History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Average customer rating:

Saint Joan on audio tape
Shaw never misses a chance to make a good point.
Drama Instead of History
Wisdom
Shaw's "Saint Joan"

Saint Joan (Penguin Classics)
George Bernard Shaw
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Henry V (Folger Shakespeare Library)
Tess of the d'Urbervilles (Bantam Classics)
Murder in the Cathedral
Candide (Dover Thrift Editions)
A Man for All Seasons

ASIN: 0140437916

Amazon.com

Joan of Arc, born in 1412, was burned at the stake in 1431, canonized by the Catholic Church in 1920, and, like most saints, whitewashed by history. Canonization tends to strip a saint of supposedly un-Christian attributes such as rebelliousness, pride, and intolerance. And Joan, despite having been a stubborn, haughty, naive, even foolish girl, has for much of history been remembered only as a pious martyr. However, George Bernard Shaw's play, Saint Joan, completed in 1925, began the modern rehabilitation of the icon as a fully human, fallible character--not to mention a poster girl for teenage rebellion and feminism. Shaw's Joan, like the real Maid of Orleans, leads the fight to drive the English out of her native France, insists on direct communication with her God instead of submitting to the mediation of Catholic priests, and refuses to dress, speak, or act according to traditional notions of how women were expected to behave. Until the closing scene of Shaw's play, however, neither Joan nor her foes are cast in neatly heroic terms. Both are earnestly pursuing their partial visions of the truth. In the play's famous epilogue, Shaw suggests that even 400 years later, most of us are so limited by our own perspectives that we are unable to tell the difference between a saint and a heretic. "O God that madest this beautiful earth, when will it be ready to receive Thy saints?" Joan asks, preparing for her death. "How long, O Lord, how long?" --Michael Joseph Gross

Book Description

With Saint Joan, Shaw reached the height of his fame as a dramatist. Fascinated by the story of Joan of Arc (canonized in 1920), but unhappy with "the whitewash which disfigures her beyond recognition," he presents a realistic Joan: proud, intolerant, naïve, foolhardy, always brave-a rebel who challenged the conventions and values of her day.

Customer Reviews:

Saint Joan on audio tape.......2007-02-09

Audio recordings of plays are usually done with different actors reading the roles as in a radio play. This is the first time I have listened to a play being read by only one reader. It is not at all the same experience, but better than one might expect. The reader uses a neutral American accent for the French characters, but a slightly British one to differentiate the English characters. There was a recording on Caedmon of the play with Siobhan McKenna repeating her famous performance, but it is not available. (Some libraries still have it on vinyl, but that doesn't help me pass the time while commuting.)

Shaw's play is intriguing, coming as it did so soon after Joan's canonization and Ireland's war for independence ("France for the French"), but there is no denying that is rather untheatrical, save for the climactic scene. Joan confesses to her supposed sins to save her life, but then withdraws the confession, choosing execution and martydom. I had never realized how much Arthur Miller owed to Shaw; I was reminded of the scene in The Crucible when John Proctor confesses to a lie and then recants, preferring an honorable death. These scenes are both based on historical events, of course, but the resemblance in the way they are dramatized is striking nonetheless. Here's a potential trivia topic: How many plays and movies can you think of that use the device of a false confession followed by an even more dramatic retraction?

Shaw never misses a chance to make a good point........2006-02-23

I have seen this performed, I have read it and I have heard it on a tape from Books on Tape for the Blind and Disabled. I loved it every time. I agree fully with Shaw that the Catholic Church has gotten a bad rap over Joan. When you listen to her words she was espousing overt Protestant beliefs -- God can, should and will speak to one person, individually and doesn't require a mediator like the Pope or Mary or any of the saints.

I actually got the most out of this play by hearing it on a tape from Books on Tape for the Blind and Disabled. I was able to speed the tape up and suddenly the wimpy, silly voices of the court officials came out perfectly. The farce inside the tragedy revealed itself clearly.

Shaw is brilliant and astute -- but no one needs me to tell them that!

Drama Instead of History.......2005-12-11

This is George Bernard Shaw's most important work. A successful drama that has enjoyed continuous popularity for nearly eighty years is worth a read. Most audiences find it very satisfying. Shaw has a gift for lucid dialogue that brings a centuries old story to life. This is one of the most approachable of the great English language plays.

Why then does "Saint Joan" fall short of five stars?

Fictional accounts of Joan of Arc's life are numerous and seldom accurate. Shakespeare makes her a witch. Voltaire makes her an idiot. Schiller makes her admirable - and gives her a magical helmet that protects her from harm until she falls in love.

In a rare exception to his usual satirical style, Mark Twain spent months in France researching her life and published a fictional biography. Readers who enjoy accurate historical fiction would do well with Twain's "Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc." Twain considered this - not "Huckleberry Finn" - to be his finest work.

Shaw pays far more attention to accuracy than most fictionalizations. Several lines in the play are Shaw's own translations from her trial transcript. Shaw's long introductory essay aspires to be history as well as drama. Most scholars agree with his assessment of Joan of Arc's socioeconomic background. Shaw acknowledges a few dramatic economies: he combines the historical Jean d'Orleans and Duke Jean d'Alencon into a single character. What causes problems are Shaw's unacknowledged deviations from the factual record.

Shaw argues that Joan of Arc was a forerunner of Protestantism who got a fair trial. Among serious scholars this argument gains no credibility. A surviving letter from the English government that financed the trial guaranteed her execution even if the court found her not guilty. Joan of Arc never rejected the Roman Catholic Church: she rejected the authority of politically biased judges bent on discrediting her and, by inference, on discrediting the king she had crowned. Twenty-four years after her death the Pope reopened the case. The appeals court not only found her innocent but discovered such extensive violations of proper court procedure that it accused the late Bishop Cauchon of heresy.

Shaw's choice works as drama rather than as history yet he advocates it on historical grounds. He might be sincere but he is certainly not honest. To an academic scholar who has explained the facts to umpteen Shaw enthusiasts the difference can be infuriating. This is why "Saint Joan" collects a handful of scathing reviews.

A reader who understands this little shell game with history should have a lively time with the drama. If this is your first reading of "Saint Joan" then I envy you. Nothing quite equals the first encounter.

Wisdom.......2003-12-08

What has most stuck in my mind, many years after having read Shaw's book, is the fact that it's more logical to think of Joan as a protestant saint, instead of Catholic, when one considers how she rejected the Catholic Church's authority and was, naturally, rejected in turn.

