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"Months afterwards she would remember that morning with dismay, when she had sat with them for the first time, as though they were at home there: drinking from cups like welcome guests ... and only the part of her, the part that didn't laugh with them, thought: Could these hands, serving coffee, be the ones that planted the booby-trapped doll at the gate of the religious school at the end of the street?"
In the stories of Israeli author Savyon Liebrecht, personal relationships can't help but become political. In "A Room on the Roof," an unnamed Jewish woman hires three Arab workers to build an addition onto her house while her husband is out of the country. So paralyzed is she by her fear of Arabs, she is unable to recognize the essential decency of these particular men; on the rare occasions when she is able to see past her own blind bigotry, the realization that her workmen are human beings with their own set of hopes, fears, and prejudices is so terrifying that she becomes even more strident in her intolerance.
Though a few of the stories in Apples from the Desert are directly concerned with interactions between Jews and Arabs, the collection is, in fact, more about how Israelis deal with each other. The Holocaust is the unmentioned elephant in the drawing room, for Liebrecht, herself the daughter of concentration camp survivors, is particularly interested in the impact that tragedy has had on the children of survivors. In "Hayuta's Engagement Party," everyone fears that Grandpa, a Holocaust survivor, will ruin this festive occasion (as he has many others) with his grim recitals of death-camp atrocities. The protagonist of "'What Am I Speaking, Chinese?' She Said to Him" returns to her childhood home in Poland in order to stage a sexual encounter in the same room where her parents--again Holocaust survivors--once argued about sex.
If the Holocaust is one theme running through most of these stories, the position of women in modern Israeli society is another. Many of the women--especially older ones--in Liebrecht's stories are in oppressive marriages with men who neglect, ridicule, and sometimes physically abuse them. In "Compassion," a Jewish woman who was hidden from the Nazis in a Catholic convent as a child marries an Arab man who eventually imprisons her and takes a younger wife. Victoria, the mother of a rebellious daughter in the collection's title story, only recognizes the depths of her own marital misery when she sees the loving relationship her child has formed outside the legal bonds of matrimony.
There is nothing subtle about Liebrecht's stories, and readers accustomed to the finely tuned ironies of an Ann Beattie or Alice Munro may find these stories a trifle emphatic. However, anyone interested in the literature coming out of Israel today will find Savyon Liebrecht's window on the land and the people illuminating, if sometimes uncomfortable reading.
Book Description
   Savyon Liebrecht's intense, lyrical, and emotionally complex stories have made her a best-selling writer in her native Israel. Her short fiction explores the everyday tragedies that emanate from strained relationships between Arabs and Jews, women and men, older and younger generations in present-day Israel. According to the
Washington Post Book World, her "engrossing and skillful tales take you through the lives of real people, to the heart of their emotional and moral being." Liebrecht reveals the impact of larger social and political conflicts within the private world of the home with a precision and a subtle ferocity reminiscent of the work of Nadine Gordimer. "These finely wrought stories of private lives shed light on a terrifying political conflict", notes the
New York Times Book Review. "[Liebrecht] takes you places you've never been before."
The Helen Rose Scheuer Jewish Woman's Series
Customer Reviews:
a sense of doom and hope.......2007-05-07
Savyon Liebrecht's collection of short fiction, Apples from the Desert, here culled from three short story collections, and here translated from the Hebrew, is extraordinary in its range and depth. Liebrecht takes on a variety of issues which confront modern Israelis: the divide between Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews, the oppression, both subtle and profound, of women in Israel's patriarchal society, the Arab Israeli conflict, the long shadow of the Holocaust. Reading these stories, it becomes quickly apparent to the reader which "issue" Liebrecht is going to tackle in each story. But the stories do not have a programmatic feel about them; Liebrecht never allows the moral to muddle her attempt to create a certain strained atmosphere and foreboding sense doom. Apples from the Desert is relentless both in its social critique and a penetrating analysis of what all fiction is about, what it means to be a human being in a harsh world.
very deliberate allegories.......2003-02-11
These stories are the equivalent of being hit on the head with a literary sledgehammer. The points that they make (the Arabs as The Other, the Holocaust as having an impact on modern Israeli society, etc.) are pretty obvious to anyone who has any knowledge of Israel or Jewish history. They occasionally read like writing class exercises, actually.
