Customer Reviews:
Excellent biography, Wonderful photographs and illustrations.......2007-05-23
This is my favorite biography of Beatrix Potter, thoroughly researched and historically accurate, with many wonderful family, home and countrylife photographs (including ones of Beatrix Potter's pet rabbit, dog, and a variety of her other animal pets). The book also contains her many beautiful illustrations, watercolors and copies of some notes and letters as well as portions of her manuscripts. Judy Taylor, an author enchanted with Beatrix Potter stories and art from early childhood, also wrote Beatrix Potter: The Artist and Her World, and two National Trust Guides: Beatrix Potter and Hilltop, and Beatrix Potter and Hawkshead. She's the editor of both Beatrix Potter's Letters: A Selection and Letters To Children from Beatrix Potter.
Book Description
At a small gallery in Florence, a Peruvian writer happens upon a photo of a tribal storyteller. He is overcome with the eerie sense that he knows this man.... that the storyteller is not an Indian at all but an old school friend. The writer begins to imagine Zuratass transformation from a modern to a central member of the unacculturated Machiguenga tribe.
Customer Reviews:
Captivating.......2005-10-11
The Storyteller hypnotized me with its rhythmic myths of the Machinguenga storytellers. I was captivated with the imagined scene of gathering around a fire with a group of entranced people listening to the calming lilt of the voice of the storyteller and the comfortingly familiar (to them) stories of Tasurinchi. I could really imagine what it would be like to feel that this was important in their lives. The storyteller was like a medicine man or a shaman whose words were like a healing balm for a people who felt misplaced in the world as it was becoming for them. Mascarita had the soul of a storyteller because he perhaps carried an unconscious identification with his ancestors who wandered as nomads in the desert; a people with no permanent home. For this and many other reasons, he understood what it meant to have no solid ground on which to stand.
Is it better for an anthropologist, as one who studies other cultures, to keep an academic distance from the people who are his subjects? How far should participant observation be taken? Saul Zuratas took it all the way. He abandoned the modern world and joined with a culture that was trying to avoid being assimilated into the world of zombies. The Machinguenga is a culture that is deeply imbued with meaning in every area. Globalization says that progress is king. If a `traditional' culture is impacted by global culture, that is just part of life. Do we hold `traditional' cultures back by wanting them to stay frozen in the past? Or are we `helping' them by bringing them up-to-date with our modern world? I sometimes think it is a battle of meaning versus modernization. Can the two be compatible?
You call this a book?.......2005-04-27
Every once in a while an author creates an unbelievable book; this is NOT one of those books. This books plot is possible the worst of any book I have ever read. It contains no action, and no climax. The books storyline goes absolutely nowhere. On top of a terrible story line the narrator randomly throws in stories. For example the author might be talking about his trip in the Amazon jungles and suddenly there is a random story thrown in. These random stories make the book extremely confusing and force you to read the same passage two or three times and thereby frustrating the reader even further. Without the edition of these stories the book would be 100 pages instead of 227pages. Basically the stories are simply a way to take up space the book also uses magical realism that is completely random and unbelievable. Like in one of the stories a guy gets stung on the penis by a wasp while he is urinating then his penis grows and then later he gets it cured to go back to normal size. On top of everything else the book takes forever to get started and just when you think something important is going to happen nothing does. This book also lacks a climax, which is critical to a book, and basically goes around in a big circle. The Storyteller is simply a waste of time to read and I would not suggest it. However if you want to become frustrated and raise your blood pressure go ahead and read the book otherwise I would never suggest reading it. Bottom line: this book is better used for kindling for a fire than reading.
We're supposed to call this a novel?.......2005-04-27
There are good books and there are bad ones, this is a bad one. Llosa introduced the characters well, Saul at least, I understood where his beliefs lie and what he looks like, which kind of sets the stage for the rest of the book. However, the book went downhill FAST after the first chapter or two. I can honestly say that if I were not forced to read this novel, I would have set it down after about the first 50 pages. The plot gets lost when it transitions into the "storyteller mode," which has no relavence to the novel other than to make it longer. I read to the end anticipating something to happen, but it never did. It had a beginning, but no middle and no end.
Who is Tasurinchi?