He makes a very good point when he says that, right as that Church was to ban her on those grounds, nothing could give it the moral right (or any other right, for that matter) to condemn a woman who disagreed with it on matters of faith. In all fairness, they should have simply excommunicated her and said: "If you think you have a better idea, then you go ahead and create your own Church".

It may be a thoroughly idealistic point of view of course, too democratic for that age (perhaps any age), but nonetheless it strikes me as completely fair.
If you like a club but object to some of its rules, and that club isn't willing to change for your sake, they may have the right to throw you out, just as you may have the right to start a new one on your own - but they shouldn't be given the right to take away your life for having dared to challenge their concepts.

This lesson has stayed with me and I recommend this book for the wisdom it contains.

Shaw's "Saint Joan".......2002-07-02

In one surviving account, Joan of Arc was quoted as saying that her judges were merely putting her on trial because they were members of the pro-English faction and therefore her "capital enemies"; unfortunately, this play tries to claim otherwise. One of Shaw's primary themes is the notion that Pierre Cauchon and Joan's other judges were acting as "sincere" defenders of the Church in their prosecution of her, a view which is contradicted by document after document as well as the above quote from Joan herself. Cauchon and his cronies are well known to historians as having been long-term supporters of the English and Burgundian factions, and the eyewitnesses said repeatedly that they prosecuted Joan out of revenge for the defeats that their side had suffered at the hands of her army, rather than out of any genuine belief that she was guilty of heresy. Cauchon even allowed her to take final communion (which was never done in the case of heretics), indicating that even he didn't truly believe the charges against her. As Shaw was aware, these charges were soundly debunked when the case was appealed after the English were finally driven from Rouen in 1449; and the arguments put forward in this ruling have been confirmed as accurate by experts in medieval theology and canon law, whereas Cauchon's arguments can easily be refuted by consulting medieval theological works - his arguments are, at best, merely distortions of what the medieval Church actually taught. Here are some specific examples which factored prominently in Shaw's play:
- Shaw, like Cauchon, claimed that Joan was guilty of heresy for wearing male clothing allegedly as a personal preference, despite the fact that both of these men were aware of her own statements to the contrary. She was quoted as saying that she wore soldiers' clothing (of a type which had "laces and points" by which the pants and tunic could be securely tied together) primarily to protect herself, as her guards had tried to rape her on several occasions; this reason is also given in some of the 15th century chronicles, along with similar quotes from Joan herself on the need to protect her chastity while surrounded by the men in her army. The medieval Church allowed an exemption in such cases of necessity (read St. Thomas Aquinas' "Summa Theologica", or St. Hildegard's "Scivias", for example): the practice of so-called "cross-dressing" was only condemned if it was done as a preference. Shaw rejects all of the above based on the specious argument that the "other women" who accompanied armies in that era didn't wear such clothing, ignoring the fact that these "other women" were: 1) prostitutes, who wore provocative dresses because they were trying to encourage sexual encounters rather than the opposite; and 2) aristocratic women sometimes were given command of their family's armies in the absence of their husband or son, but these women did not bed down at night among the troops in the field, as Joan often did. Shaw chooses to ignore these circumstances.
- On a somewhat related subject, Shaw tries to portray her as a rebel against "gender norms", again ignoring her own statements and the circumstances of the era. She was quoted by one eyewitness as saying that, quote, "I would rather stay home with my poor mother and spin wool [rather than lead an army]", which hardly sounds like someone who is trying to reject traditional gender roles. When another woman, Catherine de la Rochelle, wanted to get involved, Joan told her to "go home to your husband and tend your household". At no point do we find her making any 'feminist' statements. She was given titular command of an army for the same reason other religious visionaries sometimes were given such a role in that era, not as part of a "feminist crusade".
- Shaw admits that Joan was a devout Catholic and yet claims her as "the first Protestant martyr" - in the same sentence. This seems to be a rather willful contradiction, and the claim of "Protestant tendencies" is merely based, once again, on the old business of accepting Cauchon's claims about her at face value while ignoring the circumstances. If you read the documents you will find that Joan never opposed the Church as a whole: she merely stated her objection to being tried by a panel of pro-English clergy, and repeatedly asked to be given a non-partisan group instead or to be brought before the Pope. It was a violation of Inquisitorial procedure to stack the panel of assessors with people who were pursuing a secular vendetta against the accused: what Cauchon and his cohorts were doing, as Inquisitor Brehal later pointed out during the appeal, was itself an act of heresy. The notion that the medieval Church viewed all Inquisitorial panels as "infallible" and therefore not open to question is just a stereotype, bluntly contradicted by actual medieval theological writings: St. Hildegard, in her 12th century book "Scivias", warns the clergy against judging someone in error or out of anger, as it would be the offending clergy who would be punished for it by God. Joan was perfectly within her rights, even under the rules of the medieval Church, to question her biased judges, and was declared a martyr for Catholicism by Inquisitor Brehal when her execution was declared invalid in 1456. Shaw ignores this. The claim that his play is somehow vindicated by the fact that it was "vetted" by one Catholic (out of the hundreds of millions of Catholics worldwide) is a pointless argument: there are "Catholics" who claim that Joan was having adulterous sex, and all sorts of defamatory allegations. The bottom line is: this play does little more than repeat the slander leveled at Joan by the men who cruelly put her to death, despite the work of generations of scholars to bring a more accurate picture of the issue to light.

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Truth and Beauty
Semantics
Chuig an mé mhuinta scafóideach
Yerra, Be-Jaysus, not another one of the lot
A brilliant story, richly told

In the Province of Saints: A Novel
Thomas O'Malley
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0316110396

Book Description

An unforgettable first novel about a young boy growing up in rural Ireland, in the shadow of a dark secret.

Customer Reviews:

Truth and Beauty.......2006-05-07

As the New York Times and The Washington Post suggest, this is, indeed, a beautiful, heartbreaking tale in which the lives of real people in difficult circumstances are explored. This may, truly, be depressing to readers who have never had to endure hardship or poverty or experience violence in their lives but O'Malley has a need to explore people whose lives aren't as comfortable as ours, people who endure and succeed despite the hard choices that they must make-this seems such an integral and necessary function of the human condition and of living and O'Malley captures this fully. Perhaps those readers (I'm amazed by the reviewer who critiques the book without even finishing it?) who have never had to experience hardship or never been witness to it are merely more complacent than some of us and desire fictions that offer a safe, alternative perspective to this reality. That is entirely their choice. Myself, I eagerly await O'Malley's next work!