That being said, the stories are a good window into Israeli society and show elements which you don't see on the news. For excellent Israeli literature, though, I'd have to recommend Yaakov Shabtai, Amos Oz or A.B. Yehoshua.
Feelings expressed so well in mere words!.......2002-08-17
This is a wonderful book of short stories which contradicts the sterotypical picture of Israelis so often portrayed in the nightly news. It shows (mostly from the female point of view) the nuances of many types of Israelis, from religious to secular, from Ashkenazi to Sephardic, from Arab to Jew. In particular, it brings out the human side of each of its characters and demonstrates that feelings change from time to time and situation to situation. These are beautiful studies of human interaction.
I have four favorite stories. In "A Room on the Roof", a woman's husband goes to Texas, and she decides to build a new room on the second story of her home while he's gone. Her Jewish contractor leaves her alone with three Arab laborers during the construction process. She is not sure to how to react to their presence near and in her home. "The Road to Cedar City" tells of an Israeli couple (Hassida and Yehiel) and their son Yuval who are traveling in the United States when their rented car breaks down. The wife is unhappy when she learns that she must share a ride in a minivan with another young Israeli couple and their baby who are from Jerusalem. A talkative minivan driver further complicates matters by running his mouth during the entire trip. "Mother's Photo Album" is about a Dr. Joshua Hoshen who looks into his mother's medical record after she is hospitalized in a mental institution. He pieces together her life from what he reads in her record and uses a photograph to help resolve his anguish about what he discovers. A most notable story is "The Homesick Scientist" in which eldery Zerubavel wlcomes his nephew, a well-known Israeli scientist who lives in the United States, as he returns to visit Israel after 21 years. His nephew had frequently spent summers with Zerubavel after Zerubavel's own son Uri had been killed while on reserve duty. Zerubavel, although he had eagerly anticipated his nephew's visit, isn't sure what his nephew's motives were for returning after such a long absence.
Great writing about the things that really matter.......2001-03-11
Great, tight, vivid, exact writing about the Important Things (universal concerns, issues, and feelings) in the mood of a calm and astute observer/chronicler -- with soul. Perfect. Although these stories are primarily concerned with Israelis, I encouraged an East Indian friend to read "The Homesick Scientist"; it spoke to him so deeply of his own private experience that he immediately ordered the book (from Amazon, of course).
Lovely set of short stories.......2000-10-14
This is a collection of 12 lovely short stories published in Israel between 1986 and 1992. Savyon Liebrecht is a child of survivors from the Holocaust and like many other children from parents who underwent the same experience, she had to deal with the trauma of the past which most often meant trying to understand and live with the "silence" from her forbears. Not only is this fact reflected in her stories, but she also addresses the problems in the interaction between Israelis and Arabs, as well as between Israelis themselves. Her stories reflect the influence of political and social conflicts in daily life and family structure. The author has a very honest approach to those conflicts, with a direct and simple style, most outstanding for its feministic and humane touch.
Average customer rating:
- I would buy from this seller again in a second
- Well placed passion
- Back To The Late 80s
- Alex is the man
- Alex Green Makes it Personal
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The Stone Roses (33 1/3)
Alex Green
Manufacturer: Continuum International Publishing Group
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0826417426 |
Book Description
Alex Green places the Stone Roses within the ecstasy-enhanced playground that was the late 80s Manchester scene and theorizes about what could have been had they maintained the brilliance of this peak performance. Including quotes from and interviews with several of the Roses' contemporaries (Alan McGee, David Gedge, Emma Anderson and others), this book tells the intoxicating story of an album that changed British pop music forever.
Customer Reviews:
I would buy from this seller again in a second.......2007-05-07
*FAST* delivery and easy to deal with, highly recommended seller, A++ (Thanks!!)
Well placed passion.......2007-01-17
Stone Roses is a well researched review of a stunning debut album that thrives on the sheer enthusiasm of its author where others in the series have choked on it.
