Mythology's Last Gods: Yahweh And Jesus
William Harwood
Prometheus Books
59 John Glenn Drive, Amherst, NY 14228
ISBN 0879757426, 416 pp., hc, $53.00, ($37.50 from Amazon.com), 1-800-421-0351
First published in Humanist in Canada, Spring 1993.
William Harwood has history, archaeology, textual criticism, science and common sense on his
side.
It is a testimony to the overwhelming power of fear and guilt, that they are what religion has on
its
side, and yet most people are still religious. The religious method operates by assuming
conclusions
in advance, then forcing the evidence to fit. This is called theology. In Mythology's Last Gods
William Harwood practices history, examining the evidence first and reaching conclusions based
on
it. He studies the tribes of Israel and Judah, explores the questions raised by the Essenes, and
explains the relationship between Christianity and the polytheistic mystery religions of Europe and
the Middle East. He demonstrates that the orthodox version of history is actually mythology. The
conventional Christian view of Jesus is that he brought forth a new religion. The Jews stubbornly
refused to accept this improvement to their 'old' religion, so missionary work was directed toward
the gentiles who then became Christians.
Harwood has brought together a vast amount of material from many different sources, much of
which has been previously available. However, the research of religious scholars, who had
assumed
that their findings would support their faith, was suppressed and ignored when it did not,
sometimes
by the scholars themselves. In contrast to the standard view, Harwood shows that the historical
Jesus was firmly fixed in the Jewish religious milieu of the first century. Jesus was certainly not a
Christian. He lived as an Essene Jew, and died leading a fundamentalist revolution against the
occupying Romans, hoping to drive them out and to establish a theocracy on earth. This was
what a
messiah was for. It was Paul who first transformed the redemption of Judah into the redemption
of
the individual soul, to make it palatable to the goyim.
Jesus' real followers, the Nazirites, those who accepted both his messiahship and the Essene
version
of Jewish law, did not prosper, although they continued to exist as a distinct group for about 500
years until the Christians killed them off. Christian church councils maintained their power and
popularity by incorporating more and more of paganism and calling it Christianity. Thus, catholic,
orthodox or protestant Christianity cannot be considered descendants of Judaism, but are, rather,
extensions of paganism. Like fossils that look like an organism, but in which everything of the
original has been replaced by stone, the early church kept the vocabulary of the Old Testament but
replaced the essence with paganism.
How else does a propertyless commune become rich and powerful? How else does a
revolutionary
party of the poor and oppressed end up an elite of the rich and oppressive? How else does a man
who certainly believed it blasphemous to honour anything but Elohim, end up as a god? The later
church just renamed the old pagan gods. The deities that people had asked for favours became
saints that people asked for favours. Other deities became angels, (Michael, Gabriel, Uriel,
Rafael).
Mother Earth (Gaia, Isis), became the mother of god. The solar god, (Mithras, Ra, Apollo,
Shamash), who died at the winter solstice and was reborn three days later, was fused with the
saviour goddess, (Ishtar, Astarte, Ashtaroth, Persephone, Easter), and her divine offspring
(Dionysus, Horus), who had taken up the saviour functions when society decided that these were
too important to be attributed to a female, as they had been for millennia. The goddess (and later,
her son), had died in winter and had been resurrected each spring. These were all merged in the
new, improved mythological Jesus.
To state it again: the Jewish followers of the Galilean Yeshu ha-Notsriy never became Christians;
pagans started calling themselves Christians and persecuted Yeshu's followers to death. The
mythological Jesus is not Yeshu who thought himself the Jewish Messiah, but rather, is a result of
the transformation of a multitude of resurrected saviour gods and goddesses combined into one
myth. You may have read much of this information piecemeal. There are books on ancient near
eastern religions, biblical history, the Essenes, Ebla, the implications of archaeology, translation
problems in biblical text, textual criticism, Jewish revolutionary movements under the Roman
occupation. Although there are minor flaws in some of his peripheral arguments, and it is not
likely
that every speculation in the book will turn out to be correct, the general truth of the book does
not
depend on everything in it being correct. The essential information is available and has been
accepted as true. Christian scholars have, consciously or unconsciously, avoided synthesizing the
information from various disciplines, and have refused to draw the obvious conclusions.
Harwood also illuminates the history of Judah and Israel, which he shows were separate peoples,
only briefly united during Davidic times. The conventional view is that all of the stories in the Old
Testament represent a common history of the twelve tribes of Israel, of which Judah was one.
Although it was politically expedient under the monarchy to pretend that Israel and Judah had the
same history, they did not.
Lastly, the anthropology of religion shows that the first deities were undoubtedly goddesses. As
the
creator of life, the female principle was worshipped. When, around 3500 BCE, people realized
that
men planted seeds in women, causing offspring, a social and religious revolution began. If you do
not know what makes babies, there is no reason to restrict the sharing of sexual pleasure.
However,
if you believe that the woman is only an incubator for your seed, then it is necessary to ensure that
only the right seed gets planted. Not knowing about the female contribution to the embryo, the
woman's role was reduced to that of a flower pot, a container. Likewise, in the heavens, the roles
of
all the goddesses were reduced and made dependent on the gods. Therefore, everything which
had
previously been sacred to the goddess, became something to be abhorred. Many of the things
which
the Old Testament prophets railed against are actually places, rituals, or symbols sacred to the
goddess. Traces of all these ideas: ancient goddess worship, the division between Israel and
Judah,
and the Essene essence of Yeshu's teaching, are to be found in the bible. Harwood demonstrates
this clearly. His translations from the Bible may be the only translations where accuracy has not
been sacrificed to religious sensibility. They are worth the price of the book in themselves. They
reveal the bloodthirsty and dictatorial nature of Yahweh Elohim in a way that the King James
Version does not.