Semantics.......2006-04-20

A number of reader reviews have used the word "heartbreaking" to describe this book. I have not finished reading it yet, but I'm not sure about "heartbreaking": I'm finding it downright depressing. The writing is magnificent: O'Malley's powers of description are formidable - darkly poetic and even magisterial. But the gloom is relentless. In the hope that it will begin to soar as it reaches its resolution I'll persevere.

Chuig an mé mhuinta scafóideach .......2006-03-16

In the Province of Saints is an exquisitely written book that reveals the real Ireland that many of us Irish experienced in the years before the Celtic Tiger. It's too bad that the reviewer, Seaghaan Mar, cannot see past his petty prejudices to truly read and appreciate this beautifully crafted book. Perhaps he was reading a book other than this one? It is clear from his comments that he has no real understanding of the Irish or of our experiences (hardly folklore). O'Malley's characters are rich and fully realized, and every moment of rural life is captured with such precision and authenticity that one feels the author's love and respect for these people. There is darkness here and the hardships are those that many Irish have experienced, but this does nothing to dim this distinct vision nor does it lessen the worth and meaning of such hardships. O'Malley writes without a shred of self-pity or sentimentality and this is a testament to his maturity, and that in the very dark yet very real moments of these character's lives O'Malley casts light, tenderness, and hope. He shows us all the darkness so that we may see the light, something every person (Irish or otherwise) can understand. With In the Province of Saints, O'Malley reveals his authority and command as a writer, a writer mature beyond his years, and already, it seems, masterful in the form. No wonder Booklist has chosen this book as one of the ten best first books of 2005 and the New York Public Library has picked it as one of the best twenty five books from last year, in their Books to Remember for 2005.

I look forward to reading more from this promising writer.

Yerra, Be-Jaysus, not another one of the lot.......2006-03-09

Another dreadful sceal on mBealoideas e seo (a story from the folklore this is)about the horrors of Loife in Oul' Oireland, the bogs, mud, eternal rain, crucified mothers, drunken, good-fer-nothin' Da's, poverty so crushing it could be called Gaelic, emotional poverty so deep it's a wonder everyone doesn't commit suicide. Except they are Catholic, with all of those penitential burdens. They just run off--to Sasana, Boston. This story needs Myles na gCopalin to do it justice. Are any people as deeply self-deprecating as the Irish? Are they soon to be done with this penitential flogging of themselves in books and go back to ascending Croagh Patrick barefoot? My relatives came out of County Galway, Irish speaking, long ago and had as much good as bad to say about the Old Country. I wish this guy, who can write, at least in short bursts, would lend his story-telling more balance.
That said, he has promise when he matures.

A brilliant story, richly told.......2005-12-14

Thomas O'Malley's In the Province of Saints is a novel to savor. It tells the story of Michael McDonagh, a young boy in a poor, broken family rural Ireland in the late 1970s, from the time he is 9 or 10 until he is 13 or 14. The novel is told in heartbreakingly beautiful prose that is completely absorbing; as a reader, you will feel you are there, in Michael's skin, watching the clouds brood on the horizon and smelling the pigs in the yard.

The novel concerns Michael's confrontation and struggle with, and ultimately his understanding of his father's repeated abandonment of his mother and his family, first through his philandering and later through his departure for America; his mother's growing illness and imminent death; Michael's own sexuality; and finally, his sense of responsibility for his family and for himself. This is a world in which right and wrong, historically spelled out by the church, social hierarchy and the family, are ostensibly black and white. But in the late 20th Century, it is a world in which right and wrong are often reversed, and in which survival and even salvation depend upon violating traditional boundaries. Thus, we see, time and again, a cycle of transgression, punishment, penitence and redemption that Michael, his father, other members of his family and those around him not only endure but embrace both to get along day to day and to grow beyond their circumstances. For example, we see Michael at the age of 9 or 10, stealing eggs and bread from the neighbors because the family is in arrears with the dairy man. His mother discovers his wrong, and slaps his face in punishment, but the boy stands fast, and despite her rebuke, the mother keeps the stolen food. The scene is rich in moral ambiguity and the struggle of both characters to find what is right. Much later in the novel, this transgression is echoed by Michael's blatant vandalism of a neighbor's shed -- payback for the neighbor's exaction of penitence from Michael's father. The spiral goes on, with Michael eventually witnessing the ultimate transgression by others, which places him in the position of deciding whether to step into the role of judge and mete out punishment or to take another path.

The story is both compelling and moving. One of O'Malley's many great accomplishments in this novel is a portrayal of a land and characters that is panoramic in scope -- with respect to both the exterior and interior landscapes. Likewise, young Michael's growth from a boy to a young man is meticulously, yet subtly drawn, even down to the language, which early on seems deliberately (and rightly) hesitant and tentative, but which becomes bolder and more forceful as Michael matures.

This is a novel that will engage you completely, that will absorb you with the richness of its language and that will endear you to its noble, fallible characters.

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Haunting!
"Blood for blood."
Thomas Beckett as martyr philosopher; Shakespearean genius
Written by a dilettante.
Murder in the Cathedral

Murder in the Cathedral
T. S. Eliot
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0156632772

Book Description

A dramatization in verse of the murder of Thomas Becket at Canterbury. “The theatre as well as the church is enriched by this poetic play of grave beauty and momentous decision” (New York Times). “Within its limits the play is a masterpiece.... Mr. Eliot has written no better poem than this and none which seems simpler” (Mark Van Doren, The Nation).

Customer Reviews:

Haunting!.......2007-03-06

My high school put on the play, "Murder in the Cathedral" for their fall drama in 1969. In retrospect, my guess is that few of the players and still fewer of the audience had any real idea as to the momentous events that the play dramatized. Yet, the language has lingered with me from that day to this, now close on forty years later:

"...the stubborn King, and the French King, in ceaseless intrigue, combination...
....meetings unending, and endless, at some place or the other in France...
....you will be left to your own devices, which must be paid for at higher prices...
....It does go against the grain a bit to kill an Archbishop, especially when one has been brought up in a strong Church tradition..."

The play, in fact, dramatized the struggle between Saint Thomas A' Becket and Henry II over the rights of Church and State. Truly, it was a classic confrontation between what ultimately became, under the Tudors, the power of the state relative to the rights of Holy Church. Now, as a high school junior, I had wanted, of course to play Thomas. I wound up as the lowly Second Priest. But, knowing now what I did not know then, I understand that I could not have done the Archbisho's character justice, as I was then a Protestant. In fact, the reasoning of Thomas, particularly with regard to the Temptors, was classic Catholicism.