The author also succeeds in striking a balance between the equally interesting rise and fall of the Stone Roses that bookend this fantastic album. The meat of the story is the album itself, well placed in the different contexts of the US and English music markets of the late '80's and supported by a great deal of primary source material from those involved with album and those who witnessed it from the outside.
While the inclusion of a member of the Posies or some obscure English band even many indie music nerds will never have heard of may not be as key as say a lifted quote from John Leckie, they do succeed in bringing the author outside of himself and offering different perspective on the art and artists.
A sure hit for fans of the Stone Roses, `90's Britpop and of course those who appreciate brilliance and Spinal Tap-esque drama fit for "Behind the Music," but with actual music.
Back To The Late 80s.......2006-11-08
The Stone Roses by Seth Green is, so far, one of the best books from the 33 1/3 series by Continuum Books. I think a lot of it has to do with his style which is personal, passionate, engaging, witty, as well as informative. He loves music and knows a lot about it and music can carry very deep personal associations as well. But occasionally it can transcend emotional associations and predictability and become a sort to of personal classic-this album is one of those for him. I think this album has stood the test of time very well, but I'm not sure I can say the same. It is by far the best thing from the late 80s Manchester scene in my opinion, though. So it is befitting that these personal links be explored as well. I think he does a particularly good job of providing the context form which this record was made as well as the context of what it was in relation to other driving forces of music-particularly independent (alternative) or what was then known as college music. I know and understand these references, because Green is the same age as me we and, generally, listen to the same music. However, he was much more passionate and willing to shell-out the cash for the music he needed. for example, he mentions how The Stone roses bridged the gap between indie rock and the rave dance culture. As he states, there was an absence of dance music among what he calls the Westgergians (a truly fitting title for the indie rock guys like me-I didn't really "get" dance music until I came to Japan in 97', but I still profess to be mainly a Westbergian). This was demonstrated by one of my old room mates Gaje, who worked at the college radio station DJing and reviewing records for them, put on what i imagine to be "Elephant Stone or "I Want To Be Adored" when his then room mate, Greg, bust into the room shimming to the record-and if I remember correctly Greg was a Westbergian if there ever was one.
He basically does all this by writing, in essence, a separate essay with a different theme for each song along with a prologue and epilogue. These sections are complete with fitting epigraphs from various sources (songs by Elvis Costello and The Smiths, literary quotes- from Goethe-Byron-Wilde, sound-bites from The Stones Roses, Noel Gallagher. Furthermore, he provides the history of the Manchester scene and the rise of rave culture which begat and influenced this record. He also gets a variety of musicians to make observations about the band and the record (from obscure bands that I used to listen to like The Woodentops, The MIghty Lemons, and Posies). A very enjoyable and nostalgic read-highly recommended.
Alex is the man.......2006-07-16
The Stone Roses was one of my all time favorites and definitly would have been on my desert island discs. Alex just simply reminded me of why that would be. Having talked to him on many occasions, I have found that he is a fountain of musical knowlege, especially in the brit pop genre. As for the person who wanted to have coffee with him, I get to make coffee for him as he comes to my cafe. I am lucky because I get to make conversation with him about music and that is really cool. The Stone Roses record is really remarkable and Alex Green is there to remind us why! Alex is a remarkable person of much knowledge of music and also a real down to earth kind of guy. I am glad to know him and am glad to have gotten to read his book! Great read ...Alex!
Alex Green Makes it Personal.......2006-06-09
The real Stone Roses are cleverly revealed through Music Critic Green's personal experience, growing up in the suburbs, listening to Brit Pop. Each song is a chapter in the book as well as a chapter in Green's life. This book is a must for all Brit Pop fans. It made me want to have coffee with the author and talk about a million other bands. Green is knowledgeable, funny, and easy to read.
