Book Description
The acclaimed author of The End of Nature takes a three-week walk from his current home in Vermont to his former home in the Adirondacks and reflects on the deep hope he finds in the two landscapes.
Bill McKibben begins his journey atop Vermont’s Mt. Abraham, with a stunning view to the west that introduces us to the broad Champlain Valley of Vermont, the expanse of Lake Champlain, and behind it the towering wall of the Adirondacks. “In my experience,” McKibben tells us, “the world contains no finer blend of soil and rock and water and forest than that found in this scene laid out before me—a few just as fine, perhaps, but none finer. And no place where the essential human skills—cooperation, husbandry, restraint—offer more possibility for competent and graceful inhabitation, for working out the answers that the planet is posing in this age of ecological pinch and social fray.”
The region he traverses offers a fine contrast between diverse forms of human habitation and pure wilderness. On the Vermont side, he visits with old friends who are trying to sustain traditional ways of living on the land and to invent new ones, from wineries to biodiesel. After crossing the lake in a rowboat, he backpacks south for ten days through the vast Adirondack woods. As he walks, he contemplates the questions that he first began to raise in his groundbreaking meditation on climate change, The End of Nature: What constitutes the natural? How much human intervention can a place stand before it loses its essence? What does it mean for a place to be truly wild?
Wandering Home is a wise and hopeful book that enables us to better understand these questions and our place in the natural world. It also represents some of the best nature writing McKibben has ever done.
Customer Reviews:
A Connection to the Land.......2007-06-26
I have spent much of my recreational time in the two places Bill McKibben writes about in this book -- The Adirondacks of New York and the Champlain Valley of Vermont. They both offer some of the most beautiful, pastoral scenery in the US. From Lake Champlain itself you can see the Green Mountains of Vermont on one side and the Adirondack Mountains of New York on the other. As Mr. KcKibben points out, while they may look similar and proximate from afar, each is quite different from the other. The Champlain Valley is more pastoral, bucolic and New England-like. The Adirondacks are much more rugged, wilderness-like and rough around the edges. Both can call to you in a way that becomes a lifetime's pursuit.
This book is an easy and short read. It is engaging, paints wonderful pictures with words and gets you to think about the tension between a simpler life closer to the natural world and modern society and progress/development. He is fair in his assessment of the joys and the struggles associated with a simpler life closer to nature. I don't know who would enjoy this book more - the person who has enjoyed this simpler life or one who can only imagine it through books like this one. I highly recommend this book for people who love this part of the world or who have thought about getting closer to the land and living a simpler life.
An Insight into Place and Community........2006-10-17
Bill McKibben describes a walk through place and community. The community is bound by a geographic region but the displaced reader is imperceptibly drawn into the mind-set of McKibben and his guests. You are introduced to a group who love the land on the Vermont/New York border and recognise it as one of the few "wild" places left in America. It is their passion to preserve and conserve that comes through and it is infectious. The book inspires the reader to analyse their relationship to place and modes of behaviour driven by place. The antithesis of economic consumption exists in all of us, however repressed. Bill brings it to the fore. The effect on the distant reader is such that you will join the community despite being so far way. Bravo Bill !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review of Bill McKibben's "Wandering Home".......2006-05-15
Bill McKibben walks for sixteen days through the Adirondack Mountains to share his love of the land with his readers but what makes the book so special are the people Bill introduces, walks with, and talks with (and about...) along his journey. I was a Travel Agent for five years and was lucky enough to be sent to some of the best, first class places in America and this journey that Bill McKibben takes us on with his words is more meaningful than many of those places I went to which include the Grand Canyon & Scottsdale, AZ; the San Francisco Bay Area; Paradise Island & Nassau, Bahamas; Manhattan; the Sierra-Nevada Mountains (by train); and New Orleans & Mississippi River Cruise!
Each authentic and real person that McKibben joins on his trek lends a hand in telling the story. The book is as much about the beauty of the people as it is of the land. I grew up twenty miles away from the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania, and presently I am a steward and guardian of 400 acres of land in central PA with my husband, his uncle, and my husband's brother and I share and appreciate Bill McKibben's deep love for the power of nature, the wild, and the people. I found John Davis (owns a bicycle, no car) as one of the most interesting characters in the book. I also like the stories of Chris Shaw, who has the good sense of memorializing the people who have passed on but that once lived in the Adirondacks and give the book historical authenticity. My favorite stories in the book are from Donald Armstrong and especially Armstrong's memory he shares with McKibben (and us) about Don's wife, Velda and a fly-fishing event. I laughed so hard I cried! It is a funny moment, but this husband-wife story is so cute and sweet, and gives one a feeling of nostalgia. (The church steeple is a cool part, too.) This is a gem of a story and Wandering Home is a gem of a book.
I am a people person and for the first few chapters of Wandering Home I'm thinking that it is too bad Bill McKibben spends all this passion on the Adirondacks. I imagine what his passion could do to improve the lives of the infirm or impoverished people. Much to my chagrin, in the last few chapters McKibben admits this deficit with charm and honesty. He admits he should spend more time helping the less fortunate, and then justifies his love and preservation of the Adirondacks as his way of giving something back to people. And, I agree that he has. Furthermore, he explains that he tries not to be a drain on the planet. If only we could all think this way, maybe our global warming and environmental problems would vanish. For the first time in my life, I realize the full extent of the impact that people have had and still have on our surroundings and I am saddened and sickened by it. (I imagine a sunrise or a sunset over a mountain, or an ocean breeze I thank God there are still a few areas left in this world that man / woman hasn't been able to get his / her hands on.)
I do have one eco-criticism of Wandering Home. Bill writes that he and John Davis climb to the top of Owl's Head on page 93 of his book. Owl's Head is a considerable distance away from Bristol, and is not included in the path outlined on the inside covers of his book. But, every author has to create mystery in some way, right? Judging by the description of Owl's Head I can see why McKibben would include it in his "walk" since Owl's Head sounds like a stunning place with it's 390 degree view of the Adirondack mountains. On my map, Owl's Head is about sixty miles north of Lake Placid one way, as the crow flies.
Dr. Robert Bernard Hass (English Professor, poet, writer, and Robert Frost expert at Edinboro University) and I got into a discussion about hyper-individualism in class one day. Dr. Hass told me about his friend named Bill McKibben and how McKibben writes about hyper-individualism and that a good place to start on the subject would be Wandering Home. I am grateful that Hass recommended the book to me. It was a book that I was sad to see end, but a journey I will always remember in more ways than one. I was so inspired that I am planning on a short family vacation to the Adirondacks for this summer. I will do my best to demonstrate a sense of forest preservation and protection while I'm there, visiting the wild of the Adirondacks.
