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Blindness (Harvest Book)
Jose Saramago
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
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Binding: Paperback
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Saramago, Jose
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ASIN: 0156007754 |
Amazon.com
In an unnamed city in an unnamed country, a man sitting in his car waiting for a traffic light to change is suddenly struck blind. But instead of being plunged into darkness, this man sees everything white, as if he "were caught in a mist or had fallen into a milky sea." A Good Samaritan offers to drive him home (and later steals his car); his wife takes him by taxi to a nearby eye clinic where they are ushered past other patients into the doctor's office. Within a day the man's wife, the taxi driver, the doctor and his patients, and the car thief have all succumbed to blindness. As the epidemic spreads, the government panics and begins quarantining victims in an abandoned mental asylum--guarded by soldiers with orders to shoot anyone who tries to escape. So begins Portuguese author José Saramago's gripping story of humanity under siege, written with a dearth of paragraphs, limited punctuation, and embedded dialogue minus either quotation marks or attribution. At first this may seem challenging, but the style actually contributes to the narrative's building tension, and to the reader's involvement.
In this community of blind people there is still one set of functioning eyes: the doctor's wife has affected blindness in order to accompany her husband to the asylum. As the number of victims grows and the asylum becomes overcrowded, systems begin to break down: toilets back up, food deliveries become sporadic; there is no medical treatment for the sick and no proper way to bury the dead. Inevitably, social conventions begin to crumble as well, with one group of blind inmates taking control of the dwindling food supply and using it to exploit the others. Through it all, the doctor's wife does her best to protect her little band of blind charges, eventually leading them out of the hospital and back into the horribly changed landscape of the city.
Blindness is in many ways a horrific novel, detailing as it does the total breakdown in society that follows upon this most unnatural disaster. Saramago takes his characters to the very edge of humanity and then pushes them over the precipice. His people learn to live in inexpressible filth, they commit acts of both unspeakable violence and amazing generosity that would have been unimaginable to them before the tragedy. The very structure of society itself alters to suit the circumstances as once-civilized, urban dwellers become ragged nomads traveling by touch from building to building in search of food. The devil is in the details, and Saramago has imagined for us in all its devastation a hell where those who went blind in the streets can never find their homes again, where people are reduced to eating chickens raw and packs of dogs roam the excrement-covered sidewalks scavenging from corpses.
And yet in the midst of all this horror Saramago has written passages of unsurpassed beauty. Upon being told she is beautiful by three of her charges, women who have never seen her, "the doctor's wife is reduced to tears because of a personal pronoun, an adverb, a verb, an adjective, mere grammatical categories, mere labels, just like the two women, the others, indefinite pronouns, they too are crying, they embrace the woman of the whole sentence, three graces beneath the falling rain." In this one woman Saramago has created an enduring, fully developed character who serves both as the eyes and ears of the reader and as the conscience of the race. And in Blindness he has written a profound, ultimately transcendent meditation on what it means to be human. --Alix Wilber
Book Description
A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" which spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations and raping women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers-among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears-through the barren streets, and the procession becomes as uncanny as the surroundings are harrowing. A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation and a vivid evocation of the horrors of the twentieth century, Blindness has swept the reading public with its powerful portrayal of man's worst appetites and weaknesses-and man's ultimately exhilarating spirit. The stunningly powerful novel of man's will to survive against all odds, by the winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Customer Reviews:
truth or fiction?.......2007-10-06
I read this book a few years ago and found it to be a great work of fiction. I was completely engrossed from page one. Then Katrina hit New Orleans and the book took on a whole new meaning.The similarities were astounding. Highly recommended.
To my dismay..........2007-09-16
I didn't get the impression at all that T. Burke (an earlier reviewer) would like Dan Brown's pedestrian writing simply because he disliked Saramago's BLINDNESS. I am a writer who leads writing workshops for university students and I dissuade student writers from trying to write like Saramago who, to my dismay, has even been compared to the brilliant Kafka! For I, too, find Saramago bewilderingly lugubrious, obvious, unsubtle and boring to read. For great stylists I would suggest to students (and to everyone!) that Kafka, Conrad, Austen, J. M. Coetzee, Hemingway, and Evelyn Waugh are much better stylists. And more complex thinkers as well. So is the great Colette. So is extraordinary Sylvia Plath. So is the German woman who wrote the brilliant A WOMAN IN BERLIN under the pen name Anonymous...
Wow, what a powerful book.......2007-09-13
I felt like I lived through the horrific events with these people which reminds me of Swan Song, where you see human reactions to a changing world. I love reading heavy dramas about human behavior and how people think, but this one REALLY brought out feelings and thoughts that I probably thought, but could never articulate.
I had to reread some passages over, as I couldn't believe how he could put these feelings we all have into words. It was hard to get into long paragraphs with no quotation marks and sometimes I dreaded picking up the book, as I knew it was so heavy and slow reading, but I finished it a week ago and am still thinking about the characters and situations. The ending was surprising too! Please read this if you like heavy dramas.
incredible.......2007-09-05
one of my favorite books of all time.
amazing read. brilliantly written.
annoying writing style.......2007-09-01
When I finish a book, I come to [...] to see what else I should be reading, I found the review for Blindness about a month ago and was very excited to read it, so I bought it, I also bought The Road by Cormack McCarthy, which was a bit similar both in subject matter and writing style, by the way, do you like this writing style, I hope so because Blindness uses it, there are barely any periods, no quotation marks yet lots of conversations, guess who's talking, I can't!
Anyway, the writing style drove me absolutely crazy. Blindness and The Road apparently don't believe in using quotation marks or periods. Makes it real fun to read conversations by the books characters. Ugh!
As for the Blindness story, I read a lot of reviews where people were turned off by the animalistic lengths to which humans would go had their sight suddenly been taken away. Actually, I had no problems with that. I would submit that if the population's sight was yanked from them, we'd revert to animals. Look what happens when the law, government, health care, and shelter are taken away (Katrina, LA Riots), anarchy abounds. I completely think this would happen. Rape, murder, hording of food, greed, looting would take over. Those that think differently are living in a fantasy world. Especially in the US. Holy smokes, it'd be chaos with guns everywhere. So this part worked for me.
What didn't really work for me was definitely the writing style (already mentioned) but the last third of the book. Without giving anything away, the story just kind of goes flat after the Asylum. The ending also seemed to not be explained well enough. Why did it turn out like it did? Probably for the sequel.
Also, Saramago seemed to get REALLY REALLY bogged down with citing proverbs and philosophies from other sources. It's great to know that stuff, but to go on endlessly about them, trying to relate them to the character's thoughts became an exercise in stamina for the reader. It's great to be descriptive, but keep it relevant for goodness sake.
Also, why this is a Pulitzer Prize winner is also beyond me. It's a good book in an almost Night of the Living Dead type of fashion, but a Pulitzer??? Come on! Maybe we should raise the standards a bit.
Sorry, but I just didn't find this book to be that relevant.
Also, I checked out the sequel to this book. Written with the same, crummy sentence structure. I WON'T be picking that one up.