Book Description
Follow the path to physical and spiritual health with this how-to manual filled with ancient lore and wisdom. Using stories, songs, rituals, recipes, meditations, and trance journeys, it suggests more than 100 ways to practice the art of magical healing. Find out how to reconnect with the earth and draw on its energy, interact with the power of the seven chakras, make use of moon magic and women’s wisdom, prepare herbal infusions and baths, work with the medicine wheel, and cast spells for love and wealth. No matter what your beliefs, this guidebook will open your heart and mind to the joys of everyday life.
Customer Reviews:
Loved this book! .......2007-08-23
I guess I didn't realize it until now, but I've been a Green Witch most of my adult life. Thanks, Robin Rose Bennett - for bringing that to light. I love this book! I loved its earthiness, I loved its magic! Unlike one of the other reviewers, I really enjoyed the personal stories. Reading them, added deeper meaning to my own experiences - and urged me to reacquainted myself with the moon. I had been taking it for granted and now have a renewed respect for it. It is back in my life, and welcomed me. This book, this message came into my life, just when I needed it most. Mo' magic!
gorgeous writing and pure inspiration.......2007-06-26
Robin really expresses the concept of magic and relationship to energy in ways that speak deeply and inspiringly to me who have been praticing this for years, and also in ways I can see would also speak to someone completely new to these ideas.
I've been using the book for my morning meditations, reading a passage and letting it really sink in, to excellent effect.
Perfect for Beginners.......2007-04-05
This is a perfect book for anyone who is searching for heartfelt and loving guidance in green witch magic. Robin Rose Bennett guides the reader into an awareness of healing magic with an easygoing, gentle style into which she weaves personal stories and wisdom to illustrate the rituals and spells.
I highly recommend this book to everyone but especially to those who are just beginning their journey.
Magic Indeed!!.......2007-03-24
This book worked for me on many levels. It provided practical applications for working with plants as well as helping me attune to nature and my own intuition. When all these concepts are in synch, it is magic indeed! The book also delves deeply into emotional connections that allow the reader to find resonance in a very personal way as the author's voice is nurturing and sincere. It is obvious to me that this book comes from a heartfelt and experienced healer who truly wants to share her knowledge with those who seek. Highly recommended!
A Truly Wonderful Book!.......2007-03-07
Robin Rose Bennett takes readers on a unique and wondrous journey as she introduces them to the marvels of our plant allies and the magical gifts they offer. I loved this book and find myself re-reading it often. Whether it is read cover to cover, one chapter at a time, or a page here and there, "Healing Magic" helps to awaken your senses, deepen your intuition and to recognize and be grateful for the healing gifts of the earth on which we live. I especially appreciate the depth, yet simplicity and clarity with which the author details spells and rituals and the down-to-earth style in which such information is presented, making it easy and accessible for the novice and seasoned green witch alike. This book is a must read for anyone who has ever held the slightest fascination for the plant world and the many gifts it bestows.
Customer Reviews:
Still as powerful as when I first read it in the 60s........2007-08-14
This novel is astounding, no matter what side, if any (the book has no apparent agenda regarding the subject) you you may take in the meds/other therapies discussion, simply for its power to evoke the harrowing and heartbreaking experience of mental illness through the eyes of the sufferer, Deborah, in a way that goes right to the soul. If I could write like anyone in the world, I would want to write like Greene/Greenberg.
If you have not read this book, I suggest you read it. You won't soon forget it. Don't be turned off by what you think the writer is going to say regarding the relative merits of medications versus other treatment methods. That is not what the novel is about at all; it is Deborah's story, and the novelist doesn't exploit it. What it IS about is the experience of a very ill young woman going from bondage toward a freedom (and all that freedom means).
Courage to Heal.......2006-05-06
Schizophrenia, youth, family, anti-semitism, the 1940s. Sometimes things break down despite the best of intentions. Highly sensitive youth are particularly prone to damage in a schizoid society that--despite its gadgets and inventions--has very far to go in becoming a world fit for human beings. Occasionally, an artist survives, through unbelievable and steadfast courage and support and faith in the person to heal. Drugs do not change someone from within. Only genuine human bonds can do that, as Dr. Fried did for Deborah. Only by taking the side of the patient can humanity be cured of its demons. Trendy as dismissing psychotherapy in lieu of drugs is, this book speaks the truth, eloquently and courageously.