I guarantee this book will erase any vestige of respect you may still have for the Judaeo-Christian
tradition, and recommend it highly.
Greg Erwin
Reviewer
The Sea Chest
Toni Buzzeo
Dial Books for Young Readers
345 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
ISBN 097028800X, $16.99, hardcover, Approximately 200 Words
Lynne Remick
UndercoverReader@aol.com
While waiting for a small stranger to arrive from a distant land, Great Auntie Maita tells her Great
Grandniece a captivating story about her own encounter with a stranger.
"One icy night, howling winds blew towering waves against the shore..."
A storm announced, Maita's father-the lighthouse keeper--shines a light of hope for ships at sea.
As
the storm rages, Maita, Papa and Mama worry about a ship that has not made it ashore. After the
long night, Maita and Papa set off to see what the storm's blown up. They discover a bundled
mattress, and within the bundle, a sea chest with an even greater treasure tucked inside.
Set on a fictional Maine island and based upon a Maine legend, "The Sea Chest" combines hope
and
fate into a heartwarming story of adoption. Toni Buzzeo's poetic prose conjures intimate images
of
loneliness, storms, family, and last but not least, love. Buzzeo's words, coupled with Mary
Grandpre's (of Harry Potter fame) wet and whimsical oil illustrations allow you to hear the
screech
of gulls and the song of the sea as if it were right beside you. This talented pair has performed a
masterful collaboration on an enchantingly sweet story.
Negotiating With The Dead: A Writer On Writing
Margaret Atwood
Cambridge University Press
40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211
ISBN: 0521662605, Price: $18.00, page count: 180
Jan McDaniel
Reviewer
Margaret Atwood's contribution to "The Empson Lectures", upon which this look into the writing
psyche is based, answers questions commonly posed to writers and filters these answers through
not
only Ms. Atwood's experiences but also through those of authors from contemporary and earlier
times.
"The series provides a unique forum for distinguished writers and scholars of international
reputation
to explore wide-ranging literary--cultural themes in an accessible manner." With this guideline,
Ms.
Atwood assembled her lectures and later edited them into book form, prefacing each of the six
with
supporting literary quotations.
The thing I found most interesting about this book was that the author came at the questions from
two angles at once--from what the reader would want to know and from what the author might
feel,
explore and experience. Indeed, her childhood interpretations and the changes brought to them
during her lifetime seemed to be some of the chief points that led to Ms. Atwood's ability to
respond
as a reader. Example, the quote, "Everyman I will go with thee and be thy guide, In thy most
need
to go by thy side." Comforted in a child's search through her father's old books and a perusal of
the
Middle English play, the author later learned that the title character Everyman "is not on some
pleasant country stroll but on his way to the grave."
The intriguing title of this book is based on " . . . the hypothesis that not just some, but all writing
of
the narrative kind, and perhaps all writing, is motivated, deep down, by a fear of and a fascination
with mortality--by a desire to make the risky trip to the Underworld, and to bring something or
someone back from the dead."
What can the dead give us? A call to live, a warning, revenge and justice, riches and knowledge,
the
urge to procreate or leave a mark . . . and, perhaps, a forbidden truth . . . all of these ideas are
explored. "A book is another country," Ms. Atwood tells us. "You enter it, but then you must
leave: like the Underworld, you can't live there." Then she goes further in speaking of the poet
Rilke's Sonnets to Orphesus. "This poet doesn't just visit the Other World. He partakes of it. He
is
double-natured, and can thus both eat the food of the dead and return to tell the tale."
If you have felt this way or if you have wondered what motivates (drives) a writer to write,
Margaret Atwood's book is one you will want to read.
Accidental Courage: Finding Out I'm A Bit Brave After All
Joe Kita
Rodale Press, Inc.
400 South Tenth Street, Emmaus, PA 18098-0099
1579544940, $21.95, HC, 239pgs, 1-57954-494-0 www.rodale.com
Thom Rutledge
Reviewer
I was afraid to read this book, afraid of the comparison I would make between Joe Kita and me.
Silly or not, I was afraid of losing to Joe. And I have never even met the man.
But as soon as I read Joe's comparison of fear to termites ("Like termites, it eats at the framework
of
society, multiplies exponentially, and then one day reduces us to dust.") I knew that afraid or not,
I
would read on. My respect for the intelligence, insightfulness and cleverness of that one sentence
was bigger than my neurotic fear of Joe Kita, the man I have never met.
Accidental Courage is truly a unique book. Here is the set up in a nutshell: Joe Kita admits to us
that
he has lived a life of fear --- afraid of the bogeyman under his childhood bed, of thunderstorms, of
flying, of deteriorating health and the inevitable process of aging, of heights, of car accidents. He
even tells us that he believes in and is afraid of ghosts and admits (he says for the first time to
anyone) that he is afraid of peeing in public places. The nutshell of the nutshell: this man is willing
to
be vulnerable.