Amazon.com
To dispense with a puzzlement right away--though named Vegetable Harvest, Patricia Wells's marvelous 190-plus recipe collection doesn't center on those edibles exclusively. Rather, it offers a well-rounded dish selection that puts them to brilliant use, often as supporting players (except, of course, in chapters titled "Vegetables" and "Potatoes"). This bit of culinary license shouldn't discourage anyone from buying the book, whose recipes, such as Baby Squid Salad with Garlic, Olives, Tomatoes and Parsley; Penne with Fava Beans, Basil Puree, and Parmesan; and Lamb Couscous with Chickpeas and Zucchini, exemplify all that's remarkable about Wells's approach to modern French cooking. Emphasizing simplicity, ingredient freshness and, yes, ease of preparation, the dishes--including breads and desserts like Lemon and Rosemary Flatbread and Almond Buttermilk Sorbet--will delight any cook who prizes direct yet brilliantly orchestrated flavor. In addition to wine advice, Wells also offers a pantry chapter including sauce and vinaigrette recipes--Creamy Lemon-Chive Dressing is one--nearly worth owning the book for. In works including The Provence Cookbook and Bistro Cooking, Wells brought French cooking to the American kitchen in a way both authentic and relaxed. Vegetable Harvest furthers that approach spectacularly. --Arthur Boehm
Book Description
The potager, or French vegetable garden, represents the very best of French cuisine: fresh, flavorful, and easily accessible for home cooks everywhere. In Vegetable Harvest, Patricia Wells presents a collection of recipes inspired by the garden she tends at her home in Provence.
No one has done more than Patricia to bring the art and techniques of French cooking into American kitchens. Now, in her tenth cookbook, she covers every kind of produce favored by French cooks from north to south. In addition, there are charming profiles of French farmers, home gardeners, and cooks, with sixty-five stunning color photographs.
From arugula to zucchini, Patricia offers up a wealth of dishes that incorporate vegetables, herbs, nuts, legumes, and fruits fresh from the garden. And her recipes aren't limited to summer's bounty—there are plenty for fall squash and winter potatoes, too.
The recipes in Vegetable Harvest include everything from appetizers, soups, and salads, to meats, poultry, and pasta. There are classics like Spicy Butternut Squash Soup, Roast Leg of Lamb with Honey and Mint Crust, and Pea and Mint Risotto, as well as innovative new dishes that are sure to become time-honored favorites, such as Potato-Chive Waffles with Smoked Salmon, Capers, and Crème Fraîche, Tomato and Strawberry Gazpacho, and Zucchini Blossoms Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Basil. To finish your meal with a flourish, there are decadent, fruity desserts like Pistachio-Cherry Cake with Cherry Sorbet, Rhubarb-Berry Compote in Grenadine, and Crunchy Almond-Pear Cake. In addition, there is a chapter on pantry staples that includes Patricia's recipes for Zesty Lemon Salt, Truffle Butter, and Fresh Cilantro Sauce.
And while Patricia's wonderful dishes sound sinful, they are in fact quite healthful, low in fat and calories; nutritional information is given for each recipe.
With Vegetable Harvest, you'll be eating the best nature has to offer—fresh, flavorful produce—all year round.
Customer Reviews:
Vegetables to feed the soul........2007-08-12
Patricia Wells never disappoints in the kitchen, and if you loved her other cook books (I do!) you will want this latest. This book celebrates the vegetable. Do not confuse this cook book with those meant for strict vegetarians. I am not a strict vegetarian but I find myself more and more often seeking to extol a vegetable straight from the garden or a farmers' market, rather than a pice of meat. The recipes in this book, make you think about vegetables with a new respect and an increased appetite. Bon appetit!
Vegetable Harvest.......2007-08-11
Wells presents a collection of recipes for appetizers, soups, salads, meat, poultry, and pasta dishes, plus breads and desserts-all using vegetables, herbs, nuts, legumes, and fruits fresh from the garden. Will be using this book for years to come.
Fresh Vegetables in Many Ways.......2007-07-26
After reading about Patricia Wells in an early summer New York Times article, I thought it would be good to buy her book. I was not disappointed. The recipes range from simple to cosmopolitan in taste levels and the photos are a delight. Her ideas help to easily add more varieties of vegetables to lunch and dinner meals. The book is very very useful and the recipes are easy to follow.
Not for vegetarians.......2007-07-24
While I admit this is a lovely book, had I known practically everything has bacon or chicken broth in it I might not have bought this, since the recipes are so basic. (I'm not vegetarian, just think it's ridiculous, unhealthy, and irresponsible to have animals in every meal!) I'm going to substitute Provencal garlic broth though and see how that goes. There are so many great vegetable books out there, as other reviewers mentioned - Deborah Madison, Peter Berley, etc. The fact is, I'm glad I also bought Martha Rose Shulman's Provencal Light and Donna Klein's vegan Mediterranean and Italian cookbooks at the same time, as I will be able to compare their takes with Patricia's since neither of those use anything not of the region, yet they don't seem to need so much of the animal products Patricia relies so heavily on.
Letting fresh produce lead.......2007-07-15
Inspired by her garden in Provence as well as some of her favorite French restaurants and markets, Wells ("The Provence Cookbook") puts vegetables first, letting the produce suggest the dish. These range from Chilled Cucumber and Yogurt Soup with Dill and Fresh Mint to Salmon Wrapped in Spinach Leaves with Caper, Lemon, and Olive Sauce; from Pumpkin and Sage Risotto to Tomato Sorbet.
The poultry and meat chapter features Grilled Chicken with Shallot Vinaigrette (lots of shallots), Rabbit with Artichokes and Pistou (basil), and Lamb Couscous with Chickpeas and Zucchini.
There's also a bread chapter and a dessert chapter and one you will turn to again and again - "the Pantry," which provides the basic stocks, sauces, flavored oils (including truffle oil, cream and butter) and spice mixes.
Each recipe includes nutrition information - calories, fat, protein and carbohydrates - and each is prefaced with serving suggestions. She likes Fresh Peas with Mint and Spring Onions served with roast chicken and Cauliflower Puree. Oven Roasted Cherry Tomatoes are delicious in salads, with pasta, or on sandwiches and are an integral ingredient in her Eggplant, Tomato, Basil, and Cheese Timbales. Wine suggestions accompany course dishes. All recipes start with equipment requirements, i.e., the right pan.
While assuming a love of cooking, most dishes are simple, and all have that French flair - attention to detail and presentation - which Wells effortlessly portrays with simple description. As always Wells brings her cooking-class expertise to bear in clear, concise directions which anticipate pitfalls and describe techniques.
Boxed asides offer a range of information, from personal anecdotes to French proverbs featuring food to well-honed nuggets of technique. Beautifully illustrated with Wells' own scrumptious photographs, this is well-rounded everyday French cooking at its best.
Book Description
If you love the joys of eating home-garden vegetables but always thought those joys had to stop at the end of summer, this book is for you. Eliot Coleman introduces the surprising fact that most of the United States has more winter sunshine than the south of France. He shows how North American gardeners can successfully use that sun to raise a wide variety of traditional winter vegetables in backyard cold frames and plastic covered tunnel greenhouses without supplementary heat. Coleman expands upon his own experiences with new ideas learned on a winter-vegetable pilgrimage across the ocean to the acknowledged kingdom of vegetable cuisine, the southern part of France, which lies on the 44th parallel, the same latitude as his farm in Maine.
This story of sunshine, weather patterns, old limitations and expectations, and new realities is delightfully innovative in the best gardening tradition. Four-Season Harvest will have you feasting on fresh produce from your garden all through the winter.