The play is wonderfully rich in language and meaning. It can be read in one long sitting. And reading it is well worth the time and effort. Pick up this little book, and be richly blessed by the experience.

"Blood for blood.".......2006-08-19

The murder and subsequent martyrdom of Thomas Becket is always a chilling tale and one that poet T.S. Eliot does a masterful job in relating. "Murder in the Cathedral" is a look at Becket's return from France, after his fallout with King Henry II, and his murder by knights of the King. The play may be a difficult read for those unfamiliar with Becket's life, and those unused to Eliot's poetically styled play. Yet it is an intriguing look at one of the church's martyrs, told by a man who came to faith later in his life.

The first act of the play centers around Thomas Becket's return from France. He had fled there for a period of years in an effort to avoid the King, and their 'difference of opinion', to put it simply. Becket was first appointed Chancellor by Henry II, and then made Archbishop. King Henry II hoped that by granting Becket both titles he would have more control over the church; but Becket saw things differently, and roused the king's anger when he excommunicated several bishops. Throughout the first act, Becket is set upon by four temptors who reveal his fate to him, serving as a catalyst for readers to learn some of Becket's background and to know that he wasn't purely without fault.

The second act moves at a much faster pace than the previous, with the king's knights denouncing Thomas and trying to persuade him to reverse his decision. When Becket refuses, the knights return and kill Thomas at the altar of the church, a death that he gladly accepts as a martyr for his Lord. The most intriguing part of the play is when, after the brutal murder is completed, the knights turn to the audience and explain their reasons for killing Becket and why it was the right thing to do in an effort to preserve England. "Murder in the Cathedral" is a play that will make readers want to examine the events surrounding Becket's death, and leave them wondering if all those explanations at the end might be right after all.

Thomas Beckett as martyr philosopher; Shakespearean genius.......2004-10-16

The audiobook version of "Murder in the Cathedral" (with Robert Donat playing Thomas Beckett) is a surprising delight, especially for those who love rich language and philosophical musings.

Centered around the age-old story of how Thomas Beckett, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered by knights for defying the king's authority, the play explores a variety of themes: church vs. state, the quest for power, the pursuit of pleasure, the heroism or vanity of martyrs, and the search for life's meaning in the face of death and the "void".

The performances of the actors in this audiobook are superb, especially that of Robert Donat. Hearing his deep resonating voice, you truly feel the charismatic power of the archbishop and former chancellor to the king.

The performance alternates between straight dialogue, poetry, and the Gregorian style chanting of monks. While the poetry and chanting is tedious in parts, it at least breaks up the dialogue into digestable chunks and moves the plot along.

Readers shouldn't be put off by the medieval theme of this piece. The substance of the play is as modern and relevant as any play you'll find. The plot contains a novel twist as well.

With its many poetic and philosophical flourishes, there's more than a trace of Shakespeare in this work. And here's a little known fact: another T.S. Eliot work, "The Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats", was the inspiration for Cats, the longest running Broadway musical.

So push the rewind for me. Time to visit that bloody cathedral again.

Written by a dilettante........2004-09-29

"Murder in the Cathedral" is more of a coffee house production than a dramatic classical play. Since I do not care for poetry, or Shakespeare, I knew I was jumping headfirst into a dead-end. Still, I did not expect to be bored out of my gored. T. S. Eliot was attempting to use the genre "poetic drama" to his benefit, but instead conjured up an illiterate form of speaking. I disliked the play 'A Man for All Seasons,' (involves the death of Thomas Moore) but at least that play can be coherently understood, and actually teaches something. I do not recommend.

Murder in the Cathedral.......2004-05-11

The play is about Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury and is not worth reading if you like a literal story, where what you read is what you get and reading between the lines is unnecessary. That is what I liked about this play. It allows you to interpret the dialogue so that you develop your own understanding behind the plot.
Thomas Becket lived in the 12th century and rose to power because of his friend King Henry. Becket at first had been a Chancellor in Henrys court and had then been given the title of Archbishop. Henry wanted him to have both the titles whereas Becket refused because he felt he could not perform both jobs to the same expectations. This was because Henry had radical views about the separation of the church and the state and Becket did not agree with these views because he did not believe he could serve two very opposite masters. The result was an argument between the two.
Literally, Henry and Becket are in a skirmish during the play, but the actual conflict is between Becket and his conscience. The play goes deep into Christianity and the Catholic faith, which I found to be enjoyable. Just as Christ had tempters, so does Becket. They offer him power and material wealth, when all they want in return is for Becket to alter and transform his principles.
I liked how you saw main characters in this play, such as the Chorus, progress from fearing the unknown to joyfully accepting God. While the play has Christian connotations within, it stresses primarily on universal human values such as humility and devotion.
The entire play is written in verse and Eliot managed to capture such complex themes and dialogue in such concise yet poetic words.

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)

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Check and see
Suprise! Suprise!
Prescient St Augustine?
Something of a disappointment
Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy..

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
Anatoly T Fomenko
Manufacturer: Delamere Resources LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621066

Product Description

`History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2` is the second volume of the most explosive and astounding tractate on history ever written - however, every theory it contains, no matter how unorthodox, is backed by rock solid scientific data. The book is easy and pleasant to read; it is well-illustrated, contains hundreds of charts, graphs and illustrations, copies of ancient manuscripts, and countless facts attesting to the falsity of the chronology used nowadays. You will be amazed to discover: - That the chronology universally accepted today and taken for granted is simply wrong; - That ALL methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts known today are erroneous or non-exact; - That there is not a single document that could be reliably dated earlier than the XIth century; The Author refers to the Middle Ages as the Antiquity and proves mutual superimposition of the Second and the Third Roman Empire, both of which become identified as the respective kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Furthermore, he asserts that the famous reform of the Occidental Church in the XI century by Pope Gregory Hildebrand was the reflection of the XII century reforms of Byzantine emperor Andronicus who in his turn identifies with Jesus Christ. The Trojan war counted by Homer happened only as late as of the XIII century A.D. and the great poet actually lived in XIV century A.D. No stone in history of Antiquity is left unturned. Literally. This book is the beginning of a major correction to the chronology we live with.

