The Lords and the New Creatures
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • strange but decent
  • A political magnum opus of lexicon splendor:
  • Some of the Most Brilliant Poems Ever Written
  • A little update...
  • early poems
The Lords and the New Creatures
Jim Morrison
Manufacturer: Fireside
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

20th Century20th Century | Poetry | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Poetry | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
United StatesUnited States | Single Authors | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Fiction BooksLook Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:
  1. Wilderness: The Lost Writings of Jim Morrison,  Volume 1 Wilderness: The Lost Writings of Jim Morrison, Volume 1
  2. The American Night: The Writings of Jim Morrison The American Night: The Writings of Jim Morrison
  3. Sign of the Times Sign of the Times
  4. An American Prayer An American Prayer
  5. No One Here Gets Out Alive No One Here Gets Out Alive

ASIN: 0671210440

Book Description

Intense, erotic, and enigmatic, Jim Morrison's persona is as riveting now as the lead singer/composer "Lizard King" was during The Doors' peak in the late sixties. His fast life and mysterious death remain controversial more than twenty years later.

The Lords and the New Creatures, Morrison's first published volume of poetry, is an uninhibited exploration of society's dark side -- drugs, sex, fame, and death -- captured in sensual, seething images. Here, Morrison gives a revealing glimpse at an era and at the man whose songs and savage performances have left their indelible impression on our culture.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars strange but decent .......2007-07-10

this is for a die hard fan of the jim he was the poet song writer and ppl just don get what hes saying half the time this book is styrange the poems are sshort alot of space all in all this book is good

5 out of 5 stars A political magnum opus of lexicon splendor:.......2007-02-26

Morrison was indeed the William Blake of his day. His poems come across like the proverbial Quodlibet; promulgating a cognitive catharsis with visceral overtones that in many ways has an affect on the soul. Like many other poets such as Langston Hughes, Morrison goes for the jugular, and holds back nothing. His commentaries on sex, politics, and social injustice are on par with today's civil rights movement and conspiracy theories abound.
A case in point: On page 19 Jim writes:

Modern circles of Hell: Oswald (?) kills President.
Oswald enters taxi. Oswald stops at rooming house.
Oswald leaves taxi. Oswald kills Officer Tippitt.
Oswald shed jacket. Oswald is captured.

He escaped into a movie house.

Reading into this it's plain to see that Jim thought the Kennedy assassination was an inside job. What Jim was saying was that the official story didn't add up. Take a look at the question mark after Lee Harvey Oswald's name.
Furthermore, on page 123 Jim writes:

The Assassin's bullet
Marries the King
Dissembling miles of air
To kiss the crown.
The Prince rambles in blood.
Ode to the neck
That was groomed
For rape's gown.

If you start reading from pages 116 to 123 it becomes painfully obvious that Jim was writing about the Watt's riot of August 13, 1965 and the black civil rights movement. The poem on page 123 seems to be in reference to the Martin Luther King Assassination.

There is one more passage that needs to be sighted.
On page 112 Jim writes:

Fear the Lords who are secret among us.
The Lords are w/ in us.
Born of sloth & cowardice.

Question?
Could Jim have been referring to the New World Order? It's something to think about, but I will say this; "The Lords and the New Creatures" is the most thought provoking collection of poems you'll ever read. Jim's lexicon about the world we live in is extremely oblique, but in the last page Jim ends his cri de coeur on a quixotic yet hopeful note.




5 out of 5 stars Some of the Most Brilliant Poems Ever Written.......2005-10-19

Jim Morrison's "The Lords and New Creatures" is the first book of poetry I have read by Morrison and it amazed me. First off, his poems are a lot different from his lyrics. His lyrics were occasionally upbeat (Hello, I Love You) and politically charged (The Unknown Soldier); his poems however are rather dark and are more about things around him. Morrison, a lot of you may know, originally went to UCLA to study film but got kicked out and met Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger, and John Densmore. Well, in this book there's quite a few poems about movies and film (Films are collections of dead pictures given artifical insemination). There's also a poem; a theory about Lee Harvey Oswald. Poems about voyeurs (The voyeur is mastur**tor, the mirror his badge, the window his prey.) Some really trippy $hit...(Nothing. The air outside burns my eyes. I'll pull them out and get rid of the burning.) These poems are amazing, some of the most brilliant things I've ever read lie in this book. A+

5 out of 5 stars A little update..........2005-03-18

The original cover of this book was actually a purplish fabric, no pictures, just plain with the title on the cover and binder.

It's also above the heads of some readers.

I've read it many times, and still say to myself, "My I've never looked at it like that before."

Definately mind expanding. Read it.

4 out of 5 stars early poems.......2004-07-08

This collection was privately published while Morrison was still alive. It contains his early poetry, full of epigrams and philosophical fragments of observation on film, sex, mysticism, night-life, and society, among other things. I think it's his best and most readable poetry.