Customer Reviews:
Does this book even need another 5-star review?.......2007-10-06
Even if you don't want to garden year round (if you do this is the only book you need), it's a fascinating and fact-filled read. He tells how to garden more efficiently, how to compost and rejuvenate soil with crop rotation and "green manure" and which direction to plant rows for optimal time in the sun. There are formulas throughout such as how high a retaining wall to build to protect plants from cold (the wall heats up during the day and radiates warmth back during the night), or how many degrees to slant a bed to maximize sun and minimize cold wind damage. He tells how to plan succession planting to have vegetables year round, rather than one humungous crop all at once. His tone is congenial, never talking down or above his target audience. It's fascinating--if you buy you won't be sorry!
ORGANIC HOME GARDENER.......2007-08-04
This book is loaded with dynamite information. I have enjoyed reading it and will certainly make use of the info therein in the future!
Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long.......2007-07-15
Eliot Coleman has combined how-to text with drawings that inform and inspire. Highly recommended reading!
Helpful info.......2007-06-28
I am very excited about becoming self-sufficient in feeding my family of six. This book has extremely helpful ideas that are very cost effective. Highly recommend this book.
The bible of 4-season gardening.......2007-04-18
There is nothing like the satisfaction of talking to another seasoned gardener and having them say "isn't it too early for snap-peas?" and responding "nope, mine are doing great". This book gave me the confidence and knowledge to plant a month and a half earlier than I have ever planted before, without protection for the plants even!
It lays out in simple terms variety selection, location, timing and all the information you need to be harvesting vegetables literally all year round all the way down to zone 3!!
Amazon.com
"Kublai Khan does not necessarily believe everything Marco Polo says when he describes the cities visited on his expeditions, but the emperor of the Tartars does continue listening to the young Venetian with greater attention and curiosity than he shows any other messenger or explorer of his." So begins Italo Calvino's compilation of fragmentary urban images. As Marco tells the khan about Armilla, which "has nothing that makes it seem a city, except the water pipes that rise vertically where the houses should be and spread out horizontally where the floors should be," the spider-web city of Octavia, and other marvelous burgs, it may be that he is creating them all out of his imagination, or perhaps he is recreating details of his native Venice over and over again, or perhaps he is simply recounting some of the myriad possible forms a city might take.
Book Description
Imaginary conversations between Marco Polo and his host, the Chinese ruler Kublai Khan, conjure up cities of magical times. “Of all tasks, describing the contents of a book is the most difficult and in the case of a marvelous invention like Invisible Cities, perfectly irrelevant” (Gore Vidal). Translated by William Weaver. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book
Customer Reviews:
Like No Book You've Ever Read.......2007-09-18
In architecture school, I had to draw these cities from Calvino's descriptions. His amazingly descriptive and yet vauge recollections made for a great jumping off point.
Each chapter of 'Invisible Cities' is an evocative recollection of a fanciful and fantastic city. The descriptions are perfectly distilled, strikingly vivid, all-enveloping prose dream-photographs.
Loosen your ties to reality and let this book take you. Read it uncritically and let the scenery wash over you. There is no plot. There are no characters. This is a book about the intersection of reality, language, and the senses. It isn't to be missed.
thought-provoking.......2007-07-07
Great book, the kind you can read many times and still come up with something new. Worth not just reading but spending time thinking about.
The only reason it's not five stars is that I felt it limited women (who tended to be somehow half-sequestered in windows and verandas and what not) to a single role while men seemed to be the explorers, the out-and-about-ers.
Polo Ties Khan in Filosofical Final.......2007-05-27
Back in the days of my wasted youth I was really into ZAP COMIX. For those readers unfamiliar with that august publication, the content was "highly varied" but almost always politically incorrect. One kind of page aimed at readers who did not flinch from inhaling certain controlled substances. There would be, for example, a house and garden in a cartoon box. In each successive box, a little bit more would disappear. In the next to last box, there would be a tiny circle, made into a `yang and yin' design and in the last box it would go "plink" or "poing !" and there would be nothing at all left. INVISIBLE CITIES brought these stoner cartoons to mind, because what you get out of the book (or the cartoons) is mainly what is already inside you. Marco Polo regales Kublai Khan with endless tales of the different cities he has visited while travelling round the great Mongol Empire. Each city bears a woman's name and some possess modern features never seen in the Venetian's lifetime. The description of each city gives some kind of philosophical essence, so that what we are really reading is a kind of compound of Calvino's imagination and deep thoughts melded together into a kind of literary pill. It's up to you if you want to swallow it. "Futures not achieved are only branches of the past: dead branches." he intones. "The unhappy city contains a happy city unaware of its own existence." There's hundreds of mantras like this, kind of literary Chinese fortune cookies written by Khalil Gibran. In the end, Marco admits that he's made up these descriptions, but says that if the two of them did not "think the cities and their inhabitants", they would not exist. The Khan agrees. If such sentiments and literary directions are your bag, then this could be a very interesting book. I note that the majority of reviewers were people who liked the book. This is not always the best guide for surfers with questions. For my part, I grew tired of the repetitive format, the somewhat shopworn philosophy. To each his own.
I bet I know the reason all the cities have women's names........2006-12-01
He's describing women he's known, in a kind of code, describing them intimately without giving away details. Why cities? Because when you fall in love, you are immersed in a whole new geography of mind and heart and place. Khan is the part of him that just tallies his conquests, Marco is the part of him that encounters them as real individuals. Ultimately they both admit they're not real, which means that the "cities" are the only reality.
This book is a masterpiece for me........2006-10-21
This book is a masterpiece for me. It accompanied me throughout a long journey that I took in Europe in the past. It is written in a poetic way that makes you think, reflect and enter into the fantastic world of the invisible cities of Kublai Khan's empire, created by Calvino. Marco Polo works for the Khan. He has to visit many towns of the Mongolian empire so that later he can share his impressions with the great Khan. This is mainly because the empire is so big that Kublai Khan would never be able to visit all towns of his empire.
Each chapter has the name of a town, which is described by Marco Polo. In addition, there are many dialogs between Kublai Khan and Marco Polo that are, in my point of view, the most exciting part of the book. The dialogs are so intelligent and stimulating that I read some of them many times. They can trigger our natural curiosity about the way we see things around us, the future, the past, the present, etc. It is a book to be read in a slow pace so we can reflect upon each part. It helped me to slow down my frequently rushed rhythm of life. How conscious are we while we write the pages of our lives?
Book Description
Lewis writes here about the difficulties he has met or the joys he has gained in reading the Psalms. He points out that the Psalms are poems, intended to be sung, not doctrinal treatises or sermons. Proceeding with his characteristic grace, he guides readers through both the form and the meaning of these beloved passages in the Bible.
Customer Reviews:
Great Information but not easy to read.......2007-08-27
C.S. Lewis points out some very interesting facts and shows you his perspective on the psalms. He uses several different aspects to review such as their view of death, afterlife, suffering, etc. He points out that the Psalms are songs and should be interprated with that fact in mind. That alone adds a new perspective to the Psalms. He also makes it clear that the Psalms are not neccessarily to be viewed from a Christian perspective because the writers were not Christians.