In fact, Joe Kita has spent a year living in his vulnerability, pushing on his fears, walking not only
toward them, but right through them. Accidental Courage is Joe's chronicle of facing 13 (no
accident
in that number, I'm sure) of his greatest fears. He subjects himself to one challenge after another,
from spending a night under his childhood bed, to working as a high-rise window washer, to
doing
five minutes as a stand-up comedian, to trying to spend a night with Lizzie Borden, to having
knives
thrown at him. Joe's courage (I question the "accidental" part) seems to speak directly to his fear,
saying, "I am going straight to hell; you can come with me if you want." And then he emerges
from
each of his 13 hells, not surprisingly, a stronger, wiser man.
Part of that wisdom --- Joe admits to his own surprise --- is that the result of his year long
experiment was not fearlessness, but a deeper understanding and appreciation for the part fear
plays
in our humanness. "In life," he concludes, "there are two diametrically opposed forces:
self-preservation and self-development. They are at continual war --- our fear of the new and
uncomfortable versus our desire to learn and grow." Joe understands that some fear, like termites,
eats away at us constantly, and some fear guides us, protects us, challenges us, and ultimately
leads
us straight through to the other side of our personal hells.
As a psychotherapist working with so many fears over the past 20 years, and more pertinently, as
a
frightened man myself, I felt strangely calm, energized, and affirmed as I closed Accidental
Courage.
I felt less competitive with Joe Kita and more like we might be brothers in our common
humanity.
If I ever meet the man, however, I may still challenge him to arm wrestle.
Why God Has Gray Hair
Sophia Zufa
Echelon Press
P.O. Box 1084, Crowley, Tx 76036
ISBN 1590801458, $8.00, 150 pages
Maureen Blevins
Reviewer
From the opening paragraph to the last, Sophia Zufa's 'Why God Has Gray Hair' is a highly
entertaining collection of stories and anecdotes based on the author's own experiences in a
Catholic
elementary school.
Weaving a rich tapestry of memories and emotions she carries us from that first, hesitant day of
school through her 8th grade graduation. " my mother says it is something that happens to
everyone. I am six years old and therefore must go to school. Who invented it? Maybe that is one
of
the things I will learn." Set in the 1930's, the years of the Great Depression, the author paints
vivid
pictures of collecting marbles, picking up coal that has fallen from boxcars, and quarantine signs
on
front doors. Yet there are a few aspects of those 'good old days' that make you wish you could
bring
back some of the simpler times - like walking to Midnight Mass on a snowy Christmas Eve. We
meet Zufa's parents, her brothers, her teachers, schoolmates and neighbors and assorted other
characters along the way.
Charmingly told through the eyes of her childhood most of the book is humorous and will keep
you
smiling, even laughing out loud at times, yet don't be surprised to find a lump in the throat once or
twice as well. If the Catholic Experience is universal, the elementary school experience is even
more
so. I'm sure every class had it's own clumsy, not too bright Peter Umisal, an Anna May
'teacher's-pet'
Vestal, and a perennial trouble- making Leonard.
A delightful, easy read, I highly recommend 'Why God Has Gray Hair'.
Why God Has Gray Hair
Sophia Zufa
Echelon Press
P.O. Box 1084, Crowley TX 76036
http://www.echelonpress.com/Catalog/element/szwghgh.htm
149pp.; May 2002; ISBN Numbers:
PDF/Glassbook: 1-59080-141-5; MS Reader: 1-59080-143-1; Rocket: 1-59080-142-3
Palm: 1-59080-144-X; Multiformat: 1-59080-145-8; 4.00 USD download
$5.50 3.5" Floppy diskette; $8.00 CD-ROM in Collector DVD Case*
Pogo, Reviewer
pogomcl@dowse.com
A classic collection of anecdotes and sketches of daily life within a Catholic school in Small Town
America. The stories are narrated through the experiences of a child, but reflected through the
eyes
of an adult. Opening with the Ten Commandments and the prescribed, "thou shalt nots" of
pre-Vatican II, the reader enters the elementary classroom for the first introduction to Sister
Camela,
who smells of Palmolive soap. Refreshing portraits of community life, the author invites us into a
world of innocence.
The anecdotes are nostalgic and light, but free of sentimental kitsch. With photographic skill, the
writer is able to capture the past, presenting the different characters as familiar faces we've known
personally. With shrewd perception and ability, Sofia Zupfa creates a character deftly with a
turn
of a word or phrase like a master potter sitting at his wheel. With no excuse for plot, Zupfa freely
explores each character's personality, effortlessly presenting a realistic miniature of the world
comparable and memorable as Anais Nin's, Under a Glass Jar. The clarity with which she
presents
the children and the teachers in their environment is remniscent of Saroyan's classic, My Name is
Aram, set in rural California with a mad uncle and irrepressible cousin. Although Why God has
Gray Hair is set in Illinois, the children do not come from an extended family clan, but bonded
through their social interaction within the school. The characters are intimately identifiable to the
reader who remembers his own frustrations with certain teachers and secrets that he whispered
with
his friends. We recognize immediately the bully, and are gleefully happy when he is defeated by
the
school's tomboy.
Entering the school on the first day, in the first year, we are confronted by the first-grade teacher
who rules over us, and proudly disdain the interest of parents afterwards waiting for us:
"How did it go?" It is the first question my mother asks me.
I shrug my shoulder. I haven't forgotten how she left me in a strange environment.
"Tell me about your teacher."
"She's nice. Not the type to abandon children certainly." (p8)
recognizing our personal independence as grown-up kids in small shoes, learning to read our first
books and write our first block letters. Written with the subtle humor of the Capek brothers,
Zupfa
delights in creating realistic portraits and miniatures that reflect the diversity of children within
any
given classroom through the skilful use of dialogue.