David Rehak
author of "Poems From My Bleeding Heart"
Lord Jim (Penguin Classics)
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Leaving the Literary Criticism Behind
  • A definition of "tediousness".
  • One of the best novels ever
  • Do NOT Read This Book!!!
  • Lord Jim: Through Many Prisms Darkly
Lord Jim (Penguin Classics)
Joseph Conrad
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Conrad, JosephConrad, Joseph | Classics | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ClassicsClassics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ContemporaryContemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Criticism & Theory | History & Criticism | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Conrad, JosephConrad, Joseph | ( C ) | Authors, A-Z | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Fiction BooksLook Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Look Inside Teen BooksLook Inside Teen Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Conrad, JosephConrad, Joseph | ( C ) | Authors, A-Z | Literature & Fiction | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
ClassicsClassics | General | Literature & Fiction | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
ContemporaryContemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Criticism & TheoryCriticism & Theory | History & Criticism | Literature & Fiction | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Conrad, JosephConrad, Joseph | Classics | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
All 4-for-3 DealsAll 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:
  1. Nostromo (Dover Thrift Editions) Nostromo (Dover Thrift Editions)
  2. Heart of Darkness (Dover Thrift Editions) Heart of Darkness (Dover Thrift Editions)
  3. Under Western Eyes (Penguin Classics) Under Western Eyes (Penguin Classics)
  4. The Secret Agent (Oxford World's Classics) The Secret Agent (Oxford World's Classics)
  5. Victory (Penguin Classics) Victory (Penguin Classics)

ASIN: 0140180923

Amazon.com

When Lord Jim first appeared in 1900, many took Joseph Conrad to task for couching an entire novel in the form of an extended conversation--a ripping good yarn, if you like. (One critic in The Academy complained that the narrator "was telling that after-dinner story to his companions for eleven solid hours.") Conrad defended his method, insisting that people really do talk for that long, and listen as well. In fact his chatty masterwork requires no defense--it offers up not only linguistic pleasures but a timeless exploration of morality.

The eponymous Jim is a young, good-looking, genial, and naive water-clerk on the Patna, a cargo ship plying Asian waters. He is, we are told, "the kind of fellow you would, on the strength of his looks, leave in charge of the deck." He also harbors romantic fantasies of adventure and heroism--which are promptly scuttled one night when the ship collides with an obstacle and begins to sink. Acting on impulse, Jim jumps overboard and lands in a lifeboat, which happens to be bearing the unscrupulous captain and his cohorts away from the disaster. The Patna, however, manages to stay afloat. The foundering vessel is towed into port--and since the officers have strategically vanished, Jim is left to stand trial for abandoning the ship and its 800 passengers.

Stripped of his seaman's license, convinced of his own cowardice, Jim sets out on a tragic and transcendent search for redemption. This may sound like the bleakest of narratives. But Lord Jim is also touching, elevating, and often funny. Here, for example, the narrator describes the ship's captain (proving that clothes do indeed make the man):

He made me think of a trained baby elephant walking on hind-legs. He was extravagantly gorgeous too--got up in a soiled sleeping suit, bright green and deep orange vertical stripes, with a pair of ragged straw slippers on his bare feet, and somebody's cast-off pith hat, very dirty and two sizes too small for him, tied up with a manilla rope-yarn on the top of his big head. You understand a man like that hasn't a ghost of a chance when it comes to borrowing clothes.
This is formidable prose by any standard. But when you consider that Conrad was working in his third language, the sublime after-dinner story that is Lord Jim seems even more astonishing an accomplishment. --Teri Kieffer

Book Description

Contains the Author's Note.

Download Description

This classic novel is about a young naval officer named Jim with high hopes of glory, but when he faces his first trial of courage, he fails miserably. When the cargo ship Jim is on starts to sink, he jumps into a lifeboat to save himself instead of waking the doomed pilgrims. This action haunts him the rest of his life, but he does get another chance to redeem himself. The narrator, Captain Marlow, is the same as in "Heart of Darkness". Please Note: This book is easy to read in true text, not scanned images that can sometimes be difficult to decipher. The Microsoft eBook has a contents page linked to the chapter headings for easy navigation. The Adobe eBook has bookmarks at chapter headings and is printable up to two full copies per year. Both versions are text searchable.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Leaving the Literary Criticism Behind.......2007-05-26

If you haven't read this since high school or college, you might want to give it another try. I loved this book back then, but picked it up just recently, maybe wanting to connect with an old friend. Well, what a ride. I somehow wasn't tuned in back in my teens and 20s to how funny many of "Marlowe's" insights, narratives and commentaries are. Those and others more serious and poetic will have you saying "so true" to yourself about Conrad's perceptions of certainly the male half of this world....what a global village he describes, too, back then. And Marlowe's concern for Jim takes on more emotional weight now that I'm reading it some decades on, and have a son of my own. Anyway, might be time to put all the professorial interpretations aside and just enjoy this tale.

1 out of 5 stars A definition of "tediousness"........2007-03-02

What makes a great novel? A combination of factors, no doubt. Complex characters, a central conflict that develops into a grand theme. Great command of language and imagery. If by these standards, Lord Jim is a great novel, then why is it so revolting? Why do I hate this book more than any other that I've read? It's even worse than the pathetic Madame Bovary, which was on top of my list of the worst books ever written. It's because it has no sense of story. This is the one other factor that makes a great novel, and this is the one that sets apart the "Conrads" from the "Dickenses" of the world. Conrad has the ability to take a moment in time and stretch it out into what seems like a day, and to me, this tedious, hair-splitting approach to interpretation of feelings, motives and gestures clogs the story hopelessly and destroys any sense of timing and pacing. And what after all is reading all about? You can condense the moral truths in a book into a paragraph and save a lot of time, but what makes any book enjoyable is a well told story. This one is not.