Thin but worth reading.......2006-04-06
This book is thin. I mean literally. It is really just a somewhat longish essay. I was disappointed that there was not more depth, more history, more "more."
This is the story of McKibben's amble from Vermont to the central Adirondacks, with a crossing by row boat of Lake Champlain. McKibben is a good writer and he loves this landscape and is very concerned about it and its place in the global environment, but I could not help comparing him and this book to another Bill-namely Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods. Bryson is a much more energetic writer. In my opinion, he is funnier and deeper than McKibben. A Walk in the Woods is a great book, Wandering Home is light weight by comparison.
McKibben has some very good thoughts on environmental issues and expresses an admirable moderation in this book. He is especially sensitive to the complexity of many environmental issues and actively criticizes the "knee-jerk" environmentalists for over-simplifying the issues in many cases. On the other hand, McKibben is something of a romantic airhead. Often his ruminations are fatuous and patronizing; for example, his dogma that those simple Vermont farmers and old Adirondack loggers that he's met are more "authentic" than you or I (McKibben makes this claim more than once in Wandering Home).
Nevertheless, I liked this book and enjoyed reading it. McKibben loves the Adirondacks and so do I. In this short book he's managed to capture something of the flavor of the hidden Adirondacks, that fortunately so few people know. The Adirondack Park of New York is the most beautiful sylvan landscape in the world. McKibben's book raises, but barely starts to answer, such questions as why and how to protect and preserve the Adirondacks and other similarly blessed places.
A dangerous book.......2005-10-24
Bill McKibben is a thoughtful writer. Most of all, this book made me wish I could take a hike with him and meet the land he loves so much. Be warned that this book might make you homesick, even if you've never been to Vermont or the Adirondacks. But beyond that, the book has some serious points to make.
I'm a suburbanite trapped in the cycle of debt that has sucked in so many Americans (in my case, student loans and a mortgage). I work for the Department of Commerce. I have a husband. I have a child who is addicted to video games. I don't have the money or the freedom to move to the Adirondacks, or even take a trip there. This book is a reminder that Americans don't have to live the way we do. We might very well be happier if we got rid of a lot of our stuff and lived more lightly on the land. Of course, McKibben punctures that little bubble by pointing out that a lot of people have tried to do that in Vermont, with laughable results.
I believe that once the cheap oil is gone, life in America is going to be very different. Ordinary American life today puts so much emphasis on getting places quickly. In the not-so-distant future we're going to be staying much more in one spot, and only rarely going anywhere we can't reach on foot or bicycle. This book is a reminder that such a stationary life might not be so bad. There's more to a meaningful and happy existence than what cheap gasoline and Wal-Mart can bring. Maybe someday the science of economics will remember that.
Amazon.com
This work is interesting enough for its history. Completed in 1940, Long Day's Journey Into Night is an autobiographical play Eugene O'Neill wrote that--because of the highly personal writing about his family--was not to be released until 25 years after his death, which occurred in 1953. But since O'Neill's immediate family had died in the early 1920s, his wife allowed publication of the play in 1956. Besides the history alone, the play is fascinating in its own right. It tells of the "Tyrones"--a fictional name for what is clearly the O'Neills. Theirs is not a happy tale: The youngest son (Edmond) is sent to a sanitarium to recover from tuberculosis; he despises his father for sending him; his mother is wrecked by narcotics; and his older brother by drink. In real-life these factors conspired to turn O'Neill into who he was--a tormented individual and a brilliant playwright.
Book Description
Eugene O'Neill's autobiographical play Long Day's Journey into Night is regarded as his finest work. First published by Yale University Press in 1956, it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1957 and has since sold more than one million copies. This edition, which includes a new foreword by Harold Bloom, coincides with a new production of the play starring Brian Dennehy, which opens in Chicago in January 2002 and in New York in April.
Customer Reviews:
Great play, not for light reading.......2007-09-01
Eugene O'Neill's classic play, "Long Day's Journey into Night," is an autobiographical work that makes you feel immense pity for his family life. It's a great read, and wonderful to analyze! Just don't think that this will be a playful romp through the theater. O'Neill tackles a lot of heavy issues in this play and it can be difficult to read.
Living death in the middle class.......2007-07-18
Starting in the 1600s, America was known as the place to make it big, where one could make a decent and happy living if one just worked hard. Whether contrasted to the chaos of Revolutionary France, the abject urban poverty of Dickens' England, the abject rural poverty of Ireland, the militarization of German society or the civil strife of Russia; America was heaven on Earth, a place where one could live the life they wanted. This image gradually wore away by the early 1900's, and this disillusionment was captured in work after work of American literature. The Great Gatsby unveiled the decay of the super-rich, The Grapes of Wrath showed the pitfalls of the rural farmer, Sinclair's "The Jungle" revealed the horrors of industrialized society, and To Kill a Mockingbird forced us to confront the horror of Jim Crowe laws. But no work so fully and so subtly attacked the everyday failings and desperation of middle class America until this short classic by Eugene O'Neill. This story has no true protagonist or antagonist. Instead, it examines one middle-class family, the Tyrones, over the course of one day. The Tyrones live in their own house, and are financially independent. The parents are middle-aged. The husband is past his prime earning years, and his wife, Mary, is addicted to snuff. One son is an alcoholic womanizer, and the other is frail and probably a nervous wreck. Nobody is in danger of starvation or eviction, but the family as a whole has problems, with depression probably being universal. Everyone has personal failings that weigh on their souls, and each day is a struggle to get through without damaging relationships with each other. Hence the title of the book, a long day's journey into night. Night probably means death here, as noone in the family is going to die soon. The journey is the time they have to spend with each other and put up with each other. This fate, this tragedy probably afflicts more people around the world than any other, and that is to have to live with your failings and those of your loved ones. This book was published at the end of O'Neill's career, and is supposed to represent his family. Regardless of its intention, this is a great book, and of the few American classics that anyone around the world can understand.
NO EXIT.......2007-06-24
I have written reviews of some of Eugene O'Neill's other plays elsewhere in this space. I have noted there that Iceman Cometh is my favorite for a variety of reasons, some of them political. Journey, however, may be O'Neill best play and not only because it is somewhat autobiographical. The trials and tribulations of a dysfunctional family that is ultimately clueless about solutions to what ails each of the four characters (father, mother and two very unlike sons)is very much the stuff of modern drama. The intervention of the gods would seem out of place here.