Naturally, we are introduced to Father Thaddeus, who "was the pastor of the parish since the
beginning of time...He was always there as though he had been created out of nothing, like Adam,
except that he came completely accessorized, with cassock, biretta, clerical collar and the rest...
The
nuns instilled in us a respectful fear of God's avenging wrath and Lucifer's wiles, but what we
feared
most was Father Thaddeus who seemed a lot closer." (p9)
As children, we view Father Thaddeus the Grand Inquisitor, when he enters the classroom door
the
first Friday of each month to quiz us on our catechism. We sympathize with Sister Coletta, who
dreads his authority equally, standing " humbly to one side, her arms folded in the wide sleeves of
the habit, a tight-lipped smile trying to hide her anxiety. If we embarrassed ourselves, we
embarrassed her, whose job it was to teach us the rudiments of true faith." (p9)
But fear intimidates and paralyzes students so that they cannot speak and the inevitable happens.
for
only fools have courage where the wise refuse to lead:
"One day in third grade Father Thaddeus asked, "Can anyone tell us who parted the Red
Sea?"
He waited for a show of hands, but only one hand was raised. It was the hand of Peter Umisel, the
dumbest kid in class.
"Thirty-seven third grade pupils and only one knows the answer?" His expresion was somber. It
was
indeed a sad situation.
"What's your name?" he asked Peter. Peter told him. "Now tell us who parted the Red Sea."
"Columbus," Peter said without the slightest hesitation. Father Thaddeus's right eyebrow shot up
as
he looked at Sister Coletta, who looked at the floor. He adjusted his glasses. "Then who
discovered
America?" Peter Umisel thought a moment, "George Washington?"
Some of the pupils began to snicker. The sharp slap of Sister Coletta's hands coming together was
like the report of a gun going off. We knew we were in for it. (p10)
Catechism learned through repeated question and answer, we memorized and forgot
answers:
QUESTION: What is the difference between a mortal sin and a venial sin?
ANSWER: Ten venial sins are equal to one mortal sin.
QUESTION: What are the Seven Sacraments?
ANSWER: Baptism, Holy Communion, Confirmation and four others.
QUESTION: What are the three persons of the Blessed Trinity?
ANSWER: Jesus, Mary and Joseph. (p12)
With the first lessons appropriately digested, we face the new terror of making it through First
Confession with every trivial sin counted and memorized like a litany. Intimidated, we stand in
line,
hoping to escape rigorous interrogation with Father Thaddeus as we await the Final Judgment.
Dismayed we find that he sits at the communion rail where he can see all thirty-five of us, juvenile
reprobates, making it is impossible to escape his gaze. Trembling, sins of childhood are recounted
,
but nothing about the rubber mouse that was slipped into Raymond Depoot's coat pocket and the
Act of Contrition is recited. The Penance of saying three Hail Mary's and three Our Father's is
meted out as an act of righteous punishment. Relieved of your sins, you escape with the promise
of
beginning a new life.
Childhood experiences with illness and quarantine are recounted with delicate detail of the time
when Clementine, who once won the spelling bee, came down with scarlet fever and lost her
hearing
and grandmother was treated by the country doctor using leeches to clear her blood of impurities.
Photographic in detail, we watch intently as they are applied:
It was the first time that I had ever seen leeches up that close. They seemed to be made up of
several
sections attached to each other, like the wooden snakes in the novelty department at Woolworth's
and had what looked like suction cups in the head and tail. Pretty soon they all stopped moving,
getting rounder and rounder, turning from their original grayish color to a brownish red. There
were
beads of sweat on my grandmother's arms and forehead. Her chest was moving up and down, so I
knew she was still breathing. (p30)
Through the child's eyes we are confronted with the tragedies of epidemics and death in the
intimate
circle of the family with the reassurance of the faithful doctor standing near.
In school, there are tribulations also, but they come in the form of Sister Misercordia, who is the
principal of the school and metes out punishment appropriately for cheating on tests, cussing and
physical assaults on other students. Known for her stern application of the yardstick, the
principal's
name get changed to Stalin for her administration of justice on two boys, Louis Gopnik and
Leonard Bazant who are perpetually in trouble. When she becomes the classroom teacher in lieu
of
an ill teacher, classrrom discipline miraculously becomes orderly without any distracting
incidents.
However, with the return of Sister Hedwig to the classroom, normal pandemonium broke out
with
the expected results. The normal punishments imposed of after school detention time and copying
the Pledge of Allegiance twenty times, Sister Hedwig calmly notes to the students that "Stalin is
back in business." The code-names of kids being received by their teachers who share similar
secrets.
With skilful dialogue and acute understanding of her characters' private lives and fears, Zupfa
creates
scenes reminiscent of Frank O'Connor's, First Confession with the subtle humor of the Capek
brothers. We enter the world of the children and share with them their joys and sorrows; their
hopes
and anxieties. Through the succession of stories, their personalities develop as they pass from one
year to another, maturing and facing new conflicts and problems of daily life. Nor are they
immune
to personal danger, whether physical or psychological. We meet the bullies that prey on weaker
children, and discover child abuse through the experience of one sexually molested, innocence
robbed when chances are sold door-to-door for the school's support:
"Once Mr. Olson won, but he didn't want a prize. Instead he wanted Marietta, the pretty seventh
grader, who had sold him the winning chance to come back the next day to look at some new
kittens. She did. he gave her a packet o gum and invited her back so that she could hold the
kittens
and see how soft their fur was. She accepted the invitation"
The innocent acceptance of Marietta is contrasted with the deviance of Mr. Olson's plans:
"He asked her to sit down, and touched her where she did not want to be touched." (p37)
Unable to speak about it with adults, she confides it to a friend who relates it to a parent.