Average customer rating:
- A Must for Rose Gardeners in Cold Climates
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Tender Roses in Tough Climates
Douglas Green
Manufacturer: Chapters Pub. Ltd.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Orchids
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ASIN: 1576300323 |
Customer Reviews:
A Must for Rose Gardeners in Cold Climates.......2000-04-25
This is an excellent and very detailed guide for the rose gardener who wants her roses to survive from one northern winter to the next. This book will save you money by preventing the loss of roses to sub-zero temperatures.
Average customer rating:
- Easy to Use Lessons for Writing Poetry
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Beyond Roses Are Red Violets Are Blue: A Practical Guide for Helping Students Write Free Verse
Benjamin Green , and
Anita Punla
Manufacturer: Cottonwood Press, Inc.
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1877673285 |
Book Description
For many teachers, poetry can be a difficult subject to teach. Poet Benjamin Green makes it easy with this practical and insightful book.
With clear examples, Green leads students through each of 26 exercises, helping them create thoughtful, high-quality poems. The process begins with "word gathering," a series of prompts designed to generate ideas, words, phrases, information and images. Students then "extract" a poem from this material, choosing the most interesting and descriptive words. Finally, Green guides them through the revision process. The book also includes suggested readings and samples of poems by real students.
For students of any age, grades 5 and up. 162 pages, 81/2" 11", reproducible.
Customer Reviews:
Easy to Use Lessons for Writing Poetry.......2000-03-23
I have used this book with whole-class instruction and individual work. Either way, the lessons are so easy to understand that students walk away with well-thought out poems. Each lesson offers steps for prewriting and examples of finished poems. Students have fun with the various options to write about!
Average customer rating:
- greene is dragonlance status quo...
- Good action, great drama
- nothing special
- Unable to break from previous plot
- Not Bad, worth the expense
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Knights of the Rose (Dragonlance Warriors, Vol. 5)
Roland Green
Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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ASIN: 0786905026
Release Date: 1996-06-01 |
Book Description
The Knights of Solamnia were the greatest order of chivalry in the history of Krynn.
After a knight has achieved the Order of the Crown and the Order of the Sword, he must then begin his training in the virtues of wisdom and justice in order to achieve the Order of the Rose, the highest of all orders.
This is the third tale of Sir Pirvan the Wayward, whose reluctant and inauspicious beginnings bore few clues to his potential as a knight of the highest order. In a time when others of Solamnia had become corrupt and self-serving, Sir Pirvan maintained the dignity of the Order, walking the fine line between personal codes of honor and loyalty, and diplomacy and duty.
Roland J. Green is the author of the Starcruiser Shenandoah and Wandor series and numerous Conan novels, and is coauthor (with Jerr Pournelle) of the Jannisaries series.
The Warriors series details the exploits of the heroes and villains of the War of the Lance.
Customer Reviews:
greene is dragonlance status quo... .......2005-09-09
after reading several novels by greene, and being an avid dragonlance fan, i have to say that he is ok. at some points he gets dull, and long winded. however the stories are entertaining and you develope a certain kinship with the characters. not my favorite dragonlance author, but not too shabby
Good action, great drama.......2003-10-30
Numerous characters, including old favorites (Pirvan, Haimya, Eskaia, Tarothin).
The Knights must save a fortified castle full of civilians living in multiracial harmony from: Obnoxious Elves, and Misguided Knights. Okay, so the plot leaves something to be desired...I'm not even sure why the elves were to be feared, except that they're annoying. But whatever.
There is a giant battle, told in loving detail. There are two kender, on a mission of revenge.
If for no other reason, read it for the kender.
nothing special.......2001-08-30
This book was passable. Nothing impressive. The plot was hardly in a hurry and the characters were not that memorable. One thing I found amusing was how the Solamnics took their families with them on campaign. What an interesting idea. Apparently it's not hard enough to make a decision in battle, you should add familial problems to make it more difficult. That and every scene with the two married couples ended in them having sex. Rather exhausting for them.