In O'Neill hands the tensions, misunderstandings and illusions presented are recognizable to today's audiences, even those who may themselves be troubled about finding solutions to some very disturbing problems. Althought this is a difficult play to read (and more difficult to watch performed)virtually everyone I know who has read and/or watch it has survived to the end. And was glad of it. That will tell as much as anything else that I could add that we are dealing with a master work of American literature. Enough said.
The Great American Drama of the 20th Century.......2007-06-14
I recently re-read "Long Day's Journey into Night" on a vacation flight and was surprised to find how well it stood up in my second reading.
The first time I read the play was when I was in my late teens and I could easily relate to melancholia of Edmund.
With age and time, I am less melancholic and perhaps less Edmund-like but "Long Day's Journey into Night" is a wonderful play. The most personal (autobiographical) of O'Neill's work: it also is his most universal work.
On every page, the American Dream/nightmare comes through with a brilliance perhaps not equaled elsewhere.
If a professional or quality amateur production of this work is not readily available to you, I highly recommend you pick up a copy. Enjoy!
American literature at its best.......2007-05-18
Simply said, the most beautiful American play of all time.
Book Description
Jerry Rice has been called the best pro football player ever. In spite of Rice’s legendary gridiron skills, or even his ability to transform himself into an instant ballroom-dance prodigy on ABC’s hit TV series Dancing with the Stars, the surprising fact is, a guy like Jerry Rice is made and not just born. In Go Long! Rice shares the inspirational lessons and empowering practices that have helped him attain success, both on the football field and off. Through the ups and downs of Rice’s life and incomparable career, we discover how self-motivation, determination, and humility are the keys to achievement and true fulfillment.
It’s been a long journey for Jerry Rice, from his childhood in Starkville, Mississippi, to a certain berth in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. As a kid, he was always working toward something, even if he wasn’t sure what it was. Rice honed his hand-eye coordination by catching airborne bricks tossed by his siblings while on the job with their bricklayer father, and he ran–everywhere. From these humble beginnings, Rice blazed a path to greatness in college and the NFL–a trip that was fueled by tireless effort and belief in a few simple principles, among them that achievement is a voyage, not a destination; that modesty and perseverance, not talent, are what determine how far you will go; and that everyone should strive to be a role model. Rice even demonstrates these rules in action, breaking down the greatest games from his stellar career.
Go Long! is an inspiring book by a living sports legend. More than that, however, it is the story of how Jerry Rice awakened the champion within, illustration how we can unlock the greatness within ourselves.
Customer Reviews:
thumbs up.......2007-07-09
A quick read. Nothing too heavy. I'm a huge Niners fan and it was good to hear Rice talk about his career. The drive he had while playing and training is inspiring.
OK Typical Sports Bio.......2007-06-30
I enjoyed the book, but do not expect great writing or insights. This is one of those obligatory autobios that sports figures feel they have to write for their fans. I'd have liked to read more about Rice's growing up in MS. His coments on various fellow sprts stars was fun to reqd. ( He doesn't believe Barry Bonds either ). Quick read. Solid three stars.
Great book!.......2007-05-12
this was a great book, i rarly read but when i found out Jerry wrote a book I knew i'd have to have it. It was a very quick read, took me only 2 weeks to finish. It's also opened my eyes to the NFL and the way it works. One of the best books ive read
Good Story for the Non-Football Fan.......2007-04-01
Not every football memoir/autbio will be like Jerry Kramer's DISTANT REPLAY or have a subject as complex as Jim Brown. It was painful to hear Rice read his book (Audio CD) because he's not a natural reader mor speaker, but one can appreciate the path he laid for future players to emulate. I think this book is more geared towards the non-fan as opposed to the historian, NFL fan or Jerry Rice fan. I do think Jerry could've improved his reading skills for the CD edition or have someone else read the book, but it's a good story. As long as the book served its purpose, I can't complain.
- This review is for the Unabridged CD edition.
Go Long is a winner, all about life!.......2007-03-30
Excellent book, easy read. Very frank and honest dialogue produces a very refreshing look at the character and
makeup of NFL great Jerry Rice. He possesses "old school" values, rare for todays athletes and his humble
approach and its origins are clearly defined in his upbringing. Would highly recommend it for parents and players
of any sport as well as non-players as it explores more than the world of athletics and promotes a great
work ethic.
K.F.
Book Description
LOVE COMES SOFTLY, the first series from the pen of Janette Oke, follows the lives of one family through three generations-beginning with a hated""marriage of convenience,""through hardships common to life on the prairie in an earlier time, leading at last to an abiding love. These eight stories reflect the enduring hope of Christian love and faith despite adversity and hardship. More than 6.5 million copies of the books in the series have been sold. Books 1-4 are in this box set.
Customer Reviews:
Love Comes Softly review.......2007-09-30
This series is awesome. They are so easy to read that you just flow. The only complaint is skipping in the years but you could not begin to read all of the years i guess. Very hard to put down once you start reading.
Love Comes Softly Pack.......2007-07-25
I enjoyed reading these books for content and because they were very easy to read. They were written in a comprehensive language that allowed the reader to flow quickly through its content.
Love Comes Softly Books 1-4.......2007-05-07
Good strong moral values are taught in this series. Easy reading gives you an idea of what it was like to live in the 1800's including travel, homelife, and strong work ethics. It takes you back to a slower pace of life. These books are worth reading.
Refreshing!!!.......2007-05-07
I bought all the movies and all the books for my Mom (83) and she absolutly loves them, she read all 8 books in about a week, said she "just couldnt put them down"!! Highly reccomended!!
Heartwarming and soulful!.......2007-05-06
The Love Comes Sotfly books are wonderful! The characters jump out at you and come alive. They are much better than the Hallmark movies, and it was fun to read the differences and follow the lives of Clark, Marty and their children through the pages. Read the Prairie Legacy also by Janette Oak, they continue the story of Clark and Marty. What a wonderful set of books, I really reccommend them, especially if you like sequels and want to know the rest of the story.
Average customer rating:
- A Well Crafted Read!
- Much finer than "A Fine Balance"
- VIVID...INTRICATE PORTRAIT..AMAZINGLY TRUE TO ITS FORM..
- Another amazing read
- "Luck is the spit of gods and goddesses."
