite its edgy tone and the strong undercurrent of violence, The Fire Next Time is ultimately a hopeful and healing essay. Baldwin ranges far in these hundred pages--from a memoir of his abortive teenage religious awakening in Harlem (an interesting commentary on his first novel Go Tell It on the Mountain) to a disturbing encounter with Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad. But what binds it all together is the eloquence, intimacy, and controlled urgency of the voice. Baldwin clearly paid in sweat and shame for every word in this text. What's incredible is that he managed to keep his cool. --David Laskin

Book Description

A national bestseller when it first appeared in 1963, The Fire Next Time galvanized the nation and gave passionate voice to the emerging civil rights movement. At once a powerful evocation of James Baldwin's early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice, the book is an intensely personal and provocative document. It consists of two "letters," written on the occasion of the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, that exhort Americans, both black and white, to attack the terrible legacy of racism. Described by The New York Times Book Review as "sermon, ultimatum, confession, deposition, testament, and chronicle...all presented in searing, brilliant prose," The Fire Next Time stands as a classic of our literature.

Customer Reviews:

Not sure yet.......2007-04-08

I had to read this book, as many people told me if your a reader this is one you must not simply read but own. So I got it and started reading. It never really grabbed me, but I made it through. I plan to read it again within at a different time.

It came true.......2006-12-22

The man knew what he was talking about, when he said the U S would burn because of racial discord.

Simply riveting; 1960s and Today: It holds its power.......2006-09-16

My sense is that Baldwin wrote The Fire Next Time for anyone who had ears to hear, regardless of color or faith or gender. The emotional intelligence with which he speaks is riveting.

Great language.......2006-01-08

Wonderful prose -- use of language.

WOW! loved this book!.......2005-07-23

This man is such an elegant writer, it's sick! And he brings a totally different perspective to the topic of Blacks in America at hand...Sympathy vs. Hostility... LOVED THIS BOOK!

The Politically Incorrect Guide(tm) to English and American Literature (Politically Incorrect Guides)

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PIG to English and American Literature
Seriously?
Hoo, boy, where to start with this one...
Prescription for Poor Readers
A Terrific Book

The Politically Incorrect Guide(tm) to English and American Literature (Politically Incorrect Guides)
Elizabeth Kantor
Manufacturer: Regnery Publishing, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1596980117

Book Description

The Politically Incorrect GuideT to English and American Literature exposes the PC professors and takes you on a fascinating tour through our great literature-in all its politically incorrect glory. Included: a syllabus and how-to guide to give yourself the English lit education you were denied in school.

Customer Reviews:

PIG to English and American Literature.......2007-10-05

This is a superbly written book by someone intimately familiar with the subject matter. It exposes the post-modernist absurdities with delightful wit and not in an accusatory manner. This book would be an excellent text for a mid-level college English course, and could help students prepare for being hoodwinked by silly professors with agendas. Some of the best consideration of Shakespeare I have seen since my "pre-politically correct" studies as an English major in the late 60's.

Seriously?.......2007-09-15

As a person who works in the field of English Capital-L literature, I have recently taken an interest in various books that talk about HOW we teach English. I take exception to Ms. Kantor's view of the field because it is obvious that she has never taught English, or in some cases, read the books she discusses.

First of all, in no way are the classics disappearing from the English classroom. I can guarantee that every English major in the United States is required to take a survey of British and American literature (which is fairly heavy on the "classics," mind you), and a seminar on Shakespeare, Milton, and Chaucer (or, in the case of where I went to school, all THREE). Why do we do this? Because these great writers build on each others legacy and we have to read them to understand literature. Just like we should read Dante to understand Milton, and read Milton to understand Blake. (What Kantor also fails to recognize is that our readings of Dante change after having read Milton and our readings of Milton change after having read Blake, as those men were engaging in the very literary "theory" she denounces. Furthermore, not having "theory" is still a "theory.")

As a liberal, but also an educator, the point of broadening the canon is not to forget about Shakespeare or to assume that his works are not relevant to human experience (Julius Caesar is one of the most cogent political plays ever written, and one Ms. Kantor should probably review before she kicks the opposing party out of the classroom), but it is expanded to include new kinds of human experience that have traditionally been ignored by those "dead white males" who defined the curriculum one hundred years ago. Sure, Conrad's Heart of Darkness might teach us what it means to be "human" (whatever that means), but it certainly doesn't teach us what it means to be an African or a woman, and a gander at Conrad's own words will affirm that, for all his book is critique of Imperialism.

What Ms. Kantor fails to recognize is that no literary interpretation is without its politics, not even hers. What we should focus on teaching our students is that these books are worth reading BECAUSE they raise questions about OUR culture as well as the culture of the writer's own time. But let me tell you this, Ms. Kantor, when we stop reading and discussing Chaucer with undergraduate English majors, I'll quit my job.

