Echoes of Violence: Letters from a War Reporter (Human Rights and Crimes against Humanity)

Book Description

"Nobody I ever met on my assignments . . . asked me for direct, practical help. . . . But over and over again people have asked me: 'Will you write this down?' "--Echoes of Violence

Echoes of Violence is an award-winning collection of personal letters to friends from a foreign correspondent who is trying to understand what she witnessed during the iconic human disasters of our time--in Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and New York City on September 11th, among many other places. Originally addressing only a small group of friends, Carolin Emcke started the first letter after returning from Kosovo, where she saw the aftermath of ethnic cleansing in 1999. She began writing to overcome her speechlessness about the horrors of war and her own sense of failure as a reporter. Eventually, writing a letter became a ritual Emcke performed following her return from each nightmare she experienced. First published in 2004 to great acclaim, Echoes of Violence in 2005 was named German political book of the year and was a finalist for the international Lettre-Ulysses award for the art of reportage.

Combining narrative with philosophic reflection, Emcke describes wars and human rights abuses around the world--the suffering of civilians caught between warring factions in Colombia, the heartbreaking plight of homeless orphans in Romania, and the near-slavery of garment workers in Nicaragua. Freed in the letters from journalistic conventions that would obscure her presence as a witness, Emcke probes the abyss of violence and explores the scars it leaves on landscapes external and internal.

Customer Reviews:

Brillant at times, but not detailed enough.......2007-08-03

From time to time Echoes of Violence is a very interesting book, and when it's at its best the reader will have an extremely difficult time trying not to keep on reading forever and ever.

But alas, this only happens on a few occasions. And that's too bad, because there is no reason whatsoever to think that Carolin Emcke comes even close to being a bad writer. A German journalist with a thorough experience in doing war journalism, Emcke has spent much of her professional career in different war zones all around the world, and she writes in a style that's actually both emotional and clear-sighted at the same time. Not only that, she also offers such detailed background analyses that it never becomes necessary for the reader to have any deeper knowledge about the area she's in or the events leading up the particular conflict (though it's obviously not a disadvantage if the reader indeed does have this knowledge).

Most important of all, though, is the simple fact that she never loses touch with the human aspects of her story.

And that's not much of a surprise, really. After all, it's this humaneness that permeates the entire book and prompted her to start putting the stories into words, since the book is based on letters she began writing to some of her closest friends after visiting Kosovo in 1999 and becoming a witness to the horrendous suffering caused by all the sickening ethnic cleansing. In order to come to terms with what she's seen she decided to put it all into words, and Echoes of Violence is the end result.

However, just because it happens to be quite a touching testimony detailing the stupidity of mankind doesn't mean it's a brilliant book. Simple because it contains too few highly detailed descriptions of war, misery, suffering and revolting battle scenes. Perhaps this criticism sounds creepy, but the thing is, without such gory descriptions it's impossible to get some sort of understanding of all the awful scenarios that Emcke finds herself in. Some of the chapters are in fact quite boring.

Still, this doesn't mean it's not worth taking a closer look at. After all, when it's good it's REALLY good.

Not your usual war reporter.......2007-03-26

Although Carolin Emcke's compelling new book is subtitled "Letters from a War Reporter," she fits none of the stereotypes that the rubric of war reporter suggests. Nowhere in her writing does the reader find the cynical, hard-bitten media professional who -- writing on short deadlines for a largely uninformed audience -- has little interest in exploring complexity or challenging the conventional wisdom.

Emcke's letters, written first for her friends and later compiled for publication, give the back story that is left out of most international news reporting. Reading them, one sees a thoughtful but utterly human person at work -- not an omniscient narrator, but someone with emotions, opinions, subjectivity, and humor. Emcke describes herself as a witness, and some of the most compelling passages in the book reveal her grappling with the difficulty of being a faithful witness to situations that are in some sense indescribable.

Emcke has an eye for the telling detail. Describing a hotel in Prishtina, Kosovo, for example, she notes on a visit in 2000 that "the porn magazine in the desk drawer offers 'phone sex with mature women' in a country with no functioning telephone lines." (A few years later human rights observers documented the role of NATO troops and UN police in encouraging the rapid growth of sex-trafficking and forced prostitution in Kosovo.)

Unlike reporters who cover local or national beats -- who can assume that their readership shares a history and culture with the people described, or is at least familiar with that history and culture -- journalists covering foreign crises have to do more than report the facts: they have to translate between worlds. Emcke's moving book shows that this role of translator requires sensitivity, empathy, and understanding, qualities she has in abundance.