The Sisters are wrongly blames of something they cannot know, but the psyche of the child is
forever altered through the wandering hands of a man. Without bitterness, the memory is related
about something that happened, but cannot be changed. With such deft strokes, Zufa awakens
our
intimate emotions that we dare not show anybody.
Through daily encounters with personal crisis and moral dilemmas, the reader grows with the
children through their daily struggles and activities. It is not the unusual that is captured here, but
the common in umcommon detail with the preciseness of Albrecht Duerer's pen or Van Gogh's
Potato Eaters that we understand the interaction of the entire community. Cleanly writen, the
narratives are worthy of literary nomination, comparable to some of the best authors of this
century.
Poignant, they are reminiscent of Anais Nin, humorous of Capek and O'Connor and vivid of
Saroyan. Precious cameos, set within the frame of time, they are jewels from a writer's pen.
Getting Things Done: The Art Of Stress-free Productivity
David Allen
Viking Books
c/o Penguin Putnam Inc.
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
ISBN: 0670899240, Hardback, 267 pgs, List Price: $24.95, 1-800-847-5515
www.amazon.com
Kathy Burns
Reviewer
"Getting Things Done" is a book that teaches you how to do just that: get things done. If you're
like
most people today, you're busy trying to juggle business, family and personal items all at once,
and
sometimes a ball (or two) gets dropped.
In this book, David Allen provides a complete system to help. The process itself, affectionately
referred to as "GTD" by loyal followers, is one of the most useful I've personally found.
The problem is almost universal: Knowing what you want or have to do in life is one thing, but
actually moving forward with it can be a huge challenge. This is especially true for all of us that
have
never-ending task lists and/or large, long-term projects on our plate. Looking at the mile long task
or project list can be overwhelming -- and cause you to simply not do anything at all. In this book,
David explains how to break projects, goals and tasks down into single item, doable, actions.
Now this is an extremely simplified explanation of the GTD process, but it is comprised of a few
key
items: The Project List, The Someday/Maybe List, and the Next Actions list. Integrated into these
key items is: Inbox, Outbox and File Cabinet management.
While all of these components are integral and useful parts of the entire system, the Next Actions
list
is where the majority of your productivity takes place. In short, a Next Action is the very next
thing
you need to do in order to move something forward. So instead of looking at a project and
wondering how you'll ever be able to handle it, you simply break off a very small chunk -- the very
next thing that has to be done -- and focus on that chunk by itself. Once that chunk is completed,
you then break off another -- the next thing that has to be done -- and so on.
I won't try to explain all of the intricacies -- David did that with over 250 pages in this book -- but
I
will tell you this: David's system is extremely useful and easy to learn.
You can start reaping the rewards of "Getting Things Done" before you've even finished the
book.
I've also found it very handy to keep on the reference shelf for further consultation as I'm refining
and customizing my own enhanced productivity system.
I am a fan of practical, informative books with examples -- this one really fits the bill and I highly
recommend it.
Wisdom Of The Sadhu: Teachings Of Sundar Singh
Sadhu Sundar Singh
Plough Publishing House
Rt 381 N, Farmington, PA 15437
ISBN 0874869064, $12.00, softcover, 218 pages, 1-800-521-8011 www.plough.com
Kim Comer
Reviewer
Mourned by millions at his death, Sundar Singh (1889-1929) awaits rediscovery at the dawn of
the
21st century. Though known in his lifetime as India's most famous convert to Christianity, that
reputation is misguided, for Sundar Singh never accepted the religion as such but emphasized
instead the life-changing starkness of Christ's original teachings. If anything, he was the ultimate
heretic - an uncompromising critic of convention, and a scandal to the comfortable. Leaving the
wealth of his home at sixteen to live as a sadhu, or wandering holy man, Sundar Singh's
beggar-like
existence, his intense bhakti (devotion), his mystical encounters with Jesus, and his simple yet
profound parables became the stuff of legends. No one who met him - including the thousands
who
flocked to hear him during two visits to Europe - was unaffected by this modern St. Francis.
Though hugely popular in India and Europe during his lifetime, Sundar Singh's writings have not
been readily available to readers in the English-speaking world for decades. Now, with this superb
collection of anecdotes, sayings, parables, and meditations, his spirit has been brought alive for a
new generation.
The first section of the book, "Scenes," contains impressions from key events in his life. It is
based
both on accounts by Sundar Singh himself, and by writers who knew him. The second,
"Conversations," contains dialogues that draw freely on material from all six of Sundar Singh's
books, as well as interviews and articles. Both sections are interspersed with parables that
punctuate
the themes. Though structurally unusual, the resulting collage allows us to encounter the sadhu in
the way his contemporaries did: not as a systematic thinker, but as a personal teacher.
In his teachings as in his life, Sundar Singh offers little by way of rational orientation. He defies
categorization and critical analysis. The impact of his message, however, is always direct and
immediate. His voice rings with a clarity that rises from the deepest, clearest sources of life itself.
Couched as they are in a distinctly Indian idiom, his teachings probe the essence of the Gospels
with
unusual freshness and offer insights of great depth and value to every serious reader.