Unable to break from previous plot.......2001-02-06
Knights of the Rose appear to follow very much the same plot as the previous book in the series, Knights of the Sword. The premise is that the Istarian expansionist ambitions led it once again to send an army to assert its authority and influence in foreign legions, this time, towards the elves of Silvanesti. Anxious to prevent a military endeavour that would probably cause Istar (further) shame and drag the Knights to a dishonourable campaign, Sir Marod despatch Sir Pirvan & Company (this time, accompanied not just by his wife Haimya, but also his son & daughter as well as protegé Darin). Along the way, he won the confidence of the Plainsmen, known as the Free Riders. Finally, Pirvan reached Belthukas, a sanctuary for all races, led by a couple of half-elven rangers and their daughter Ryth. Belthukas was to be THE meeting point of all forces as the Silvanesti elves send a delegation there to parley with the tax-collectors from Istar (in the form of mercenary companies and Istarian regulars and another delegation of Knights led by Sir Lewin, another disciple of Sir Marod).
Like Knights of the Sword, it becomes a tightrope situation for Pirvan who had to steer the situation from escalating into a full-blown all-out war. Greedy and ambitious mercenaries, anxious to make a name for themselves and win credit for Istar preferred to force conflicts against outnumbered entrenched local defenders. Pirvan had to defend Belkuthas as best as he can, keep them surviving until cooler heads can prevail.
Noteworthy of the author is that the detailing of the journey which added interest in the earlier books were skipped over, avoiding the tedium it would become had it been included in this book. More attention also given to new supporting characters and the stage is set in a totally different location - no eventful maritime voyages!
What went wrong with this book is that the author opened up a lot of possibilities: romances among the youngsters, titanic battle of the arcane arts between wizards, elven racial prejudices and political intrigues back in Istar (or civilisation). Also, nothing was mentioned with regards to Sirbones being more than familiar to Darin and Pirvan & Co from the previous book.
Sir Marod and Sir Lewin who played important (but short) roles were not properly fleshed out. The enigmatic behaviours of the lord of Belkuthas, Krythis and the elven ranger Tharash were not explained at all, leaving a strong sense of dissatisfaction.
Last but not least, the slightest detail regarding the political resolution at Istar which culminated with the resignation of the Istarian commander and elevation of Sir Pirvan to Knight of the Rose is completely left out (given the title of the book, it should be no spoiler) - the same brickbat for Knights of the Sword.
Roland Green had simply left too many things in between unaccounted for.
Not Bad, worth the expense.......2000-10-24
If you have read the first to book, go ahead and buy this one. The story of Pervin is okay. This is not an unique story. it won't leave you astounded at Mr. Green's writing ability, but I don't believe you will feel you have wasted your money either.
Book Description
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden is the story of a sixteen-year-old who retreats from reality into the bondage of a lushly imagined but threatening kingdom, and her slow and painful journey back to sanity.
Customer Reviews:
Regardless of her actual diagnosis, a great read.......2007-08-01
INPYARG is a well-written book from the perspective of a highly intelligent adolescent girl. Recent mental health professionals that have analyzed the work do not see her symptomology as schizophrenic/psychotic, but as severe depression, loneliness, and possibly autism, a combination of which led to her "creative" inner detached world.
Regardless of what her diagnosis may be today, Green does a wonderful job of capturing the mindset of someone with severe mental illness who is crying for help and simultaneously fears the change that is associated with mental health. A must read for anyone in the field, and highly recommended to anyone else looking for a good read.
Vivid Unreality.......2007-06-14
Deborah is sixteen years old and for years has known that something is not right with her. She always feels isolated from others, unable to make friends and to make good connections with the world. Her parents like to pretend that everything is fine, though, and nothing is wrong with her at all. They have a status to keep up, and having something wrong with their daughter would reflect badly on them. But finally Deborah is so sure something is wrong, she has to do something about it. She makes a feeble attempt to kil herself by giving herself small cuts on her wrist. The result of this cry for help is a stay in a mental hospital, where she is finally able to meet with a doctor who will help her to figure out what is wrong and how she can go about fixing it.
