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1607749327
| 9781607749325
| B01501OECS
| 4.07
| 132
| May 31, 2016
| May 31, 2016
|
it was amazing
|
[Note: This book was provided free of charge by Blogging For Books/10 Speed Press in exchange for an honest review.] Even before I read the author’s bi [Note: This book was provided free of charge by Blogging For Books/10 Speed Press in exchange for an honest review.] Even before I read the author’s biography and saw that the author lived in Washington, and even before she made comments about the environmentally sustainable practices of fishing in the Pacific Northwest or made several plugs for responsibly harvested fish, this book had a certain je ne sais quoi of being written by someone from the Pacific Northwest, a certain appreciation for quirky food items, a certain expectation of the reader that they too are fond of these items, an awareness of community farming and a blend of cultures including Asian and Russian elements. Even if various dietary restrictions prohibit a reader from enjoying all of the dishes described here, and there are many I cannot eat, and even if some of the food items are very unusual, there is enough of worth in this oddball book to make it immensely worthwhile to read, and even more importantly, to try out in cooking. When it comes to books about food [1], any book that gives me new foods that I want to eat is one I consider successful, and by those standards this book is very successful, besides being immensely beautifully laid out with elegant photographs. The contents of this book are well-organized and straightforward, but no less attractive for that. Not only that, but even if the recipes discussed are more than simply broths and stocks, this book has far more recipes for different types of dishes of that type than most people would be familiar with, and in those dishes which are more substantial, the broths and stocks discussed are a key element of the meal. The book begins with a discussion of the immense importance of broth and stock in the diet of people throughout history and the role of broth in the development of the restaurant [2]. The second chapter of the book contains various master broths and stocks that serve as key elements of the dishes that follow, including broths made from chicken, turkey, beef, pork, fish, shellfish, and vegetables, stocks containing double-cooked bones (remouillage) as well as broths made of skimmed chicken skin (pena). The rest of the book takes a different division of food and contains more specialized broths as well as dishes that are made including the broths discussed. Chapter 3, with poultry dishes, contains a morning broth, a light broth for infants, as well as some dishes that look especially tasty—slow-roasted salt and pepper chicken, chicken soup with parmesan, rice, peas, and lemon, and dash-braised chicken thighs. The chapter on meats includes beef tea, portable soup (a dish of major importance in the Lewis & Clark expedition), quick pho, beef stew with winter vegeteables, and beef shank with garlic and basil, all dishes that make me wish I was not gouty. The chapter on fish consists mostly of various dishes that include clams or shellfish, but there is a dish on salmon, celeriac, and potato chowder with dulse that may appeal to some readers. The final chapter of the book discusses vegetable dishes, including Bieler’s broth, an irish vegetable soup, and carrot and leek soup with thyme that all look worthy of trying out. After the recipes the book includes some advice on where to shop as well as a bibliography, conversions from standard to metric dimensions, and some acknowledgments. If some of the recipes appear to assume a high standard of living among its readers, the book as a whole is promoting the sort of cooking that can be done cheaply and helps reduce waste. Many of the broths made are done from parts of animals that are not particularly expensive—big marrow-rich soup bones that are cooked for long periods of time to soak the juices out, chicken feet to make for a rich, gelatinous chicken broth, and waste parts of chicken and vegetables that would otherwise be thrown out but that can be judiciously made into tasty dishes. The book is aimed at an audience of somewhat privileged people who can buy more or less whatever foods they want, and enjoy shopping at various ethnic shops and perhaps even have some fancy cookery, but who want to avoid waste and want to feel as if they are living somehow honorably and decently and sustainably. Even so, this book is a testament to a lengthy human history of resourceful cooks who made the most out of the foods they had because one could not afford to waste anything, and this book offers much to readers on that level, even if unintentionally and out of homage for the ways of past generations when broths and stocks were the foundation for cooking out of need rather than out of desire. [1] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress... https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress... https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress... https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress... [2] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress... Merged review: [Note: This book was provided free of charge by Blogging For Books/10 Speed Press in exchange for an honest review.] Even before I read the author’s biography and saw that the author lived in Washington, and even before she made comments about the environmentally sustainable practices of fishing in the Pacific Northwest or made several plugs for responsibly harvested fish, this book had a certain je ne sais quoi of being written by someone from the Pacific Northwest, a certain appreciation for quirky food items, a certain expectation of the reader that they too are fond of these items, an awareness of community farming and a blend of cultures including Asian and Russian elements. Even if various dietary restrictions prohibit a reader from enjoying all of the dishes described here, and there are many I cannot eat, and even if some of the food items are very unusual, there is enough of worth in this oddball book to make it immensely worthwhile to read, and even more importantly, to try out in cooking. When it comes to books about food [1], any book that gives me new foods that I want to eat is one I consider successful, and by those standards this book is very successful, besides being immensely beautifully laid out with elegant photographs. The contents of this book are well-organized and straightforward, but no less attractive for that. Not only that, but even if the recipes discussed are more than simply broths and stocks, this book has far more recipes for different types of dishes of that type than most people would be familiar with, and in those dishes which are more substantial, the broths and stocks discussed are a key element of the meal. The book begins with a discussion of the immense importance of broth and stock in the diet of people throughout history and the role of broth in the development of the restaurant [2]. The second chapter of the book contains various master broths and stocks that serve as key elements of the dishes that follow, including broths made from chicken, turkey, beef, pork, fish, shellfish, and vegetables, stocks containing double-cooked bones (remouillage) as well as broths made of skimmed chicken skin (pena). The rest of the book takes a different division of food and contains more specialized broths as well as dishes that are made including the broths discussed. Chapter 3, with poultry dishes, contains a morning broth, a light broth for infants, as well as some dishes that look especially tasty—slow-roasted salt and pepper chicken, chicken soup with parmesan, rice, peas, and lemon, and dash-braised chicken thighs. The chapter on meats includes beef tea, portable soup (a dish of major importance in the Lewis & Clark expedition), quick pho, beef stew with winter vegeteables, and beef shank with garlic and basil, all dishes that make me wish I was not gouty. The chapter on fish consists mostly of various dishes that include clams or shellfish, but there is a dish on salmon, celeriac, and potato chowder with dulse that may appeal to some readers. The final chapter of the book discusses vegetable dishes, including Bieler’s broth, an irish vegetable soup, and carrot and leek soup with thyme that all look worthy of trying out. After the recipes the book includes some advice on where to shop as well as a bibliography, conversions from standard to metric dimensions, and some acknowledgments. If some of the recipes appear to assume a high standard of living among its readers, the book as a whole is promoting the sort of cooking that can be done cheaply and helps reduce waste. Many of the broths made are done from parts of animals that are not particularly expensive—big marrow-rich soup bones that are cooked for long periods of time to soak the juices out, chicken feet to make for a rich, gelatinous chicken broth, and waste parts of chicken and vegetables that would otherwise be thrown out but that can be judiciously made into tasty dishes. The book is aimed at an audience of somewhat privileged people who can buy more or less whatever foods they want, and enjoy shopping at various ethnic shops and perhaps even have some fancy cookery, but who want to avoid waste and want to feel as if they are living somehow honorably and decently and sustainably. Even so, this book is a testament to a lengthy human history of resourceful cooks who made the most out of the foods they had because one could not afford to waste anything, and this book offers much to readers on that level, even if unintentionally and out of homage for the ways of past generations when broths and stocks were the foundation for cooking out of need rather than out of desire. [1] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress... https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress... https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress... https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress... [2] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress... ...more |
Notes are private!