The Storyteller was way to confusing; at one time, it would be the narrator talking, then it would be the storyteller, and if there were no chapters it would seem that the author belongs in a mental institution. It is all in first person, which also makes it confusing. Also, there is no climax. The book leads the reader up to this one point that isn't there. He just accepts the fact and it ends.
A book with no meaning.......2005-04-27
My opinion of this book is that it has a slow plot, no action, and is difficult to follow. In the beginning, the narrator is in an art gallery in Venice, Italy.(This you don't even find out until the end of the book). During this flashback, there are storys within the flashback, you can never tell whether it is a memory or a fictious story about the native tribes. Throughout the whole book, you believe that the narrator is searching for his lost friend saul, when in fact he is just remembering the past experiences he had during his time spent in South America.
The book has no action at all. Near the end, about 200 pages into the book you expect a climax or a life threatening situation, but you are quickly dissapointed as you near the end of the book, about page 235, because there has not been any action. There wasn't even an instance in the book where a tribesman or any other person in the book faced a dillema.
When you near the end of the book, it is evident that the book had not gone anywhere, it ended in the same place it started, back in the art gallery in Venice. The plot is dry, also. To make the story somewhat interesting, the author decided to add mythical machiguenga story's passed down for over one thousand years. These instances are where the book gets confusing, because the author does not specify where these story's come into play in the book, they often pop up in the middle of a thought or paragraph. If the author had not "padded" his story with these irrelivant story's, the book would be half as long, and thus, half as boring.
My opinion is this book is dry, boring, long, and seems to drag on. On top of all this, the book is very confusing, and the chapters are so spread out that it is hard to stop reading in the middle of a chapter, or you will be lost the next time you pick up the book. This is not a recommended book by me.
Tastes too much like medicine.......2005-03-12
I really wanted to like this book. Having first encountered Mario Vargas Llosa in the intellectually and erotically stimulating NOTEBOOKS OF DON RIGOBERTO (and its "prequel" IN PRAISE OF THE STEPMOTHER), I had high expectations of THE STORYTELLER. Especially with its promised exploration of identity, storytelling and truth.
In fairness, THE STORYTELLER is precisely about storytelling and identity. The narrator (a writer of course) recounts the story of a long lost friend from his university days, Saul Zuratas. Saul, an assimilated and secular Jew of half Creole parentage, is afflicted by a grotesque birthmark that masks one side of his face. A law student for the sake of his father, who wants to see his son rise above the station of shopkeeper, Saul (also known as "Mascarita") eventually strays into the field of ethnological studies. In time he falls in love with the jungle and its peoples, and comes to prefer the rainforest to the urban life of Lima. Saul's particular fascination settles on the mysterious and isolated Machiguenga tribe of the deepest Amazon. One day Saul disappears from Lima for good, ostensibly for a kibbutz in Israel. But years later, encountering a photograph of a Machiguenga "hablador" (storyteller) in a Florentine gallery, his old university friend imagines another history for Mascarita.
The novel is divided into two interwoven parts. Between chapters about the narrator's quest to understand Saul/Mascarita are stories of the Machiguenga people, their cosmogony, taboos and mythical history. Vargas Llosa imitates what he imagines to be the primitive style of tale telling. He probably got it right, but the stories themselves are so deeply primitive and earthbound, lacking any sense of either the individual (every protagonist is called "Tasurinchi") or the transcendant, that I could scarcely imagine how they held the attention of the Machiguenga for hours at a time. These chapters, I have to say, are a crashing bore. I really wanted to skip over them, but sensing that the thread of the main story would be lost, I plodded through.
The main story would be compelling enough if it weren't told in such a prosaic and academic mode, and I can't give a high rating to a book that failed to hold my attention. I kept waiting for the spark that made DON RIGOBERTO such a compelling read, but Vargas Llosa never managed to get the fire started this time around.