The only downside I can see in the book is C.S. Lewis' writing style. He supposes his readers know certain historical figures and are versed in numerous literary writings on certain subjects. If you are not a person who reads these types of things all the time it may come difficult for you. Either way you will still get something out of it. Many time Christians, such as myself, try to make something in the Bible what we want it to be, and I believe we have done that to the Psalms over and over again. Have a read!
A Master of Literature Reviews the Psalms.......2007-02-26
It had been awhile since I read any CS Lewis when I picked up this book. It is much different than others I have read, but it was quite enjoyable. Instead of analyzing specific Psalms in detail, Lewis takes a more thematic approach. This method allows him to connect the dots between specific Psalms, and other passage of Scripture as well.
Overall, Lewis does a tremendous job of making his points, and highlighting the fact that the Psalms are poems, and not doctrinal statements. Although I do not agree with all of his conclusions, Lewis really does make you think. I appreciate the fact that I felt like I had completed a successful journey through the book of Psalms after reading the book. It really opened my eyes to some new insights - which is refreshing.
If you like CS Lewis, or are interested in learning more about the Book of Psalms, then I highly recommend this book. You will see something there that you did not see before.
Personal, powerful, intimate.......2007-02-19
This is not a commentary on the Psalms - this is Lewis wrestling personally with the Psalms, around issues near and dear to his heart. But what better way to encounter the Psalms? They are written as a songbook, as lyrical poems from the heart of one worshiper to another. They aren't primarily doctrinal theses, they are artworks of exceeding skill and ability. Lewis is intellectually and devotionally equipped to engage with the Psalms at a deep level. I love reading his meditations on the Psalms.
Lewis gets to the heart of the matter.......2006-04-27
Thankfully this is not one of those books on the Psalms that will tell you that this or that Psalm is a lament or a cultic liturgy or an ode to someone bent on the succession of the Davidic monarchy. Lewis gets to the heart of matters, raising and answering questions that concern intelligent believers. For instance, what are we as Christians to make of imprecatory Psalms? Lewis considers not only those who write such Psalms, but also what has happened to them in life to get them to that point. Why so much talk about God's judgment? Lewis corrects the erroneous impression that judgment in the Psalms refers to God's punishment of evil doers. The primary sense is of a plaintiff pleading with God (the Judge) to pass judgment in their favor. What of the apparent self-righteousness of some of the Psalmists? Lewis says that all the talk about the Law is no Pharisaism but a the delight in Order: "The Order of the Divine mind, embodied in the Divine Law is beautiful." (53) Lewis' favorite is Psalm 19 and his writes about it in such a way as to make it come alive. The searching cleansing sun, is the searching cleansing Law. He identifies the key phrase as "there is nothing hid from the heat thereof" (19.6) That, for Lewis, describes the Law: :"luminous, severe, disinfectant, exultant (57). Finally, I must mention the surprising chapter on the subject of praise. Lewis writes that praise is not a matter of telling God how wonderful he is, but a way of expressing gratitude for what we care deeply about. Praise is something all human beings naturally do: we praise things and people that we value. When we praise them we complete our enjoyment of them through our words: "praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment" (81). Despite the fact that Lewis was not a theologian, he had a keener grasp of comparative religion, and Hebraic concepts than many biblical scholars. This is a book written by someone who has spent years praying the Psalms, not by someone who treats the Psalms as if they were an insect under a microscope.
Meditative.......2005-10-28
Bonhoeffer really drives you into appreciating the spiritual depth of the Psalms and their Christ centred significance. I found the book difficult to put down. A great spiritual read.
Tom Davis
Customer Reviews:
Problem of the soul.......2007-09-07
This book contains eleven lectures given to the general public on various occasions on a variety of topics. Taken together they sum up much of Jung's analytical psychology, covering the subjects:
dream analysis,
problems of psychotherapy,
aims of psychotherapy,
theory of types,
stages of life,
contrasts between Freud and Jung,
archaic man,
psychology and literature,
basic postulates (i.e. philosophic notions) of analytical psychology,
spiritual problem of modern man, and,
psychotherapists or the clergy.
Jung's professional writings can be a hard read being long and difficult to follow. There is none of that problem in this work. Here Jung is clear as a bell. The book is highly recommended for those beginning their inquiry into Jung.
Although
was first published in 1933 it still holds relevance to a contemporary audience. One major theme running through several speeches is that many people seem to inherently want to believe in something spiritual, though this certainly does not necessarily imply mainstream religion such as Christianity. We only have to visit a new age bookshop packed with Buddhist and other Asian philosophic texts, not to mention esoteric volumes on spirits, magic and psychic phenomena, to realize that many people are 'looking for something in their lives.' Of course not all of us have spirituality as an issue or problem and Jung at one point goes to some trouble to point this out. Some are hung up on sex, other on power, etc. In these cases a psychology other than Jung's analytical psychology is recommended.
Still Timely and Timeless.......2007-01-05
Someone said in a review that this book isn't applicable for people alive today, that it was only relevant back when it was written a little over 60 years ago.
I can't disagree more. The book is just as relevant now, if not more so.
In one of the essays from this book, Jung accurately predicted today's raging "cultural battles" between proponents of so called "ID" theory and those who espouse Evolution, when he said, correctly, that natural science has for all practical purposes shot down the whole notion of anything "magical" or "supernatural" about the psyche. It's puzzling that in light of the overwhelming mountain of scientific evidence to the contrary, a vast majority of people in the U.S. still believe in "eternal life", and "heaven" and "hell".
Maybe if those who believe in whatever religion they think is the only true religion could loosen up a little, and realize that all religions are organized, but slightly different interpretations of our collective conscious handed down to us through the ages, we might not have problems like 9/11 and ongoing wars, not to mention the ugly politics in this country, all driven by the sentiment "My God is the only right God".
While indirectly discounting the ideas of "heaven" and "hell", as those terms, or their endless variations are commonly defined in most of the world's religions, Jung does point out that there is still a mysterious quality about thoughts, feelings, emotions, etc. separate and apart from "reason". Maybe that "spot" is where the "soul" or "spirit" truly resides.
If there were a way for people to find this within themselves, they might just find "God" at last. And if this type of personal, inward looking belief system could be more widely developed, we, as humans, might find better ways to get along.
Not to rain on anyone's religious parade, but the religions "du jour" (or of the current times), will be no more relevant millenia from now (or sooner?) than the religions espoused by the Greeks, the Romans, the Zoroastrians, Druids, or the Pagans before us.
Having said that, we're damned if we have religion and damned if we don't (no pun intended), because one argument that Jung makes for religion being beneficial for society is that if we didn't have religion, God only knows whether we'd all kill each other or not (once again, no pun intended).
Jung's bottom line argument is that you're not going to find God in your local synagogue, church, temple, or mosque, in spite of our collective conscious efforts being channeled toward those places.
Insightful Analytical Psychology.......2004-10-19
A very insightful and meaningful book, 11 intriguing essays in 244 pages. Jung is a deeper thinker, and I think not reductive like Freud and Adler tended to be. He makes no claim to dogmatism or absolutes. Jung really hits on the psyche and transcends the borders of rational intelligence into areas of the unconscious expressions in symbolism and images.