5 out of 5 stars One of the best novels ever.......2007-02-15

I read this first in high school. I was determined not to enjoy it. High school students don't enjoy anything that smacks of morality. I was wrong because this is a great tale of adventure that is really about courage and whether we live up to our standards. Whether our standards are the same as society's standards is the great question. Like most people, Jim learns his true nature during a moment of crisis. It's a shocking relevation to him that he is in fact a shallow guy concerned with his own well-being. Unlike many people, Jim spends the rest of his life coming to terms with who he is, and it is this self-reflection that allows him to finally be a hero. This is a rather strange book to read in our age. We often excuse young adults who commit crimes, watch shows like American Idol as if that was the most important event of our decade, and make poor financial choices. In other other words, we expect our young adults to be irresponsible and carefree. We forget that overseas, there is in fact, a war being fought with young men and women who are the same age as Jim in the beginning of this novel. Some of them have even been charged with crimes, like Jim.

This is one of the best novels I have ever read. Just read the first couple of paragraphs. Not many writers can match Conrad's prose.

1 out of 5 stars Do NOT Read This Book!!!.......2006-12-18

This is one of the worst books in the world---in my humble opinion! OK, I'm in the minority. Most of the reviewers LOVED the book. I think this book is a waste of beautiful words! Yes, Conrad had a beautiful English vocabulary. But, the "story" is "encrusted" with so many words you'll tire of it after awhile. OK, try the book, but now, at least, you won't feel as I did, "What's wrong with ME that I don't like this book." You won't feel "alone" in your reaction. I think "Heart of Darkness" is a much better book. Comments? boland7214@aol.

PS: As of 1-15-07 I see that I have ZERO "yes" votes for my review. That's "mean". I'm just giving my honest reaction. You don't have to agree with me but why not give me a break for spending the time and energy just to write my thoughts----thoughts which MIGHT help someone....maybe not you....but someone. Thanks.

4 out of 5 stars Lord Jim: Through Many Prisms Darkly.......2006-08-28

LORD JIM is the story of an ordinary man who commits what may or may not be an act of cowardice and spends the rest of his life trying to atone for his sin. What makes this story extraordinary is the difficulty the reader has assessing the nature of the original act and then judging whether Jim has been punished enough. Joseph Conrad does not make it easy to gauge accurately either the man or his act since we can see the act filtered only through the lens of a narrator who is too close to the case to be judged reliable.

LORD JIM is a novel of adventure and many read it on that basis, but lurking beneath the surface of a simple act is, as in so much of Conrad's fiction, a bewildering complexity of issues that tap into the deepest recesses of why people do what they do and how others can fairly judge them. Marlow is the narrator who attends the trial of a crewman Jim accused of abandoning his ship during a storm when he thought it was sinking. When all the ship's officers leap into a lifeboat they abandon the more than eight hundred passengers below decks. Jim joins them, and all are later picked up by a French trawler only to learn that their ship did not sink and in fact was safely towed to port. All the officers, except Jim, escape punishment either by running away or pleading illness. Only Jim decides to speak out publicly in his defense, but of course there is none, so he is found guilty and stripped of his seaman's certificate as punishment. Marlow sees the trial and decides to follow Jim around the world to get the truth. These are the bald facts, but what Conrad does with them is to invest them with emotional and psychological issues that resist easy analysis.

To begin with, Conrad emphasizes Jim's ordinary state of being, by repeating that Jim is "one of us." This statement occurs so often that it becomes a mantra, inviting speculation as to what sense he is one of us. Whoever the "us" is, Conrad implies that the "us" must have had a standard of justice in which one size fits all. No one at the board of inquiry seems particularly upset that Jim was merely following the captain's orders to abandon ship nor that his record was otherwise flawless. The board judged Jim by an inflexible code of honor and found him wanting. Conrad, in his description of Jim as a maritime Everyman (no first name, a flat character who no past, present, and now no future), makes it easy to condemn the board's overhasty verdict to condemn Jim for an act that had mitigating circumstances. As Marlow gets to know Jim, he acknowledges that the more he knows, the less he understands. Conrad sets up a straw man in Jim. Because so many people, including Marlow, hold Jim under so many lenses, the images that result are often contradictory. The only constant is Jim himself. During the trial, and later during the climactic encounter with the natives who call him Lord Jim, Jim continues to attempt to see himself in the simplest manner possible. He knows that he cannot possibly be all the Jims floating on everyone's lips, so he determines to be the Jim who should have stayed on board the deck of a sinking ship. This Jim is willing to take responsibility for his actions. When he unwisely allows the dastardly Gentleman Brown to escape his richly deserved fate, he makes a colossal leap of faith: he will pay now for all sins of his past. In his death, Conrad suggests that this leap of faith may be the only trait that distinguishes reprobates like Brown from ordinary men like Jim who may not be so ordinary after all.
L.L. Bean Fly-Casting Handbook (L. L. Bean)
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Excellent Instruction Manual!!!
  • Exceptional Instruction
  • Excellent Fly Casting Instructions and Wonderful Photos
L.L. Bean Fly-Casting Handbook (L. L. Bean)
Macauley Lord
Manufacturer: The Lyons Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