I will give Vargas Llosa credit for the stance he takes in the debate over whether the Amazon tribes are better off adopting Hispanic culture and modernity or retreating back into the jungle past, a debate around which this novel was written. He never romanticizes the superstitious and often cruel customs of the Amazon tribes, like their habitual murder of children born with defects -- like birthmarks, for example. But in the final hablador sequence, in which the storyteller recasts the tragedy of the Jewish diaspora in Machiguenga terms, a Machiguenga wise man known as a seripigari tells him that the greatest evil which can befall a man is to not know his obligation to the gods and to therefore be at odds with his own destiny. "Before I became what I am now," the storyteller says, "I was no more than a wrapping, a shell, the body of one whose soul has left through the top of his head." Sadly, Vargas Llosa's novel itself disguises an emptiness: in my opinion, it never found its soul.
Customer Reviews:
Useful outside of the "Dark Ages" setting?.......2002-08-16
I think a good source book is one which can be used by a storyteller regards of when/where your own story is set. While I could use of the information here for history or for lost artifacts, I was disappointed by the rather sketchy nature of the information in the book. It does give you good historical background and some more information on older clans. The mystically items have potential.
A Handbook for the Dark Medieval.......2001-08-18
Words can't describe the usefulness of this book. It is truly one of the most magnificent sourcebooks White Wolf has published in that its form is simple, but gives a vast amount of information.
The primary resources in this book are its design-a-fief chapter, its notes on the Tremere's Gargoyles, and its relics. Though it is, essentially, a rule book supplement, it gives insight into several "historical" stories, including the diablerie of Brujah by Troile.
Do you need this book to play a game of Vampire: the Dark Ages? No. Do you need it to run a serious chronicle? I say yes. An "authentic" city gives your game the flair it was meant to have.
A nessary book.......2000-07-04
This book is a required tool for any Dark Ages Story Teller.
Great book. It helps me out all the time........1999-04-02
My freind has this book and I barowed it from him for a few days.It helps me all the time when I'm the story teller.
Customer Reviews:
Infernal goodness from the people who brought you the Sabbat.......1999-02-02
What can you say about this book except.... Wow! This book was good from the very start, but the chapter on Evil Revelations (it's not just a concept anymore!) was pure White-Wolf gold. The new infernal Discipline of Dark Thaumaturgy is just what any storyteller needs to reek havoc in a chronicle. The only thing I really didn't like about this book was the new Vicissitude rules... They were far too confusing without the necessary support. If you're a Storyteller (or ever intend to be), grab this book and its counterpart The Player's Guide to the Sabbat before they sell out. The new books won't be as in-depth, and it would be a shame to lose this classic forever.
Excellent- puts the source in sourcebook.......1998-09-05
I thought that the book was extremely insightful and players- even if they are not sabbat, will learn what it actually means to play one. The only downfall I thought of was that the descriptions of Sabbat rituals weren't detailed enough.
Mmmmm...Sabbaty good.......1998-01-17
A good sourcebook for the Sabbat Storyteller, it leaves some to be desired. It should include the information in the players guide, but leaves out many important features, such as Vicissitude. It is a good sourcebook for one heavily involved in a Sabbat Chronicle though. Just make sure you pick up the players guide to the Sabbat as well.
A sourcebook for VtM Storytellers (White Wolf).......1997-06-29
This book is packed with all the information on the Sabbat that your players shouldn't see. It provides a close look at the dreaded enemy of the Camarilla. I'd seriously say that if the Sabbat is very active in your Chronicle that this book is a good thing to have on hand, even if you don't intend to allow Sabbat PC's. It provides insight into the way these Kindred think, if nothing else
Book Description
The ultimate retrospective on the stunning career of comic genius and Eisner winner George Perez covers his 30-year career in comics! Includes never-before-seen art, sketch material from all of his major projects: Avengers, Fantastic Four, Teen Titans, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Wonder Woman, I-Bots, Ultraforce, and Sachs & Violens!
Customer Reviews:
This is a great book for a phenominal artist!.......2007-08-24
Much like the twoomarrows retrospective of George Perez's career, this one just flows better and has the addition of color over the other. I read this book every day to inspire and never forget my dream of being an artist. Thank you George for 30 great years!
ONE OF MY ALL-TIME FAVORITES!.......2007-03-11
For over thirty years, George Perez has not only been one of the best comic book artists around, but perhaps the most consistent as well. I've always has a special affinity for Perez. He broke into comics professionally in 1974 at the age of twenty. This was right around the time I started reading comics and one of the early books I picked up was Inhumans #1. I was only 11 years old at the time but even at that age, I knew that Perez was a special talent. He sure knocked the socks off the typical Marvel Bullpen members of the day such as George Tuska, Herb Trimpe, Frank Robbins, and Jim Mooney. This guy was something extra-special!