|
2
|
Jun 20, 2016
not set
|
Jun 22, 2016
not set
|
Sep 28, 2024
|
Kindle Edition
| |||||||||||||||
1622454200
| 9781622454204
| B01LYF4BZ1
| 4.15
| 20
| unknown
| Dec 01, 2016
|
really liked it
|
[Note: This book was provided free of charge by Aneko Press. All thoughts and opinions are my own.] Sometimes a book's title gives a bigger clue to t [Note: This book was provided free of charge by Aneko Press. All thoughts and opinions are my own.] Sometimes a book's title gives a bigger clue to the mindset of an author than originally seems to be the case, and depending on the expectations a reader has about this book, their thoughts and opinions about it are likely to be somewhat distinct. The author's title, as well as the material in nearly 300 pages of material, makes it very clear that this author has more than a small problem with the contemporary worldview of secular humanism (it should be noted that he does not deal at all with classical humanism or Christian humanism, except in passing). Additionally, the author's title gives an unintentional clue that the author's approach will be cerebral in nature and that this book tackles the problems of the head and not the heart. This hint, if one takes it from the title, is amply demonstrated by the book's contents. For starters, this book was written from the point of view of an American particularly displeased with both of the viable choices in the 2016 US Election and also someone who sees in America's moral decline a cause for widespread mourning in sackcloth and ashes. This is not an original perspective [1], but it is certainly a sincere one and eloquently expressed. This book is focused on the need for believers, seen in opposition to an increasingly corrupt populace, to have a rigorous intellectual rigor in their faith. Over and over again, the author points to the need for a biblical worldview and right thinking processes. Starting with a discussion of the enemy within concerning the internecine struggles with socially liberal social gospel believers who are particularly prolific authors, the author gives as the starting point a need to know the gospel of salvation rather than its false alternatives in either works-based or ragamuffin theology. After this the author spends a couple of chapters talking about the pursuit of happiness in this life and our eternal roadmap to happiness that requires a focus on and understanding of God's truths as expressed in scripture. The author then spends a couple of chapters discussing how secular humanism corrupts our thought processes and how these processes of understanding causality and using both our conscious and unconscious brain can be improved. The last few chapters focus on the need for believers to be a part of a Christian fellowship, to guard our thought processes, to focus on eternity, and to live as Christians in a dying world clearly heading towards God's judgment. While reading this book I was struck by a nagging feeling that something was missing in its approach. The book seemed to have all the right answers from an intellectual point of view, but in a way that alienated this reader instead of leading to warm enjoyment and appreciation. In many ways, the book struck me as being all head and no heart. Although the author, quite correctly, speaks out against a great deal of contemporary sin and the wicked thought processes and mindset of many people, the perspective is of someone who expects for God to rapture him and like-minded believers so that the rest of unrepentant humanity can face God's judgment, rather than from the point of view of an Old Testament prophet like Ezekiel, Daniel, or Jeremiah who shared in the suffering and judgment that fell upon their sinful people. The author knows the words for humility, but does not act in a humble manner, continually referring to himself and his supposed insight in the first person to a distressing degree [2]. Likewise, the author has an intellectual understanding of the struggles faced by many believers, as in the following example taken not at random, but lacks the heart of compassion for such believers: "People who are verbally, physically, or sexually abused by their fathers often develop a wrong definition of father in their unconscious brain. This can severely impede their ability to trust God when He is called our heavenly Father. They aren't even aware of this because this wrong definition is in the unconscious brain. The virus affects them without consciously realizing it (197)." Someone with a heart for those suffering from abuse would not view this tragic state of affairs in such a cold and cerebral fashion. How is one to deal with this book, then? To the extent that one is looking for the right head knowledge about the current state of our society, this book is an excellent resource. If one wants to know the mistaken and misguided thought processes and the ways that facts are perverted and twisted into mistruths in our contemporary world, this book offers considerable insight into those matters. If one has an expectation of understanding and shares the author's somewhat detached perspective about the nature of God's suffering, and if one wants to comfort oneself in one's accurate knowledge and close relationship with God and the promise of protection from the times of tribulation and judgment that are inevitable unless there is widespread societal repentance, this is a book that will likely bring one a great deal of material with which to fulminate against the darkness of our present evil age. However, those readers expecting the author to weep like Jeremiah at the suffering for a people whom he loves, even if they rebel against God, or like Jesus Christ when he movingly told the people of Jerusalem that he wanted to gather them under his wings like a mother hen but they were not willing will not find such a compassionate and loving heart in the words of this author. Those wishing for prophetic judgment and biblical instruction from someone with such a heart will have to look elsewhere. [1] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... [2] See, for example, the following lines, which resemble nothing so much as the prayer of the Pharisee with himself in the Gospels: "I am blessed to belong to a church fellowship that is serious about knowing, understanding, and applying the Bible to our lives. We study the what, why, and how of the Scriptures. My typical week within the fellowship includes two hours early Sunday morning where a group of men study the Word related to a particular topic such as grace, sin, humility, and prayer. These intense studies each last three or four months. Right after our Sunday morning study, we attend group fellowship, where the service usually lasts at least two hours. Our time includes a sermon, corporate worship, and prayer, communion, and more study of the Scriptures, led by one of our elders. We then conclude with a time of food and fellowship where we build a culture of family with one another (174)." Or take this example: "Too many Christians act with a self-righteous attitude towards less mature believers, expecting them to acquire instantly the wisdom and discernment it took us years to grasp. This often happens when certain teachers and preachers are discussed. When I was a new Christian, after forty-five years of disobedience to God, I was hungry to learn all I could about Him. I attended every Christian conference I could to hear from whoever was willing to share the Word of God. I wanted to trust everything they taught, figuring they knew what they were talking about, because thousands of Christians attended their conferences. Now, after seventeen years of seasoning, I realize some of these teachers were either wrong or flat out deceivers, but I lacked the wisdom and discernment to understand that at the time. But I was blessed to be in fellowships with solid, seasoned believers who were smarter and wiser than I was. They helped me to determine truth from deception by studying and understanding the Word of God. When I talk with young believers now who are caught up following a teacher who preaches incorrect doctrine, I am patient with them. I do not come out and blast them for following deceived teachers, because I once did the same thing. Instead, I listen and ask questions and use their answers to point us to the Word of God for wisdom and clarity (230)." Merged review: [Note: This book was provided free of charge by Aneko Press. All thoughts and opinions are my own.] Sometimes a book's title gives a bigger clue to the mindset of an author than originally seems to be the case, and depending on the expectations a reader has about this book, their thoughts and opinions about it are likely to be somewhat distinct. The author's title, as well as the material in nearly 300 pages of material, makes it very clear that this author has more than a small problem with the contemporary worldview of secular humanism (it should be noted that he does not deal at all with classical humanism or Christian humanism, except in passing). Additionally, the author's title gives an unintentional clue that the author's approach will be cerebral in nature and that this book tackles the problems of the head and not the heart. This hint, if one takes it from the title, is amply demonstrated by the book's contents. For starters, this book was written from the point of view of an American particularly displeased with both of the viable choices in the 2016 US Election and also someone who sees in America's moral decline a cause for widespread mourning in sackcloth and ashes. This is not an original perspective [1], but it is certainly a sincere one and eloquently expressed. This book is focused on the need for believers, seen in opposition to an increasingly corrupt populace, to have a rigorous intellectual rigor in their faith. Over and over again, the author points to the need for a biblical worldview and right thinking processes. Starting with a discussion of the enemy within concerning the internecine struggles with socially liberal social gospel believers who are particularly prolific authors, the author gives as the starting point a need to know the gospel of salvation rather than its false alternatives in either works-based or ragamuffin theology. After this the author spends a couple of chapters talking about the pursuit of happiness in this life and our eternal roadmap to happiness that requires a focus on and understanding of God's truths as expressed in scripture. The author then spends a couple of chapters discussing how secular humanism corrupts our thought processes and how these processes of understanding causality and using both our conscious and unconscious brain can be improved. The last few chapters focus on the need for believers to be a part of a Christian fellowship, to guard our thought processes, to focus on eternity, and to live as Christians in a dying world clearly heading towards God's judgment. While reading this book I was struck by a nagging feeling that something was missing in its approach. The book seemed to have all the right answers from an intellectual point of view, but in a way that alienated this reader instead of leading to warm enjoyment and appreciation. In many ways, the book struck me as being all head and no heart. Although the author, quite correctly, speaks out against a great deal of contemporary sin and the wicked thought processes and mindset of many people, the perspective is of someone who expects for God to rapture him and like-minded believers so that the rest of unrepentant humanity can face God's judgment, rather than from the point of view of an Old Testament prophet like Ezekiel, Daniel, or Jeremiah who shared in the suffering and judgment that fell upon their sinful people. The author knows the words for humility, but does not act in a humble manner, continually referring to himself and his supposed insight in the first person to a distressing degree [2]. Likewise, the author has an intellectual understanding of the struggles faced by many believers, as in the following example taken not at random, but lacks the heart of compassion for such believers: "People who are verbally, physically, or sexually abused by their fathers often develop a wrong definition of father in their unconscious brain. This can severely impede their ability to trust God when He is called our heavenly Father. They aren't even aware of this because this wrong definition is in the unconscious brain. The virus affects them without consciously realizing it (197)." Someone with a heart for those suffering from abuse would not view this tragic state of affairs in such a cold and cerebral fashion. How is one to deal with this book, then? To the extent that one is looking for the right head knowledge about the current state of our society, this book is an excellent resource. If one wants to know the mistaken and misguided thought processes and the ways that facts are perverted and twisted into mistruths in our contemporary world, this book offers considerable insight into those matters. If one has an expectation of understanding and shares the author's somewhat detached perspective about the nature of God's suffering, and if one wants to comfort oneself in one's accurate knowledge and close relationship with God and the promise of protection from the times of tribulation and judgment that are inevitable unless there is widespread societal repentance, this is a book that will likely bring one a great deal of material with which to fulminate against the darkness of our present evil age. However, those readers expecting the author to weep like Jeremiah at the suffering for a people whom he loves, even if they rebel against God, or like Jesus Christ when he movingly told the people of Jerusalem that he wanted to gather them under his wings like a mother hen but they were not willing will not find such a compassionate and loving heart in the words of this author. Those wishing for prophetic judgment and biblical instruction from someone with such a heart will have to look elsewhere. [1] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... [2] See, for example, the following lines, which resemble nothing so much as the prayer of the Pharisee with himself in the Gospels: "I am blessed to belong to a church fellowship that is serious about knowing, understanding, and applying the Bible to our lives. We study the what, why, and how of the Scriptures. My typical week within the fellowship includes two hours early Sunday morning where a group of men study the Word related to a particular topic such as grace, sin, humility, and prayer. These intense studies each last three or four months. Right after our Sunday morning study, we attend group fellowship, where the service usually lasts at least two hours. Our time includes a sermon, corporate worship, and prayer, communion, and more study of the Scriptures, led by one of our elders. We then conclude with a time of food and fellowship where we build a culture of family with one another (174)." Or take this example: "Too many Christians act with a self-righteous attitude towards less mature believers, expecting them to acquire instantly the wisdom and discernment it took us years to grasp. This often happens when certain teachers and preachers are discussed. When I was a new Christian, after forty-five years of disobedience to God, I was hungry to learn all I could about Him. I attended every Christian conference I could to hear from whoever was willing to share the Word of God. I wanted to trust everything they taught, figuring they knew what they were talking about, because thousands of Christians attended their conferences. Now, after seventeen years of seasoning, I realize some of these teachers were either wrong or flat out deceivers, but I lacked the wisdom and discernment to understand that at the time. But I was blessed to be in fellowships with solid, seasoned believers who were smarter and wiser than I was. They helped me to determine truth from deception by studying and understanding the Word of God. When I talk with young believers now who are caught up following a teacher who preaches incorrect doctrine, I am patient with them. I do not come out and blast them for following deceived teachers, because I once did the same thing. Instead, I listen and ask questions and use their answers to point us to the Word of God for wisdom and clarity (230)." ...more |
Notes are private!