Echoes from the Dead Zone: Across the Cyprus Divide

Average customer rating:

+The deepest book I ever read about Turkish-Greek relations
The most engaging book I've read on the Cyprus situation.

Echoes from the Dead Zone: Across the Cyprus Divide
Yiannis Papadakis
Manufacturer: I. B. Tauris
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 185043428X
Release Date: 2005-05-19

Book Description

The narrative of Cyprus' recent history has created numerous attitudes and prejudices which run deep but which have never before been explored on a human level. Now for the first time Yiannis Papadakis, firmly planted in the Greek Cypriot world, sets out to discover "The Other"-- the much maligned Turks. Papadakis delves into the two communities, locked in their mutually contemptuous embrace, to explore their common humanity and to understand what has divided them.

Customer Reviews:

+The deepest book I ever read about Turkish-Greek relations.......2007-04-24

Just genious. Combines personnal style with scientific authority. Deconstructs all nationalistic, religious mythologies and shows that beyond all identities (muslim, christian,greek,turkish) are real human beings, with real lives and real sufferings.

One of the most important contributions to the construction of peace in Cyprus and between Turkey and Greece.

The most engaging book I've read on the Cyprus situation........2006-02-27

I've read quite deeply on the Cyprus affair, and this book really drew me in. Though it does go into some of the history and politics of the situation, it is not a dry account written in an academic tone. The author, a Greek Cypriot, forces himself to listen to the perspectives of Turkish Cypriots and Mainland Turks, and he finds himself in a dead zone of identities as he is slowly distrusted by his own Greek Cypriot community, at least by those who identify more with their "Greekness" than their "Cypriotness." There are lots of first-hand accounts of conversations with nationalists from both sides, and people in both communities who see themselves first and foremost as Cypriot.

The author tries really hard to be objective, and given the scope of the Cyprus problem, does a good job. I read this while also looking over Hannay's book on Cyprus, "The Search for a Solution," and I found the book by Papadakis to be much more exciting. He is now at the University of Cyprus.

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A study of the quiet -- often overlooked -- pain of war ...
Praise for No Place Like Home: Echoes from Kosovo
Documentary Photography at its best!

No Place Like Home: Echoes from Kosovo
Melanie Friend
Manufacturer: Cleis Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

British photographer and BBC radio reporter Melanie Friend has covered the Balkans since 1989. Her visits have been brief and always subject to film confiscation and surveillance. In 1999, as NATO bombs fell on Serbia, and ethnic Albanians fled Kosovo, Friend took portraits in the refugee camps of Macedonia. The 75 photographs and extraordinary interviews present one of the most profound, complex, and human documents of the recent history of the Balkans. As the centuries-old cycle of abuse enters a new phase, No Place Like Home explores life in the Balkans with fresh, unconventional insight.

Customer Reviews:

A study of the quiet -- often overlooked -- pain of war ..........2002-01-31

It's a crying shame that the world hosts chronic bouts of uncivil wars all over the planet, and then their atrocities vie for our attention. It's a pity that the current, most florid acts of inhumanity (via the media) hold us in thrall and divert us from the grinding pain of recovery from similar acts elsewhere. The focus on the Miedle East has distracted us from other hostilities that changed the map and twisted lives. One such conflict is the tangle of unrest among Albanians/Serbians/Bosniaks and others who share, or shared, Kosovo.

Melanie Friend has created a book of portraits (visual and verbal) that attends to the pain and confusion between 1994 and 2000 in Kosovo. Her wonderfully quiet, understated photographs do not feed the sensationalistic. They speak to the almost mundane horrors of daily living in burned out homes; hiding in sewers; trying to stay clean after escaping with only the clothes on one's back; eating only bread for an entire month; eating cherries for an entire month; occupying one's time trying to keep a refugee camp tent clean, mostly to stay busy; clinging to a shred of photograph as a talisman of hope for a loved one's survival; and surviving chronic fatiuge when one is never safe enough to sleep through an entire night.

The author's photographs are reproduced with such pristine fidelity that they are by themselves graceful studies of form, color and light. Alongside the photographs, Ms. Friend's interviewees tell their stories, narratives in the stark flatness of truth as they experience it. They don't philosophize particularly, nor do they bang their political drums particularly, although I'm sure all cherish their personal philosophies and have political perspectives. They describe what happened to them, their families, and their homes. All were victimized. The speakers survived, but none have recovered.

You will not see a single severed limb, starving child, or mangled body in the book. The book will not burden you with the type of content that increases your anxiety or "compassion fatigue" to the degree that you must turn away. Instead, in quietude, the author gives you a current history of Kosovo's war and its aftermath with respect and sadness.