GeneralGeneral | Fly Fishing | Fishing | Hunting & Fishing | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Fishing | Hunting & Fishing | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Sports | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Outdoors & Nature BooksLook Inside Outdoors & Nature Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Look Inside Sports BooksLook Inside Sports Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:
  1. L. L. Bean Fly-Fishing Handbook L. L. Bean Fly-Fishing Handbook
  2. Guide to Fly Fishing Knots: A Basic Streamside Guide for Fly Fishing Knots, Tippets, and Leader Formulas Guide to Fly Fishing Knots: A Basic Streamside Guide for Fly Fishing Knots, Tippets, and Leader Formulas
  3. The Orvis Fly-Fishing Guide (Orvis) The Orvis Fly-Fishing Guide (Orvis)
  4. The L.L. Bean Ultimate Book of Fly Fishing (L. L. Bean) The L.L. Bean Ultimate Book of Fly Fishing (L. L. Bean)
  5. The Complete Book of Fly Fishing The Complete Book of Fly Fishing

ASIN: 1558219641

Book Description

The L.L. Bean Fly-Casting Handbook is a compact and effective guide to better fly casting, whether you have never cast a fly or it is your twentieth year of fly fishing. This authoritative guide will benefit casters at all levels, with detailed sections on: the eleven habits of highly effective casters; the basic four-part cast; the essential roll cast; false casting; getting more distance; casting into the wind; double hauling; and other special techniques.

The methods in the L.L. Bean Fly-Casting Handbook are for all fly fishers who want to cast with more skill and effectiveness; it will help you come closer to making that perfect cast. (7 X 10, 136 pages, color photos)

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Excellent Instruction Manual!!!.......2002-08-02

This is one of the best instruction manuals, on any subject, period. The narrative is concise and easy to understand, and their are plenty of photographs to illustrate the narratives. I can't think of any other book that will get you started. I'm a beginner myself, and I've even taken a class with an instructor. This book was even more helpful! BUY IT!

5 out of 5 stars Exceptional Instruction.......2002-05-22

After having taken a Fly Fishing course at which Macauley was an instructor, I purchased his book on fly casting.
Macauley manages to pour his knowledge out onto these pages with as much clarity as he presents in person. With wit and ease, he presents the reader with the tools to learn fly casting, if a novice; and to greatly improve existing skills if a seasoned fly fisherman...or woman.
It'd been an honor and deep pleasure to witness his graceful, pure zen-like casting in person, and a continued joy to pour over his advice on paper.
Enjoy this book and keep it amongst your key handbooks/guides to this great lifeslyle - Fly Fishing.

5 out of 5 stars Excellent Fly Casting Instructions and Wonderful Photos.......2000-04-01

I just purchased this book last weekend and have found it to be an EXCELLENT instruction manual on fly casting. I've been flyfishing for a couple of years and have been frustrated by how difficult casting with a fly rod can be. This book has simple to follow casting techniques which are backed up by excellent photos. I have found the photo layouts particularly helpful since they show side by side photos showing poor technique and effective casting technique. I found that Mr. Lord's directions improved my casting distance and accuracy (in my backyard) after only one evening spent reading this book.

Each chapter in the book ends with a detailed descriptions explaining how to troubleshoot common casting casting problems, again supported by nice explanations and photos to illustrate the points being made.

Overall, I feel this was money well spent! This book is definately going to help make flyfishing more enjoyable and hopefully more productive...
In the Strength of the Lord: The Life and Teachings of James E. Faust
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • A very interesting biography
  • What a great Book!
In the Strength of the Lord: The Life and Teachings of James E. Faust
Jim Bell
Manufacturer: Deseret Book Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

GeneralGeneral | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ReligiousReligious | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Mormonism | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Look Inside BiographiesLook Inside Biographies | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Look Inside Religion & Spirituality BooksLook Inside Religion & Spirituality Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
GeneralGeneral | Biographies & Memoirs | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
ReligiousReligious | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
MormonismMormonism | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
All 4-for-3 DealsAll 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:
  1. Stories from My Life Stories from My Life
  2. Finding Light in a Dark World Finding Light in a Dark World
  3. Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling

ASIN: 1573455806

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars A very interesting biography.......2002-10-31

I really loved this book. I have always enjoyed hearing President Faust speak, and it was so interesting to learn more about him. He is such a humble, kind man and I have always considered him to be a great example of what we should be more like, and I feel even more that way after reading about his life and reading more of his teachings. One thing that was especially interesting to me was to read his insights on practicing law. (I am the wife of a soon-to-be lawyer and I'm considering going to law school myself.) It's refreshing to hear that you can be an attorney, and a defense attorney at that, and still have ethics and morals! Anyway, I'd recommend this book to anyone.