|
2
|
Nov 30, 2016
not set
|
Dec 2016
not set
|
Sep 24, 2024
|
Kindle Edition
| |||||||||||||||
0316542229
| 9780316542227
| 0316542229
| 4.40
| 5
| Jun 1996
| Jan 01, 1996
|
really liked it
|
Admittedly, epidemiology is a rather dry subject that most people would not find it very interesting to read about. Fortunately, or unfortunately per
Admittedly, epidemiology is a rather dry subject that most people would not find it very interesting to read about. Fortunately, or unfortunately perhaps, I am not most people, and one of my characteristic responses in a period of health crisis such as our own time is to ponder and study the sort of field that deals with precisely these matters. While the material discussed in this book is rather dry because epidemiology is a highly historical and statistical field full of categories and the categorization and exploitation of data, some of which is not particularly available for huge swaths of human populations or huge spans of human history, these matters provide a great deal of interest to those who are able to look beyond the material that is covered itself to think and reflect upon the importance and context of this information and its reliability as well as its profound limitations when it comes to being able to address current events. And even if this book is admittedly a bit tough to get through if one is not fond of statistical analysis as much as I am, there are still reasons why one should know at least something about the methods and principles of epidemiology, not least because of the way that at least some people and institutions would seek to exploit the approach of this field for political purposes, which is always worth knowing. This book is about 300 pages of core material divided into ten chapters. After a preface and acknowledgements, the authors begin by defining epidemiology and looking at its history and aims (1). After that the book discusses the question of cause and matters of association (2) as well as a discussion of the grouping of ill people and the classification of disease (3). Another chapter then follows on measures of disease frequency within populations (4) and then the strategies and ways of formulating and testing hypotheses (5) to help counteract a given disease. The next three chapters all look at various ways in which diseases and their effects on population may be understood, namely through the dimensions of time (6), place (7), and person (8), where data about rates, local, regional, and international clusters of diseases, and the impact of demographics on disease can be important in understanding risk factors and figuring out strategies against illness. Finally, the book ends with a discussion of two sorts of studies in the field, namely cohort studies (9) and case-control studies (10), after which the book ends with references and an index. In the broadest and most general terms, epidemiology is a field that works best with large amounts of data (some of which may be admittedly private and somewhat intrusive to gain access to) as well as with the benefit of hindsight. For example, it was determined after the fact that cervical cancer resulted from a sexually transmitted disease in large part because of the stark lack of transmission among a population of not sexually active people (namely nuns). That this realization has not yet led to sensible restraint on sexual conduct but rather attempts to coerce small children to be inflicted with a dangerous vaccine is demonstration of the way that epidemiological knowledge does not lead straightforwardly to sound or moral policy. Likewise, the authors point out that moderate drinking of one to three drinks daily reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes, but uses this insight as a way of mocking neo-prohibitionists rather than giving credit to the Bible's moderationist perspective. Likewise, the historical and retrospective aspects of epidemiology should lead those who depend on this field to approach their studies with a sense of humility, but that does not appear to be the case from this book or from the contemporary behavior of those who are involved in the field. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Apr 10, 2020
|
Apr 11, 2020
|
Apr 11, 2020
|
Hardcover
| |||||||||||||||
1566192498
| 9781566192491
| 1566192498
| 4.00
| 65
| 1989
| Aug 15, 1994
|
it was amazing
|
This is the kind of book that could easily become a mess with such an unusual scope (namely swords and hilt weapons) and so many co-authors. Fortunate
This is the kind of book that could easily become a mess with such an unusual scope (namely swords and hilt weapons) and so many co-authors. Fortunately for readers of this book, there is a strong sense of cohesion in it, despite some repetition, that comes about because the book is well edited and because the authors did a good job of dividing up a massive subject between a variety of subject matter experts who all thoughtfully researched and wrote about swords in different time periods as well as different places. In having a dual organization by chronology as well as by region, the authors managed to strike a good balance when seeking to explain the way that the swords and other hilt weapons (like daggers and battle axes) managed to develop over the course of human history around the world, and how the design of weapons was dependent on a variety of factors from the sort of purposes those weapons had (whether for use or for ceremony), the nature of combat those swords were engaged in, and the systems of weapons that the people in question used and had to fight against, all of which led to plundering and the spread of certain designs. If you have an interest in military history and enjoy reading a solid discussion of weapons technology, this book is a surprisingly excellent read [1]. The organization of this book is quite important and also quite intriguing. The book has a variety of coauthors with different specialties in British universities and museums and other institutions (like the Arms and Armour Society). Its sixteen chapters cover 225 or so pages worth of material, and first look at what is deemed as "Western" military culture from the stone, bronze, and iron ages to Greece and Rome to the barbarian and Christian times of the Middle Ages to the renaissance to the shift from rapier to short sword in the sixteenth century to the wars of the seventeenth century to eighteenth and nineteenth century Europe. At this point the simple chronological method of organization stops and the authors look at combination weapons (gunblades and other examples), before looking at American swords and knives and the survival of those weapons into World Wars I and II. At this point the book jettisons the chronological organization altogether and spends the rest of its time looking at the regional histories of the Islamic world, Japan, China and Central Asia, India and Southeast Asia, Africa, and pre-conquest America. The result is a book that is strikingly complete and far more complicated than one would expect. So, assuming one has at least a slight interest in the development and change over time of military technology, what is it that one gains from this book? For one, the reader gets a sense of the complicated nature of the use of weapons. For one, these are not merely weapons of the past--bladed and hilted weapons continue to appear in active use, whether as ceremonial swords used by militaries around the world, or as part of the "Bowie" knives and other short blades that are issued to soldiers for active use in the field. For another, there has always been a tension between swords as a sign of social class and swords as a useful sort of weapon for self-defense. The authors here point out, rather subtly but no less profoundly, that the possession of weapons was a sine qua non of freedom within a society. Those societies whose elites wished to oppress the commonfolk did so often through the aim of limiting access to weapons, something that is of great relevance in our own contemporary political situation. This is a book that, like many books it seems, speaks about the past and manages at the same time to say something interesting and important about our own times and the fact that the battles that were waged over who could possess swords are important as models for the behavior of our contemporary corrupt elites. [1] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Dec 30, 2016
|
Dec 31, 2016
|
Dec 30, 2016
|
Hardcover
| |||||||||||||||
1582971552
| 9781582971551
| 1582971552
| 3.61
| 54
| Jan 01, 1987
| Jan 01, 2002
|
really liked it
|
This is the sort of book that appeals to a particular type of writer, namely the writer looking to turn their writing into a business. The fact that s
This is the sort of book that appeals to a particular type of writer, namely the writer looking to turn their writing into a business. The fact that so many such books exist [1] suggest that there are many people who have at least a bit of curiosity in monetizing their writing habits. This makes sense for at least several different groups of people--there are people who already write to such an extent that it makes sense that they would want to figure out ways to make it pay, and there are others who see other people making money as writers and therefore curious in doing the same for themselves. This book is admittedly a bit out of date, as it was written in the age before the world wide web and before home computers became ubiquitous. As a result, the advice in this book isn't particularly timely, nor is it likely as helpful as it would have been thirty years ago when the book was written. That said, where this book is still useful is the fact that it discusses an approach to monetizing one's writing that is likely generally applicable to the creative arts as a whole. This book is made of 12 short chapters that are around 135 pages total, and it is pretty clear that this book is written for people who want to get solid and practice advice without wasting a lot of time. Topics covered in this book include ideas that sell, slanting one's pitch to have greater focus, hooking the editor with good leads, using tantalizing descriptions, selling yourself through your bio, using shortcuts for research and interviewing, including self-addressed stamped envelopes with queries, querying agents and book publishers, avoiding certain downfalls and mistakes, using strategic submissions, learning from the anatomy of a winner, and power querying in order to develop a solid reputation. This is a book written by someone who clearly has done a good job at writing for money and has worked as an agent and an editor as well. This is a book that is focused on the business side of writing, not on the creative or artistic side. Indeed, the author expects that writers will be able to command inspiration by keeping up their writing and by working to develop a certain niche as a writer, with the goal of building networks with those who can help a writer not have to write queries but rather receive them. This is the sort of book that appeals to a writer with commercial interests. If you happen to have them, this is a worthwhile book. Obviously, the publishing business has changed a lot in the last three decades since this book was published. The fads that the author attempts to ride are in some ways still in evidence in our own age concerning technology and love and relationships and health concerns and so on. The real question is whether the author's model for the author is still a viable one. The decline of so many magazines and newspapers makes the author's advice for writers to make money on editorials and other features a bit more dubious. It is of little surprise that contemporary writers looking to encourage people to make money on writing either focus on writing newsletters for business or trying to monetize blogs or videos. Nevertheless, even though the specific advice of the author isn't really on point, the approach of the author is something that is of interest to me as a writer. If one is compelled to write and writes for hours a day, why not try to make money off of it? That's a sentiment I can definitely get behind. [1] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 30, 2016
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Dec 30, 2016
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Dec 30, 2016
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Paperback
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0517671077
| 9780517671078
| 0517671077
| 4.31
| 16
| 1842
| Oct 27, 1988
|
it was amazing
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In this book, which is somewhat equally divided between a text written in the 19th century by a German historian and translated for a contemporary aud
In this book, which is somewhat equally divided between a text written in the 19th century by a German historian and translated for a contemporary audience and reproductions of gorgeous drawings, I expected to see a certain romantic view of knights and chivalry. I did not expect to see quite the extent of German nationalism that I saw, and found very intriguing and noteworthy, but I did find this book to be far better than I expected to be. I was hoping for a somewhat light read that would give some enjoyable discussion about the Middle Ages and the cult of chivalry to be found there, but what I found was something considerably more in depth and something considerably more relevant to our own times. And for that, the author deserves some major appreciation in delivering a book that manages to have some surprising relevance for contemporary debates over gun control, which is not something one would expect from a book on the Middle Ages written 150 years ago when the contemporary mania for gun control had not even begun. Readers fond of looking at the culture of the Middle Ages will find much to appreciate here [1]. This book is really divided into two halves. The first half consists of roughly 100 pages of text that is considerably more serious than many people would expect, discussing the origins of the duel and the tournament within Germanic law and also the loss of freedom that resulted from the decline of central authority during the Middle Ages. Of particular interest is the fact that the rise of corrupt elites in many European countries was related to the loss of the right of commoners to bear arms, which puts an interesting spin on the relationship between corrupt and unaccountable elites and rising pressures on personal freedoms like the right to bear arms in the United States and other Western countries today. After this sociopolitical beginning the text moves to something more expected, namely the origins of the tournament and the trial by ordeal and the military power of the heavy cavalry and its end in the age of gunpowder and pikes with a resurgent infantry. The second half of the book consists of gorgeous drawings based on what look like woodcuts that show weapons and armor and various tournament scenes. This is a book that will likely intrigue and impress anyone with a strong interest in the military history of the Middle Ages. This is not to say that the book is above criticism, despite its considerable volume. Although the book does not succumb to the sort of romantic nonsense that one would expect, nor is it too cynical even if it is far more worldly wise than many readers would expect, particularly with its blunt views about the culture of troubadours, this book raises some unpleasant questions. For one, the author is far too quick to give Germans the credit for anything of value in terms of language and culture and technology related to chivalry. Even those linguistic and cultural achievements which contemporary thinkers would be quick to consider part of the inheritance of the Indo-European pastoralists are credited in the author's mind to Germans. This tendency would be more amusing except for the fact that Germany's troubled history in the 20th century indicates the widespread nature of unreasonably intense nationalism. The fact that a generally sober historian can fill a mostly excellent book with a worrisome amount of pro-German propaganda makes this book a harbinger of the doom that would fall upon Europe thanks to Germany's immense conceit and hubris. Despite this, the book manages to have a lot to say about contemporary society and is itself a thoughtful overview of the relationship between war and society in the Middle Ages as it related to the private ownership and use of arms as well as the social phenomenon of the tournament. [1] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014... ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 29, 2016