"No Place Like Home" is an elegant book that informs by taking one in and quietly personalizing the experience of war in one's homeland rather than beating the reader into insensibility with atrocities so graphic that one must tune out. It is a thoughtful, painful, gentle response to victims of war.

Photographs and text: Wonderful!

Praise for No Place Like Home: Echoes from Kosovo.......2001-12-18

This is a fantastic book! It completely transports the reader into the lives and experiences of the people of Kosovo. They are elegantly and honestly portrayed through Friend's unique choice of medium. She juxtaposes stunning photographs and gripping testimonies of her subjects, inspiring compassion and awe from her audience. Having a degree in International Relations, I found this book offered an insightful and fresh perspective on the situation in the Balkans, while remaining accessible to a wide audience. Beautiful!

Documentary Photography at its best!.......2001-12-08

This is a book about war unlike any other. You are drawn in by the photographs and, somehow, the voices of the ordinary civilians telling you about their lives under the years of repression, the war, the flight from their homes and their return to the devastated towns and villages hit you with remarkable poignancy. The juxtaposition of these extraordinary photographs and the testimonies is truly remarkable. This is not only great documentary photography, it is also one of the most articulate and profound book about war I've ever read. Kudos to Melanie Friend! Very highly recommended!

Echoes of the Forest: Music of the Central African Pygmies (The Musical Expeditions Series/Book and Compact Disc T Disc)

Average customer rating:

Excellent and unsentimental
Song from the Forest: My Life Among the Ba-Benjelle Pygmies

Echoes of the Forest: Music of the Central African Pygmies (The Musical Expeditions Series/Book and Compact Disc T Disc)
Louis Sarno , and Jean-Pierre Hallet
Manufacturer: Ellipsis Arts
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 1559612762

Customer Reviews:

Excellent and unsentimental.......2005-04-10

I've only just discovered this book, and I loved every moment of it. It was surprising to find Louis Sarno criticised for his writing by the previous reviewer. I thought his style was exactly uninflected enough to fit like a glove - being honest about both the Ba-Benjelle and himself. This honesty made the book far better both as an anthropological document, and as an autobiographical one as well.

Interesting too that reviewer could have done without the last 40 pages. The loss of purpose & damage caused to original civilisations by the outside world is unpleasant reading every time we come across it, I know - Norman Lewis' "The Missionaries" for instance (Fundamentalism vs. the Amazon Indians), will give you a lifetime dose - but frankly I prefer it to the Disney versions of the New-Age. It gives strength also to the transformation of the tribe when they move to the forest.

The companion volume to this book is Colin M. Turnbull's equally astonishing "The Forest People", written 30 years earlier about Turnbull's life with the Pygmies, consequently describing their life 30 years less affected by "civilisation".

The honesty of this book makes its musical and magical revelations unquestionable, and it breathes life into the cast of characters of Louis Sarno's extended family. This book ends on an upbeat, as the tribe moves to a new camp closer to the forest, which leaves me waiting for the next instalment ... Louis ? Ah,Africa is the home of soap-opera !

Haven't heard the music yet, but I will soon. Louis Sarno's descriptions have had me running round the net with my credit card in my hand. Buy a dozen for your friends, it's an extraordinary book.

Song from the Forest: My Life Among the Ba-Benjelle Pygmies.......2003-06-05

As a source of information on this group pygmies and their music this book is worth plowing through to almost the end.

While Louis Sarno does not have a captivating style of writing, the book does provide a unique perspective of one man's journey in Central Africa to find the Ba-benjelle pygmies and their music.

The sections on the dances, hunting, bees and duikers, etc. are interesting enough to keep one reading. The section on his love/obsession for Ngbali alternatly leaves you wishing he would succeed,scream exploitation and wondering if he really thought he wasn't being used. It is at this point, one wants to skip the last 40 or so pages.

Book Description

Other People's Myths celebrates the universal art of storytelling, and the rich diversity of stories that people live by. Drawing on Biblical parables, Greek myths, Hindu epics, and the modern mythologies of Woody Allen and soap operas, Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty encourages us to feel anew the force of myth and tradition in our lives, and in the lives of other cultures. She shows how the stories of mythology—whether of Greek gods, Chinese sages, or Polish rabbis—enable all cultures to define themselves. She raises critical questions about the way we interpret mythical stories, especially the way different cultures make use of central texts and traditions. And she offers a sophisticated way of looking at the roles myths play in all cultures.