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Such a Long Journey
Rohinton Mistry
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ASIN: 0679738711
Release Date: 1992-06-02 |
Amazon.com
Mistry does something that only the really natural writers can do: without apparent effort, manipulation or contrivance, he creates characters you like instantly and will gladly follow for as long as the novel leads. The book is about an Indian family during the years of Indira Ganhdi's rule; it's also a study of the times, its politics and corruption, and was especially interesting for me, who knows so little about life in the rest of the world. It had to be a good book: after I read
Such a Long Journey, I wanted to go right out and buy a plane ticket and see India for myself.
Book Description
It is Bombay in 1971, the year India went to war over what was to become Bangladesh. A hard-working bank clerk, Gustad Noble is a devoted family man who gradually sees his modest life unravelling. His young daughter falls ill; his promising son defies his father’s ambitions for him. He is the one reasonable voice amidst the ongoing dramas of his neighbours. One day, he receives a letter from an old friend, asking him to help in what at first seems like an heroic mission. But he soon finds himself unwittingly drawn into a dangerous network of deception. Compassionate, and rich in details of character and place, this unforgettable novel charts the journey of a moral heart in a turbulent world of change.
Download Description
Such a Long Journey is set in Bombay in 1971, the year India went to war over what was to become Bangladesh. A hard-working bank clerk, Gustad Noble is a devoted family man who gradually sees his modest life unraveling. His young daughter falls ill; his promising son defies his fatherâ¬"s ambitions for him. He is the one reasonable voice amidst the ongoing dramas of his neighbors. One day, he receives a letter from an old friend, asking him to help in what at first seems like a heroic mission. But he soon finds himself unwittingly drawn into a dangerous network of deception. Compassionate, and rich in details of character and place, this unforgettable novel charts the journey of a moral heart in a turbulent world of change.
Customer Reviews:
A Well Crafted Read!.......2007-09-17
I very much enjoyed this novel set in India during the Indira Ghandi days. It primarily regards a family and their struggles and interactions with others and truly gives an illuminating picture of how things were then in India. Mistry crafts the characters extremely well. Albeit they may be flawed in ways, they are most interesting and one senses their humanity and understands their motivations. A very interesting story that I would very much recommend. I looked forward to reading it each day as it would draw me in and is a fascinating read.
Much finer than "A Fine Balance".......2006-10-24
Unlike many of the other reviewers, I was disappointed with "A Fine Balance," which I read after this book. I thought it was trite, melodramatic and, in the end, depressing -- all of which, of course, made it a prime book to be chosen for "Oprah," though I admit it was a fast read. But to what avail, if you don't like the book? I got rid of my copy as soon as I could.
By contrast, I've read "Such a Long Journey" three times and still love it. I'd agree that plot here is far subjugated to character. But the nuanced, subtle portraits of the family members, the description of their community and building, and the depiction of life in India at that time all make this a beautiful, well-written book. It steps back from the frequent depictions of Indian misery that crop up so frequently they're becoming a cliche, and by focusing on one normal, struggling family, really show a much more vivid and enduring picture of life.
VIVID...INTRICATE PORTRAIT..AMAZINGLY TRUE TO ITS FORM.........2006-05-09
THE AUTHOR IS QUITE TALENTED. WEAVES A SUPREME BLEND OF STORYTELLING AND INTRICATE WEB OF UNDERSTANDING. PAINTS THE PERIOD QUIET WELL. HE DESERVED THE BOOKER FOR HIS WRITINGS. HE IS STILL UNDERAPPRECIATED AND IS RELATIIVELY UNKNOWN. I RECOMMEND HIS NEXT NOVEL : A FINE BALANCE, WHICH IS WRITTEN ON AN EPIC SCALE AND DWARFS THE LENGTH AND BREADH OF THIS BOOK. ROHINTON MISTRY IS A GREAT AUTHOR AND SHOULD BE GIVEN HIS DUE.
Another amazing read.......2006-03-03
I read this book after A Fine Balance. Although I found A Fine Balance to be the most moving and brilliantly contructed novel I have ever read, I preferred this book as it didn't tear me apart emotionally as much as AFB. I adored the characters and was touched by the protagonist's kindness towards Tehmul when he (SPOILER) discovers the whereabouts of the doll. If I have any criticism at all, I felt that the so-called "plot" of the book (according to its cover), i.e. the conflict between father and son, was underplayed. I would assume this is more to do with the publisher's blurb than Mr. Mistry's storytelling. A compelling, touching read that I was sorry to finish...
"Luck is the spit of gods and goddesses.".......2005-05-17
Sometimes compared to Dickens or Victor Hugo for the strength of his descriptions, Rohinton Mistry uses "ordinary" men and women as his protagonists and fills his novels with the sights, sounds, smells, and color of India. Depicting his characters as neither saints nor sinners, he involves the reader in their lives as they try to survive the complexities of their culture.
In this novel, Gustad Noble and his wife Dilnavaz, living in a congested apartment building in Bombay, try to lead good lives and inspire their children during Indira Gandhi's rule in the 1970s, with all its political, professional, and social upheaval. India is on the verge of war with the Muslims of Pakistan, and though Gustad, a Parsi, is aware of political chicanery, he is far more pre-occupied with having his son accepted at a school of technology, doing his job as a bank supervisor, and supporting his family. Constant blackouts and continually deteriorating conditions on the street add to the frustrations of Gustad's life.
Then Jimmy Bilimoria, an old friend, asks Gustad for help, claiming that he is training freedom fighters in Bangladesh to act on behalf of the Indian government against Pakistani "butchers." Gustad reluctantly agrees to use his position at the bank to deposit money to a secret account, but he soon finds himself enmeshed in a spiral from which he cannot break out, his life turned upside down.
Throughout the novel, the wall outside Gustad's apartment building symbolizes the larger world of Bombay and parallels some aspects of Gustad's own life. At the outset, it is used as a latrine, breeding illness in the neighborhood but keeping the noise and tumult of the street out of the apartment house. When Gustad persuades a sidewalk artist to paint it, he depicts scenes from all the religions of India, and the wall becomes a shrine--until the government decides to widen the road and tear it down. Gustad's personal crisis and the fate of the wall intersect in a conclusion both moving and profound.
Though this novel lacks the grand scale of A Fine Balance, it is a beautifully constructed and emotionally involving story of a small family trying to live meaningful lives against almost overwhelming odds. The characters are finely drawn, and the plot, though not "exciting," reflects the traumas of an ordinary man and his wife caught up in events and crises not of their own making. Wry and often humorous in its observations of people and circumstances, this early novel by Mistry has all the ingredients which make his later novels so memorable. Mary Whipple
Book Description
Missie's shocking discovery is not the end of the story in. . .Love's Long Journey
After all the planning and dreaming, Missie and Willie LaHaye were actually on the trail west in a covered wagon. Leaving behind the prairie home of Clark and Marty Davis, Missie finds herself caught between the elation of the new adventure and wondering if she'll ever see her family again.