I am going to argue against another reviewer here that gave this book 4 stars as being outdated. When I look at the present collective societal structure and current cultural pattern apart from the minority of advanced individuals, I can see the postmodern man has regressed far from the modern man of the 1930's in search of a soul. Of course there as been advances individually, but on a collective level; fundamentalism, religious literalism, nationalism, patriotism and one-sided thinking This has grown in major proportions as opposed to the other way around and it is far more serious than most even realize and patterns after historical events of very similiar nature.
The first essay on dream-analysis hits on the idea that dreams are very hard to interpret and suggests that understanding the circumstances and conditions of the conscious life is significant in relation to the dreams of the unconscious life.
On the problems of psychotherapy, Jung relates four stages of analytical psychology, the confessional, explanation, education and transformation
"The great decisions of human life have as a rule far more to do with the instincts and other mysterious unconscious factors than with conscious will and well-meaning reasonableness. The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases. Each of us carries his own life-form - an indeterminable form which cannot be superseded by any other." p. 61
The essay on the personality types is short, non-exhaustive and briefly relates Jung's ideas of the introvert, the extrovert and the 4 basic types consisting of those persons who are thinkers, feelers, sensory and intuitive.
In his essay on the stages of life, Jung ventures beyond childhood into early adulthood and the expansion of the self into sexual desires and masculine and feminine traits and how after somewhere in the 40's there begins a contraction of the self where men may acquire more feminine traits and women more masculine. In the second half of life less is needed to educate his conscious will but more aim towards the inner being, until old age where one leaves the rational self and retreats into the psyche as children yet in a different sense.
Jung acknowledges the validity of Freud and Adler and their valuable contributions, yet Jung sees Freud's sexual reduction to all neurosis as limiting, as well as Adler's will to power over inferiority as the sole cause. Both views have proven themselves as valid in many cases, yet Jung finds there is far much more levels in what he calls "value intensities," which underlie many complexes.
Jung also briefly goes into the archaic man's interpretation of all chance events having external meanings and causes, or as causal occurrences and the contrast of the modern man's ability to see the majority of chance and unexplainable events as the human imagination, as the perception of the human. Also the same ability of assumptions in the archaic man, can be seen in the modern who uses science as the foundation over the supernatural.
Jung's essay on psychology and literature is my favorite essay. It hits on something I both think of and am affected by almost every day. I found this entirely meaningful and very much profound. In this he writes of two types of writers; those that explain all they write of and those that have visions where their writing is obscure and needs the psychologist to read into. It is those visionaries that are the most inspiring. Here there exists those as in The Shepherd of Hermas, in Dante, in the second part of Faust, in Nietzsche's Dionysian exuberance, in Wagner's Nihelungenriing, in Spitteler's Olympischer Fruhling, in the poetry of William Blake, in the lpnerotomachia of the monk Francesco Colonna, and in Jacob Boehme's philosophic and poetic stammerings.
Jung speaks of the human intuition that points to things that are unknown and hidden, and by our very nature are secret and that throughout human history this unfathomable primordial source of creative experience been expressed in images, as in the sun-wheel, in attempting to point to this. The artist and poet will resort to mythology and images which only appear to occur in dreams, cases of insanity, narcotic states and eclipses of consciousness.
"A great work of art is like a dream; for all its apparent obviousness it does not explain itself and is never unequivocal. A dream never says; "you ought," or "this is the truth." It presents an image in much the same way as nature allows a plant to grow, and we must draw our own conclusions." p. 171
I really can't even begin to touch on all the vital, significant and soul inspiring information that is loaded in the pages of this book and I think as I try I am taking away from what's written far better than what I'll ever write. I recommend this book.
An excellent work, but one problem.......2004-05-25
This is an excellent introduction to Jungian psychology - it's well presented, clear, concise, and full of information. It proved in my case to be very stimulating, and I found myself pondering the ideas presented for some time.
Why then, do I award only four stars? Because the title is no longer appropriate. It is not a book exclusively about modern man, but rather, about man as he was seventy years ago. Some of the concepts seem to describe very accurately the state of mind that mankind was experiencing in Jung's time, but today they won't be observed with any great consistency - they are no longer appropriate. That being said, the book outlines the general principles in such a logical way that one may apply them to the world around them, seeing the similarities and differences between Jung's world and their own for themselves.
Worthwhile reading for anyone interested in psychology, or simply expanding their view of life - puts a wide range of life's issues in perspective.
A rich and filling anthology.......2003-10-18
The eleven chapters in this work are lectures (except for one) delivered by Jung prior to 1933 (date of publication of this book). For those of you who already own some or most of Jung's Collected Works (CW), it may be unnecessary to purchase this title. I found this out too late since in my haste I failed to check the table of contents graciously provided for by Amazon on this web page. So for the benefit of those who are intending to buy this title I have listed below all the chapters and the corresponding volume of the CW where these same essays can be found (note: translations in this work and those in the CW may differ slightly as exemplified by the change in the title of the first chapter).
Table of Contents
1. Dream Analysis in Its Practical Application
["The Practical Use of Dream Analysis", in CW 16]
2. Problems of Modern Psychotherapy
[in CW 16]
3. The Aims of Psychotherapy
[in CW 16]
4. A Psychological Theory of Types
[in CW 6 (one of the four essays in the appendix)]
5. The Stages of Life
[in CW 8]
6. Freud and Jung--Contrasts
[in CW 4]
7. Archaic Man
[in CW 10]
8. Psychology and Literature
[in CW 15]
9. The Basic Postulates of Analytical Psychology
[in CW 8]
10. The Spiritual Problem of Modern Man
[in CW 10]
11. Psychotherapists or the Clergy
[in CW 11]
Notwithstanding the fact that all chapters can be found in the CW, this anthology of Jung's essays is a rich and filling smorgasbord of his thoughts, ideas, theories, and opinions about the psyche around the time he was 50. Although I am disappointed that I purchased a title I practically don't need (having a good number of the CW already) I can hardly give this anthology less than five stars. Nearly all of Jung's works deserve nothing less.
And whether you're new to Jung or not, a must-read is his _Memories, Dreams, Reflections_, a work that he undertook during the last few years of his life, one which is definitely not to be found in the CW.
Average customer rating:
- Slow......Again
- Just one more book in the all-encompassing, enthralling, and utterly absorbing Left Behind Series
- Soul Havest:: The World Takes Sides
- LaHaye/Jenkins' Guide to Christianity: An Immoral Morality
- Great religious fiction
|
Soul Harvest: The World Takes Sides (Left Behind No. 4)
Tim F. LaHaye , and
Jerry B. Jenkins
Manufacturer: Tyndale House Publishers
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Binding: Paperback
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Similar Items:
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Nicolae: The Rise of Antichrist (Left Behind No. 3)
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Apollyon: The Destroyer Is Unleashed (Left Behind No. 5)
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Assassins: Assignment: Jerusalem, Target: Antichrist (Left Behind No. 6)
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Tribulation Force: The Continuing Drama of Those Left Behind (Left Behind No. 2)
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The Indwelling: The Beast Takes Possession (Left Behind No. 7)
ASIN: 0842329250 |
Amazon.com
Having survived the wrath of the Lamb--a global earthquake in the 21st month of the Tribulation--pilot Rayford Steele and reporter Buck Williams now embark on a journey of absorbing adventure and Christian triumph. Soul Harvest is book four in the enormously popular Left Behind series (seven books are planned in all), based on those who are left behind in the Rapture. Written with the same gripping pace of Tom Clancy and John Grisham (film rights have already been sold for the first two books), the authors take us to Iraq, America, underground shelters, and the bottom of the Tigris river as Steele and Williams search for loved ones. Meanwhile, biblical prophecies are fulfilled at every turn, including the great soul harvest. For many Christian followers, this series has become a tangible and thrilling testament to the Book of Revelations. --Gail Hudson
Book Description
The fourth book in the popular Left Behind series from Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins is now available in trade softcover. In Soul Harvest the world is reeling from a great earthquake. As Nicolae Carpathia begins a worldwide rebuilding campaign, his rage is fueled by an evangelistic effort resulting in the greatest harvest of souls the world has ever seen. Meanwhile, Rayford Steele and Buck Williams search for their loved ones who haven't been seen since before the earthquake.