Customer Reviews:

Approachable, Interesting, personal........2007-01-06

I am interested in myths because of my personal experience of them; they are rich in personal meaning. Ms Doniger has had similar experiences it seems. I have framed them more with Jungian and post Jungian understandings. Ms Doniger has framed them within her academic field. While she does deal with archetypes without dismissing them, she mainly uses her extensive knowledge and understanding of hindu myths and her trainig in comparitive religion. Thus there are parts that are quite detailed and the arguments a little involved (hence the 4). But on the other hand her approach in using myths to talk about myths is otherwise quite playful and engaging; using riches to uncover riches. The book also reads like a personal testament, parts of which I identified with. At the beginning she describes her own encunter with Hindu myth (which she was studying) at the time of her father's death. She found the myths helped her much more than her own; hence the title of the book. I, a white western protestant christian, have found greek, hindu and other non-christian myths more helpful and more profoundly meaningful than my faith in dealing with my own difficult circumstances. Perhaps this book is Ms Doniger's journey of trying to understanding why someone elses myth could speak so powerfully to an american jew. In the other of her books i have read 'The Implied Speder' her intellectual rigor and training is evident. Thankfully this book is far more fleshy, less rigorous, more suggestive, more approachable. However we try to understand the mechanism, myths (be they classical, popular, ancient, modern, parochial, foreign, offensive or affirming) are alive and well and mis/behaving as ever they did, regardless of our religous labels. Ms Doniger and I are in agreement on that !

Read a good book, instead........2003-10-11

Ms. Doniger O'Flaherty writes as if she has escaped the narrow bounds of her Jewish upbringing to understand a more universal world of mythology, and, by this method, enhanced her understanding of Jewish mythology. Sadly, she seems not to have escaped the bounds at all. She writes in circles, telling us that it is neither possible, nor beneficial to create new mythologies and new rituals, though she does not explain why this is so. She fails to grasp that all myths and rituals had origins at some moment in time, and did not come to us with the first spark of human life, sacred and divine. She starts to deal with issue, but skirts it, as she does most issues. In then end, she is trapped by the narrow limits of Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism. In the narrowness of her view, including Hinduism seems to imply that she has stretched her mind to encompass the universal. Much that should be scholarship seems to generate from her own hopes, fears, and neurotic world view. I liken her to a psycologist, out to heal herself and treating her illness as a universal. While every writer writes from a perspective that is uniquely their own, Ms. Doniger O'Flaherty's perspective is self-absorbed, and she shows an incredible inability to look at the world through the eyes of others. Worse, she is painfully unaware of this defect. Unless you are one who finds bad scholarship amusing, I suggest looking to another source for an introduction to the field of folklore.

Storytelling............2001-02-06

In OTHER PEOPLE'S MYTHS, Wendy O'Flaherty says "God created people because he loves stories." O'Flaherty teaches History of Religion at the University of Chicago. She says not everyone will approach her book with the same level of interest. The orthodox religious may find it sacriligious while hard-core secular humanists may find it too "religious." However, she believes some secular humanists may be ready to rethink the premise that rational thought is the only way to gain a handle on reality, and it is to them she dedicates this book.

MYTHS will prove illuminating to those who study the history of religion (non-theologians), fascinating to anthropologists who study other cultures, and provocative to theologians looking for inspiration. O'Flaherty's book is a synthesis of many strands from many disciplines--she likes the metaphor of weaving to describe her work.

O'Flaherty says myths can provide alternative answers to the fundamental questions of life and death. Juxtaposed, these answers can be deciphered like a secret code. She says myths are not lies they are fragments of the truth. Myths are the clothes archetypes wear--or structures if you're a structuralist, or parables if you're God.

O'Flaherty, a Jew, is a specialist in Christian and Hindu mythology. She compares and contrasts the various stories of these two cultures with the earlier Greek myths--which she says weren't myths at all by the time they were discussed by Plato, but mere shadows of their former selves--zombies. Myths are alive, they resonate.

She says Allan Bloom (author of THE CLOSING OF THE AMERICAN MIND) says we have lost our classics (stories) and to a certain extent she agrees with him. But, she says, the classics to which Bloom refers never belonged to all the people whereas myths do. She tells of the Mahabharata which the most illiterate peasant in India knows. In the U.S., it's equivalent is the Bible. Most Westerners can recite some sections of the Bible.

As far as the classics go, they don't survive unless they are mythologized. To mythologize a story is to tell it over and over. Not all stories can become myths. Myths bear repeating. There are many different kinds of myths, from those involving Western heros to those about characters in children's tales like Cinderella. (I discovered Cinderella is a Chinese tale--hence the small feet as an aspect of female beauty, and those slippers were fur, not glass--the tale was mistranslated!!).