But the hardships of the trail the rain, the mud, the impassable rivers, and even death soon force Missie and Willie to become rugged pioneers. Missie must learn how to live her faith as she faces homesickness, boredom, and deprivation. And, then, when they finally arrive at their new home, she is pushed to the limits of her endurance.
Will her faith and strength withstand the bewildering surprise?
Customer Reviews:
Love's Long Journey.......2007-04-11
Another winner for Janette oke. This is the third instalment in the "Love Comes Softly" series. Once again you are drawn into the story and have a hard time putting it down. I plan on reading this series again and again.
Love's Long Journey.......2006-09-09
I tried to read this book three times and gave up after a few chapters. Then I decided I was going to read it from cover to cover, and I was delighted to find that the book picks up momentum as it goes along. It's like the first few chapters your'e pushing uphill, and all of a sudden you arive at the top and . . . WHEEEEE!!!!!!! A wholesome, well written novel about a young couple starting a new life together in the West. Realistic - not a fairy tale - but a joy to read. If I had a complaint, it would be the polarization between the Christians and the non religious charactors. Missy is always feeling sorry for the lost people and thinking about how cold and hard their hearts are, and how they have problems. I am a Christian, and I feel it is important to share my faith with others, but it should be remembered that all people are created in a unique and special way - believers and unbelievers. There are very few people who are so sick they are just one lump of pain and problems. Also, I thought it was slightly annoying how Missy constantly sympathized with the trivial difficulties of her neighbors on the wagon train when she had just as bad or worse problems herself. Seems a bit like a saviour complex, to me. Having thus said, I enjoyed this book and would highly reccomend it to fans of Inspirational and historical fiction.
Movie confused me..........still liked it .......2006-03-26
I started reading the books after i watched all 3 movies. The book was very different then the book. I cant say i was disappointed. I enjoyed reading this version. This book was about Missie's journey to the west, and what she went through to get there. How hard it must of been. I still recomend this book. Just dont go into it thinking it is like the movies.
Doormat heroine... So so.......2005-12-30
Missie looooooooves Willie and will do anything for him including giving up her family, traveling in a covered wagon, and going west to live and work on a Ranch, something she has no interest in at all. Willie looooves Missie and subjects her to a harrowing dream west, the pitfalls of traveling in a covered wagon, isolation, and living in a sodhouse for two years while he selfishly pursues his dream of becoming a rancher.
Ech. I enjoyed the first two books in this series but the romance between Missie and Willie just did not enthrall me like Marty/Clark romance. Perhaps because I never liked Willie LeHaye in the first two books, and to suddenly find him the 'hero' in book three grated. Or perhaps, I hated how Missie (playing the true romance novel heroine), never seems to assert her needs and wants with her husband, constantly 'sacrificing' so Willie can pursue 'his dream.' I could've enjoyed this novel much more if Missie wanted to Ranch as much as Willie... But this was not the case. Missie hates the idea of moving west and ranching the first 3/4 of the book.
I guess I prefer my romance novels to focus more on the partnership between two people and less on the selfish desires of one person (Willie). I also felt the author went a bit overboard with repeating the Isaiah verse at every possible opportunity. Okay we get it already.
3 stars. Would be better if Missie asserted herself more, and Willie was more sensitive to her needs.
Oke did it again........2005-10-24
This is one of my favorite books out of the series. I love the adventure and romance that this book brings with it. I laughed and I cried but mostly I cried. I love this story and think that everyone should read it.
Book Description
Jan Wong, a Canadian of Chinese descent, went to China as a starry-eyed Maoist in 1972 at the height of the Cultural Revolution. A true believer--and one of only two Westerners permitted to enroll at Beijing University--her education included wielding a pneumatic drill at the Number One Machine Tool Factory. In the name of the Revolution, she renounced rock & roll, hauled pig manure in the paddy fields, and turned in a fellow student who sought her help in getting to the United States. She also met and married the only American draft dodger from the Vietnam War to seek asylum in China.
Red China Blues is Wong's startling--and ironic--memoir of her rocky six-year romance with Maoism (which crumbled as she became aware of the harsh realities of Chinese communism); her dramatic firsthand account of the devastating Tiananmen Square uprising; and her engaging portrait of the individuals and events she covered as a correspondent in China during the tumultuous era of capitalist reform under Deng Xiaoping. In a frank, captivating, deeply personal narrative she relates the horrors that led to her disillusionment with the "worker's paradise." And through the stories of the people--an unhappy young woman who was sold into marriage, China's most famous dissident, a doctor who lengthens penises--Wong reveals long-hidden dimensions of the world's most populous nation.
In setting out to show readers in the Western world what life is like in China, and why we should care, she reacquaints herself with the old friends--and enemies of her radical past, and comes to terms with the legacy of her ancestral homeland.
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful book........2007-10-20
Red China Blues is the story of a woman who, in her youth, idealizes communism. This idealization is partly a lack of understanding about how communism in China really worked, and partly rebellion against her own Canadian culture.
As she goes to China and slowly comes to understand the horror of China under Mao, we too see and understand both the regime itself and the ways in which the people dealt with their lot. She wants so much to believe in the dream-China she's created in her head that it's painful and difficult for her to see reality. This is a sin most humans commit at some point in their lives, and many readers will wince as they're reminded of their own delusional moments.
Ms. Wong does not attempt to censor any of her own sins. From simple arrogance to participation in active thought control, she tells us everything she did and leaves it to us to decide what to think of her. The same is true of the people around her: she honestly talks about the good and bad in all the people she describes to us. This lends a wonderful humanizing touch to the book and turns it from the story of a regime into a story about people *in* the regime, living as best they can. You will not be able to forgive some of them, while others will move you. Mostly, Ms. Wong leaves you to decide for yourself which people fall into which category.
In other words, this is a book that lays out facts and lets you decide your opinion for yourself. She gives you the facts, tells you her opinion, and leaves the rest to you. For a clear, honest look at China's people under Mao and after his death, read this one.
An account of life in one of the world's greatest tyrranies........2007-02-21
Jan Wong,a Canadian journalist of Chinese ancestry, in this illuminating volume writes of her experiences as an ardent young Maoist in the early 1970's who actually went to China to work and study.
She hauled pig manure in a Chinese re-education farm, and at Beijing University she turned in a fellow student who had begged her help to escape to the West.