5 out of 5 stars What a great Book!.......1999-12-23

I am a great biography fan and this book had all the elements of a great biography (I have read the biography of Rex. Lee by the author as well). I know you won't be disappointed as the insights and experiences of Pres. Faust are very inspirational and helped me to be a better person.
Conrad's Charlie Marlow: A New Approach to "Heart of Darkness" and Lord Jim
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Conrad's Charlie Marlow: A New Approach to "Heart of Darkness" and Lord Jim
    Bernard J. Paris
    Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

    20th Century20th Century | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
    GeneralGeneral | Criticism & Theory | History & Criticism | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books
    Look Inside Reference BooksLook Inside Reference Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
    All TitlesAll Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    ASIN: 1403969892
    Release Date: 2006-01-05

    Book Description

    Whereas Marlow has usually been discussed as a literary device who is of no special interest in himself, this study argues that Conrad portrays Marlow and his relationships with a psychological depth that is unsurpassed in literature. In "Youth," "Heart of Darkness," and Lord Jim, he is a continuously-evolving character whose thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are expressions of his personality and experience. Understanding Marlow's motivations newly illuminates the formal complexity and thematic richness of these works, for his inner conflicts profoundly affect the structure of his narrations, his interactions with his auditors, and the elusive meanings of his tales.
    Finding God in The Lord of the Rings
    Average customer rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    • Interesting Applications to the Christian Faith
    • Blatant misuse of Tolkien
    • Inconvenient Catholicism
    • Pablum
    • Christian theme? Factual!
    Finding God in The Lord of the Rings
    Kurt Bruner , and Jim Ware
    Manufacturer: SaltRiver
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

    GeneralGeneral | Christian Living | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Literature & Fiction | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Art | Arts & Photography | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
    GeneralGeneral | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Christian Living | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Religion & Spirituality | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
    All 4-for-3 DealsAll 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
    Similar Items:
    1. The Gospel According to Tolkien: Visions of the Kingdom in Middle-Earth The Gospel According to Tolkien: Visions of the Kingdom in Middle-Earth
    2. Finding God in the Land of Narnia (Saltriver) Finding God in the Land of Narnia (Saltriver)
    3. Walking With Frodo: A Devotional Journey Through the Lord of the Rings Walking With Frodo: A Devotional Journey Through the Lord of the Rings
    4. Tolkien's Ordinary Virtues : Exploring the Spiritual Themes of the Lord of the Rings Tolkien's Ordinary Virtues : Exploring the Spiritual Themes of the Lord of the Rings
    5. Following Gandalf: Epic Battles and Moral Victory in The Lord of the Rings Following Gandalf: Epic Battles and Moral Victory in The Lord of the Rings

    ASIN: 1414312792

    Amazon.com

    There's more to Middle-earth than meets the eye, argue Kurt Bruner and Jim Ware in Finding God in The Lord of the Rings. J.R.R. Tolkien, a devout Christian, helped bring C.S. Lewis into the faith and met weekly with Lewis and Charles Williams at an Oxford pub for heated religious and literary discussions that informed The Lord of the Rings. Although Bruner and Ware avoid any simplistic claim that Tolkien's saga is "a covert allegory of the Gospel," the authors assert that the books have evangelistic power because they "can open the heart's back door when the front door is locked." Twenty-one short chapters describe various scenes and themes from Tolkien's work in order to illustrate truths of Christian life. For instance, Frodo and Sam's awareness that their adventures are part of a larger story "reflects the Christian understanding of providence, that we are all part of a story being written by the creator of all that is." Finding God successfully clarifies the ways that Tolkien's Christian worldview influenced the creation of his fantasy world, while respecting the artistic integrity of his achievement. --Michael Joseph Gross

    Book Description

    Considered the most popular books of the 20th century, The Lord of the Rings trilogy is more than a great story. It's a much-needed reminder that Christians are all on an epic quest. In examining the Christian themes in the trilogy, authors Kurt Bruner and Jim Ware find that truth and fiction are not as far apart as they seem. When read in the light of Scripture, Tolkien's trilogy reveals a rich tapestry of redemption, values, and faith against all odds. Insightful reflection notes end each chapter. A great book for personal study, devotional time, or group discussion!

    Customer Reviews:

    4 out of 5 stars Interesting Applications to the Christian Faith.......2007-07-24

    Authors Bruner and Ware find many parallels between the LORD OF THE RINGS and Biblical teachings. I will cite only a few examples.

    God often chooses the most unlikely, lowly people (e. g. Abraham, David, Moses, the twelve apostles) to accomplish great things (pp. 51-54). And it is Frodo, the lowly Hobbit, who takes upon himself the responsibility to destroy the ring (and Sauron's evil powers behind it) the only way it can be destroyed--by being thrown into the cauldron of Mount Doom.

    "Evil is not possessed, but possessing." (p. 69). Gollum (Smeagol) committed murder to acquire the ring, and then was forced to live a miserable life hiding in dark places. But God can even take evil, turn it around, and use it for His purposes. One is reminded of this when Gollum snatches the ring from Frodo in the last minute, only to fall with the ring into the cauldron of Mount Doom. Thus, the evil Gollum unwittingly becomes the agent of the destruction of the evil ring (p. 89).