This story follows Deborah's thoughts as well as the thoughts of her doctor, an older woman who has never seen a patient as young as Deborah but who thinks she will be able to help. Through their therapy sessions, the doctor learns that Deborah has been living her entire existence in a fantasy world that exists in her own mind, with its own language, gods, rules, and logic. The doctor's challenge then becomes to teach Deborah about the real world around her, so she will be able to decide whether she wants to continue to live in this fantasy of her own creation or to live in the real world with other people.
It was fascinating to read about a fantasy world that was so vivid, it could overshadow reality. I felt like I gained a better understanding of how terrifying and disorienting a disease like schizophrenia would be. Although I don't know how realistic the treatment aspect of this book was, I liked the mental illness descriptions.
eye-roller.......2006-12-13
I've been trying to finish this book for about 2 years now and everytime I pick it up I roll my eyes at each instance of her slipping into her fantasy world.
The book's language is way too advanced to describe a young teen and seems more like it was written by the psychiatrist instead of 3rd person narration. Every time the fantasy world is described I keep imagining the author sitting at her typewriter trying to invent nonsense words.
Everytime I try to keep reading I want to throw it into traffic.
A look into the life of a girl suffering from schizoprenia.........2006-12-06
I thought this was a good book. For me personally, it wasn't the type of book I would always choose, and I couldn't really get into it. It took me awhile to finally get intreseted in the book, so it was easy for me to forget about it and set it asid.I Never Promised You a Rose Garden was an extremely well written book. It goes into great detail about a teenager suffering from schizophrenia. In my opinion though, it was a bit slow moving, and it could be confusing at times. When I first began reading the book I was confused because it didn't state that she had schizophrenia right away. Therefore, when it went from the real world to Deborah's world I got confused at times, until I finally found out exactly what the problem was with her, 18 pages into the book.
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden tells the story about a 16-year old girl, Deborah Blau suffering from schizophrenia. She is brought to a mental hospital, without her consent, in an attempt to make her situation better. Her mother and father keep her condition quiet, and they don't even tell their youngest daughter, Suzy, the real reason why her sister was taken away, and why she will be gone for such a long period of time. This books tells you about Deborah's journey from a world of her own, back to the real world, hopefully to her own light at the end of the tunnel.
I recommend this book to teenagers, around the ages of 14 and up. I would also say that you should be able to comprehend things easily because towards the beginning of the book the lack of detail of what was going on, and exactly what was wrong with Deborah made it hard to understand.
Not Your Typical Beach Read.......2006-08-25
Living in two separate worlds is an idea that seems to only be portrayed in science fiction or fantasy novels. However, for Deborah Blau, this concept is part of her reality. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden reveals the story of Deborah, an adolescent diagnosed with schizophrenia who comes from a background of mixed feelings within her immediate family, an overpowering grandfather that holds expectations for her that seem almost out of reach, and anti-Semitic discrimination from her peers. Instead of a lengthy exposition, the plot begins with Deborah's parents finally making the decision to remove her from high school and send her to a mental institution for intense psychological treatment.
The reader learns about Deborah's dark history and the deep processes of her mind through her thoughts and consultations with her therapist, Dr. Fried. Since setting is primarily in the different wards of the mental facility, leaving little room for any major plot development outside of Deborah's successes and failures while receiving treatment, the character development is paramount in this novel. The author, Joanne Greenberg, does a superb job of depicting dysfunctional characters that not only serve the purpose of comic relief because of their erratic behavior, but also reveal deeper, more melancholic aspects of the life of a mentally ill individual.
Greenberg juxtaposes the horror of mental illness with the relative safety it provides for the affected from facing the challenges of the real world. This is the core of Deborah's conflict within her mind. She must decide between her imaginary place, Yr, that offers safety yet keeps her locked away from the world, or she must face her fears and experience life with both its challenges and opportunities. The friendships that she makes in the institution highlight the novel's stress on the importance of building relationships for personal growth and allow her to accept the fact that most people have problems and possess the ability to work through them.