Hoo, boy, where to start with this one..........2007-09-02

Is there really a problem with evil liberals trying to re-write how we should look at Beowulf? This whole series of books is politically motivated. In this case, as with the other works, the author made up her mind first, and then looked for anything at all that might support it. You know, pretty much the opposite of how you're supposed to approach scholarly writing. It's a good thing they found a woman to write it, though. It's sort of like how Comedy Central found Carlos Mencia so they could legitimately tell jokes with he word "beaner" in them like twenty times each. Real classy stuff.

Prescription for Poor Readers.......2007-08-25

Thank the Almighty! At last we have a book to help us restore our sense of self-worth by exposing the tactics of that old battle-ax teacher who belittled our reading skills by declaring that we focused too much on our own thoughts and rightful opinions and not enough on the author's intentions, as if it would have been possible to reconcile that propaganda with our own straight truths! Now we can rely on the better class of writers, or at least portions of them, to help us think what we already know. They've kept us silent too long! Why, on the amazonian rankings of sales, Darwin's "The Descent of Man" is 280,117th, Marx's "Das Kapital" is 199,773rd, the "Collected Poems" of that draft-dodger Robert Lowell rank 122,823rd, Moby Dick is 45,550th, Sean Carroll's "The Making of the Fittest" (an anti-religious diatribe) is 13,034th, but "The Politically Incorrect Guide to English and American Literature" is 5088th! Do I make myself clear? The world needs a PIG book on every possible subject, so that we can effectively revile and shout down all those left-behind left-wing wingnuts!

A Terrific Book.......2007-08-25

Elizabeth Kantor's book is one of the very best introductions to English and American literature I have ever read. For the general reader or the smart high school student or beginning college student it should be indispensable reading in these days of the near destruction of literature and criticism in the colleges and universities. I speak as a retired college English professor, scholar, poet, and essayist. It is a splendid antidote or, to use a better metaphor, a strong inoculation against the rampant disease of politically correct teaching and reading of literature. I did not find a single misjudgment in Kantor's choice of valuable works to read (except maybe Joyce's ULYSSES) and don't find that she missed too many. And she named the only really good poem Pound ever wrote, "The River Merchant's Wife: A Letter"!

The Essential Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson (Modern Library Classics)

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Hail o American sage!!!
Nietzsche's Mentor
I do NOT recommend buying the Kessinger edition....
A Life Companion
A Great Writer, to Say the Least

The Essential Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson (Modern Library Classics)
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Manufacturer: Modern Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0679783229
Release Date: 2000-09-12

Book Description

The definitive collection of Emerson's major speeches, essays, and poetry, The Essential Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson chronicles the life's work of a true "American Scholar."

As one of the architects of the transcendentalist movement, Emerson embraced a philosophy that championed the individual, emphasized independent thought, and prized "the splendid labyrinth of one's own perceptions." More than any writer of his time, he forged a style distinct from his European predecessors and embodied and defined what it meant to be an American. Matthew Arnold called Emerson's essays "the most important work done in prose."

Customer Reviews:

Hail o American sage!!!.......2006-08-17

Glory to thee o Emerson.
Hail o poet philosopher!
Look, look...Even CICERO bows to thee!
Demosthones presents thy laurel!!

Emerson know some truth, yes, yes...and wasn't I told of this fact, yes I was but I ran away until I could bear the truth no longer of Emerson's greatness...

Emerson...friend, friend

Nietzsche's Mentor.......2006-06-20

Ralph Waldo Emerson could be called America's first Great Man of Letters (sorry Washington Irving). He is the one who started the transendentalist movement in America, influenced Whitman and Thoreau to name a few, and was one of the first framers of the idea and the character of the American man.

This very generous volume contains the best selection of Emerson's essays, poems and other writings to give to the reader the image of a great poet-philosopher.

Particularly the modern library volume, which is the one I spoke of, this volume contains commentary from Emerson's contemporaries such as the Great Matthew Arnold!

And of course, for all of you Nietzsche lovers out there, as a boy, Nietzsche loved Emerson's writings and you can even see some of Emerson's ideas and words in the writings of Nietzsche.

I do NOT recommend buying the Kessinger edition...........2006-06-01

I'm a long-time buyer of Amazon's products, but lately I am seeing that they may have a quality control problem! The book "Essential Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson", published by Kessinger (ISBN: 1425341438) does not deserve more than one star, although there are other Emerson compilations (including the Modern Library Classics version with the same title) that are undoubtedly fine.