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Dec 29, 2016
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Dec 29, 2016
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Hardcover
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0330300539
| 9780330300537
| 0330300539
| 4.10
| 366
| 1967
| 1967
|
it was amazing
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This book has an interesting niche when it comes to writings about the aftermath of World War II. For a variety of reasons, I tend to reflect often ab
This book has an interesting niche when it comes to writings about the aftermath of World War II. For a variety of reasons, I tend to reflect often about the problem of anti-Semitism [1], and this book provides the immensely worthwhile perspective of someone who barely survived World War II and then devoted his postwar life to helping bring the murderers of the SS to justice from his base in Austria. One can understand his passion for justice to the extent that one has survived injustice, and it makes for a rather chilling sort of book where over and over again the author reflects on his growing insight about the behavior of the SS, particularly among the Volksdeutsche outside of Germany who wished to prove themselves as being just as German as native Germans and as a result were often very cruel to prisoners at the concentration camps. The author movingly speaks of the experience of Jews and others (including Gypsies) who suffered at the hands of the Nazis and points a finger at many of Hitler's willing and eager executioners, pointing out that in the aftermath of WWII and the start of the Cold War that any people around the world had to deal with the corrupting influence of living among unrepentant but hidden murderers. This book, which is more than 300 pages in length, is organized more or less in an episodic fashion, consisting of a variety of chapters of different length that detail various cases that Simon Wiesenthal was a part of, as well as giving flashbacks to his own experiences and that of others during World War II. Included are a mix of famous cases like that of Eichmann and Mengele and less familiar people including the SS officer who arrested Anne Frank and her family and a half-Jew who went undercover on Wiesenthal's behalf in the underground postwar neo-Nazi movement. Included among the chapters as well are the moving story of the Jewish boy who lit a prayer candle for himself when he was arrested by the SS because he knew that he was already dead, as well as a version of the thirty six righteous that had been the basis of a novel I had read when I was in college that also, perhaps not coincidentally, dealt with the Holocaust. The author also manages to write without too much bitterness, but with a certain amount of sarcasm, about the way that many people involved in the brutality of Hitler's Germany were doing business first or engaged in their own quests, and the author even discusses a castle that was a school for mass murder. There are a lot of people who likely won't like this book's perspective, but the author manages to make a compelling memoir out of his efforts to close the door on Hitler's Germany by facing the truth of the incompleteness of denazification. This is a book that deals with the question of global networks of former Nazis seeking to escape the dragnet of arrest warrants and Nazi hunters and enjoy the company of others of like mind. It is perhaps somewhat ironic that many anti-Semites consider there to be a worldwide network of Jewry intent on controlling the world when this book details an anti-Jewish global network. Perhaps those who are engaged in such transnational networks themselves, and struggle with the creation of codes and secret lines of communication are prone to project upon those they seek to target the same sort of behavior that they do. Those with a guilty conscience are often quick to consider others just like themselves, and this book makes it clear that the author is quite willing to risk danger to help ensure that the horror of the Holocaust never happens again, at least not if he has anything to say or do about it. [1] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2012... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2012... https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress... https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2012... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011... ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 28, 2016
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Dec 29, 2016
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Dec 28, 2016
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Paperback
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1598568205
| 9781598568202
| 1598568205
| 4.29
| 17
| Nov 30, 2012
| Nov 01, 2012
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it was amazing
|
[Note: This book was provided free of charge by Hendrickson Publishers. All thoughts and opinions are my own.] What would lead someone to want to intro [Note: This book was provided free of charge by Hendrickson Publishers. All thoughts and opinions are my own.] What would lead someone to want to introduce themselves to Ugaritic, an extinct member of the Semitic language family that was spoken and, for at least a couple generations, written in an unusual cuneiform alphabet in the city of Ugarit on the coast of present-day Syria? For one, the language itself is fairly similar to biblical Hebrew and not that much more distant from Arabic, and contains a great deal of influence from Akkadian, the first known written Semitic language. For another, although most known Ugaritic texts are either letters from elites, legal texts, or heathen religious writings about Baal and other false gods, the language does help explain some difficult passages within biblical Hebrew and also provides some of the context of the heathen religious beliefs that the Bible is written against, and some expressions that were appropriated by the Israelites in the psalms, and also another manifestation of the parallelism that is so characteristic of Hebrew poetry. So, if you are a fond student or scholar of ancient near est texts [1] who enjoys learning foreign languages [2], this is a worthwhile and enjoyable book to read to introduce oneself to Ugaritic. Although this book is fairly short at less than 250 pages, the author manages to include a lot of material of interest to the reader. The author begins by introducing the Ugaritic language, the city of Ugarit itself, the texts and genres found in that language, tools and resources, as well as the relationship between Ugaritic and biblical studies before discussing the scope and material of the book itself. After this the author has chapters on the orthography, phonology (vowels and consonants), morphology (pronouns, nouns and adjectives, numerals, verbs, prepositions and prepositional phrases, adverbs, existential, presentation, and clitic particles, and conjunctions), syntax (including sections on verbless clauses, word order and agreement, apposition, coordination and subordination, and clause/tense sequences), and the features of Ugaritic poetic texts. After this the author gives the reader the chance to work through translating some sample letters, legal texts, administrative/economic texts, as well as two of the more important historical and religious writings found in Ugaritic, before including a helpful glossary and a bibliography for future reading. AFter this the author includes a Ugaritic alphabetic script by John Ellioson, the answer key to the practice exercises included, and some paradigms for handling various cases and tenses, including the oblique case for pronouns and prenominal suffixes for nouns. The end of the book contains a large number of plates that show Ugaritic tablets as well as photos of the area of Ugarit for those readers who wish to get the most out of this volume. Who would find a book like this useful or beneficial? Someone with some familiarity with biblical Hebrew and an interest in comparative studies of literature will find a book like this to be a handy introductory volume to a language that is a lot like biblical Hebrew and shows the strong influence of Akkadian. This is the sort of book that is useful both for individual study for a scholar interested in ancient Near East languages as well as for coursework on ancient Semitic languages at a seminar or university level. If you are the sort of person who is fascinated with understanding the context and nature of consonant shifts in Semitic languages, which is related to the meaning of words, and want to become familiar with another language related to ancient Hebrew that has some intriguing literature in it, mostly from elite sources and a few scribal hands, Ugaritic is a worthwhile language, and this is a worthwhile book for instruction, one that will likely encourage many readers to take advantage of the many other resources that the author helpfully praises and discusses. [1] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2013... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011... [2] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011... ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 28, 2016
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Dec 28, 2016
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Dec 28, 2016
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Hardcover
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0805210601
| 9780805210606
| 0805210601
| 4.11
| 9,741
| 1969
| 1998
|
it was amazing
|
This book hit home in a more than usual way. In this roughly 300 page book, the first third is taken up with a narrative by famous Nazi hunter Simon W
This book hit home in a more than usual way. In this roughly 300 page book, the first third is taken up with a narrative by famous Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal where as a doomed prisoner in a German concentration camp he was induced by a mortally wounded German SS member to listen to a confession where the dying young man from a "good" German background [1] wished to repent and atone for an atrocity committed against a Jewish family as part of his duties. The author responded to this in silence but showed graciousness to the dying man and was troubled by his refusal, and also refused any of the belongings of the man after he had died. Later on, after surviving the "final solution," Wiesenthal recounts visiting the dead man's mother and responding in silence to her mistaken belief that her son was "a good boy." The second two thirds of the book consist of a variety of Christian and Jewish, and at least a couple Buddhist, responses to Wiesenthal's pointed and poignant question of what we would have done if we would have been in his place. Some of the authors were fellow survivors of the Shoah and others have survived violence like the siege of Sarajevo. The end result is a powerful book that has been profitably used in classes on the Holocaust and that has served as a thought experiment that many people have engaged in. For me the question is of more than mere theoretical significance, and my response to his questions bears some comparison with a personal thought experiment that I have run over in my own haunted and tormented mind. In my judgment, Wiesenthal was right both to respond to the self-comforting thoughts of the mother and the troubled attempts at atonement by the dying soldier with considerate silence. As he had not suffered the wrongs committed by the soldier, he could not forgive the dying man on behalf of others, since someone cannot vicariously forgive wrongs for someone else. Likewise, it would have been cruel to torment a widow with the truth about a son who had deliberately and fatefully chosen evil and died tormented by his sins. I have often reflected on what my response would have been had my father decided to come clean and seek forgiveness from me during those six weeks between his stroke in late December of 2005 and his death in early February 2006 from a heart attack either through reaching out to communicate by phone or by a letter dictated to someone, and it is my belief that I would have acknowledged the debt of honor he was paying and granted him the forgiveness he sought, not because he would have deserved it, but rather because it would have considerably eased my own suffering and my own struggles with being the sort of person who few people seem to seek forgiveness from or apologize to for reasons unknown. Part of the immense worth of this book consists not only in the reflections of Wiesenthal or of those who answered his query with their own extensive commentary, but in the way that the various readers untangle the different threads of what the soldier was asking for and what it was just to expect from the author or others in his position. Some readers showed a great deal of concern for collective guilt and the way that the dying young German appeared not to give truly repented of his guilt in viewing the Jews as a member of a class with a collective identity rather than as people each with their own relationship with God and their own individual worth. Others pointed out the issue of cheap grace and the question of God's silence or absence in the face of the horrors of Hitler's genocide, and there seemed to be a marked divide between the responses of the Jews as well as the Christians. Perhaps of some importance, my own thoughts mirrored that of the more thoughtful Jewish respondents rather than that of the professed Christians, for what it's worth. Regardless of one's perspective, though, this is an important book, especially as it encourages all of us to wrestle with the issue of forgiveness in our own lives. [1] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2012... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 27, 2016