George Perez: Storytellerfrom Dynamic Forces, takes a look at the three decade plus career of Perez and the unforgettable stories he's given his legions of fans. We get a glimpse into early Perez with some of his pre-professional work in fanzines. Even then, as a teenager, it is quite easy to see that Perez had "It." While Perez would first make his mark at Marvel Comics, it was DC's Legion of Superheroes that was one of his favorites as a kid.
Pereze discusses his early influences, not only from the world of comics, but also from film, such as those classic sword & sandal Hercules epics starring 60's muscleman Steve Reeves. He also talks about the very harsh advice given to him by legendary artist Neal Adams who pulled no punches in critiquing Perez' early efforts. Perez would, of course, persevere and get his first job as a professional artist doing Man-Wolf in Creatures on the Loose. He would soon come to the attention of Marvel's main man Stan Lee when he filled in on Fantastic Four for Rich Buckler, prompting Stan to give George an immediate raise. Perez was off and running!
This book covers Perez' comic career in great deal from his numerous stints on the Avengers, to the landmark New Teen Titans, to the monumental Crisis On Infinite Earths, it's all here. Perez quickly gained the reputation of being perhaps the premiere team book artist, able to handle literally dozens of characters at a time, a prospect which routinely scares many other artists off. Dozens and dozens of full color examples of Perez' art is on display including panels, sketches, and covers. This is a Perez fan's dream as he has always been of the businesses most gifted cover artists.
Thankfully the book also covers his work outside of Marvel and DC...the almost forgotten stints at defunct Malibu, Event, and CrossGen Comics. The book concludes with a look at his recent work and his noted efforts in raising money for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Finally, there is a thirty page gallery of his art as well as a detailed bibliography of every title and issue that Perez has worked on.
This is simply a marvelous book highlighting one of the true giants of the comic book industry!
Reviewed by Tim Janson
Average customer rating:
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Walter D. Edmonds, Storyteller (York State Book)
Lionel D. Wyld
Manufacturer: Syracuse University Press
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0815601808 |
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Faulkner the Storyteller
Blair Labatt
Manufacturer: University Alabama Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0817314377 |
Book Description
"Blood and fire, gold and steel and poetry, a river's voice in the silence of the night, and the shining strings of a harp - all these and more I have known in my time... Now they are all gone, the men and women I knew when I was young, gone like words on the wind, and I am left here in the twilight to tell you their tale. Sit, then, and listen if you will to the words of Gwernin Kyuarwyd, called Storyteller." So begins the tale of the young Gwernin's adventures as a wandering storyteller and would-be bard in the chaos and contradictions of 6th century Britain. Along the way he encounters allies and enemies both human and supernatural, finds love and friendship, and learns the lore -and the true meaning - of a Bard's profession.
Customer Reviews:
rich imagry from another time and place.......2007-08-05
Storyteller is a series of tales chronicalling the adventures of Gwernin in his journy to become a bard in 6th century Wales. The reader will get a sense of both Gwernin the young man experiencing these wonders and dangers for the first time, and also of Gwernin the old man, looking back on his life, telling us of his triumphs, and of his youthful stubornness and folly. One delights in Gwernin's successes, but also can enjoy cringing with his embarassment. With true understanding of human nature, Ms.Grove has created a character anyone who has been through adolescence can relate to, yet firmly rooted in his own time. Throughout one gets lost in the mindset of that early century. The country itself becomes a character as it comes to life through Ms. Groves lyric prose, rich in well-researched detail. Each chapter gives a tasty mouthful, the perfect treat to devour before bed-time. I eagerly await the next instalment.
Welsh History Tales.......2007-03-14
I immensely enjoyed this book because of its excellent historical content and the blend of tale and fantasy which makes it so much fun to read. The life of the bard portrayed in the stories is well based on historical research and the tales he tells and experiences have the right blend of myth and life that I think a person living in that time period would have believed. I am looking forward eagerly to the next instalment. Gwernin is a very realistic character and I believed in him absolutely. As for the brushed with faery he experiences, he would have believed their reality even if they were dreams for the early Welsh lived much closer to the land of myth than we do today. I think fans of both fantasy and historical novels will find this book to be a wonderful read.