    I am amused at the fury directed against this innocuous book by some of the negative reviews. (Perhaps this reaction tells us more about the critics' thought processes than about those of the authors of this book). Bruner and Ware freely recognize the fact that members of all faiths have enjoyed Tolkien's works (p. x). They are not saying that the applications are unique to the Christian faith. Nor do they ever suggest that Tolkien wrote the LORD OF THE RINGS for the purpose of promoting Christian doctrines or morals as such (pp. 109-111).

    This is undoubtedly a thought-provoking book.

    1 out of 5 stars Blatant misuse of Tolkien.......2007-06-27

    With all the secondary literature trying to cash in on the Tolkien phenomenon it is probably worthwile to listen to the author himself for a change. In his foreword, Tolkien writes:

    "I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old enough to detect its presence. I think that many confuse 'applicability' with 'allegory'; but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author."

    Oh, the "applicators" are at it, Professor, they sure are! After the 70s' and 80s' mystics, esoterics and new-worlders the evangelical christians have discovered Tolkien. Not out of conviction or love for it, I guess, but because there is no way around LOTR's huge success. The christians' favorite, C.S.Lewis, never quite matched it, on paper as on the screen.

    So, after he found god in C.S.Lewis Bruner is out to find HIM in Tolkien. And he's not alone. Ralph Wood or Peter Kreeft just published similar "analyses". I'm waiting for their homilies on Harry Potter - but as I understand the super-christians still consider that one black magic. Much as they did with Gandalf and Sauron until lately. I guess they'll come around after Joanne K. Rowling is dead and can't defend herself against the blatant misuse of her work - as J.R.R.Tolkien.

    I still was quite religious when I first read The Hobbit and the LOTR at age 14. And you know what I liked most about it? That religion was no part of it at all. I didn't take Sauron for Satan, or Frodo for Jesus, or Gollum for Judas. It speaks volumes about the intellectual poverty of modern evangelical christianism that they keep reducing every single story they like to a distilled version of the four gospels and, say, the first three or four Mosaic books.

    Tolkien himself was a devout catholic - so what? Of course, there are religious undertones in his work. Illuvatar is his name for god, of course. But the Valar are angels as well as "gods"; they're even called that way, at some point. Tolkien knew full well that there are just as many heathen undertones: he knew his nordic literature. Or ecological undertones, for that matter: When will Greenpeace come up with "Finding the Kyoto Protocol in the Lord of the Rings"? Or why not preach about Tolkien's mistrust for modern parliamentary democracy? "Finding monarchy in the Lord of the Rings". See? It's not that difficult.

    I guess I wouldn't have liked much of Tolkien's politics. But he's not around anymore to be asked, of course. And considering all else I know about him, his literary work, his teaching, the few recordings we have, he was a great person. And even if he wasn't I will always love his books - long after this evangelicalism has ebbed away again.

    2 out of 5 stars Inconvenient Catholicism.......2006-06-11

    Additional comment for reviewer of Jan. 31, 2004, from Tolkien's own words:
    "The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work." (Tolkien, in a letter to Robert Murray)

    And in response to this book's publication: For a book to call itself "Finding God in LotR", and then to blatently ignore the inconvenient fact that Tolkien was an unabashed Catholic in a time & place where it was professionally and socially unpopular to be so, removes this book from making any claims to factual or critical authenticity, and slides it into propaganda-land.

    1 out of 5 stars Pablum.......2004-12-28

    This book is horribly superficial, and the writer shows a very clear failure to understand many of the themes in LOTR. This is not finding God in LOTR, but how to use LOTR as a blunt instrument in proselytizing for evangelical christianity; emphasis on "blunt".

    5 out of 5 stars Christian theme? Factual!.......2004-05-19

    To the reader on January 31, 2004 and to all who think like this person: J.R.R. Tolkien himself was a Christian and thus his rendition of the Lord of the Rings was a Christian work. Tolkien may not have written his work as an allegory, but he did write his work with a Christian conscience. I, as well as many others, see in these books many allusions to various themes in the Bible. I have not read this book, but am looking forward to in the future. Tolkien may not have meant his work to bear a Christian theme, but it does.
    Lord Jim
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      Lord Jim
      Joseph Conrad
      Manufacturer: Wildside Press
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Hardcover

      Conrad, JosephConrad, Joseph | Classics | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
      ClassicsClassics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
      Conrad, JosephConrad, Joseph | ( C ) | Authors, A-Z | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
      Look Inside Teen BooksLook Inside Teen Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
      All TitlesAll Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
      ASIN: 1592246443