In the information age, the theater plays a large role in the transmission of cultural myths. Movies are big in the U.S. and big in India. O'Flaherty says her favorite mythical tale is "Through the Looking Glass." She mentions other tales--both written and on film that are mythical including "Star Wars", "The Red Shoes", and "The Wizard of Oz." She says in a pluralistic society, many new tales will be mythologized, and new heros will materialize -- The Lion King, Harry Potter, and James Bond??

Book Description

This book spans the gap between the history of Jewish tradition and the nature of Western thinking, and will help you to understand Scripture in its cultural context.

Customer Reviews:

Historical background must have.......2005-08-08

Often the context in which something was said in the Bible is misunderstood and badly applied today. So, I frequently study the Bible with contextual dictionaries to dig into the deeper and practical meaning of words in a message. Echoes of His Presence goes beyond. Through story-telling you can live that moment yourself and picture how the people of the time would have applied the events and messages that we read today in the Bible.

All commentaries should be as good as this..........2002-04-18

Mr. Vander Laan through a lifelong study of the land, culture and history of the Bible has written an amazing book. Echoes, presents many of the culture and historical settings of the world that Jesus was born, taught and lived while on this earth.

Ray through some life experiences shares insights that will allow you as the reader to see most of the gospel accounts with the "eyes" of the first century witnesses. I have never seen these stories and teaching of Jesus the same after reading this book.

Get your hands on a copy and read this one at least once a year.

Excellent Meditation Material.......2001-08-31

I use this book daily in my quiet time. Mr VanderLaan writes so as you are there with the people he is writing about. If anyone had any doubt about the humanity of Jesus, this is an excellent education. I found I wanted to spend more time in the bible after reading this, over and over, the stories in this book helps understanding some of the stories in the bible. Excellent, wonderful, I need to buy one for my friends!!! Thank You, Mary Hughes

Understanding Jesua Better.......2000-12-30

This is a brilliant book which provides much needed background to the life and times of Jesus. It has greatly helped my understanding of the Bible.

The stories provide details of the culture and living experiences of those in Jesus' day and by doing so we are transported back in time in a very effective way. My favourite one was the story of the woman who was bleeding and touched Jesus' robe. I didn't appreciate the social stigma that would have accompanied the illness due to her always being 'unclean', nor of what it would have meant to be free. Then there is the story covering the meaning of the 'living water'.

If you are interested in the Bible (particularly if you are a Christian) get the book. You won't regret it. I've given 5 copies to friends as gifts and they have all appreciated it.

An eye opener into the culture of Jesus' time.......2000-03-15

This book paints a picture of the multi-faceted culture in which Jesus lived. It's a wonderful, God-honoring book which helps us to better understand His life because it demonstrates the political, familial, societal and religious background that we miss not having lived in that culture. Mr. Vander Laan draws parallels in story form of Jesus in various roles, such as the Rabbi, the Teacher, the Bridegroom, etc. I walked away with a greater foundation for understanding my Savior. Vander Laan's experience in and understanding of the Holy Land add priceless insights into this work. This is a great book! I highly recommend it.

Faint Echoes, Distant Stars: The Science and Politics of Finding Life Beyond Earth

Average customer rating:

Empty Rehash at a Middle School Level
Does life exist anywhere but Earth?
A readable but limited introduction to astrobiology
Good, but where's the Politics?
Interesting ideas

Faint Echoes, Distant Stars: The Science and Politics of Finding Life Beyond Earth
Ben Bova
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Our neighboring planets may have the answer to this question. Scientists have already identified ice caps on Mars and what appear to be enormous oceans underneath the ice of Jupiter's moons. The atmosphere on Venus appeared harsh and insupportable of life, composed of a toxic atmosphere and oceans of acid -- until scientists concluded that Earth's atmosphere was eerily similar billions of years ago.

An extraterrestrial colony, in some form, may already exist, just awaiting discovery.

But the greatest impediment to such an important scientific discovery may not be technological, but political. No scientific endeavor can be launched without a budget, and matters of money are within the arena of politicians. Dr. Ben Bova explores some of the key players and the arguments waged in a debate of both scientific and cultural priorities, showing the emotions, the controversy, and the egos involved in arguably the most important scientific pursuit ever begun.