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Dec 28, 2016
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Dec 27, 2016
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Paperback
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1449798977
| 9781449798970
| 1449798977
| 2.89
| 9
| Jul 31, 2013
| Jul 31, 2013
|
did not like it
|
[Note: This book was provided free of charge by BookLook/WestBow Press. All thoughts and opinions are my own.] If you take the bogus infiltration theor [Note: This book was provided free of charge by BookLook/WestBow Press. All thoughts and opinions are my own.] If you take the bogus infiltration theories of Finkelstein and the equally bogus New Testament higher criticism of Bart Ehrman [1] and the rest of the Jesus Seminar crowd, take away the charm and replace it with a smug and self-superior attitude of woefully misplaced confidence, you get something like this worthless excuse for a book. Where this book goes off the rails is with the author's insistence that he comes to the text of the Bible as a judge putting God in the dock, and is entirely unaware of the fact that the Bible account puts him in the dock as a defendant standing before God. Given that the author has some ulterior motives in seeking to attack Christendom through by attacking the validity of the scriptures, even when the author gets matters right like a criticism of proto-Orthodox and proto-Catholic churches, he does so from the point of view not that original Christianity is something to be followed, but from the point of view that in the multiplicity of various options like Gnosticism, there is a great deal of freedom for people to live without any fear of there being a single unified legitimate authority that can enforce doctrinal or behavioral uniformity [2]. Even when this book gets something right, it gets it wrong. It would be hard to imagine of a book that could manage to squeeze so many wrong-headed ideas about the Bible in the attempt to pass oneself off as an authority on the scriptures. The author manages to deal with chapters like Jesus Christ was a Jew, Paul was a Jew, and Peter was a Jew and then to totally fail to draw correct conclusions. After a while it became pointless to address the faults of the book, like the author's fallacious claims that Paul didn't cite any New Testament gospels (see, for example 1 Timothy 5:17-18) [3], or the author's adoption of bogus views on the authorship of NT books or holding to the documentary hypothesis or his view that the theology of various NT books was adoptionist or any host of other errors. After a while, one simply has to realize that the author doesn't know what he is talking about because he is citing as authorities other people who don't know what they are talking about and failing to address the scripture as it is. To make the author's claims even more risible, the author notes himself that higher criticism can go off the rails because of the flights of fancy that people can commit and fails to realize that in this book he is doing precisely what he notes as a danger of higher criticism. Perhaps the author means that one goes of the rails by taking the Bible seriously at its words and as legitimate, because nowhere does the author cite anyone who would be a reputable student or critic of scripture, because the author is not interested in obeying God or learning from His word, but rather debunking it so that he can live as he wishes while suppressing his conscience and denying any external authorities on his life. So, ultimately, this book is exactly where it should be, an obscure self-published effort that is likely to be read by few people. The author wishes to add his voice to the demented chorus of voices raised up against the Word of God, and in the process beclowns himself. Let us hope that few copies of this book find themselves to any reader, as any wood pulp used to make physical copies of this book would be better used to make toilet paper. This book stands as a cautionary tale to writers about the Bible, that those who presume to possess knowledge and insight about the scriptures when they do not are likely to embarass themselves particularly strongly in print. We would all do well to write a bit more prayerfully, in the knowledge that what we write can and will be used against us--this book, for example, shows that the author needs to move from the chaos of higher criticism to the cross and repent of his unbelief and seek restoration to God before he can pick up his pen and presume to teach anyone else about the Bible. [1] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2013... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014... [2] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2012... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2013... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011... [3] http://taylormarshall.com/2015/07/sai... ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 26, 2016
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Dec 27, 2016
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Dec 26, 2016
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Paperback
| |||||||||||||||
0718077563
| 9780718077563
| 0718077563
| 4.20
| 148
| unknown
| Nov 22, 2016
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it was amazing
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[Note: This book was provided free of charge by BookLook/Thomas Nelson Publishing. All thoughts and opinions are my own.] Being somewhat familiar with [Note: This book was provided free of charge by BookLook/Thomas Nelson Publishing. All thoughts and opinions are my own.] Being somewhat familiar with the author [1] and with the general circle of writers to which the author belongs, with the concerns about identity in the face of difficult pasts [2], and having looked at the book's focus on the self, I had some serious concerns about the book as I began to read it. Being very familiar with reading books that are not written with me in mind at all, I was not sure that this book would be able to avoid writing from a perspective that would alienate me as a reader. However, much to my surprise if not exactly my pleasure, I found out that this book was written precisely with me in mind in a way that I seldom see in writing, and I found the book to be rigorously biblical in its approach. This is not a book I saw coming, but is certainly one of the finest books I have ever read in the general subject of personal improvement. The author's perspective as a black man from a broken family gives him some instant credibility in writing about the need for forgiveness and rising above difficulty, and he deserves a great deal of praise for writing about self-improvement and personal responsibility in a day and age where many people like blaming others for their failures. This book is one whose title and subtitle are poor preparations for its contents. While a reader might pick up the book and look at its cover and think that the author is simply looking to spout of some contemporary new age ideas about self-esteem, the author quickly disabuses the reader of that notion when one reads the book. The examples chosen from biblical history, American history, and general culture are immensely powerful and the author does not mince words on the sort of people he is writing to. Over and over again the author talks about broken families, personal histories full of immense trauma and abuse, and the historical experience of oppression as being experiences that must be overcome and seen through the light of God's purposes rather than chains that fate someone to failure in life. The author talks about the struggles to rise above the past, to achieve long-delayed dreams and goals, and how one needs to be persistent and optimistic in the face of difficulties. Chapters include discussions about the layers of people, the importance of identity and integrity, the need to know one's true self is based on what God has created in us and not what we are doing at any particular moment, the importance of wilderness experiences as the training ground for greatness, the importance of building the roots of success from the inside out, the power of perseverance and perspective, and two chapters at the end that give seven steps to greatness. One finishes this book with a lot of value as a reader. One finishes with a sense of who the author is as a person, a man who has achieved a great deal of success in life and who is tired of seeing his own people--or people in general--who are held back by negativity or a desire to blame others for failure to rise above the difficulties of life. The advice and counsel of this book is from someone who knows that life is full of challenges and that some people will not get the advantages of others but can use their experiences and backgrounds as a source of strength, of resilience and empathy for others, as a training ground for faith and trust in God and the development of resourcefulness, that others may not have because they have lacked the experience of being tried and tested through immense difficulty. Not everyone could pull of a book like this one, but the author makes it clear that he speaks from the point of view who has struggled with his own identity and who wants to see the reader succeed in life, regardless of where they have been and where they are now. And that sort of goodwill and genuine concern is both impossible to fake and also of immense importance to the target readers of this book, namely people like me. Regardless of whether you come to this book looking for encouragement in dealing with a difficult personal background or whether one has found a certain amount of success in life but struggles with discontent and with patterns of self-sabotage, this is a book that offers the reader practical encouragement as well as thoughtfully expressed historical discussion and personal anecdotes, all of which make for a book that is concise at 250 pages, and even closes with the balanced approach that the thoughtful reader will want about the need both to find oneself and lose oneself simultaneously, a paradox that only deepens the book's achievement. [1] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014... [2] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014... ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 26, 2016
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Dec 26, 2016
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Dec 26, 2016
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Paperback
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0806111763
| 9780806111766
| 0806111763
| 3.75
| 12
| 1963
| Jan 01, 1994
|
it was amazing
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I received this book on Thanksgiving by some people who were trying to get rid of books to help in de-cluttering their house, and admittedly I have be
I received this book on Thanksgiving by some people who were trying to get rid of books to help in de-cluttering their house, and admittedly I have been a good place for people to dump books for the entirety of my life. At any rate, I did not have any particular expectations about this book, seeing as it is about New Mexico and the interactions of the Anglo and Spanish culture. And yet this book still managed to be Nathanish, discussing vagabondish people meeting unpleasant ends because of misunderstandings, people with the schizoid approach of seeking company and intimacy and yet solitude and isolation, people seeking treasure of one kind or another, including bringing books with them to far flung places [1]. Again, this book is a strange sort of confirmation that when someone reads as much as I do that nearly every book, even books about places one has scarcely seen and knows little about, has the opportunity to be Nathanish because one is such a literary person to begin with. That which we fill our lives with is what we resemble, and that is something worth considering and reflecting over. In a couple hundred pages, the author, who appears to be some sort of New Mexico folk historian, manages to insert himself into the history that he is writing about lost treasures. The book is a fairly loose collection of somewhat interconnected tales, but the theme that connects them is that they are treasures related to the local Spanish culture. Fifteen "chapters" take the reader through discussions on the climate of treasure and legend, the lost mines of the Organ Mountains, treasure hunters and prospectors, the treasure of "El Chato," the gold on smelter hill, the fate of who treasure belongs to, treasures hid in the fields, the Jesuit treasure of Bamoa, the author's involvement in the search for treasure, the lost Dupoint mine, the growth of legends about natural phenomena, a couple chapters on the Hermit of Las Vegas, Indians and Spaniards, and heirlooms of tradition. And although this book is perhaps a bit too self-referential it is actually a deeply enjoyable book for anyone who enjoys reading about the Spanish roots of New Mexico. Actually, there is something worth commenting here about the historical value of the book, even for those who have no interest in prospecting for gold or silver. The author notes that New Mexico is not the best translation of the Spanish Nuevo Mexico, but rather that the Spanish were expecting the American Southwest to be another Mexico, as full of gold and other loot as the Valley of Mexico, which is what connects these stories together of treasure seekers. The author even manages to uncover an early collection of religious plays from the fantastic Spanish playwright Calderon. This book ends up proving to be a treasure in all kinds of unexpected ways, by showing the roots of treasure seeking in the exploration and culture of the area, and the way that folk historians who record the traditions of others and investigate their factual basis manage to find treasures, even in the lives of eccentric and surprisingly cultured hermits and various bandits whose ill-gotten gains become the lures to future explorations and future violence. This is the sort of book that appears rather slight on its surface but contains surprising depth about our own disinclination to work for wealth when there is the expectation in every cave or every mine of silver and gold beyond one's comprehension or imagination, or even trunks full of valuable old books from 17th century Spain when there is no more obvious treasure to be found. [1] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 24, 2016
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Dec 26, 2016
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Dec 24, 2016