April 1865: The Month That Saved America
Jay Winik
Harper Perennial
53rd St. New York, New York 10022
ISBN: 0060930888, $14.95 1-800-242-7737
Meredith Campbell
Reviewer
April, 1865 saw the burning of Richmond, Lee's retreat and surrender, Lincoln assassinated, the
Federal government nearly decapitated, Northern chaos, a South economically and socially
devastated, failed negotiations, continued bloodshed, and a daring, last-ditch southern strategy for
Guerrilla warfare. April also saw the emergence of a truly united nation, a movement away from
saying "the United States are " to saying instead, "the United States is." That such unification
occurred was " almost miraculous," says author Winik, former consultant on foreign affairs and
now a senior scholar at the University of Maryland's School of Public Affairs. The month proved
to
be, Winik writes, " perhaps the most moving and decisive month not simply of the Civil War, but
indeed, quite likely, in the life of the United States."
Winik proves this thesis in riveting prose that is anything but dry. The reader finds himself
enthralled
in what seems to be a novel's fast-paced plot or well-delineated biography. Uniquely set within
worldwide events, the writing is vivid, fraught with meticulous research. Writing from eyewitness
accounts Winik notes that Lincoln is "thirty pounds underweight and dreadful solemn." When
faced with surrender, Lee achieves what may be "his finest moment ever" as he considers but
disobeys Jefferson Davis's orders and rejects guerrilla warfare. The reader experiences Grant's
migraine headache as he rides to meet Lee at Appomattox. The narrative liberally peppered with
dialogue taken from actual diaries and letters, the reader hears Robert E. Lee's anguish, when
observing the rout of the Confederate line at Saylor's Creek, '''My God!''' Has the army been
dissolved?"' General Bill Mahone riding at Lee's side is " Deeply touched, he took a moment to
steady his voice, then quickly offered words of encouragement. "' No General, here are troops
ready
to do their duty."'
The best story telling of the book occurs at Ford's Theatre, the night Lincoln is shot. Mary
whispers
to her husband, "What will Mrs. Harris think of my hanging on to you so?" At the moment of the
fatal shot the crowd that " bursts into laughter and a round of applause, punctuated only by the
lone, muffled sound of an otherwise loud noise, like a violent clap of hands, or the crack of wood,
or
perhaps a firecracker."
Jay Winik not only writes accurate history but also a rollicking good story. Read it. It just may
change the way you see the war's end and the nation's new beginning.
Search Engine Optimization Strategies
Art Dacor
USA LLC
3727 West Magnolia Blvd #489, Burbank CA 91505 USA
ISBN: 0-9719071-0-2, Format: PDF (257 pages) Price: $29.95 Phone/Fax: 818-688-3292
http://www.searchengineoptimizationstrategies.com/book.html
Anyone marketing an online business knows the importance of getting top listings in search
engines.
Your site may be listed, but how far down the list is it? Michael Wong, a search engine
optimization
specialist, achieved over 2000 top 30 positions for one of his company web sites. In this ebook he
shares the secrets of his success so you can get your own site ranked at, or near, the top of the
lists.
Whether you are new to online marketing or a seasoned professional, there are tips here that will
help you draw more visitors to your site. If you've been spending your time submitting to search
engines without doing some preliminary research on how the various search engines work, you
have
likely not reached the level of success - to get into, and stay in the top ranks. Search Engine
Optimization Strategies: Top 30 Search Engine Optimization & Submission Strategies For
Dummies
Michael Wong is an ebook which contains detailed descriptions of many different search engines
and explanations of how they work.
You'll find information about all the leading search engines: how often they search the web, how
they index pages and what unique features are peculiar to each one. Having this information at
your
fingertips will save you months of research.
Meta tags, robot tags, link popularity as well as pay-per-click, JavaScripts and keywords are fully
explained with easy to follow tutorials complete with sample HTML code.
Written in an easy-to-understand style, and containing an excellent index, this ebook answers all
the
questions on how to optimize your web pages for top ranking. If you're serious about showing up
well in the search engines, and you're willing to take the time to read and follow the advice given,
this book will teach you how to develop web pages that will enhance your online marketing with
good search engine placement.
Very comprehensive, I would venture to say this is the definitive ebook on search engine
optimization and is a must have for any webmaster's library.
Whispers In The Night
Robert L. Hecker
Double Dragon Publishing
http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/
ISBN 1-894841-10-7, $TBA, Romantic Suspense, eBook, most formats
E. L. Noel
http://www.writers-exchange.com/epublishing/
Imagine quietly sitting in a university classroom and suddenly finding yourself standing before
Hitler,
a reluctant guest in his office, recipient of a demand that may lead to your death. Imagine being
married to a man who is one of Hitler's inner circle, a man willing to sacrifice his wife for his
career.
Imagine the occultic involvement of "reading" for Reichsfuhrer Himmler, "the most brutal of the
brutes".
Sandi Boeckel, a modern day young woman who has it all, is subjected to just such a terror, not
once but repeatedly, through an electrifying, unexpected past-life regression. How can she explain
what's happening to her? Is she truly losing her mind, a danger that not only seems likely, but
leans
toward fact? Sandi--or perhaps another woman from the past, the Countess Helga von
Waltz--finds
herself at the mercy of these overpowering breaks in reality, helpless to stop them, unable to live
with them.
Psychologist Dan Bradon is witness to one of Sandi's episodes, and more than anything Dr.