Customer Reviews:

Check and see.......2007-06-21

I don't care what other people say of this book. Those affirmig it's fake, they hadn't ever read it. Or have some special reasons to do so. "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see..." This book won't make you feel comfortable. It'll make you feel free. It'll make you feel you're "not the only one" to feel you'd been lied to for centuries.

Suprise! Suprise!.......2007-03-22

Here is a serie of books which turns "the whole world" upside down. I learned a lot of it and I hope that a new book from A.T. Fomenko will follow very quick. A absolute must for everybody who is interested in history or even a little bit from it.

Prescient St Augustine?.......2006-02-05

We can so far divide the New Chronology into the following three parts:

a) The verifiable theory that proves consensual chronology wrong with the aid of astronomy, statistics and mathematics;

b) The new chronology hypothesis based on a new understanding of known historical facts and the most likely logical explanation of the most obvious inconsistencies inherent in the official version of history;

c) The history conjectures, that is experimental historical reconstructions based on assumptions that the authors believe to make sense in the light of their research and linguistic parallels - void of ironclad factual support to date.

Fomenko's theory complies with the most rigid scientific standards as a whole:

It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know.

- It is consistent: independent lines of inquiry all lead to the same conclusion.

- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically.

Fomenko goes by the following axioms:

- Chronology is the basis of history;

- Human evolution has always been linear, gradual and irreversible;

- The "cyclic" nature of human civilization is a myth, likewise all the gaps, duplicates, "dark ages" and "renaissances" that we know from consensual history;

- The accumulation of geographical knowledge as reflected in cartography is a gradual and irreversible process;

- The chronological distance between a given manuscript and the events described therein is proportional to the amount of distortions it contains;

- There is no "useless" information in authentic ancient sources.

Why the mainstream historians do not shower mathematician Academician Dr.Prof Fomenko with thanks and laurels?

The Russians:

Because Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by three centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called "Tartars and Mongols" were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a bilingual state with Arabic spoken as freely as Russian. The ancient Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities. The hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called "blood tax"). Their "invasions" were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion. Fomenko proves that Russian history as we know it today is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scientists brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs, whose ascension to the throne was the result of coup d'état, charged with the mission of making their reign look legitimate. Fomenko proves Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. They represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate rulers and the ambitious upstarts. The winner took it all! Over some 30 years of controversy, Russian historians have made a most remarkable transition - they were initially accusing the young mathematician Fomenko of anticommunist dissident activity and attempts to deface the historical legacy of Soviet Russia; nowadays the middle-aged mathematician is accused of adhering to "pro-communist Russian nationalism" and defacing the proud historical legacy of Great Russia.

The Westerners:

Because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History. Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one the Ancient Rome (the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the XIV century A. D.), the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, and the Ancient Egypt (the pyramids of Giza become dated to the XI-XV century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global "Mongolian" Empire, no less). The civilization of the Ancient Egypt is irrefutably dated to the XII-XV century A. D. with the aid of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone. He was the first one to decipher and date all such horoscopes, coming up with mediaeval dates in every case. English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. To reward the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.

The Chinese:

Because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such thing. Full point. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the XVII-XVIII century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation, this time performed on the Chinese soil by the loving Jesuit hands. The Chinese are the next in line to go berserk. Chinese history is inevitably bound to get both more ancient and more eventful, proportionally to the growing involvement of China in the world affairs. Chinese historians will keep on finding valid proof of prehistoric Chinese spaceflights until the Politburo orders them to shut up.

The Arabs:

Too bad. Islam with all its key figures is datable to XV-XVI century A. D. Arabic historians may find consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire in the XVI-XVII century. The trouble is that this empire was initially a Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, according to Fomenko! We can only guess if the acquisition of Alexander the Great (a Macedonian and a Christian) as the founder of the Muslim World Empire will make Fomenko's theories more acceptable to the Arabic mainstream. He certainly does not spare any holy cows at all, claiming The Stone of Qa'Aba in Mecca to contain the lost Arch of the Covenant.

The Divinity:

Despite of reiterated statement that his theory is all about chronology and not Religion, Fomenko stirs up a whole condominium of wasp nests. His collection of anathemas, fatwa, and other condemnations from all parties concerned is already considerable. Little wonder, considering that the history of religions à la Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the XI century and JC), Bacchic Christianity (XI-XII century, before and after JC), JC Christianity (XII-XVI century) and its subsequent mutations into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on.

According to Fomenko we know strictly NOTHING about the events that predate the X century A. D.

St Augustin was prescient when he spoke unto us: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."

Something of a disappointment.......2005-09-09

After having read the first volume of this expected series of 7 volumes I was triggered by the thesis of these authors that ancient Greek and Roman history did in fact take place in the Middle Ages. So I started studying medieval history of the Middle East - also known as Islamic history - to find out if the opponents of the ancient Greeks and Romans - the Acheamenid Persians, Sassanids, Scythians, Egyptians, etc. - also have their duplicates in medieval history. My search was disappointing: none of the many medieval Islamic dynasties seemed to correspond to the ancient middle eastern rulers.

However, I did find a close correspondence between Herodotus' Persian kings and medieval events:

- the defeat and capture of an Anatolian king - the Lydian Croesus - by the Persian conqueror Cyrus is identical to the defeat and capture of another Anatolian king - sultan Bayezid - by the Asian/Mongol conqueror Tamerlane;
- the Persian conquest of Egypt by the cruel tyrant Cambyses reds almost exactly as the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Selim the Grim (note the nickname!);
- Darius the Lawgiver of the Persian Empire looks very much alike to Sulayman the Magnificent, the Lawgiver in Islamic history;
- Xerxes, whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by the Greeks at the naval battle of Salamis, looks like Selim II (the Sot) whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by a Spanish-Italian alliance at the naval battle of Lepanto.

I should have expected Fomenko et al. to arrive at similar conclusions, however, they claim that the Persian kings are the alter egos of the Angevin kings of Sicily whose biographies do not contain the exploits of the Persian kings.

The similiarities I indicate lead to the conclusion that Herodotus must have written his Histories at the close of the 16th century. But this is extremely late, given that Herodotus is "the Father of History", so therefore all other "ancient" histories must have been fabricated even later. Yet, the founders of modern chronology - Scaliger and Petavius - laid their foundations also at the close of the 16th century and had the full corpus of ancient histories already at their disposal.

It seems to me that Fomenko has to address these inconsistencies, maybe in the forthcoming 5 volumes?

Another critique of their book is that the correspondencies between different rulers are often based on a superficial comparison of the biographies; upon a more thorough comparison many details appear that do not correspond at all.