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Paperback
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1449795072
| 9781449795078
| 1449795072
| 4.47
| 15
| Jun 07, 2013
| Jun 10, 2013
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really liked it
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[Note: This book was provided free of charge by BookLook/WestBow Press. All thoughts and opinions are my own.] Writing travel memoirs [1] is something [Note: This book was provided free of charge by BookLook/WestBow Press. All thoughts and opinions are my own.] Writing travel memoirs [1] is something that has been done and done well for the last few centuries. When it is done best, it either introduces the reader into a world that they are unlikely to see but which might open their perspective to the experiences they are reading about. On the other hand, travel books depend for a lot of their reading value on the name recognition and official position that they hold. Most of the travel books that endure are sent by official emissaries of one realm to another--the diplomatic dispatches of Machiavelli, the diaries of Lewis and Clark, the writings of Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta all come to mind here, but even this book does not reach that level, this is still a worthwhile book that is constructed around a trip that the author spent in Afghanistan as a Christian missionary, something I can identify with a bit as someone who spent some eventful time in Thailand engaged in similar efforts. This is the sort of book that becomes a lot more bearable, and perhaps even enjoyable for some, the more one understands the context of what one is dealing with. This writer is real and pretty unfiltered about her experiences, and one gets a sense of the complicated tensions that someone goes through living in a place they know to be dangerous but where they hear a call to be. The book's contents are laid out in chronological order in the form of letters and personal reflections on the contents of those letters on the part of the author that appear like somewhat polished diary entries. The book is organized into fourteen chapters, four of which appear in the introductory part of the book (on preparing for the journey) and the last part of the book dealing with preparing for the inevitable return home, and the other ten of which appear in the middle of the book concerning the author's life in Afghanistan. The middle part of the book consists of a variety of matters that people who have lived in foreign countries likely remember well--the culture shock of being in an unfamiliar country, the struggles in dealing with alien legal systems and cultures, the loneliness of struggling with communication with those around you, the occasional travels to other areas to understand an area better or to vacation (the author, humorously enough, takes a vacation to Chiang Mai in the course of her trip). The author struggles with homesickness and also to appreciate modesty while retaining her godly discontent with the corrupt state of gender and ethnic identity in Afghanistan, and the reader can capture the complicated feelings and sentiments of the author as a godly professed Christian. For those readers who have themselves traveled to other nations on foreign missions, this book will provide a lot of reminders, and for those who have not, this book is a fair impression of what people think in foreign lands and how one copes with alienation and loneliness by doing a lot of thinking and a lot of writing. The title of the book is taken from an experience that comes towards the end of the author's time in Afghanistan, a reminder that even in a place that has as many struggles as Afghanistan does that there is beauty in the little and hardy roses that come up in that suffering land. One gets the feeling that the writer's life has changed irrevocably as a result of her time in Afghanistan, that she will appreciate her experiences and that they will likely continue to alienate her from those around her even as they shape her inside. Yet this book is not without its problems, for all of the fact that I can identify pretty strongly with her. The biggest issue I have with the book is I cannot tell whether the author is honestly that clueless about what is going on or if she is trying to portray herself as some sort of innocent abroad. Over and over again the author shows herself as clueless--including about the brothel next door to her house, and after a while the general obliviousness of the author becomes a key part of the narrative as the author wonders whether she should notice more. Had her obliviousness and cluelessness been approached with a bit of a sense of humor this book would have been improved, but the author is an earnest one. This is the sort of book that encourages the author to feel a great deal of empathy with her and her struggles, but one wishes she was just a bit smarter and more observant. One wonders what she will think of her experiences abroad in the glow of nostalgia and hindsight. [1] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A... ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 22, 2016
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Dec 23, 2016
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Dec 22, 2016
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Paperback
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0312204515
| 9780312204518
| 0312204515
| 5.00
| 1
| Oct 29, 1999
| Jan 01, 1999
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it was amazing
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This is a rare travel book that delivers more or less exactly what you are looking for. It gives the precise locations where it provides travel inform
This is a rare travel book that delivers more or less exactly what you are looking for. It gives the precise locations where it provides travel information for families and it does exactly what it sets out to do, no more and no less. Although they tend to age poorly [1], books like this are immensely entertaining. As someone who has traveled to many of the locations discussed here (South Florida, Kauai in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and Trinidad & Tobago in the Caribbean, and Tulum and Xel Ha in the Yucatan of Mexico, all of which are discussed here in some detail), I found a great deal of humor in the author's approach and although a lot of the information is out of date considering this book was published in 1999, there is a lot of worth in understanding the approach of the author to what makes a worthwhile family vacation. Even if the prices and options are likely to be far different for a family vacationing in these tropical locations, and even if one wishes the author had included Central America as well, the author does a good job at figuring out what fairly adventuresome children would enjoy about these areas, and that alone makes it a worthwhile read even after all these years. This is a book whose contents reflect a particular time, and the sort of book that would provoke a lot of commentary about what was considered appropriate for families and what political realities existed at the time the author wrote this book. The book begins with the author discussing planning the trip, urging ways that one could pack less and help to protect against problems of theft and illness in one's travels, and then covers four different areas: South Florida (defined as the area from about Sanibel to West Palm Beach and south), Hawaii, the Caribbean (organized in alphabetical order: Anguilla, Antigua, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Curaçao, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Martinique, Puerto Rico, St. Barhèlemy, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St., Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos and the US Virgin Islands), Mexico (specifically the Mayan Riviera, Pacific Coast, and Baja California). The book leaves out a lot--most of Mexico like its touristy north, the capital, or the port of Veracruz, it leaves out Cuba (for understandable political reasons) as well as St. Martin/Saint Maarten, and it doesn't cover any of America's other tropical areas (like American Samoa or Guam). Even though the astute reader will wonder why certain things were not included as the book's length at a bit less than 300 pages is by no means overwhelming, what is included is of interest--a variety of lodging from expensive to moderate to bargain/inexpensive, and a lot of varied activities including food, sports, and historical/cultural visits. The author has a pretty expansive definition of what children could enjoy, and is interested in culturally broadening and historically significant activities as well as that which is ordinarily considered to be fun. So, what would a family get from reading this book, given that its comments about cost are somewhat obsolete? For one, they get a sense of what the author enjoys from travel, something that they might share for themselves. Do parents and their children have a sense of adventure? Do they enjoy trying new foods (assuming they aren't deathly allergic to them) and enjoying beaches, horseback riding, sports, museums, fortresses, and swimming and other related activities? Are they fond of either expensive resorts, moderately priced hotels with some amenities, or roughing it by camping or trying to balance between safety and access to the beach? There is a lot to like here, and the author combines honesty and kindness in impressive ways, pointing out continually the need to be proactive against sunburn as well as diseases and also pointing out the dangers of traveling to a place like Jamaica. The author is at pains to remind the reader that in some places the intense difference between the standard of living of tourists and residents places certain areas under considerable strain, trying to get the intended reading audience to have a sense of empathy for those whom they see, and the author's wide-ranging approach to what is fun allows the reader considerable latitude in choosing their own adventure tourism, which is precisely as it should be. This is a book that deserves to be updated and expanded. [1] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 22, 2016
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Dec 23, 2016
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Dec 22, 2016
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Paperback
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9780984402
| 9780984402
| 3.98
| 2,532
| Sep 10, 2012
| Oct 23, 2012
|
it was amazing
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This book is one of a set of books about personality theory relating to children that I was recommended by a friend of mine. Being a childless bachelo
This book is one of a set of books about personality theory relating to children that I was recommended by a friend of mine. Being a childless bachelor myself, albeit one with a strong interest in personality theory [1], this book is not exactly aimed at me, except as a potential future parent. Even so, despite the fact that I am not in the target audience of this book, I would like to comment as an outsider on the fundamental assumption this book makes when it comes to dealing with children, given that at a length of nearly 400 pages it has a lot to say about our approach to childhood within the rubric of essentially humanistic psychology. Specifically, this book looks at raising children the point of view that parents have a solemn obligation to find out what sort of little people their kiddos are and tailor their parenting to the personality and abilities and worldview of their children to build up reserves of goodwill, avoid decades-long battles of wills, and avoid causing harm to children over painful and unpleasant childhoods. The author also repeatedly vocalizes the sentiment that it is never too late for parents to apologize for past misdeeds and seek to build a relationship even with an adult child on a basis of respect and understanding. The contents of this book are straightforward, even if the subject matter of the book itself comes out of left field in being another awkward aspect of the "whisperer" phenomenon by which human beings use empathy and understanding to bridge the gap in potentially exploitative relationships with simpler beings of somewhat sensitive moods and temperaments--horses, dogs, and children. Tuttle begins this book with a discussion about the reason for this book, the unconscious wounds that parents give children through not understanding and encouraging them, a discussion on the goals of parenting, what it means to be a child whisperer, and the importance of energy profiling. The author then looks at four types of children, numbering them from 1 to 4, and explaining their essential natures: type 1 as the fun-loving child, type 2 as the sensitive and emotionally intuitive child, type 3 as the determined and energetic child, and type 4 as the more serious and reflective child. This profiling takes up the majority of the book, and the rest of the book follows in profiling toddlers and parents, identifying the secondary energy types of children, understanding the roots of rebellion in disrespect, and looking at parental disciplinary approaches that do not work well for all children or most children (like spanking). The author spends some time looking at ways that family culture, the public education system, and religious culture may wound children as well and encourage parents to avoid negatively labeling their children and use their new-found knowledge to be more compassionate with their children and with children in general. Reading this book, as can be imagined, was a somewhat complicated experience. As the author does not approach children from a point of view that includes a robust understanding of the native inclination of children towards folly and wickedness, the author's humanistic view is a tad too optimistic. That caveat and criticism aside, there is a lot of material within this book that I looked at which a substantial amount of personal dissatisfaction given the rather harsh and abusive childhood on multiple levels I was subjected to. The approach of this book is like day compared to the night under which I was brought up. Looking at my own types within the author's rubric, I would say that I am primarily a serious-minded type 4 with fairly strong secondary type 2 sensitive child and type 3 determined child elements, and a somewhat naturally undeveloped type 1 sense of fun and lightheartedness. Like all personality theory books, this book takes the wholeness and balance of humanity and shows the roles and parts each type plays, the characteristic qualities of different types, the different energies and insights that different approaches bring. This book is one that reminds us that children come in different types and have different needs and different ways of seeing the world, and different worldviews and approaches. Parents and other adults would do well to seek to understand the kiddos around them and to redirect their occasionally irritating native inclinations to positive ends, a task that never ceases to be a challenge throughout the course of life. [1] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2010... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2010... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2010... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011... ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 21, 2016