Dr. Fried is the epitome of a knowledgeable, patient, and committed therapist that is dedicated to helping Deborah release herself from the depths of Yr and to bringing her back to a relatively normal life. Though the novel is focused on Deborah's life in the mental facility, there are several parts that allow the reader to experience, through heartfelt descriptions, the effect that her institutionalization has on her family. Her parents learn to accept and ward off judgments from others that stem from Deborah's "label" of being mentally unstable. Despite their problems, the Blau family members are readily supportive of Deborah and hope for a successful recovery.
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden is an absolutely fascinating book because it provides clear insight into the complicated lives of the mentally ill and stresses that people should neither fear nor revere these individuals due to their altered state of consciousness. Rather, society should endeavor to view them and their issues in an unbiased manner, for there is not a person living without some type of challenge that he or she must face.
Average customer rating:
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Jay DeFeo and The Rose (Ahmanson-Murphy Fine Arts Book)
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0520233557 |
Book Description
Rarely is an artist so closely associated with a single work as is Jay DeFeo with her monumental painting The Rose. Begun in the late 1950s, when DeFeo, a central figure of the Beat generation of San Francisco, was just starting to garner widespread national recognition, the visionary work occupied the artist for eight years. Massive in scale, layered with nearly two thousand pounds of paint, the overpowering painting was already famous before its first exhibition in 1969 at the Pasadena Art Museum. It was next exhibited in San Francisco, then stored at the San Francisco Art Institute, where it languished for twenty-five years before a historic conservation restored it to public view. The Rose now resides in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art.
This volume is the first major study of The Rose in particular and of Jay DeFeo in general. In the collection, eleven distinguished art and cultural historians--Bill Berkson, Niccolo Caldararo, Richard Cándida Smith, Walter Hopps, Lucy R. Lippard, Greil Marcus, Sandra S. Phillips, Marla Prather, Carter Ratcliff, David A. Ross, and Martha Sherrill--unfold the story of the creation, as well as the tricky and painstaking rescue, of DeFeo's radiant masterpiece. While providing new material on The Rose and exposing many myths surrounding both the artist and her great work, these essays also place Jay DeFeo in relation to artists of her time, including Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Lee Bontecou, and Eva Hesse. The book, which adds significantly to the scholarship of postwar American art, includes nearly eighty halftones, thirteen color plates, and Judith Dunham's detailed Rose-related chronology.
Customer Reviews:
Jay DeFeo Lives.......2004-12-22
Jay DeFeo spent many years of her life painting one picture, first called DEATHROSE, then just plain THE ROSE, and it grew so heavy with paint that it had to be hauled out of her studio on Fillmore Street in San Francisco on a crane. The proceedings were filmed by the artist Bruce Conner, a longtime friend of DeFeo's, and assembled by him into a film called THE WHITE ROSE: JAY DEFEO's PAINTING REMOVED BY ANGELIC HOSTS (actually Bekins movers).
After a few showings, the painting was stored at the San Francisco Art Institute and eventually plastered over to stabilize its shifting masses of paint and also to protect it from student graffiti. For many years it hid behind this plaster and its absence became a giant statement. DeFeo herself began to think of Conner's film as a kind of displaced substitute for her work, and Jane Green and Leah Levy, the editors of the present volume, are astute enough to let this fact speak for itself. In a great act of showmanship, Lisa Phillips, a Whitney curator, not only restored the painting but bought it for the Whitney where it can be viewed today (sometimes).
This book contains many essays by people who were close to DeFeo, as well as some by those who never met her. Bill Berkson's essay imagines the 1960 "Sixteen Americans" show by Dorothy Miller (which featured DeFeo, as well as her husband Wally Hedrick, in addition to giving national exposure to the likes of Frank Stella, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg), but was missing THE ROSE, which DeFeo did not send saying it was not yet finished. Lucy Lippard's essay considers similarities between DeFeo's production and that of her contemporaries Eva Hesse and the Lees--Lee Bontecue and Lee Lozano, relating her depressing years of inactivity (1966-1970) to the nascent women's art movement. It is provocative to say the least. The University of California Press has printed many fine photos to go with the book, including some color images which I had never seen.
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