Amazon seems to have a strange methodology/algorithm for placing some of its books first in "relevance", and I am a little suspicious as to what criteria they are using. Furthermore, you may have noticed that the specific reviews of books now are often reviews of a different printing/edition than the one listed along with said reviews.

At any rate, the Kessinger "booklet" is a thin,cheaply made, 60 page paperback that includes short excerpts of a few of Emerson's writings, and is hardly more than a xerox-type copy, sandwiched within a glossy cover....

Not only that, but the Modern Library Classics' version costs less than the inferior Kessinger printing...

A Life Companion.......2006-03-01

I think it is probably safe to assert that to read Emerson is to be forever indebted to him. His wording, his clearness of thought, his determination, his warmth... He has all the qualities one could ask for in a writer, and all one could ask for in a mentor. Nietzsche held Emerson's books the closest, and said they were above his praise; Borges added "Whitman and Poe have overshadowed Emerson's glory, as inventors, as founders of cults; line by line, they are inferior to him". James, the very Whitman, Proust, Frost, have all also praised him sincerely. Judging from other reviews, the love for Emerson hasn't diminished, more than a century after his passing.

For those who are not familiar with his works, it should be noted that Emerson is, without a doubt, a very unique writer. I was surprised when I realized that there is more poetry in his philosophy than in most verse books, yet he is always lucid; and that his poems, although hued by an impressive depth of thought, remain always passionate. He was renown as a brilliant lecturer, and his essays have all the force and simplicity of the oral form. Few people are so rich in memorable aphorisms, and one finds a treasure of a quote in every sentence: "A drop is a small ocean"; "We are not built like a ship to be tossed, but like a house to stand"; "Whoso be a man, must be a non conformist"; "Punishment is a fruit that unsuspected ripens within the pleasure which concealed it"...

Those looking for a good introduction to Emerson can't do wrong buying this Modern Library Edition. In fact, those who are familiar with Emerson but are looking for an inexpensive paperback to carry around probably should pick this one up too. It includes all his major works; a very generous selection of his lesser writings; 23 poems, and a great introduction by Mary Oliver. I was a little puzzled when I saw that they included very little from Representative Men and kept English Traits in its entirety, instead of the other way round. It then occurred to me that in English Traits one gets a glimpse of the journal-writer, the philosopher, and the poet interwoven all in one. Those looking for a more complete, durable edition of Emerson's works should probably go with the Library of America ed. (2 volumes), or the very expensive and very thorough Centenary ed. (12 volumes!!). You can easily find all his oeuvre on the internet, though, so you don't need to buy book after book just to glean everything he wrote in his lifetime.

To put it simply, if you have any interest in philosophy, literature, poetry, religion, or life, read Emerson. You may not be convinced by his arguments, but there's no point in nodding your way through a book. What remains after you finish reading it is what counts, and few writers can be found whose works are as pervasive and fondly remembered as Emerson's are.

A Great Writer, to Say the Least.......2005-11-05

I remember dreading having to read Emerson in college. However, when I read "The Poet," I was hooked. He weaves such power and emotion into his works. I was often brought to tears. Life is so beautiful, and everything is so obtainable to him. We need only listen to the world to obtain the answers. These are only a few of the breathtaking philosophies that he blesses the reader with. I would recommend this collection to anyone willing to take the time to comprehend it. It will change you life, only if in a small way.

Classics of Western Thought Series: The Modern World, Volume III (Classics of Western Thought)

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Useful and Educational

Classics of Western Thought Series: The Modern World, Volume III (Classics of Western Thought)
Edgar F. Knoebel
Manufacturer: Wadsworth Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0155076841

Book Description

Originally published under the General Editorship of Thomas H. Greer, the series emanated from the Humanities Department of Michigan State University. The books remain today perhaps the best sources available for the comprehensive study in one volume of every subject area which might be included in the umbrella of humanities. Most major literary forms are represented: essay, poem, short story, play, novel, memoir, epigram, scientific discourse, philosophical treatise, political manifesto, and religious proclamation. All major subject areas are explored: art, music, education, mathematics, biology, psychiatry, religion, philosophy, politics, economics, and physics. The informative apparatus, headnotes, and footnotes are all aimed at enhancing the student-reader's comprehension.

Customer Reviews:

Useful and Educational.......2003-03-03

This book is used as a companion to my high school Modern European History AP class. We read philosophers which correspond to the time periods we are studying and have lively debates in class. The book gives enough background information to put each writer in historical context, and condenses each writer's work and ideas neatly and concisely. Some of the more difficult vocabulary is defined in footnotes, which can be helpful to students. If you're looking for an overview or comparison of different Western philosohers, this is a great book, but if you're looking to go in depth with any particular one, you may want to purchase a full version of the text you're interested in.

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