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Dec 22, 2016
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Dec 21, 2016
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Paperback
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1601421451
| 9781601421456
| 1601421451
| 4.33
| 2,983
| Jun 2011
| Jun 21, 2011
|
it was amazing
|
This book, like a few others [1], was recommended to me by a friend of mine who I once briefly dated as a college student. It was a particularly good
This book, like a few others [1], was recommended to me by a friend of mine who I once briefly dated as a college student. It was a particularly good recommendation, as the author is a mainstream Christian leader in the Atlanta area who happens to be friends with Louie Giglio, founder of Passion [2] and a gentleman who speaks quite personally and passionately about matters of the heart [3] from the point of view of the Bible and Christianity. At the core of this book is a concern on the part of the author that many people do not examine and reflect upon and deal with what is in their heart. Their focus tends to be on outward behavior and not in inward states of mind that will eventually drive their behavior. For a variety of reasons, I am someone who has paid a great deal of attention to matters of the heart for myself and others, although I do not know how much good it has done me in a practical sense, given that it has tended to increase my caution and reflection, which tend to be rather excessive in general anyway. The book is organized in an interesting fashion, and one that is worth commenting on a bit. The author introduces his subject by going at length about the care that we take towards our physical hearts and the fact that when we have heart problems we tend to start by looking at symptoms and only later on realize that they spring from heart trouble. The author then examines four particular problems of the heart that are all related to matters of felt debt: guilt (I owe you), anger (you owe me), greed (I owe me), and jealousy (God owes me). After somewhat entertainingly talking about these problems in a highly confessional way, and in a way that might be a bit awkward or embarrassing to those who have much to reflect on concerning their own hearts, the author then discusses four cures for these enemies of the heart: confession to unburden our hearts from secrets, forgiveness to write off the unpayable debts that others owe us, generosity to increase our trust in God's provision, and celebration to replace our envy for what others have with appreciation for how God has blessed them. The author then closes in a somewhat lengthy discussion about his own family and about the issue of lust, which the author does not consider to be as much an enemy of the heart as the others, namely because if it were not for our lust/desire, we would seldom be motivated to form relationships and seek after intimacy at all. I know this to be all too true when it comes to me, as my own personal issues with intimacy are at such an extent that if it were not for my immense longing and desire I would not risk my heart at all when it came to matters of intimacy and romantic love. For all of its awkward oversharing, I found this book to be quite a worthwhile one. The book clearly diagnosed and gave practical and sensible treatments for problems that I have long struggled with, and that are pretty common in humanity at large. The oversharing of the author, so long as it does not alienate his wife and children, had the result of making it easy to identify with the author as a fellow person struggling to do the right thing, which is far better than the alternative of dealing with someone who thinks they have everything in their lives under control. When one gives corrective advice, especially in our present age, it tends to come off far better if one makes it clear that one understands problems from personal experience and has empathy and compassion on those struggling with the same issues. I am not sure why it is the case that identification is such an important matter, but I found that the author's ability to pinpoint these difficulties in his own life, and his efforts to overcome them, made this book a lot easier to appreciate and enjoy and to reflect upon than it would otherwise been had the author taken a different approach. If you find that your own heart is not doing as well as you would like, this is a worthwhile book to read and reflect upon as well, since many of us labor under the effect of various corrosive perceived debts acquired over the course of our lives. [1] See, for example: http://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016/... [2] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... [3] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2013... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2013... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2013... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2013... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2013... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2013... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011... ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 20, 2016
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Dec 26, 2016
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Dec 20, 2016
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Paperback
| |||||||||||||||
140411324X
| 9781404113244
| 140411324X
| 4.28
| 350
| 2003
| Feb 04, 2007
|
it was amazing
|
[Note: This book was provided free of charge by BookLook/Thomas Nelson Publishers. All thoughts and opinions are my own.] The brand of John Maxwell has [Note: This book was provided free of charge by BookLook/Thomas Nelson Publishers. All thoughts and opinions are my own.] The brand of John Maxwell has in recent years suffered a great deal of erosion in quality, which is perhaps inevitable when an author moves from original and creative writing to, progressively, the combination of formerly disparate materials into omnibus collections [1], and then the repackaging of existing books under a new title to pretend as if they were new books [2]. This book marks a further station along that road, and that is the reformatting of previously published materials for a devotional made up of the author's familiar and, to some, comforting leadership advice, in the manner of some previous authors [3]. Pretty soon, no doubt, will be the inevitable plundering of a posthumous Maxwell's notes for the raw material for future books that will keep the gravy train rolling for a few more volumes of feasts of scraps as has happened before to writers like Henri Nouwen and C.S. Lewis, authors, it should be noted, of far more profound and original thinking than Maxwell. That said, though, this devotional feels right. For someone who reads far more devotionals than I care to admit [4], this book has the elements of what makes for a good devotional--material that works in small chunks, a strong focus on scripture, easy-to-remember material that is suited to lists and bullet points. In fact, given the general unevenness of Maxwell's writings as a whole body of work, this devotional works remarkably well, reminding the reader that 365 small servings of the writer's thinking is easier to digest and appreciate than, to pick an example not at random, the entirety of the author's bible [5]. The contents and structure of this book are easy to understand for someone who is familiar with either devotionals or the author's body of work, or both. This is a 365-day format for a devotional, so each day takes up one small page, with the date, scriptural quotation (sometimes taking up more than half the page), a short paragraph or two of material, sometimes in bullet or list or chart form, and a citation of where the comment is taken from. Almost all of the devotionals are taken from previously written works, showing that the author has largely given up on original writing at this point in his career, but while there is a bit of repetition in the way material is covered and the author is a bit too fond of oversimplification, there is a lot of value here and those who like reading what Maxwell has to say about the importance of leaders and their character will find a great deal to appreciate here. After the twelve months of material there are a few pages left blank except for lines so that the reader, if he or she chooses, can write notes on the material contained in the book. This is a book that delivers exactly what it sets out to do. It slices and dices Maxwell's writing in such a way that it focuses on biblical essentials, making this perhaps the most Christian of any book I have read by the author. The book has no intellectual pretensions, has no embarrassments like praising the corrupt executives of Enron, and if it is not an original book in any way, it is at least a pleasing book. This is a crowd-pleaser, the book version of a best-of compilation from someone who has been writing books for decades, and this is the sort of book that one can get for a friend who is interested in Christian leadership principles without any hint of awkwardness or discomfort. There is little if any likelihood that there will be anything the author or anyone else will feel embarrassed about in coming years, as the material is fairly straightforward elucidation of Bible-based leadership lessons of the kind that any minister would be happy to give in a sermon or Bible study. And as much as I might want to, I can find little fault in it except for the fact that it shows an author and his literary estate looking to print new books without having new material to share, and and at this stage one ought to expect nothing but leftovers from this author. Good leftovers are still something to enjoy, even as leftovers. [1] https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... [2] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress... [3] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... [4] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... [5] https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2012... ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 20, 2016
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Dec 20, 2016
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Dec 20, 2016
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Paperback
| |||||||||||||||
0762188529
| 9780762188529
| 0762188529
| 4.78
| 9
| Oct 01, 2001
| Oct 01, 2001
|
it was amazing
|
For those of us who have read a great deal of material from Reader's Digest over the years, it can be a bit of a struggle to place this particular boo
For those of us who have read a great deal of material from Reader's Digest over the years, it can be a bit of a struggle to place this particular book within the materials that one can find within their pages. For the most part, what is found in here is not the sort of fragments of larger and better books that the reader can pick up elsewhere or four to a volume. Neither is the material filled with a great sense of humor, as this material is predominantly sentimental in nature. The result is a collection of nonfiction pieces ranging in length from short poems and personal essays [1] to far longer material that sums up to about 240 pages or so worth of material in total. This is the sort of book that many authors would want their work to end up in, and it manages to strike notes of religious faith as well as patriotism and love of family, all elements that combine in the very sentimental worldview of the Reader's Digest as a whole, and all of which mark this volume as one that is likely to appeal to a wide audience of readers. The contents of this book are fairly haphazard in their organization, as it must be freely admitted that this book does not really organize or divide its materials into an obvious scheme of organization except that of convenience. The stories in general tug at the the heartstrings and there are some poems included as well. Hope is taken to include a particularly wide net, including reflections on the loss of parents and children, suffering from cancer or other health woes, near death experiences, the loyalty of a young man to the Marines and the way in which that loyalty was repaid years later, the way in which blacks were finally motivated to serve as potential donors for those struggling to survive leukemia, and other such stories. Those who are so inclined will find many stories that will encourage people either to write about their own life experiences or perhaps shed some tears for the death and loss that are explored here. One hopes that the people who wrote the original stories received some sort of compensation for having their stories repackaged and shared in this volume for encouragement to readers, although it would appear as if few volumes of this kind can be expected now that writing personal essays has become so much more common online than in printed volumes. Even if this volume ends up being something of a relic in the face of contemporary writing and reading trends, it represents the sort of book that is worth appreciating. There are all kinds of works that are made up of the re-used scraps of the writings of others, and the personal stories of trials and endurance and the persistence of hope against despair that inform these works is well worth appreciating and celebrating. Many people in their own ways do battle bravely against despair for one reason or another, whether it is over health crises or the pull of deep suffering and loss and sorrow, and this book is the kind that provides encouragement to people that their suffering has meaning and that their own struggles are part of a larger story, whether that is the story of a young man with autism trying to rent flowers for his prom date, or whether one is looking at a brave three-legged dog who refuses to back down from a fight despite being somewhat overmatched to the struggle of people for dignity or health against unpleasant circumstances. All in all, these stories affirm a mixture of family, faith, and patriotism that forms the core of what has made Reader's Digest a trusted source of news and inspiration for generations, and that is something that many readers will treasure even if few volumes like this can be expected in the future given the logistics of contemporary book publishing. [1] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2010... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011... ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 20, 2016
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Dec 20, 2016