Slowly she realized the evil of the Communist system in China and was repatriated to the West in 1978.
Wong returned years later as an undercover journalist to China where she covered the Tianmen Square Massacre, in which three thousand pro-democracy students were mowed down in cold blood by Red China's army, on the orders of dictator, Jian Zemin.
She also covered China's contradictory development into a capitalist state under a Communist dictatorship, or a Communist dictatorship with a capitalist economy...akin to Fascism!
She covers the Tianmen Square Massacre of 1989, letting the the reader know of some of the lesser known details, and how the Communist army opened fire on the students after they began leaving the square:
"A [...]girl was killed and they just brought her body back...After the third barrage I counted more than twenty bodies. One cyclist was shot in the back right below our balcony. There were two big puddles of blood on the Avenue of Eternal Peace. People carried the body of a little girl towards the back of the hotel. After twenty three more minutes, a few people gathred up enough courage to aproach the wounded. The soldiers let loose another blast, sending the would be rescuers scurrying for cover. The crowd was enraged. I grimly kept track of the time. An hour later, the wounded were still on the ground, bleeding to death.
She speaks of the great poverty of the new Red China, with inequalities far greater than anything in the liberal democracies of the world, and crushing poverty in the rural provinces. Despite economic changes, China remains a brutal dictatorship, with no political liberalization or democratization having been allowed by the iron grip of the Communist Party.
Peeople are still opresed in day-to-day life. People are not allowed to own dogs, and to deal with a fad of people acquiring dogs as pets in the early 1990s, special police squads swept through the neigbourhoods, strangling dogs with steel wire looped at the end of metal poles.
The author recounts some regret at buying into the Communist lie, with the realization that "The Western world, especially Canada, is far more socialistic than China has ever been, with it's free public education, universal medicare, unemployment insurance, and government funding for television ads against domestic violence. China has made me appreciate my own country, with it's tiny ethnically diverse population of unassuming donut-eaters. I had gone all the way to China to find an idealistic revolutionary society, when I already had it right to home."
She ends of on a positive note, predicting, in 1997, a great change in China , and the death of the Communist Party, and real democracy.
Ten years later, this is not close to being realized, with a tightening of political control by the Communist dictatorship having taken place.
Despite being one of the most brutal dictatorships on this planet, China has gained international acceptibility, without improving democracy or human rights!
Nobody bats an eyelid at the Olympic Games for 2008 being set in Beijing.
The worst abuses of the Communist regime has it's apologists in the WEst.
The Stalinist Workers World Party in North America, (which has praised Stalinism in the Soviet Union, and applauded suicide bombings against Jewish women and chidren in Israel) congratulated the Chinese regime after the Tianmen Square Massacre, for having 'won a battle against imperialist and counter-revolutionary forces."
The fact that such sentiments can be uttered makes one wonder how far the world has actually come.
Fascinating memoir, full of interesting anecdotes and views on China.......2006-06-04
Jan Wong's account starts with her move to China from Canada to attend university just as the Cultural Revolution dawned. Naive, idealistic and fascinated by Mao, she cheerfully went to the farms to work and describes her own complicity in the tragedies of the time. It is only when the Cultural Revolution is ended and the country suddenly turns around, denouncing most of what the CR had stood for, does she start to think for herself. It may also have had something to do with realizing that her college education was wasted, and that people in China know students from those years did not learn anything.
And so it goes. Wong makes no effort to apologize or hide her original idealism, and in fact she never completely gives it up. She married an American who defected to China, and returned to China repeatedly as a reporter. Only the massacres of 1989 seem to finally make her lose her enchantment with the systems.
But whereas some people have written that this is a weakness of the book, I think it is a strength. You get to see a little of how an intelligent person could be fascinated with Mao and communism, even if it does require a huge amount of self deception and naivete. Further, Wong writes about the subject with great passion and a unique perspective for a westerner: she was one of only a handful of westerners who actually witnessed the Cultural Revolution firsthand (Wong is often able to get into areas not open to western reporters today by bluffing, using her knowledge of China in the 60s to convince guards that she must be a native). I would love to see what she thinks of the rise of capitalism in China today.
Finally, I am a sucker for good writing. This book is clear and compelling and the stories will pull you through.
Excellent Memoir.......2005-03-12
This superb memoir by Canadian Jan Wong describes her student and worker days in China during the latter part of the Cultural Revolution. Rebelling against the middle class values of her Chinese immigrant parents, Wong left for China in the early 1970's as an eager young Maoist. The author describes her student days at Beijing University, her life on a rural farm commune, and her eventual transformation from naïve idealist to disillusioned realist. Wong left for home six years later, but returned to Beijing in 1988 as foreign correspondent for the Toronto Globe Mail. There she witnessed the stunning prosperity China suddenly enjoyed along with the tragedy of Tiananmen Square. I read this eloquent 1996 memoir shortly after visiting China and found the author's analysis completely on target.
This superb memoir is written in a nicely readable style. Readers should enjoy this book, and might also consider two additional memoirs of China, WILD SWANNS and IN SEARCH OF HISTORY.
A must-read if you're planning to visit China.......2004-12-17
I read the book before traveling to China. It was invaluable in helping me understand recent Chinese history. Wong's story helped me understand what someone experienced during the Cultural Revolution. We had a speaker who told many of the same kinds of stories. This book helped make my visit to China richer, more meaningful and interesting. Her images prepared me for what I would be viewing myself. Very well-written and interesting to read.
Book Description
The first trade paperback edition of the New York Times best-seller about West Point's Class of 1966, by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Rick Atkinson.This is the story of the twenty-five-year adventure of the generation of officers who fought in Vietnam. With novelistic detail, Atkinson tells the story of West Point's Class of 1966 primarily through the experiences of three classmates and the women they loved--from the boisterous cadet years and youthful romances to the fires of Vietnam, where dozens of their classmates died and hundreds more grew disillusioned, to the hard peace and family adjustments that followed. The rich cast of characters includes Douglas MacArthur, William Westmoreland, and a score of other memorable figures. The West Point Class of 1966 straddled a fault line in American history, and Rick Atkinson's masterly book speaks for a generation of American men and women about innocence, patriotism, and the price we pay for our dreams.
Customer Reviews:
Why I recommend this book.......2007-07-04
Atkinson does his usual in depth reporting of events. In this book he explores the culture of the times, the morals of the cadets and the long term effects of a misdirected war on an entire generation. As a Korean War veteran I could appreciate Atkinson's factual reporting of the events that transpired as the unprepared citizen soldiers entered their first fire fights.