Customer Reviews:
Slow......Again.......2007-09-27
Ok the first book was good, the second slow, the third one picked up for me and now, I'm having hell (pardon) getting thru this one. Last book we spent a lot of time trying to figure out where Buck and Rayford were and now we are looking for Chloe and Amanda. I think it's becoming a bit repetitive, but hopefully it speeds up again.
Just one more book in the all-encompassing, enthralling, and utterly absorbing Left Behind Series.......2007-09-14
From the very first letter of the alphabet that my eyes looked upon inside this series of books, until the very last period of the very last sentence, I was hooked. Each one of these books absorbed my attention like no other book has ever done in my life. Biblically sound, theatrically entertaining, and brilliantly written, the Left Behind books will inspire you to dig into God's word and take the pieces of news from your T.V. screen and match them right smack-dab up with the prophecies of the Bible. Your hair will stand up, your heart will race, and you will find yourself helplessly caught in the suspense. Once you finish one of these books, you will desperately race to your computer screen or your local library to pick up the next one!
Carrie Lynn Jones
Author of It All Began... When Jesus Gave Me Sneakers
Soul Havest:: The World Takes Sides .......2007-07-29
Soul Harvest was in good condition and had little damage. The pages were a little worn and the cover was worn.
LaHaye/Jenkins' Guide to Christianity: An Immoral Morality.......2007-06-03
Alright, so, if you're here, then I don't have to tell you how poorly written this series is. The characters are cardboard, there is no pacing, there is no sense of style and the plot is cliched, repetitive and completely devoid of real tension. But, you might reasonably respond, none of that is the point to this series. This series is meant to convert the masses, and therefore, we might posit that we ought to judge this series based on its religious and moral content.
If so? Then this series is even worse off than judging it on its artistic merits (and it has practically none).
First of all, to re-establish the fact that this is a poorly written series, allow me to quote this choice segment from near the end of the novel. The context is that Ray is investigating an airplane that has crashed and now rests underwater, a grave for dozens of people. He's searching for his missing wife, whom he fears is one of the dead (p. 402): "All he saw in his fading light were the backs of five heads and the heels of ten feet. Seven shoes had come loose. He had never understood the phenomenon of the contraction of human feet in the face of violent collision...."
Truly, genuinely dismal. Just awful. Here, you can tell that the authors decided to do a few minutes worth of research, and, finding some tidbit about contracting feet or somesuch, they just couldn't leave it out. You know, for verisimilitude. The fact that, while scuba-diving in an underwater airplane, searching desperately for his wife, and suffering from a bad head inury, this is a really lame thought for Ray to be having, pulling us completely out of the suspense of the scene? Well, the authors don't quite get that sort of thing.
But, like I say, perhaps we should concentrate our critiquing efforts on the presentation of theology and ethics found here. After all, that's obviously what's most important to the authors. And so, let's have a little bit of theological conversation between two of our Tribulation Saints (210):
"'God has proven personal to us, Mac," Rayford said. 'He doesn't always answer our prayers the way he we think he will, but we've learned he knows best. And we have to be careful not to think that everything we feel deeply is necessarily true.'
'I don't follow,' Mac said.
'For instance, I can't shake the feeling that Amanda is still alive. But I can't swear that this is from God.' Rayford hesitated, suddenly overcome. 'I want to be sure that if it turns out I'm wrong, I don't hold it against God.'"
See? Rayford gets this deep feeling about Amanda's still being alive. If she turns out to be alive, then Rayford knows that the feeling came from God, and he praises God for "assuring" Ray or something like that. However, if Amanda isn't alive, then Rayford knows that his initial feeling wasn't from God, after all, but just his own hopes overblown...
No wonder Mac didn't follow. It isn't followable.
But my big problem here isn't the authors' lack of logic. Oh, sure, they haven't even been *introduced* to logic, but no, my bigger concern is the morality. Throughout this series, they've been inspired to use the series as a pulpit for preaching against what they feel are society's ills. Fair enough, except, rather than making anything resembling an actual case against any of these things, they've been content to merely smear them through association (i.e. the Antichrist supports it, ergo it's just as evil as Fundamentalists always said it was). In this way, the authors look to tarnish organizations like the United Nations and hot-button political issues like abortion, cloning and fetal tissue research. Look, there are several good arguments to be made against things like the United Nations (and also good arguments for it)... but, that the Antichrist might use it for world conquest? Is not a good argument. (Also, it's not even a good Christian argument, for God's will is obviously that the Antichrist have dominion for a time, yes? Therefore, arguing against the U.N. appears to be attempting to thwart God's plan...)
Not always preaching against, sometimes the authors preach for things. For instance, in the character of Chloe, they preach for the "natural" submission of women to men (307):
"Don't parent me, Buck. Seriously, I don't have a problem submitting to you because I know how much you love me. I'm willing to obey you even when you're wrong. But don't be unreasonable."
This is not the independent woman the authors introduced us to in the first couple of books. After almost disappearing from the narrative altogether, Chloe has re-emerged as a caracature of what the authors believe is the ideal Christian wife. That is: obedient. And here, they try to make such obedience sound reasonable because it's done "because I know how much you love me..." but ask yourselves this: does Chloe love Buck any less than Buck loves Chloe? No. Yet the authors would *never* give Buck a speech about how he obeys Chloe and submits to her (even when she's wrong). They give Chloe this speech because she's a woman, and the authors believe that it is a woman's duty to submit to her husband, and obey him.
Apart from social observations, let's take a look at the character--and morality--of God as presented by this series. As a good starting point (and the central plot element of the end of the last novel, and most of this one), the "Wrath of the Lamb" earthquake that devastates the earth.
What I find interesting about that quake is: according to the authors, it's God's work. Now, in chronicling the 'End of Times,' the authors have been quick and clear to lay a lot at Nicolae Carpathia's doorstep. He's the Antichrist, after all; a bad, bad man. Yet, come to it, God has managed to wreak more destruction than Carpathia. I know that the authors, and most readers, would sift these acts of destruction into "good" and "bad" camps, but for someone who isn't Christian (like myself) it's a bit hard to come to that conclusion, just based on what I've read in this series. God's earthquake doesn't seem to be any more discriminatory than Carpathia's nuclear attack--they both wind up killing people both moral and immoral, Christian and other, right? They're both launching their attacks on the populace in an effort to gain better control of people, right? Win more people to their side, right? Honestly, other than the titles we've bestowed upon them, how is someone expected to figure out which is the force of good and which is the force of evil, when, for all I can tell, they employ the same tactics and have the same goals?