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Dec 20, 2016
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Hardcover
| |||||||||||||||
0679758348
| 9780679758341
| 0679758348
| 4.16
| 488
| 2001
| Feb 05, 2002
|
liked it
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This book is an example of what happens when an author is so up her own colon trying to promote a particular view of social justice that the obvious i
This book is an example of what happens when an author is so up her own colon trying to promote a particular view of social justice that the obvious if complicated nature of what she is trying to write get lost under the detail of generational patterns of failure. Coming squarely out of the leftist tradition of the press, this book seeks to serve as a case study approach of an immensely complicated and multi-generational set of court cases known as the Wilder case, which exposed the fault lines of the foster care system in New York City. This book was part of our gloomy book of the month club reading for CASA [1] and it fits pretty strongly within that genre of writing, being long (at almost 450 pages of core text) and as downcast as it is possible for a piece of journalism to be. If the author were not so resolutely pro-ACLU and so favorable to other socialists of that ilk, some of whom spend this book involved in disputes with other disreputable socialists and statists and others of that kind, this book may have been less depressing despite its material. As it is, the author chose a case that perfectly models the failures of the socialist and anti-religious mindset and manages to do nothing with it except argue for wealth redistribution as a solution to the moral failings discussed here. The contents of this book are organized more or less chronologically. We follow a troubled black girl, pregnant with a child and the survivor of rape and incest as she gives up her child to the tender mercies of public care and grows up scarred before losing her life to AIDS after a wasted life of shallow relationships and drug addiction, follow the life of that child, Lamont, as he too is chewed up and spewed out by that same system and has his own illegitimate child from a broken relationship and himself gets caught up in the system in turn. We see radical social reformers grow old and die and feel their life is wasted as a city deals with intractable problems where generational patterns of sin--specifically addictions, promiscuity, abuse and neglect--interact with larger scale social sins relating to racism and economic injustice in the face of scarce attention and resources to lead to mind-numblingly repetitive tragedies for those families who get caught up in the foster care system. New York is hardly alone in this problem--this book manages to go, briefly, to Minnesota where we see the same processes at work. We see judges and lawyers and social reformers argue over settlements and try to preserve or build political coalitions in the midst of a social contract that is unwilling to make any care for able-bodies indigents more pleasant than the least pleasant work would be, a social contract that the author hates but does her best to acknowledge, however grudgingly. The end result is a depressing picture of the glacial to non-existent pace of social improvement in the face of intractable problems of sin that the author simply cannot label for what they are. In the end, the author is left arguing for fundamental social change while having provided more than enough evidence to show the complete and utter incapability of the public sector to provide meaningful care or oversight of what it already has and failed to take responsibility for. The horrors one reads about the state of the foster care system in New York are not limited to that area alone. Anyone who has a familiarity with its analogous forms in other parts of our nation will find much in here that they understand rather grimly, and those of us who, by some sort of near miracle, avoided being caught up within the system's grasp over the course of our own tragic childhood will find much to puzzle over and muse about. Despite the author's failures due to her defective moral and political worldviews, this book does provide a sufficiently robust case study that those with more accurate worldviews will see the way in which the sins of fathers and mothers are visited on their children to the third and the fourth generation. What one does not see is repentance and many examples of people owning up to their own lives and to their failures to live up to the moral standards that make improvement in life possible. Instead, we see a lot of blaming, a lot of excuses, and calls for scarce resources to bankroll and subsidize failure generation after generation, where even the names of lead plaintiffs don't even change from one generation to the next in a broken system designed to help mitigate the damage of broken families. The children involved may deserve better, but no one can give it to them. [1] See for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... ...more |
Notes are private!
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Dec 19, 2016
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Dec 20, 2016
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Dec 19, 2016
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Paperback
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B01LW1DD9L
| 4.28
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| Sep 08, 2016
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it was amazing
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This book is short and demanding, and in many ways it reminded of C.S. Lewis' similar treatment in Mere Christianity, which is a compliment any book s
This book is short and demanding, and in many ways it reminded of C.S. Lewis' similar treatment in Mere Christianity, which is a compliment any book should consider itself fortunate to receive. Although Lewis and Bonhoeffer were quite different, they were contemporaries and, I believe, would have found a great deal of common cause concerning their views of Christian ethics, not least based on their similar views about the root of sin in pride. It is unclear how the two would have gotten along, but this book, fortunately, gets along very well even if provides a difficult and demanding and often paradoxical view of Christian fellowship. Contrary to a great deal of contemporary thought, the author does not view fellowship as being for the healing of broken believers, but one imagines that having written this book before the immense traumas of World War II that the author would likely have been at least a bit more compassionate on the other side of that horrible conflict had he survived himself. At any rate, this book is an immensely demanding one on the reader, and coming as it does from a large and continually growing body of work by and about the author's thought, it is worthy of serious reflection by the reader [1]. At the core of this book is a paradoxical truth that in order to live together with other believers, one must have an individual personal relationship with God, and that in order to have a good relationship with God one must have a relationship with other people that is founded upon love and outgoing concern. The author shows himself in this short book (roughly 120 pages) very concerned about the egotism that results from pride and the authoritarianism that seeks for strong leaders, which makes sense given the author's context in writing in the environment and context that led to Hitler's destructive and immensely disastrous rise to power. Including in this book are chapters about community, the day together, the day alone (in prayer, meditation, and intercession for others), ministry through service, and confession and communion. Throughout the book the author shows himself to be a loyal Lutheran but also one who was, perhaps more than most, attuned to the ecumenical spirit that many Christians would find appealing in the postwar environment, and the book opens with a short biography of the author for those who are not familiar with it already in greater detail. The author, in this book, manages to present a view of Christian fellowship that is rigorous and that requires a great deal of reciprocity and complexity in one's dealings. Believers are to openly confess their sins but avoid making a show out of it, and are to listen to the confessions of others so that secrets may be brought into the light and their power removed. Believers were to have sufficient time for personal prayer in their own lives, but those prayers were to be made with a concern for the well-being of others, starting with those closest to us, while the demands of individual faith were not to make us unsociable with others but rather more deeply united as believers. Most readers will find a great deal to challenge and as a call for repentance and struggle with the baser areas of our nature or with our own pettiness and pride that can make us difficult to get along with sometimes. The author is under no illusions about how hard it is for people to genuinely enjoy life together but he doesn't care about the difficulties we have in getting along with others--he presents the unsparing biblical demands of reconciliation and love and expects us to get on with the task of living up to the demands of Christian fellowship, which we will do, if time permits. [1] See, for example: https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2012... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016... ...more |
Notes are private!
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Dec 19, 2016
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Dec 19, 2016
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Dec 19, 2016
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Kindle Edition
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4.07
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it was amazing
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Jun 22, 2016
not set
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Sep 28, 2024
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4.15
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really liked it
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Dec 2016
not set
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Sep 24, 2024
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4.40
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really liked it
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Apr 11, 2020
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Apr 11, 2020
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4.00
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it was amazing
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Dec 31, 2016
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Dec 30, 2016
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3.61
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really liked it
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Dec 30, 2016
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Dec 30, 2016
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4.31
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it was amazing
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Dec 29, 2016
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Dec 29, 2016
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4.10
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it was amazing
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Dec 29, 2016
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Dec 28, 2016
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4.29
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it was amazing
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Dec 28, 2016
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Dec 28, 2016
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4.11
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it was amazing
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Dec 28, 2016
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Dec 27, 2016
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2.89
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did not like it
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Dec 27, 2016
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Dec 26, 2016
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4.20
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it was amazing
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Dec 26, 2016
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Dec 26, 2016
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3.75
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it was amazing
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Dec 26, 2016
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Dec 24, 2016
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4.47
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really liked it
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Dec 23, 2016
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Dec 22, 2016
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5.00
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it was amazing
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Dec 23, 2016
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Dec 22, 2016
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3.98
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it was amazing
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Dec 22, 2016
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Dec 21, 2016
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4.33
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it was amazing
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Dec 26, 2016
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Dec 20, 2016
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4.28
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it was amazing
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Dec 20, 2016
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Dec 20, 2016
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4.78
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it was amazing
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Dec 20, 2016
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Dec 20, 2016
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4.16
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liked it
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Dec 20, 2016
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Dec 19, 2016
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4.28
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it was amazing
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Dec 19, 2016
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Dec 19, 2016
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