      Book Description

      JOSEPH CONRAD (1857-1924) was one of the most remarkable figures in English literature. Born in Poland, and originally named Josef Teodor Konrad Walecz Korzeniowski, he went to sea at the age of seventeen and eventually joined the crew of an English vessel, becoming a British citizen in the process. He retired from the sea in 1894 and took up the pen, writing all his works in English, a language he had only learned as an adult. Despite this, he was a master stylist, both lush and precise. His outsider's eye gave him special insights into the moral dangers of the great age of European empires. In his prefactory note to this novel, Conrad said, "When this novel first appeared in book form a notion got about that I had been bolted away with. Some reviewers maintained that the work starting as a short story had got beyond the writer's control. One or two discovered internal evidence of the fact, which seemed to amuse them. They pointed out the limitations of the narrative form. They argued that no man could have been expected to talk all that time, and other men to listen so long. It was not, they said, very credible. . . . After thinking it over for something like sixteen years, I am not so sure about that. Men have been known, both in the tropics and in the temperate zone, to sit up half the night 'swapping yarns.' This, however, is but one yarn, yet with interruptions affording some measure of relief. . . ."
      Lord Jim & Nostromo (Modern Library)
      Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
      • EXCELLENT!!
      Lord Jim & Nostromo (Modern Library)
      Joseph Conrad
      Manufacturer: Modern Library
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

      Conrad, JosephConrad, Joseph | Classics | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
      ClassicsClassics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
      ContemporaryContemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
      LiteraryLiterary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
      Conrad, JosephConrad, Joseph | ( C ) | Authors, A-Z | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
      Sea AdventuresSea Adventures | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
      Similar Items:
      1. Under Western Eyes (Penguin Classics) Under Western Eyes (Penguin Classics)

      ASIN: 037575489X
      Release Date: 2000-04-18

      Book Description

      WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY ROBERT D. KAPLAN
      COMMENTARY BY VIRGINIA WOOLF, HAROLD BLOOM, EDWARD SAID,
      F. R. LEAVIS, AND ROBERT PENN WARREN

      "        Never were Mr. Conrad's felicity of phrase and charm of atmosphere more obvious. . . . A book of the rare literary quality of Lord Jim is something to receive with gratitude and joy."--The New York Times

      Originally published in 1900, Lord Jim is one of Joseph Conrad's most complex literary masterpieces. The story of a young sailor whose moment of cowardice haunts him for the rest of his life, Lord Jim explores Conrad's lifelong obsessions with the nature of guilt and the possibility of redemption.
              Nostromo is considered by many to be Conrad's supreme achievement, and Conrad himself referred to Nostromo as his "widest canvas." Set in the fictitious South American republic of Costaguana, Nostromo reveals the effects that misguided idealism, unparalleled greed, and imperialist interests can have on a fledging nation. V. S. Pritchett wrote: "Nostromo is the most strikingly modern of Conrad's novels. It is pervaded by a profound, even morbid sense of insecurity which is the very spirit of our age."
              Robert D. Kaplan's Introduction explains why the two novels together form Conrad's darkest glimpse into the flawed nature of humankind.

      JOSEPH CONRAD (1857-1924) grew up amid political unrest in Russian-occupied Poland. After twenty years at sea in the French and British merchant navies, he settled in England in 1894. Over the next three decades, he revolutionized the English novel with works such as Youth (1902), Heart of Darkness (1902), Typhoon (1903), The Secret Agent (1907), Under Western Eyes (1911), Chance (1913), and Victory (1915).

      ROBERT D. KAPLAN is a correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly and the author of seven books of travel and foreign affairs that have been translated into a dozen languages, including Balkan Ghosts, The Ends of the Earth, and An Empire Wilderness, all bestsellers, and a collection of essays, The Coming Anarchy. He lectures frequently to the U.S. military.

      Download Description

      Originally published in 1900, Lord Jim is one of Joseph Conrad's most complex literary masterpieces. The story of a young sailor whose moment of cowardice haunts him for the rest of his life, Lord Jim explores Conrad's lifelong obsessions with the nature of guilt and the possibility of redemption.

      Customer Reviews:

      5 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT!!.......2002-11-14

      This is a truly excellent edition (and compilation). It may seem like a small point, but I really love the typeset used. And the prefatory material, especially that of Robert Kaplan, is particularly good. The selection of Lord Jim and Nostromo was also well done, for it juxtaposes two of Conrad's best and, perhaps, most representative works. On the one hand, there's Lord Jim, largely psychological and personal, in which the title character struggles with, and constantly returns to, a trying moment in which he acted questionably. On the other, while no less psychological, there's Nostromo, which enters the realm of politics, revolution, and ideology--a more mature Conrad and certainly much more complex, stylistically and thematically. The works themselves, of course, deserve five stars, but so, too, does this stunning Modern Library edition.
      Jim Morrison: Lords and New Creatures
      Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
      • A True Writer and Intellectual
      • A great poet that was highly underrated
      • Summary of James' thoughts, notes, and poetry
      • An outright look at the problems the truth presents.
      • This title is a must for any fan of poetry or of the Doors.
      Jim Morrison: Lords and New Creatures
      James Morrison
      Manufacturer: Music Sales Corporation
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

      GeneralGeneral | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
      RockRock | Musical Genres | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
      GeneralGeneral | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
      Single AuthorsSingle Authors | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | British & Irish | Continental European | United States
      Look Inside Entertainment BooksLook Inside Entertainment Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
      Similar Items:
      1. The American Night: The Writings of Jim Morrison The American Night: The Writings of Jim Morrison
      2. Wilderness: The Lost Writings of Jim Morrison,  Volume 1 Wilderness: The Lost Writings of Jim Morrison, Volume 1
      3. No One Here Gets Out Alive No One Here Gets Out Alive
      4. Sign of the Times Sign of the Times
      5. The Doors Collection (Collector's Edition) The Doors Collection (Collector's Edition)