The big difference seems to be: God is *more* powerful, is *better* able to massacre people, and therefore we'd be wise in backing him up. Do you know what argument LaHaye and Jenkins have yet to make? That God is more moral in some observable way, and therefore worthy of love, respect or admiration. So far, the only thing that they've proven about their deity is that he's not afraid of murdering millions of people to make a point. God seems to be "good" and "moral" in LaHaye/Jenkins' world because he says so, and will slap you down hard if you disagree.
Of course, this is my beef--my personal point of view--I get that. I only wish the authors had some recognition of their own point of view, and how it colors their writing (and how it limits it). For instance, a good portion of the early part of the novel is Buck's trying to find Chloe (seems that girl is always gone missing), who they're worried has been killed by the quake. Had the quake, somehow, been the work of Carpathia, Buck would be burning with all sorts of anger at the cruelty and inhumanity of the Antichrist--at how casually the Antichrist could butcher people. Instead, Buck is filled with a sort of quiet resignation, because the quake is the handiwork of a "loving" God. Surely the kind of God that can cause these sorts of horrors must give a moral person pause...? Yet...
"The chopper lights illuminated an area of twenty feet in front of the craft. Mac suddenly unclipped his belt and leaned forward. 'What is that, Ray? It's raining, but it's red! Look at that! All over the snow!'
'It's blood," Rayford said, a peace flooding his soul...this show, this shower of fire and ice and blood, reminded him yet again that God is faithful. He keeps his promises." (410)
Yikes! Christians of LaHaye and Jenkins' stripe I find a bit... disturbing. They have no problems in upholding a God as being moral and loving, even as he slaughters millions (and condemns untold amounts of them to Hell, as he arbitrarily limits their opportunities for conversion/salvation through their early deaths). Yet they condemn as evil a man who kills a lesser number, even though that man is conforming to God's plan for us every bit as much as the earthquakes, comets, etc. They find comfort in raining fire and blood, but are troubled by independent women and embryonic research that could wind-up curing diseases and thereby saving lives.
If LaHaye and Jenkins are right--if this series really does reflect Christianity and the character and morality of their God--then God is wicked, and a truly moral person would have to take a stand against him, even if it were futile. There is nothing loving about this "loving" God, no matter how many times we assert it is so. And anyways, even if they're right metaphysically, this series is still incredibly poor in terms of writing, characterization, plot, etc. Being religious and being right doesn't make a person a competent author.
Great religious fiction.......2007-05-21
The authors again take us on a journey in the lives of the Tribulation Saints after the rapture. Nicolae Carpathia is the anti-Christ and more of his evilness is displayed. The 3rd and 4th Horseman are unleashed and calamity strikes the earth and those left behind.
These books are a great work and those who believe or aren't sure what to believe begin to understand the bible and the point of the books, to prepare yourself and make a decision to follow Christ and accept him as the Messiah. I enjoy them because they make the rapture and the prophesies of what is to come so real, the meaning of the prophesies are intrepreted by the authors but they make sense. The characters are real and are flawed, they make mistakes, they fight for what they believe, they experience pain and agony, happiness and joy. You want to be there with them, helping in the cause, at the same time you hope to never have to be there, that you're taken in the rapture and not left behind.
Book Description
Complete in one volume, the five books that created the modern American crime novel
In a few years of extraordinary creative energy, Dashiell Hammett invented the modern American crime novel. In the words of Raymond Chandler, "Hammett gave murder back to the kind of people that commit it for reasons, not just to provide a corpse.... He put these people down on paper as they were, and he made them talk and think in the language they customarily used for these purposes."
The five novels that Hammett published between 1929 and 1934, collected here in one volume, have become part of modern American culture, creating archetypal characters and establishing the ground rules and characteristic tone for a whole tradition of hardboiled writing. Drawing on his own experiences as a Pinkerton detective, Hammett gave a harshly realistic edge to novels that were at the same time infused with a spirit of romantic adventure. His lean and deliberately simplified prose won admiration from such contemporaries as Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, and William Faulkner.
Each novel is distinct in mood and structure. Red Harvest (1929) epitomizes the violence and momentum of his Black Mask stories about the anonymous detective the Continental Op, in a raucous and nightmarish evocation of political corruption and gang warfare in a western mining town. In The Dain Curse (1929) the Op returns in a more melodramatic tale involving jewel theft, drugs, and a religious cult. With The Maltese Falcon (1930) and its protagonist Sam Spade, Hammett achieved his most enduring popular success, a tightly constructed quest story shot through with a sense of disillusionment and the arbitrariness of personal destiny. The Glass Key (1931) is a further exploration of city politics at their most scurrilous. His last novel was The Thin Man (1934), a ruefully comic tale paying homage to the traditional mystery form and featuring Nick and Nora Charles, the sophisticated inebriates who would enjoy a long afterlife in the movies.
Customer Reviews:
The Maltese Falcon.......2006-11-07
An intriguing plot with just the right blend of wry humor, sex and secrets.
Very exciting and convenient.......2006-06-19
I do like these stories, though they are so rough! It is very helpful to be able to have them all together in this one good volume, I think. But it is dangerous to read them late at night, because you either get too excited to sleep, or you dream of bad men with their car headlamps switched off in the dark!
The first benchmark.......2005-08-19
Very nice edition of the master's novels. In addition to my love of Hammett's prose, I am fascinated by the subtle political aspects of his work: he was the first crime writer to question the status quo so frankly. K. C. Constantine said, "The crime writer is society's stoolie", and Hammett is still a reliable informant.
A classic.......2004-08-26
"A Classic"
What makes a classic? In the case of a detective novel, it is a book that can be read and reread and that gives pleasure on each reading. The Maltese Falcon is now seventy-five years old, yet it continues to amaze, to amuse, to engage.
You may know the plot, but you still can't remember every twist and turn of the unfolding story, and you are surprised by details here and there you did not previously notice, or had forgotten. You may know the principal characters-the cynical detective Sam Spade, the seductive adventuress Brigid O'Shaughnessy, the exotic Joel Cairo, the crafty Caspar Gutman. But they are so expertly drawn, so powerfully realized, that you learn more about them on each reading.
You may already have committed some of the most famous lines of dialog to heart ("The cheaper the crook the gaudier the patter"-- "You're good. You're very good. It's chiefly your eyes, I think, and that throb you get into your voice when you say things like `Be generous, Mr. Spade'"). Yet you continue to discover more, and you continue on each reading to relish the bite, the humor, the intelligence of Hammett's prose.
It's practically impossible to read this book without thinking of the motion picture starring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet. Don't try. John Huston's script departs here and there from the story line of the novel, but not in any serious way. Most of the changes are efforts to streamline the story and make it fit the standard (for 1941) length of a screenplay. And the best lines spoken by Bogart, Astor, Lorre, and Greenstreet are pure Hammett. The movie is true to the spirit of the book, and if you are familiar with both you can love them both.
At age seventy-five, The Maltese Falcon is a classic, and there is good reason to believe that in another seventy-five years it will still be one.
Well worth the time........2004-07-28
I have read all five novels at least twice. Will go for three times when winter arrives.
Book Description
A practical guide to all aspects of edible wild plants: finding and identifying them, their seasons of harvest, and their methods of collection and preparation. Each plant is discussed in great detail and accompanied by excellent color photographs. Includes an index, illustrated glossary, bibliography, and harvest calendar. The perfect guide for all experience levels.