Finally, the authors rely heavily on the works of Gregorovius (1821-1891!!) - his medieval histories of Rome and Athens - as the source of medieval history; these works are - at least in the West - hoplessly outdated and have been superceded by more up-to-date works (for instance, Julius Norwich's trilogy on Byzantine history is not even cited).

Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy.........2005-07-30

If you agree with Fomenko that Roman chronology is basically the foundation of the entire edifice of global chronology; you would also certainly agree that despite its numerous gaps and inconsistencies, Roman history is the best-documented field of ancient history, and thus a reference scale. But how well is the actual date of the Eternal City's foundation known?

Firstly, Rome is supposed to have been founded by the Trojans who had to flee after the fall of Troy. Some claim Rome to have been founded by Aeneas and Ulysses shortly after Troy had fallen; others are of the opinion that there was an entire dynasty that ruled for 500 years between the fall of Troy and the foundation of Rome.

Well, that's just an innocent 500 years long misunderstanding compared with what heretic Fomenko says, asserts, proves in his second volume: Second Roman Empire, Third Roman Empire, Biblical Kingdom of Israel, Biblical Kingdom of Judah, Holy Roman Empire are stories about basically same events, written from different points of view at different times. The underlying events have actually taken place during xii-xv cy. These histories have been written and perfected by multitude of highly talented humanist and clerical writers of xiii-xvi cy disguised as "ancients" with glorious names like Homer, Pluto, Thucydides etc..Chronology 2.0 beta..

Historians are kindly invited to report the bugs.

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A play for all souls...
Magnificent
Thomas More - A Man for Our Season
Good, quick read
Deafening Silence

A Man for All Seasons
Robert Bolt
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

United States | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0679728228
Release Date: 1990-04-14

Book Description

The classic play about Sir Thomas More, the Lord chancellor who refused to compromise and was executed by Henry VIII.

Customer Reviews:

A play for all souls..........2007-08-20

i am not a big fan of reading plays (they are meant to be performed after all), but this one is an exception. i found myself relishing line after line, enjoying the fact that i could pause and reflect on all of the tightly packed poignancy scattered throughout this work. sir thomas more is the hero's hero...of the messiah or socratic martyr sort (though he himself says he is not the "stuff" martyrs are made of), the man of true principle. he is one of the characters our generation unfortunately will only ever know through works of fiction. a person who does not (and cannot) separate their actions from their moral convictions, as the two are inextricably bound together, as are oxygen and lifeblood.

i am reminded of a quote by confucius: "at 70 i could follow my hearts desires without transgressing moral principles"...thomas more is THIS brand of sage. and we all have a lot to learn from him, even long after you discard the religious drivel.

it also doesnt hurt that he punks every single member of H the VIII's royal court (hehe).

Magnificent.......2007-06-11

I first saw the movie, and was riveted by the dialogue. The clarity of thought, the elevation of principals above self is awe-inspiring. I rushed out to buy the book (the script of the play), and read the wonderful dialogue over and over. Many of the lines simply cry out with logic and integrity, and some have found a place on the wall of my office.

Whether one characterizes Thomas Moore as a saint, a statesman of unbending principals, or both, his strength of character, intellect, humanity and general goodness shine through with brilliant clarity.

Thomas More - A Man for Our Season.......2007-01-15

This is an amazing play about an incredibly holy man, which employs its words in a profound manner. Thomas More, the beheaded lord chancellor of England under Henry VIII is the patron saint of attorneys, civil servants, politicians, and statesmen:
* "When statesmen forsake their own private conscience for the sake of their public duties...they lead their country by a short route to chaos."
* (In response to objection over his use of the word, "heretic":) "It's not a likeable word. It's not a likeable thing!"
* (Pointing to himself:) "this is not the stuff of which martyrs are made." WRONG!
* "The nobility of England, my lord, would have snored through the Sermon on the Mount."
* (To his betrayer, Richard Rich, attorney general of Wales:) "Why, Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world...But for Wales!"
* "I Die His Majesty's Good Servant, but God's First"

Good, quick read.......2006-12-06

I had a few hours in between flights this Thanksgiving and brought this along. It's considerably deeper than your typical airport reads, though since it's a play you can finish it quickly.

Bolt does an outstanding job in the Preface talking about his motivation, his direction for the character and persona of Sir Thomas More. What's most interesting I think is how he handles the character development. I won't ruin it for you, but I think it needs to be said that this is not the story of a man changing because of events but almost the inverse.

Language is very easy to read and understand, though some passages will certainly benefit from rereading just to consider what the message is, what Bolt is trying to get across. I loved the book and would love to see an adaptation of it.

Deafening Silence.......2006-09-20

From biblical times to the present, it is evident that power corrupts those in charge. One of the landmark examples of this in history is Henry VIII's murder of Sir Thomas More. Truly if you are not with the powers that be, you are against them.

Henry VIII's attempts to dissolve his marriage on account of his wife's inability to bear him a son, falls on deaf eyes in Rome. Even while the pope will not allow divorce, Henry hopes his loyal subject Thomas More will condone it. Sir Thomas More's silence is deafening to the king. Unable to stand the silence of this influential, the king's servants drum up charges to treason to rid the king of his problem. During this process, we see a man growing from a lawyer to a saint. He will not place the sovereignty of God behind the king.

I would give this story 4 1/2 stars because it sacrifices too much of Thomas More for literary purposes. This is bothersome because of the initial slow pace of the story. Still Robert Bolt does a commendable job telling this story of integrity and allegiance to God.

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Interesting read about Brendan the Navigator
a curiously flat book, but nevertheless enjoyable
ANOTHER GEM FROM FREDERICK BUECHNER
Love and learn.
A lovely mythical-mystical celtic view of christianity.

Brendan: A Novel
Frederick Buechner
Manufacturer: HarperOne
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060611782
Release Date: 2000-05-16

Book Description

An acclaimed author interweaves history and legend to re-create the life of a complex man of faith fifteen hundred years ago. Winner of the 1987 Christianity and Literature Book Award for Belles-Lettres.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting read about Brendan the Navigator.......2007-01-18

This was a very interesting book. Brendan the Navigator was an Irish monk who is best known for the legend that he sailed to America around 500 BC. The book paints a very real feeling character as seen by his friend Finn. The author tries to take the legends about Brendan and make them feel as though they really happened. The other characters and environment come across as 3-dimensional, as if you could really feel the splashing salt water, the wrinkled tanned faces, etc.