By far the best book I have ever read.......2007-03-26
This is one excellent book. It is a must read for people who have been in the military and for that fact, anyone and everyone. This book starts with the Class of 1966 as the enter Westpoint. They start out as freshmen (I believe the term was plebes), the book takes the readers through the trials and tribulations of each of the main characters as they endure that first year. As the book progresses on you get to know each of the main characters as they experience school, romance, hard times, easy times, sad times and happy times. The book continues as they graduate from school and enter Vietnam. You experience the horror of war and the bond the forms with soldiers in combat. After Vietnam the reader will continue to follow the characters as they experience life after Vietnam. I was acutally hoping the book would not end. Being in the military I can relate to much of what the book was about. I highly suggest the book to anyone.
Highest recommendation...........2007-03-12
This is narrative American history at its finest; Atkinson is a master of the form. The author selects a handful of cadets from the Class of 1966, follows the twists and turns of their paths from West Point to Vietnam, and their re-entry into American life. If you enjoy William Manchester; Edmund Morris; H.W. Brands; etc., you'll love this. I own hundreds of history books, and this is among my favorites.
Surprisingly Relevant.......2007-01-08
This book has surprising relevance to the present moment because it seems that every generation has to re-learn that words such as "honor" and "glory" are platitudes used by men in suits to get 20 year olds revved up to do their killing for them.
This book follows a group of 1966 West Point graduates as they struggle through Viet Nam and beyond. This book chronicles a slice of life and a slice of history and is well worth the reading.
Highly recommend this.
A Special Book.......2005-09-28
Extraordinary; quite unlike anything else in its scope. It is a human chronicle, group biography, as well as social and military history. An astonishing depth of data is underpinned by solid, big-picture thinking and genuine feeling. Intellectually satisfying and deeply moving.
Book Description
Have you woken up to the journey of life? Have you reached a point where you long for “something more”? Have the things you have striven to achieve turned out to be far less than enough? Do you desire to unriddle life’s mystery and pursue a life rich with significance?
Long Journey Home is a seeker’s road map to the quest for meaning. Rich in stories and profoundly personal as well as practical, it explores the great philosophies of life and charts the road toward meaning taken by countless thoughtful seekers over the centuries. Written for those who care and those who are open, “it assumes no faith in the reader, only the recognition that the humanness of life as a journey is something we should all care about enough to seek to make sense of it and to make up our minds for ourselves.”
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
A Seeker's Roadmap.......2004-08-21
Author of numerous works of theology, religious sociology and cultural apologetics, Os Guinness is one of today's most perceptive and engaging writers. This, his latest book, is an exceptional work that deserves to be read widely and disseminated eagerly.
Written as a seeker's road map to the quest for meaning, and presented as an exploration of the road toward meaning as taken by countless thoughtful seekers over the centuries (p.8), Long Journey Home offers insight into how such meaning can be found today. Beginning with the dictum that the unexamined life is not worth living (p.12) and concluding with the realization that the untransformed life is not worth finding (p.204), Guinness invites the reader to join him, and to recognize with him, that the humanness of life as a journey is something we should all care enough about to want to make sense of (p.9). Winsomely written, replete with stories and choice quotations, I believe this volume and its approach will resonate with significant numbers of people.
Structured around four major sections, with each section highlighting a particular stage of the journey, this work offers no `keys' to happiness, no `short cuts' to success and no `techniques' to master. Avoiding both simplism and stereotype, Guinness offers the thoughtful seeker only a well-beaten path to follow. The stages of the journey mapped out by Guinness are: (1) The asking of questions, (2) Actively seeking out answers to the questions, (3) Evaluating the evidence for the answers, and (4) Commitment to what is discovered, realizing that all stages of the journey ought to culminate in responsible action.
In the first section, Guinness introduces the journey by pointing to the human desire to know meaning beyond the meaning we know. Building on sociologist Peter Berger's identification of "signals of transcendence" (those catalytic experiences in everyday life that point to a higher reality), Guinness illustrates the impetus deep within us all to search for more. Pointing to G.K.Chesterton's experience of gratitude, W.H.Auden's absolute sense of justice and the impossibility of not condemning evil, as well as C.S.Lewis' deep sense of joy, Guinness articulates how such experiences raise questions and creates seekers.
With the second stage of the journey characterized by actively seeking answers to the specific questions raised the focus of this volume now falls on truth-claims and the nature of the search for answers (p.68f). Showing his practical genius in narrowing down what could potentially be an overwhelming search, Guinness counters two frequently voiced objections. First, that the search for answers is unnecessary (because all beliefs at their core are the same), and second, that the search for answers is impossible (because there are too many beliefs to investigate). Guinness then shows how the truth lies somewhere in between and in so doing introduces the idea of `families of faith' (p.69). By addressing the vexed question of evil, suffering and death among the Eastern, Secular Western and Biblical `families of faith' that Guinness exemplifies how the search for answers can proceed.
Building on the answers gleaned in the previous stage, the third stage of the journey commences when the answers arrived at are evaluated. In short, this stage asks: Are the answers uncovered true? Acknowledging the controversial nature of truth-claims today, Guinness attempts to clear away some of the fog (p.120ff) and to shed light on the notion of truth. (Following in the footsteps of Francis Schaeffer, he talks about truth in terms of its correspondence to reality and its livability). Managing to avoid a complicated and protracted discussion of all things epistemological, the argument of this section is propelled forward by exposing two common roadblocks: the skepticism of old wounds and the skepticism of bad experiences inflicted by people of faith (p.132). Leading ultimately to a consideration of the identity of Jesus Christ, Guinness shows his dissatisfaction with those who dismiss the evidence for truth and shows up two equal and opposite mistakes: The setting up of impossible standards of truth, and the attempt to bypass the question of truth altogether (p.145). In contrast, two positive means of assessing evidence are advocated. One, the examination of particular beliefs "up close and in detail' (illustrated, in this instance, by Phillipe Haille and Eleanor Stump). And two, seeing the `big-picture' or assessing large webs of interwoven truth claims (i.e. worldviews).
In the fourth and culminating stage of the journey, Guinness focuses on individual responsibility and the full embrace of responsible faith. Emphasizing commitment in light of the conclusions the search has led to, this final section does what too few books of this genre do. It warns against the intrusion of techniques and the simplification of faith. It embraces the diversity of ways in which individuals come to faith. It highlights the holistic nature of faith, recognizing that people are far more than walking minds. It celebrates the often forgotten reality that we are never more ourselves than when we come to faith. And it wonderfully plays up the truth (illustrated by the story of Simone Weil) that we find God because He first finds us; that the secret of our quest for purpose and meaning lies not in our brilliance but in His grace.