Customer Reviews:

Empty Rehash at a Middle School Level.......2006-12-12

I guess you can't tell a book by the cover. I read WHERE IS EVERYBODY (Stephen Webb) at the same time as I read this work. A flying saucer with little green men adorned EVERYBODY whereas a majestic Milky Way galaxy was the selected cover art for this book. The contents, though, was exactly opposite of what one would expect. Where EVERYBODY is erudite, FAINT ECHOES is almost junior high level. EVERYBODY asks, explores and attempts to formulate answers to deep philosphical question / FAINT ECHOES is a light review of well-known knowledge with a dose of politics.

First complaint - the font is huge and there's LOTS of empty space. If the same font as EVERYBODY had been used and the useless, numerous subtitles had been omitted it could have been reduced by half. Second complaint - the science is a stripped down MTV version for those who want quick, glib answers without a lot of serious inquiry. A case in point - the evolution from prokaryotes to eurakyotes is discussed in both books. EVERYBODY offers a vibrant detailed discussion; FAINT ECHOES has a breezy, overview that hurriedly skips to the next subject. EVERYBODY has an extended, in-depth discussion (with multiple illustrations) on the role of amino acids, the building blocks of genes. FAINT ECHOES makes a few references to the subject. It's dreamlike, one of those streams of consciousness where the next thought simply spills out on the page - Mars Rover, Drake Equation, asteroids, evolution, SETI, blah blah. To generate a little interest he throws in such nonsense as ancient astronauts, Roswell, abductions, Velikovsky, Martian "canals", etc

Finally the author admits he is a true believer in intelligent life beyond Earth and issues a call to unite and become brothers and sisters of humanity. Calling all Kumbaya singers for the next rehearsal. My grade: F.

Does life exist anywhere but Earth?.......2006-05-15

A nice introduction to the nature & requirements for life.

Will we someday find life in our own solar system (outside of earth)? I personally think so. Will we find signs of INTELLIGENT life in the universe?

Food for thought.

A readable but limited introduction to astrobiology.......2004-04-28

Science writer and science fiction writer extraordinaire, Ben Bova (only people like Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke and Carl Sagan, and maybe one or two others, have done those two things any better) has two primary purposes in writing this book. The first is to bring the general reader up to date on the current status of the search for life beyond earth and the likelihood of its existence. The second is to report (and critique) the state of the political and economic wars pertaining to that search. Along the way Bova updates us on how the solar system was formed, concentrating in turn on each of the planets. He reports on the status of extra-solar planets (over 100 have been discovered as he went to press) and on why it is now believed that life may (in the form of "extremophiles") exist in places previously thought to be completely inhospitable such as deep underground, at the bottom of deep oceans, such as under the ice of Jupiter's moon, Europa, or even in interstellar clouds.

The main strength of the book is Bova's always readable prose; the main weakness is a kind of "introductory" treatment that may be too limited or simplistic for more sophisticated readers. For myself--a reader somewhere between the extremes of novice and expert--I found the book reasonably informative and certainly in no sense dumbed-down. Of course I did not need to be told (as Bova does in a gray sidebar on page 80) that "a meteorite is what is left of" a meteor "if it survives to the ground." Nor did I need to be reminded that "Einstein's special theory of relativity showed that matter can be converted to energy" as Bova does in a footnote on page 67. Or even that living organisms seem to (but do not) violate the law of entropy. There are many other examples of this concession to the beginning reader, but not so many that I was annoyed or felt my time was being wasted. The editors are to be commended for putting most of the elementary material in gray boxes, footnotes, or in some of the eleven appendices.

The book is organized into five sections beginning with what Bova calls "The Path to Astrobiology," and ending with "Tomorrow," in which he laments the lack of consistent funding for space exploration and argues that, if humans are to survive any of the catastrophes likely to strike earth (including the near certainty of the sun's expansion, explosion, and collapse in the very, very distant future) we must learn to live in places other than earth.

For the real afficionado of astrobiology, this book will indeed be much too basic. For the fairly well-informed reader wanting to know just where we are in the search for life beyond earth, there are several better books. Two that I can recommend are, Stephen Webb' outstanding Where Is Everybody?: Fifty Solutions to the Fermi Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life (2002), the excellent The Life and Death of Planet Earth: How the Science of Astrobiology Charts the Ultimate Fate of Our World (2002) by Peter D. Ward and Donald Brownlee, and the delightful Lonely Planets: The Natural Philosophy of Alien Life (2003) by David Grinspoon. Bova includes a discussion of the famous Drake equation and his take on the probabilities implied therein, but if you want the real in-depth treatment read Stephen Webb's book