Bradon
wants to prove the existence of past lives and the reality of regression. But he fears losing control,
fears that Sandi will pay for his ambition, and he has good cause, for there's a terrible secret in his
past, one that may do Sandi great harm. To aggravate the already explosive entanglement of past
and present, he finds he is falling in love with her, compounding the problem a hundred fold,
because
Sandi is engaged to another man.
Award winning author Robert L. Hecker is a master at creating suspense, at communicating
Sandi's
terror when faced with the Nazis; Himmler, Roehm, Eichman, Hitler himself. The wonderful
details
of Berlin bring the story to brilliant life, and glimpses of the Nazi involvement in the occult are
truly
chilling; SS Officers and secret initiations, Himmler's twelve apostles, the "Hall of the Dead".
Whispers In The Night is an intelligently written, well-thought-out tale of suspense, laced with
plenty of romance, steeped in period detail, rich with Nazi occultic activity. From America to
Germany to Switzerland, from Hitler's inner circle to a surprising discovery, this story brings the
reader to a satisfying, surprising ending. For lovers of romantic suspense, I highly recommend this
book.
Inventing The Victorians: What We Think We Know About Them And Why We're Wrong
Matthew Sweet
St. Martin's Press
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
0312283261, $23.95, 264 pp, 1-888-330-8477
Thomas Fortenberry
Reviewer
The industrial revolution profoundly changed society. Within the space of a decade the
population
shifted from countryside to city, the emphasis from agriculture to industry, and, of course, with
the
rise of the middle class and the fall of the aristocracy, politics was just as lost as the rest of
society.
The ramifications of such a profound culture shift are still being felt today. New urban
populations
meant new challenges and also new audiences, new philosophies, and new religions. Thousands
of
new churches sprang up trying to capture the newly wealthy and newly congregated, both for
their
own salvation and for their containment. It was essential, when the world was literally shifting
overnight, to put on the brakes and try and reign in the masses. The Victorian Age is that period,
when the aristocracy tried everything in its might to keep the ancien regime from slipping away
and
the people did everything in their might to break free and invent the new. The era was a long and
contentious one. However, as Matthew Sweet so wonderfully elucidates in his new book, we are
at
fault today for trying to gloss over the complexities of the past, simplifying everything to a single
clich‚ of the dour old tight-laced Queen, and thus are guilty of Inventing the Victorians as we
want
them to be, not as they actually were.
Sweet makes a very convincing argument, by pointing out the endless variations in Victorian life,
the
wild and dark sides of life, the liberal, freethinking, real redmeat kind of people we'd expect to
find
in any society. Much like David S. Reynolds explained in his masterpiece Beneath the American
Renaissance, even the best, most elevated, celebrated, and established members of intelligentsia in
society get their inspiration most often from the bottom up. That is, change and impetus comes in
from the streets. This "subversive imagination" as he called it is what drives change and
innovation
in the arts. It certainly isn't dead, repressive, conservatism. Queen Victoria did not create the
society of her empire; she simply ruled it and her name is attached to it as every emperor's name is
attached to their time as overlord. However, the masses were not anywhere near the Puritanical
stiffs we make them out to be. And this last thought is the driving worry of Sweet's new book.
It's
not bad enough we reduce a complex society to simplifications for easier consumption, but much
more sinister is the concept that we intentionally misread and misconstrue the Victorians in order
to
create a hyper-conservative society with which to contrast ourselves as modern and wildly
liberal.
That is frightening psychology, and yet, just like real like, it fits. We're not a rock solid, 100%
infallible society. We have some psychoses, one of which is that we believe no one has done
before
us what we've managed to do. We're the first that is sexually liberated, that has broken racism
and
classism, and produced no-holds-barred art for art's sake. Wrong. It's not all our fault; it is true
the
Victorians had a top-heavy puritanical mindset. However, they also shattered conventions on all
fronts and we simply choose to forget or overlook those truths. He points out numerous
misunderstood facts or outright falsehoods that are still being perpetuated about the Victorians.
He
also notes that we act as if there was no underbelly to this culture or real conflict, a listless,
mannered life devoid of any passionate romance or hot lust, prostitution or adultery. That is
obvious bunk. Much like today, this was also a time of homosexuality, pornography, widespread
accepted drug use and addiction, pedophilia, serial killers (remember Jack the Ripper?), and even,
you guessed it, semen-stained dresses. "According to Virginia Woolf, the modern world began
on a
spring evening in 1908, when she and her sister Vanessa received a visit from Lytton Strachey at
their flat in Gordon Square. Strachey walked into the drawing room and pointed to a stain on
Vanessa Stephen's dress. 'Semen?' he inquired." (207) Of course modern politics have never been
the same since stained dresses emerged as the most important legislative issue of our times, but
Sweet points out how the left and right both selectively utilize Victorians to prove their causes
and
to attack the opposite sides. Leftists love to swing out with Oscar Wilde, the aptly named writer
whose dastardly life and works almost single-handedly destroys the Victorian image, whereas
Margaret Thatcher (who better to praise that era than a modern-day Victorian?) "...famously
declared allegiance to the works of Samuel Smiles, appealing to a spirit of self-discipline tha she
believed had been erased by the welfare state." (227) One begins to sense what I mean: we
create
history to suit our present needs.