More! More! .......2007-03-13
I grew up reading Mary Stewart's Merlin novels. Comparisons are inevitable, but "Storyteller" stands on its own sturdy legs. Set in 6th century Britain, it is the reminicences of a young man with a penchant for spinning tales who aspires to be a bard. Ms. Groves captures the sights, sounds and smells of another time and puts us in the very shoes of one who stands small and alone before an audience, hoping for the reward of intent hush, that stunned silence ultimately followed by a storm of applause.
The episodic structure of the chapters was admirably suited to my habit of reading on my lunch hour, that, several hearty bites of narrative, ended inevitably and satisfyingly with the words, "But O my children, that is a story for another time."
More! More! cries this greedy child, knowing she gulped it down too fast. You sent him north to gather news of unrest and I want to know what happens next!
Meticulously researched, engagingly written.......2007-01-24
What is - or was - a bard, in Dark Ages Britain? What did the people of that time and place mean when they said that? "Bard" is one of those archetypal words which are often misused - but not in this case.
Meticulously researched, engagingly written, the book does not fit easily into a usual category. There is adventure - but it is not only an adventure story. The protagonist is young - but the book is by no means intended for a juvenile audience.
Like the late, great Rosemary Sutcliff, G.R. Grove has the knack of dropping the reader into the location and time - sight and scent, sound and sense - and making the reader aware of the concerns of a person of that era, rather than merely those of a modern individual in different clothing. Some things, however, are fairly universal: wariness of the enemy in the night, the seeking for deserved esteem from those one admires, the ability to make a total fool of oneself and to recover from it - all these are familiar to intelligent humans in any century. I think that most folk interested in Dark Ages British cultures would enjoy this book
I said above that most folk interested in Dark Ages cultures would enjoy this - ? True, but so would folk who simply like a good tale - or series of them - set in a world that's almost far enough away to be fantasy, but as real and immediate as our own.
So why, then, is this book called "Storyteller" and not "Bard?" Ah, I will let Gwernin tell you that for himself.
Customer Reviews:
Incredible.......2005-08-27
I'll just agree with what else has been posted. I have a host of other expensive art books, this is the crown jewel; simply because of content. Every other artist publishing their work would be wise to have it done with this quality. The reproductions are excellent with numerous detail shots full page. Having seen several Nerdrum originals, a book never does them justice, but this is as close as you'll get.
Look no further than this.......2001-06-29
If you're an inquisitive art lover and want to gain insight into the mind of controversial contemporary figurative artist Odd Nerdrum, this is the volume to buy. Not only does the author, Jan Ake Pettersson, write well: he has done his homework. But re-reading this monograph repeatedly makes the written word so secondary to the way the designer of the book has opened up Nerdrum's puzzling canvases by giving us many "detail" pages of the paintings. We are allowed to dissect the paintings not only for their symbolism and recurring existential themes, but we are also encouraged to examine brushwork, palette choice, and methods of depicting light that truly gives us the whole picture. The subtitle of the book "Storyteller and Self-Revealer" sustains Pettersson's approach. While many critics are beginning to take a second look at the repetitive tendencies in background landscapes and even in the use of twinned images, etc, Nerdrum's force as a painter can always be felt. He does communicate, whether we want to know the story or not. The book is filled with Nerdrum's copious self-portraits and studying these alone is a solid way to explore this artist's progress. A very special volume with beautiful details and colors.
The best chioce for studying Nerdrum's technique.......2000-03-28
I love this book! I also have the other Nerdrum title by Hansen and Kuspit, but this is the volume that I refer to more often. This book has great full page details! As a painter, I find myself poring over these details. I have yet to see an original Nerdrum, so this book is the next best thing. The text is intriguing (integrating Nerdrum's personal life with his imagery) and compelling. The other title by Hansen and Kuspit is an excellent companion volume, examining Nerdrum's work in historical context (from alchemy to Mad Max). It has a greater number of reproductions, as well. My advice to students of Nerdrum: get them both. They are worth it.
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