As far as the politics at NASA and in the Congress of the United States goes, I cannot recommend a better book, but can tell you that Bova's treatment here has taught me little that I didn't know. That the late Senator William Proxmire stupidly bestowed upon SETI one of his infamous "Golden Fleece" awards is old news, as is the fact that Nevada Senator Richard Bryan ridiculed the search for extraterrestrial life back in 1992 and helped to persuade Congress to cut SETI projects from NASA's budget. However Bova does report the efforts of private citizens (notably Microsoft's Paul Allen) to fund SETI projects as well as the efforts of some people at NASA and in Congress to emphasize the possibility of finding at least microbial life under the surface of Mars or elsewhere in the solar system as a means of exciting the public's fancy. If the public's fancy can be sufficiently excited, that will surely persuade our representatives to vote funds to support such projects.

Certainly Bova has a clear understanding of what goes on in Congress. He writes, "Politicians make their decisions for political reasons, not scientific. The first question a politician asks when faced with a decision is, How will this affect my chances for reelection?" (p. 273)

Nothing is going to change that. That is the way a representative democracy works. What needs to be done is to educate the public (and Congress itself!) on (1) the real value of the search for life beyond earth and (2) the real value of being able to colonize, e.g., the moon and Mars. In the first case we have that most beautiful quote from Lee DuBridge (or was it Pogo?) that sets the tone for Bova's book: "Either we are alone in the universe or we are not; either way it's mind-boggling." (p. ix) In the second case we have the specter of any number of earth-confined catastrophes that colonists on the moon or Mars might avoid, such as an unstoppable disease, nuclear warfare, or a huge meteor striking the earth.

Good, but where's the Politics?.......2004-04-09

I enjoyed this light work of nonfiction, but was disappointed. Bova's insights science-wise are very good, there is very little to do with politics in the the book besides Congess cancelled these missions, this happened when he becamre head of NASA, and so on.

Interesting ideas.......2004-03-03

Noted author, Dr. Ben Bova evaluates the age old question of whether humanity is alone in this vast universe. Whether he looks back to Copernicus and earlier or to the SETI project, Dr. Bova provides insight into the past and present scientific wars, the religious dogma, and the political benefit/cost analysis skirmishes. The author uses planet earth to make a case that life probably exists on other orbs in the universe and even in our solar system. He argues that life on earth survives hostile planetary environs that for centuries was assumed nothing could live there and bacteria brought to the moon thrives in conditions that would kill humans. Perhaps the Martian icecaps or the Jovian moons will prove to have living organisms.

FAINT ECHOES, DISTANT STARS: THE SCIENCE AND POLITICS OF FINDING LIFE BEYOND EARTH is at its best when Dr. Bova makes the inductive case that we are not alone. The nonfiction is also quite fun to read when it looks into the past to show those times that science clashed with politics/religion. When the book goes deep into the current skirmish over funding something somewhat esoteric and not easy to see the benefits, it is fascinating but loses some of the propulsion that the history and the science provides. Still this is another strong effort by Dr. Bova, who makes no pretense on which side of the debate he supports.

Customer Reviews:

Brovo!.......2006-08-22

Every descriptive word is poured out with honesty and passion. The author's flare and supreme knowledge of the language allows the reader to relive his fascinating journey with tears of saddness and joy!

THE POWER OF FAITH.......2004-03-10

In the beginning of the book, the author gives us a marvelous glimpse of the world he knew and loved as a child. He makes us feel also the pain that he felt during the times when he witnessed his father's violent behavior heaped against his mother.
The details of the indoctrination of the Italian youth into the Fascist ideology should be an eye opener for all of us.
In addition, the author offers us a clear and painful look at the reality of war and its wretched consequences, and he does that skillfully, sometimes using humor to tone down the pain.
It is evident, however, that from the first chapter of the book to the last,the author considers his mother the true heroine of the book. Her faith, her inner-strength, her courage and her selfless attitude are beautifully manifested with filial devotion and sometimes with poetic flair.
Cione is an unknown name in the world of writing. I suggest that you buy "Sicily On My Mind", and when you finish reading it you will ask yourself: "Why not?"

Accurate Account.......2004-01-31

I live in Buenos Aires now, but I used live in Sicily during the same time that the author did.
I found the author's accounts of his life under Fascism and World War II accurate and fascinating.
The author's command of the language and writing style are outstanding, considering that English is not his native language. Cione has shown to be a remarkable storyteller.I hope he continues to write more books like this one.