The style of writing is a little hard to read at times as it is from the perspective of his friend Finn, as if he were really writing the story. Complete with bad grammar and strange sentence structure. I had to read some sentences a few times to get them right. It reminded me of Mark Twain.

The content was good and bad. The bad is some crude moments which might sour the story for some who don't wish to read such things. I would have preferred those moments no been there but having read them I can see why they're there and they do add to the character development. The good is that the characters do go through changes and growth as the years pass. The characters do seem real.

I gave this 4 out of 5 stars. I deducted 1 star due to the crude moments. Lawhead readers of his more recent stuff might really enjoy this book. In a way, it's following in the Patrick mold and it's maybe 40-50 years after him. Also, Bendan journeys to Wales and meets Artor (King Arthur), who tells him of the betrayal by Gwenhwyfar and Llenlleawg. (See the Pendragon series.)

Very interesting and I'm glad I read it.

a curiously flat book, but nevertheless enjoyable.......2003-07-02

The overviews represented above are fantastic, well-written and thorough. I enjoyed this book about St. Brendan despite the choice of narrator. I liked Buechner's evocation of the humanness of Brendan through the eyes of Finn, his loyal friend and companion. However, what I did not care for is the curiously flat quality of the book: a complete lack of understanding on Finn's part about spirituality and mysticism.

Perhaps this is where I am coming from (as one who likes mysticism) but I'd have been much more excited to see a book written from a mystic's point of view, with a mystical evocation and understanding of the world. Finn's point of view is unfailingly, extremely physical, and any thoughts about the spiritual world are tentative at best. The character of Finn struck me as spiritually childlike; this is not a criticism, just an observation.

In many ways, Finn is the perfect companion for Brendan, because he is low-maintenance, curious but not nosy, and he has a rather live-and-let-live attitude, which Brendan being Brendan needs. The writing in Mr. Buechner's book is first rate and the tie-ins with Gildas, Arthur, and Brigit were amazing, even if they were seen from such a prosaic everyman.

ANOTHER GEM FROM FREDERICK BUECHNER.......2002-03-27

This is the third of Buechner's works I have read, and I have loved and devoured them all. The author takes us breathtakingly into the life and times of Brendan, a 6th century Irish saint -- Brendan the Navigator, as he is known by many. The language, imagery and power of this novel is astonishing.

Brendan's story is related here by his long-time friend and travelling companion Finn -- excepting for a section of the book that deals with Brendan's first voyage, from whom Finn is excluded by the mishap of falling overboard as the ship leaves Ireland. This part of the story is related through Brendan's written accounts of that time.

Taken from his parents soon after he was born by Bishop Erc, a relation, and placed into the hands of the Abbess Ita for the purposes of his education and upbringing, Brendan seems destined for a rich spiritual life from an early age. Forever seeking to grow closer to God, he takes as a quest the search for the earthly Paradise -- Tir na nOg (The land of the Young) of Irish legend. He makes two sea voyages in search of this blessed land -- his adventures are many, as are the epiphanies experienced by him along the way. On his second voyage, legend has it that he may have reached as far west as Florida -- predating even Lief Ericsson's discovery of America by 400 years or so.

Brendan's spiritual struggles are even more arduous than his seafaring ones. An earth-bound human being, he is frought with contradictions -- as are we all -- and his battle to rationalize them with his deep-seeded faith is not one without its casualties, both within him and among his earthly companions. He is wracked by guilt and sorrow as a result of the choices he makes in his life -- and his search for meaning, and for ways to serve God, continue until his death.

On page 216-17 of the novel he comes to a seemingly simple thought -- but one that is deceiving in its simplicity, an all-encompassing flame burning at the spiritual heart of our life's purpose. He is in a conversation with a Welsh monk who is obsessed with transcribing the sins of the world to paper. Gildas, the monk, says 'When the Day of Judging comes, there'll be so many sinners running about some may escape the flames altogether. My work is to set their names down here with all their sins written after them so the angels don't let a single solitary one slip through their fingers.' Brendan is saddened by this focus on man's evil -- his work, as he sees it, is more to help the poor folk, to offer aid and succor where he can. The following portions of his conversation with Gildas is moving and poignant: '(God) wants each of us to have a loving heart. When all's said and done, perhaps that's the length and breadth of it...To lend each other a hand when we're falling. Perhaps that's the only work that matters in the end.'

Brendan passes through -- and witnesses -- much suffering, as well as joy, in his life. He has come to be honored and revered as a saint for the works he did, for the life he lived. He would have ridiculed this elevation, most assuredly -- to his final breath, he considered himself a 'black-hearted sinner' -- but his example is one that can be followed...not one of a perfect man (for none of us can claim that), but of one who reached beyond his imperfections to embrace those around him with the love that dwells within us.

Buechner's novel is a joy to read and experience -- uplifting and entertaining at the same time, full of spirituality, humanity and adventure.

Love and learn........2000-10-10

Brendan is the story of a sixth-century Irish monk's quest for "the land of the blessed" the terrestrial Paradise known in Celtic lore as "Tir-na-n-og". Buechner skillfully takes us to the doorstep of many rich and vibrant lands via Brendan's journeys... and lets us meet with a many-splendored cast of characters, none of which are superfluous. All of these places, and all of the characters play a vital role in both the building up and the tearing down of Brendan. Aside from the sheer beauty of this story, laced as it is with Buechner's unrivalled metaphors (all writers bow)... I feel there are many lessons in the book that further commend it to the realm of worthy reading.

It is a book which in the end asks us to come to terms with our own questions we would address to God. Whatever they may be. In the process, we may find that many of those questions have already been answered. Others (perhaps the greater part) never will be. This is normal. Life is mystery. From the book I think I've learned that our inner search for God can be as much selfishness and pride if it does not work itself out in a love for others and a willingness to extend our "selves" for the purpose of nurturing enlightenment in others.

For Brendan, this is a lesson learned in retrospect. And for all of us, I think there is an implication here that theoretical and practical spiritual truth is the fruit of a journey. Bitter if plucked too early; sweet if dropped when ripe. Towards the end of his life Brendan says (refering to God) "Perhaps we've given all but what he truly wants." And further "He wants us each one to have a loving heart."