Customer Reviews:
Euell Gibbons was the Bible, Sam Thayer is the New Testament!.......2007-06-29
I have been interested in wild edible plants for years but it wasn't until i picked up a copy of Sam's book that i became and avid forager.
Subtle things that have to do with preperation of the plant, exactly what part of the plant, when to gather it specifically and how to correctly process wild food seems to remain mysteriously vacant from many wild food field guides out there today. Sam's book goes deep into the preperation aspect of the plants where other books come up short.
Granted, he doesn't cover a volumous number of species in this book. However, what he does cover is laid out in exaustive detail. When so many plant books seem to be a regurgitation of the same information over and over again, Forager's Harvest comes as a breath of fresh air.
The subjects on milkweed and cattail alone are worth the price for this fine book. It's obvious that Sam lives this stuff as it is evident by his meticulate records and passionate writing. I have found much of what is in this book to be true ( i haven't harvested all the plants in this book yet.)
I would totally recommend this book as "the book" to get if serious about harvesting wild plants. It may be helpful for beginer's to also get a good solid plant id guide like 'Newcombs Wildflower Guide' and 'Botany in a Day.'
Great first book for a beginner.......2007-04-10
This is a good first book for a beginner, the author is very knowledgeable. This guy lives in a cabin and he actually applies this stuff everyday so he practices what he preaches he doesn't just have head knowledge. He also warns of other such books that list poisonous plants as edible.
Empowers you to actually forage - right to your dining table!.......2007-04-04
My kids and I have almost finished reading this whole book aloud because it is like a story in amazingly useful order. We have already eaten some of the foods and can't wait to walk the byways to find other plants Samuel Thayer describes. He is so complete and believable and does this for a gourmet taste -- not to eat stuff the tastes like bitter medicine!
The Forager's Harvest.......2007-03-29
The best of the wild-edibles field guides. If I could only have one on my bookshelf, this would be it.
Excellent Source for Information on a few plants..........2007-02-19
This book offers an excellent introducion to the practice of wild plant harvesting. Not only are the plants discussed (in great detail), but the author includes many personal experiences and additional information (the first 75 pages - timing, storage, etc.) - including recomendations on further book resources. The descriptions of the two dozen or so plants are extensive. The book gives information on ID, range, harvesting, and preparation. I live in Washington State, though, and I have only found about 11 of the plant species readily available here (Choke Cherry, Wapato, Butternut(in urban settings), Black Locust, Cattail, Stinging Nettle, Serviceberry, Sumac (Staghorn), Linden (urban ornamental), Burdock, and Thistle). The book is still a wealth of inforomation and a very valuable resource.
Book Description
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply
Chapter 2 Soy Imperialism and the Destruction of Local Food Cultures
Chapter 3 The Stolen Harvest Under the Sea
Chapter 4 Mad Cows and Sacred Cows
Chapter 5 The Stolen Harvest of Seed
Chapter 6 Genetic Engineering and Food Security
Chapter 7 Reclaiming Food Democracy
Customer Reviews:
great information, weak on analysis.......2004-10-15
I'm afraid I must dissent from the rave reviews this book has gotten. It's a good book, but it's not wonderful. It's very strong at presenting the ways that the corporatization of food production is destructive of human health, the environment, and the livelihood of poor farmers, fisher folk and the like. There's lots of examples, lots of strong empirical data to back up Shiva's claims. Her analysis about why all this is going on is lacking though. It's not that I disagree with her critique of the WTO, multinational corporations, monoculture and her affirmation of the need for humanity to live in harmony with nature. It's just that she barely does more than sketch these arguments out. I understand that this is not meant to be an academic book, but she could have developed her points in much more depth, while still using accessible language and ideas. This book has potential it didn't achieve.
Informative and compelling.......2002-05-18
In this remarkable book, Vandana Shiva effectively contrasts corporate command-and-control methods of food production with the small farmer economy that predominates in the third world (especially in her native India). In contast to what many here in the U.S. might perceive as the conventional wisdom, Shiva makes a strong argument that local, small scale agriculture is superior to the agribusiness model for a number of reasons.
First, Shiva points out that many of the productivity gains attributable to the Green Revolution were achieved by dramatically increased inputs of fertilizer, seed and water. When one compares units of input with units of output, however, native practices produce higher yields -- especially when one takes into account the multiple uses derived from a single product.
For example, mustard oil is a vital product used by many of India's poor for cooking, seasoning, medicine and other uses. But it has been banned by the Indian government (under highly suspicious circumstances) in order to allow imports of soybean oil products. While giant corporations benefit from expanded sales, native industries have been destroyed, contibuting to poverty and malnourishment.
Shiva discusses the commercial fishing and aquaculture (shrimp farming) practices that inevitably result in environmental destruction and reduced catches. She compares this short-sighted approach with traditional Indian fishing techniques that have successfully sustained themselves for generations while protecting important ecosystems such as mangrove forests.
Shiva discusses corporate patenting of seeds, which insidiously transforms the cooperative ethic of seed sharing into a criminal offense. The author supports a non-cooperation movement in India that is resisting corporate attempts to claim ownership of seeds that have been cultivated by countless generations of farmers.
Shiva's sacred cow / mad cow metaphor effectively and appropriately contrasts agribusiness with small farming. India's sacred cows live in harmony with the environment, performing multiple services and producing multiple products for the community; whereas mad cows are a grotesque manifestation of an industrial system obsessed with uniformity, technology and profit.
Shiva also touches on the topic of genetic engineering (GE) and discusses the threat it poses to biodiversity, food safety and human health.
The Afterword to the book alludes to the WTO protests in Seattle. Shiva believes this watershed event proves that people are becoming more aware of the dangers of unaccountable corporate power, yet she believes that positive change is possible. This opening of consciousness to new possibilities may be attributable to the extraordinary work of people like Vandana Shiva, whose intelligence and compassion is abundantly evident in this book. Highly recommended!
great book, scared me to death !.......2001-09-29
this is a great book, i highly recomend it. i must warn you its not for the weak stomached, this book will CHANGE your view on the food you eat. i didnt eat for a week after reading this.
Critically important for environmentalists & students........2000-05-09
In Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking Of The Global Food Supply, renowned environmental activist Vandana Shiva charts the impacts of globalized, corporate agriculture on small farmers, the environment, and the quality of the food we eat. Shiva writes about genetically engineered seeds, patents on life, mad cows (and sacred cows), shrimp farming, and more. Stolen Harvest is a passionate, articulate, highly recommended "wake up" call to the public regarding the role of genetic engineering in commercial agriculture, the growing domination of agribusiness with respect to world food supplies, and the need for sound environmental thinking with respect to feeding the burgeoning populations of the world.
Brilliance.......2000-04-29
If you deplore the WTO and MN corporate control over the world's food supply through intellectual property rights and patents on genetically engineered seed - then reading Stolen Harvest is a must. Vandana Shiva brilliantly reveals the current crisis that Indian farmers are facing as Monsanto and other mega corps are jeopardizing the livelihoods of impoverished persons (worldwide) through seed monopoly and a centralized system of agriculture commerce. Shiva discusses the impact of industrial farming and aquaculture on the environment and how it stresses local populations and threatens the diversity of species. A MUST READ!
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