PASSION FOR LIFE.......2004-01-28

Boy, does this guy know how to write!
It's like riding a roller coaster of intense emotions: the moving, the humorous, the dramatic, the poetic. The author's mother comes through as a remarkable human being, whose love, faith and compassion are vividly woven throughout the book in a remarkable fashion.
The sections about the author's indoctrination into Fascism and the painful events of the war, are also painted with vivid strokes worthy of a masterful painter.
Pick it up and read it. You'll love it!

A Master Storyteller.......2004-01-27

I am a history buff and "Sicily On My Mind" offered me the opportunity to learn some insightful details about the indoctrination of the Italian youth under Fascism, as well as some painful aspects of W.W.II.
The author related his youthful experiences in Sicily, from puberty up to his 21st year of age with a delightful style which oftentimes reads like poetry.
Joseph Cione is a marvelous storyteller.Page after page, he kept my interest alive to a point that I could not put the book down.I read the entire book in one evening!
I hope there will be a sequel to it. Will the author write one? Pleeeease!

When You Reach September: An Editor's West Florida Essays And Other Episodic Echoes, With Four More Fictional Stories: Ruby's Cafe, Six Bushels of Corn, Atchafalaya and the Worm Grunters

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Jesse Earle Bowden Master of the short story

When You Reach September: An Editor's West Florida Essays And Other Episodic Echoes, With Four More Fictional Stories: Ruby's Cafe, Six Bushels of Corn, Atchafalaya and the Worm Grunters
Jesse Earle Bowden
Manufacturer: Father & Son Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Look and Tremble; A Novel of West Florida

ASIN: 0942407776

Product Description

Evoking images of West Florida's Chipola River Country and other regions from Pensacola to Tallahassee, Jesse Earle Bowden's Song of Many Septembers in this expanded Florida Classic Edition continues the nostalgic anthem that began with his popular 1979 memoir, Always the Rivers Flow - now too in a Florida Classic Edition. He expanded the theme with his best-selling West Florida novel, Look and Tremble, and his later Southern story collection, Embrace an Autumnal Heart. Lyrically portraying a Southern boyhood of the 1930's and 1940's, Bowden accents this edition with four fictional stories, Ruby's Café, Six Bushels of Corn, Atchafalaya and The Worm Grunters. Memorable Pensacola News Journal columns and features trace the changing seasons, holidays, family gatherings, politics, vote-buying, country boy sports and humorous small-town stories. He profiles Southern novelists William Faulkner and Thomas Clayton Wolfe, legendary Florida Governor Fuller Warren and Southern humorist/philosopher Brother Dave Gardner; brings alive Civil War battles Shiloh and Gettysburg, Old South Charleston and Savannah, and wilderness Wakulla Springs, Dead Lakes and Okefenokee Swamp; salutes Don Sutton and his major league Hall of Fame destiny, and rides the Gulf Wind into railroading history. With many other sentimental journeys and many evocative drawings, Bowden again awakens the soul and spirit of the past colliding with the future in his native West Florida.

Customer Reviews:

Jesse Earle Bowden Master of the short story.......2005-10-21

Jesse Earle Bowden is a southern writer in the style of Mississippian, William Faulkner, but without the need of holding a dictionary in one hand as you read. His imaginary town of Ring Jaw is typical the towns of southern Alabama and northwest Florida before air conditioning brought the outsiders down, ruining the tempo and flavor of the area. His mastery of the language of the thirties is on target, bringing to mind an era lost forever.
"When You Reach September" embodies the wonderful writings that Bowden has published over the past 60 years. He has mastered the short story and keeps the reader spellbound as he sketches the stories of the "real" south, using true-to-life happenings that he fictionalizes so perfectly.
When you read "Ruby's Cafe," "The Worm Grunters," or "Six Bushels of Corn" you are reliving the period that Bowden remembers so brillently and so clearly. You are there.
In "I MIss," the reader recalls the six ounce bottles of Coca Cola with slivers of ice and roasted peanuts (you can taste the beverage and smell the memories)you recall the movies of his era, the Big Little Books and "I love a Mystery," an old radio program that "Raiders of the Lost Ark" refers to in that great story.
On and on - one story better than the preceeding one.
I have read Jesse Earle Bowden since the 1950s when he began writing for the Pensacola News Journal, and I have seen his writings mature to the master craftsman he is today.
I highly recommend "When You Reach September." Reading it is time well spent.

Echoes of Egyptian Voices: An Anthology of Ancient Egyptian Poetry (Oklahoma Series in Classical Culture)

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Echoes of Egyptian Voices: An Anthology of Ancient Egyptian Poetry (Oklahoma Series in Classical Culture)

Manufacturer: Univ of Oklahoma Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0806124113

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