It seems that after a life of privation, striving, abstinence, and self-inflicted penance, Brendan finds his greatest spiritual fulfillment comes through his simple practical interactions with common folk (regenerate and unregenerate). The narrator Finn tells us, "Every day and every weather he'd go tramping off in search of them he thought needed succor most." And further, "Then the same Brendan that once was wont to blather for hours on end of the wonders he'd seen would for a wonder sit silent as a stick while some poor soul spun out his own drab story."

At any rate, through Brendan's life we are afforded a glimpse of the truth that it is not primarily through our good works that we attain peace or favor with ouselves or with God. The life-long friend and narrator, Finn, concludes by saying that if he were Brendan's ultimate judge, "I'd sentence him to have mercy on himself. I'd sentence him less to strive for the glory of God than just to let it swell his sails if it can." Brendan is the story of a cold soul's migration to warmer climes. And back again. The confusion of the religious genius.

If I were some sort of ultimate judge, I'd sentence everyone to a reading of Buechner's book.

A lovely mythical-mystical celtic view of christianity........1998-01-06

Brendan,represents the best view of mystical Irish christianity I have ever read.It is a book to be felt through the soul and the senses,if you want to know the celtic spirit and it's special relationship to god.Brendan himself is a product of both a pagan heritage and a christian calling,he blends in his preachings a love of rich celtic myth and pride of place, with the mytics empathic love of god.This book is a celebration of life,for anyone who believes religion should be life affirming,loves the celtic spirit and sees earth as a gift of gods creative powers;to be celebrated,cherished,and cared for. .

Saints, Scholars, and Schizophrenics: Mental Illness in Rural Ireland, Twentieth Anniversary Edition, Updated and Expanded

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special case study with Gregory Bateson's Binding Bonding Theory
Exposes wriggling psychic life under the Blarney Stone

Saints, Scholars, and Schizophrenics: Mental Illness in Rural Ireland, Twentieth Anniversary Edition, Updated and Expanded
Nancy Scheper-Hughes
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0520224809

Book Description

TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY EDITION, UPDATED AND EXPANDED
When Saints, Scholars, and Schizophrenics was published twenty years ago, it became an instant classic--a beautifully written study tracing the social disintegration of "Ballybran," a small village on the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland. In this richly detailed and sympathetic book, Nancy Scheper-Hughes explores the symptoms of the community's decline: emigration, malaise, unwanted celibacy, damaging patterns of childrearing, fear of intimacy, suicide, and schizophrenia. Following a recent return to "Ballybran," Scheper-Hughes reflects in a new preface and epilogue on the well-being of the community and on her attempts to reconcile her responsibility to honest ethnography with respect for the people who shared their homes and their secrets with her.

Customer Reviews:

special case study with Gregory Bateson's Binding Bonding Theory.......2006-06-08

well worth studying this book! Gives examples of the dynamic whole society maintenance of the status quo thru Bateson's Double-Bind theory of schizophrenia.

Exposes wriggling psychic life under the Blarney Stone.......2000-02-17

A superb description and analysis of the pathologies in Irish styles of interaction, conversational and behavioural. Written by an American psycho-anthropologist conducting fieldwork in Ireland. Brings a detached eye to Irish patterns of conversation and communication. Should be required reading for Irish people seeking self understanding and insight into why their culture is how it is. Caused an uproar on publication - a recommendation in iself - not due to sensationalism, but because truth normally buried was painful when it emerged into the light of day.

Life of St Edmund, King and Martyr (facsimile)

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As close to the precise look and feel of an ancient manuscript as reasonably possible

Life of St Edmund, King and Martyr (facsimile)

Manufacturer: British Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0712348719

Customer Reviews:

As close to the precise look and feel of an ancient manuscript as reasonably possible.......2005-11-13

The Life of St. Edmund King and Martyr: A Facsimile is a stunningly beautiful recreation of the classical illuminated manuscript detailing the Anglo-Saxon King St. Edmund's life, as once penned by a fifteenth-century abbey monk. The 120 illustrations, script, and appearance of the original work is stunningly recreated, along with a list of illustrations and an introduction. Notably absent is any separate transliteration of the text into modern vernacular prose; the reader is left to his or her own devices to either read the text as-is or seek a translation of the archaic English. A truly stunning compendium, that is as close to the precise look and feel of an ancient manuscript as reasonably possible.

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A Must for More Fans

Thomas More (Reputations Series)
John Guy
Manufacturer: A Hodder Arnold Publication
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0340731389

Book Description

Well known as the man for all seasons, Thomas More is also a man for all purposes. Celebrated variously as holy martyr, Marxist hero, and moral exemplar during Clinton's impeachment hearings, Thomas More remains an enigmatic figure. This book, by one of the leading historians of Tudor England,
seeks to separate the historical More from the many myths about him. It uncovers the substructure of evidence on which his biography is based and shows with clarity how the differing portrayals of More have come about, as well as where the line lies between the sustainable and the merely
conjectural. It is a daring book that goes to the heart of the debate about More, shattering many of the illusions about this idealized figure.

Customer Reviews:

A Must for More Fans.......2000-08-12

This new book on Thomas More is a must for More fans. Unlike previous biographies which run along like a river of time, the present work wrestles with each part of More's life and character as questions, always attempting to put the known historical facts alongside the accumulated tradition and hagiography surrounding this great man. Professor Guy demonstrates a clear knowledge of the work of other of More's biographers, and has a keen ability to critically discuss them. While the synopis on the back cover warns that those 'satisfied by an idealized vision of More...should not read this book', nothing could be farther from the truth. The book does not attempt to knock down More, but rather to ask some hard historical questions, and if it asks more questions than it answers it is all the better for it. The final assesment of More is left for the reader. Professor Guy makes some astute observations which many historians in the past have taken for granted, for example the link often made with the idyllic picture painted by Erasmus in his letter to Hutten of More's and Holbein's famous painting of the More household in Chelsea. Guy points out that Erasmus never knew More in the house at Chelsea, but only stayed for a short time in More's house in the city of London. Guy also highlights the supposed 'silence' of More with regards to the Act of Supremacy and writes that More 'conyeyed what he really thought to almost anyone who would listen in coded but "safe" language, while pretending to keep "silence"'. The book, however, does not deal only with More's life and the shibboleths surrounding it, but the ways in which More's life and character have been interpreted by the succeeding generations: understanding him as everything from a Protestant 'avant le lettre' to an icon of Communist Russia complete with a memorial to him in Moscow's Alexandrovsky Gardens. Throughout the work one can sense Professor Guy's genuine respect, admiration and even love for Thomas More (warts and all) and it is this ultimately which makes the book such a pleasant read for More fans.

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