As a reviewer, I've not rushed my description of the contents of this book because I believe the ebb and flow of its argument deserves to be highlighted. On the whole, this book deserves to be read as much by pastors and preachers as by the `seekers' it was penned for. It is an excellent volume that draws upon classical and contemporary sources (often juxtaposed in fascinating ways), which is informed by a sound biblical anthropology (cf. p.198ff), and which dares to rely upon the diverse integrity of human beings and the sovereign freedom of God. Long Journey Home is a book whose themes and approach ought to shape evangelism, inform preaching and dissuade anyone from dependence upon, generic, pre-packaged, `one size fits all' forms of witnessing.
Help for the seeker mixed in with Christian apologetics.......2004-01-21
Os Guinness states in the introductory chapters of this book that it is written "for those who are asking enduring questions" such as "How do we unriddle the mystery of life and make the most of it?" Or "What does it mean to find ourselves guests on a tiny, spinning blue ball in a vast universe?" He endeavors to guide the seeker through four stages in the quest for meaning: A Time For Questions, A Time For Answers, A Time For Evidence, and A Time For Commitment. These four stages also make up the four section of the book.
He does a decent job of telling how others have made the journey through skepticism to faith, and of explaining the process and the potential rewards and dangers. He is great at dropping the memorable quote or anecdote to illustrate a point. He is obviously quite widely read but I sometimes wondered how deep his knowledge goes.
Unfortunately, the book was not all that I had hoped it would be. I was looking forward to an objective look at the process of being a "seeker." While the book does explain that process it became quickly apparent that the author also had another objective--to steer the seeker towards a particular "meaning of life," that of the Christian faith.
At the beginning of Part Two, Guinness states that there are three leading families of faith in the modern world: the Eastern family (including Hinduism, Buddhism and New Age), the Western family (including naturalism, atheism and secular humanism), and the Biblical family (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). He then writes a chapter on each of the families in which he "endeavored to portray them straightforwardly and accurately."
I found the chapter on eastern faith (Buddhism & Hinduism) to be woefully inadequate. The author's childhood in China and his studies under a Hindu guru (length of time studying not mentioned) are trotted out as if they make him an authority on eastern religion. However, he only gives a cursory and in my opinion inaccurate picture of Buddhism and Hinduism today.
The same can be said for his chapter on secular humanism. He highlights two writers, Bertrand Russell and Albert Camus, as the archetypal secular humanists. Both Russell and Camus were relatively bleak about mankind's future, so Guinness paints secularism as a pessimistic philosophy. Apparently for him there is no such thing as an optimistic humanist.
He then writes of the biblical family as being that family of faith that most closely mirrors the truth. Note that in this chapter he excludes any discussion of Islam (the second-largest religion in the world behind Christianity). The rest of the book (Parts Three & Four) is basically Christian apologetics. Not that there is anything wrong with apologetics, but I feel that some people will be mislead into buying this book because they think it may be an impartial guide in their search for meaning. Nowhere on the jacket or in the introduction is it stated that this book is meant to be a guide towards Christianity.
That being said, "Long Journey Home" is still a good book that asks penetrating questions and offers some useful insights for the seeker who needs some direction for starting his or her quest.
Thoughtful, Knowledgeable Guide To The Search.......2003-12-01
The search for the meaning of life--now talk about a topic for a book.
Guinness knows what he's writing about. Not just his search for the meaning to life, but in his search his reading of philosophy, literature, art and biography and other seekers is included herein.
This is profound and chock full of wonderful, deep statements of seekers.
He carefully, philosophically goes through each step of seeking. His background of being born in Buddhist China to his time with Hinduism, then his education under classical secular humanism at Oxford well qualify him as such a guide.
Just one salinet quote from this marvelous read is: "The secret of the search is not our 'great ascent' but 'the great descent'--of God toward us. Instead of the seeker finding love, love seeks out the seeker."
Highly recommended for thoughtful seekers, to be given ones we know and for those of us whom God has already sought out and now on the way to serve Him eternally.
A Journey Worth Making.......2003-10-12
This book is a very fine distillation of wisdom applied to the "big questions" of life's meaning and purpose. Os Guinness takes the reader on a tour of how the world's major religions and some of its greatest thinkers have wrestled with questions of ultimate significance. How does death and human suffering affect our sense of hope and longing for purpose and meaning for our lives? What is the place of gratitude for life's goodness? What principles are worth living and dying for? There are no prepackaged answers to these questions, of course. But whether or not we are to believe there is an answer and what road we take to lead us there are crucial steps in the journey upon which we are all embarked. Whether we conscious of it or not, life is taking us somewhere. When we get to the end, will we look back on our journey with satisfaction and fulfillment or with a sense of shame and loss? For those who feel that an unexamined life is not worth living, this book is provides much to consider. Philosophy and Religion are not an intellectual game we can play with detachment and control over the outcome. The questions are bigger than we are and the Answer must be bigger still. The implications of the search for your life's meaning, if you follow it honestly enough, will end up handling you rather than you handling them. Are you ready? Then read on...
Decent, good and true........2002-02-06
This is a good book. It's short, easy to read, and fairly well written. It also contains true wisdom, not only from Os, but from the brilliant thinkers across historical and cultural spectrums.
The best thing to do is accept this book for what it is and not for what the author intended it to be. Mr. Guiness sought to show how humanists, and those in western and eastern civilizations have approached the "meaning of life." Os is so overtly partial to Western thought, that he gives only cursory explanations on Eastern and humanist traditions. Besides, it just over 200 pages, can you really plumb the depths of even a single thinker from any one of these traditions?
Instead, enjoy this book as a background work that you can use to direct further study. This is philosophical book for your bedstand, that give pretty simple explanations for complex issues that mankind has grappled with since we gained constructive use of our frontal lobes.
However, despite this, I walked away with teachings and instruction that inspired, compelled and provoked me to live with a greater understanding of how I can give to others.
Books:
- We're Just Like You, Only Prettier: Confessions of a Tarnished Southern Belle
- When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa
- Whiteness of a Different Color: European Immigrants and the Alchemy of Race
- Who's Running America? The Bush Restoration (7th Edition)
- Wilt: Just Like Any Other 7-Foot Black Millionaire Who Lives Next Door
- Wish You Well
- Women Artists in History: From Antiquity to the Present
- A Far Country
- A World of Ideas: Essential Readings for College Writers
- American Girls About Town: They're Not Just the Girls Next Door....
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