      ASIN: 0711905525

      Customer Reviews:

      5 out of 5 stars A True Writer and Intellectual.......2007-09-27

      James Douglas Morrison's poetry work in The Lords and the New Creatures is highly creative, deep, and raw. He takes his words to new levels of imagery and glory, making every line breath a pulse and electrify the senses. His work proves that he was more than some 'stereotypical drugged out rock star'-but rather, a true, smart, and dignified writer. His wit and sincerity flow through each poem and reminds us that he took his writing very seriously and humbly. This book is a must have for any literature or poet reader, and allows us to see the real Jim Morrison.

      5 out of 5 stars A great poet that was highly underrated.......2006-07-26

      Jim Morrison was a man way ahead of his time. He was an artist of stellar magnitude as well as a prolific perfomer. Jim's first love was poetry. He always said that he wanted to be known first as a poet and then as a musician not the other way around. Jim's poems like the beautiful and dark music he wrote and recorded with The Doors was beyond the times that he lived in. This is his first book of published poetry that came out in 1969, he financed this publication himself because as well known as he was as the lead singer of The Doors he found it difficult to find a publisher that was interested enough in publishing his dark, avant-garde and sometimes violent poetry. This is a wonderful book and would make a great addition to any fan of his and of this type of poetry. Absolutely riveting and brilliant. Jim was a fiercely intelligent man who possessed a wonderful yet tortured soul. Read about the man and his poetry/music you will love it.

      5 out of 5 stars Summary of James' thoughts, notes, and poetry.......1998-07-17

      Read this book and free yourself from simple common thought and perception. Jim was a pioneer, he took all the pre-concieved orthodox of poetry and smashed through with fresh insights and challenging, even offensive, material. This is the best of all his published works.

      5 out of 5 stars An outright look at the problems the truth presents........1997-10-26

      The Lords and the New Creatures has the look of a book that may seem to be offensive and it is. As many people in our present world see the power that is associated with money, drugs, and all the other distractions this particular work forces people to see what they really are.

      4 out of 5 stars This title is a must for any fan of poetry or of the Doors........1997-04-15

      When James Douglass Morrison wrote The Lords and the New Creatures, he had no idea the quality of the poetry he had written. This book just is a compilation of his first book of poety,The Lords, and his second book of poety, The New Creatures. Except for the fact that on the cover of the compilation is lists the author as Jim Morrison, instead of James Doulglass Morrison, the book is a classic. It would help to have read biographical information of Morrison to understand the poetry somewhat. I would recomend No One Here Gets Out Alive, or Riders on the Storm
      In Remembrance of Me: A Manual on Observing the Lord's Supper
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        In Remembrance of Me: A Manual on Observing the Lord's Supper
        Jim Henry
        Manufacturer: B&H Publishing Group
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Hardcover

        Church Institutions & OrganizationsChurch Institutions & Organizations | Ministry & Church Leadership | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
        MinistryMinistry | Ministry & Church Leadership | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | Theology | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
        Rites & CeremoniesRites & Ceremonies | Worship & Devotion | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
        RitualRitual | Other Practices | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | Reference | Subjects | Books
        Similar Items:
        1. A Minister's Treasury of Funeral & Memorial Messages A Minister's Treasury of Funeral & Memorial Messages
        2. The Pastors Wedding Manual The Pastors Wedding Manual

        ASIN: 0805420134

        Books:

        1. The Merck Manual 18th Edition
        2. The Mill on the Floss (Penguin Classics)
        3. The Mysterious Island (Modern Library Classics)
        4. The Pilgrim's Progress in Modern English (Pure Gold Classic) (Pure Gold Classics)
        5. The Ramayana: A Modern Retelling of the Great Indian Epic
        6. The Ramona Collection, Vol. 1: Ramona the Brave / Ramona and Her Father/Ramona the Pest/Beezus and Ramona
        7. The Road (Oprah's Book Club)
        8. The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo: A Novel
        9. The Swiss Family Robinson (Unabridged Classics)
        10. The Tale of Genji: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

        Books Index

        Books Home

        Recommended Books

        1. The Traveler's Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success
        2. Scott 2005 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue, Vol. 5: Countries of the World P-Sl
        3. Real-Resumes for Retailing, Modeling, Fashion and Beauty Industry Jobs: Including Real Resumes Used
        4. Running on Emptiness: The Pathology of Civilization
        5. Scales, Intervals, Keys, Triads, Rhythm, and Meter: A Programmed Course in Elementary Music Theory,
        6. The Death of Superman
        7. Sea Salt: Memories & Essays
        8. You're Certifiable: The Alternative Career Guide to More Than 700 Certificate Programs, Trade School
        9. Microsoft Money 2004 for Dummies
        10. Savvy Discounts: The Best Money-Saving Advice from America's #1 Cost-Conscious Consumer