Matthew Sweet presents a very valid and intriguing argument. It is to our great benefit that he
not
only makes a credible point, but also he writes in a lucid, engagingly intelligent, yet utterly
entertaining style that makes you wish the book were a thousand pages long. That's a rare feat in
literary criticism and history, which sometimes in this postmodern age seems to compete with
itself
to generate the most pseudoscientific lingo that does nothing more than obscure truth and end all
possible debate with its gibberish. Just ask Alan Sokal about such fashionable nonsense. Luckily
for
us, Matthew Sweet is the opposite: he delivers the goods in clear, honest prose and writes for
everyone. Whether a Victorian era scholar or browsing the shelves for an interesting read, this is
the
book. Inventing the Victorians is an excellent work that makes us rethink not only our pasts, but
our present and our perceptions as well. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Unidentified Flying Objects: Starcraft
Der Voron
PublishAmerica, Inc.
PO Box 151, Frederick, MD 21705-0151
ISBN: 1591297389, $19.95, http://www.publishamerica.com
Denise M. Clark
Reviewer
The existence of extraterrestrials has long been a subject of heated debate between scientists,
scholars and stargazers who've spent many an hour studying the night sky and the universe
beckoning beyond. Scientific proof of whether distant life forms and existence are legitimate
causes
yet an addition bone of contention between UFOlogists and skeptics alike, and while it's easy to
make jokes about Area 51 or Roswell, there is certainly a basis for those jokes and rumors.
Something had to have happened in these places and many others throughout the globe to
engender
such speculation and argument.
In his book, Unidentified Flying Objects: Starcraft, Der Voron has offered an extremely well
researched and detailed report of incidents that have occurred all across the globe, from many
different eras. Ancient writings may have been the first indication that 'we are not alone', and Der
Voron cites several of these sources as an example. Such statements originate from many different
countries and in different continents, from ancient times to contemporary, from Indian tales of
events that took place in the wilds of Kipling country to experiences related by a German artillery
gunner during World War Two. Reports of 'unidentified contact with objects of undetermined
origins' have been filed in government offices from the plains of South America to the fjords of
Norway and the steppes of Asia.
Highly annotated and illustrated with fascinating examples of starship models and their possible
makeup, armaments and defensive mechanisms, this ambitious work offers a wealth of
documented
information on not only Starcraft, otherwise known as 'Flying Saucers', but the types of
extraterrestrials that have flown them. All aliens are not created equal, as their many varied
depictions and origins in historical writings attests. The author's use of a plethora of written
documentation ably enhances his description of personal civilian and military accounts of those
who
have had some kind of interaction with these objects.
Also explored in great detail is the intelligence of our sea life, mainly as that intelligence relates to
dolphins and the octopi of our deepest oceans, and how they, in turn, can be used in the search for
extended knowledge of the universe surrounding our planet. How and why these creatures have
gained such highly specialized communication skills and how it is that an octopus can experience
an
event and not only remember it, but learn from it, is explored, and commented upon as it relates
to
man's search for a higher intelligence.
While replete with scientific data, terms and information, this work by Der Voron is nevertheless
highly readable and extremely illuminating for the common reader with no prior knowledge of
extraterrestrial existence, while at the same time it also provides hours of reading material and
documentation to keep the more knowledgeable busy.
Der Voron's conscientious effort to dig deep for his sources shows in his detailed reports, and his
data gathering and willingness to share that information is a challenging endeavor in which he has
aptly succeeded. The existence of extraterrestrials is an immensely interesting topic, one that will
be
explored for years to come, and this work can provide as an invaluable asset to any stargazer's
bookshelf.
The Young Draftee
Monte Howell
Writers Showcase Press/iUniverse.com, Inc.
5220 South 16th Street, #200, Lincoln, NE 68512-1274
ISBN: 0595226140; $12.95 www.iuniverse.com
Norman Goldman
Reviewer
There have been many books written about World War II, however, few describe the frightful
experiences of the inexperienced teenage combatants.
The Young Draftee is an intimate accounting of what it was like to be a teenage draftee just out
of
high school and sent to the South Pacific to fight the Japanese.
Induced by the discovery of a box of approximately one hundred old faded wartime photographs,
author Monte Howell decided to put down on paper his person experiences of the horrors of war.
However, as he states, the war he encountered was "beyond being called a brutal, savage war or
some other words which can explain what these men went through. The terrain, climate and
disease
those men had to fight besides the enemy was unbearable. The war in the South Pacific was a war
without mercy."
The unknown was always the frightening component of the war. From basic training to the actual
deployment in the theatre of action, we are apprised of the awful fear that was always prevalent.
Never knowing where you would be stationed. What to expect once you arrived at your
destination?
Who would die and would survive? These queries were always foremost in the minds of the
soldier.
Howell does not hold back in his disdain for General Douglas McArthur whom he described as
old,
vain, egotistical and who had an inflated ego. In fact he even recounts an incident where
McArthur
and his staff delayed the evacuation of some seriously wounded men in order that the General
could
have his picture taken while performing an inspection at the front lines. Unfortunately with this
four-hour delay, two of the wounded men had died lying in the hot sun. The author goes on to say
the McArthur had made some very bad decisions that caused the death of many Americans,
however, he never shared the blame for these tragedies. This is the kind of a story that is omitted
from our history books and it is only when we read first persons accounts of the war can we truly
appreciate the suffering of the soldiers.
For many of us who are unfamiliar with the war in Japan, this book will serve as an excellent
introduction, devoid of the dry scholarly texts that perhaps we read as students in high school or
college. The author's penetrating personal perceptions of the war only confirm to us that war is
about people and we never seem to learn that no one wins.
"Originally published at Bookideas.com"
The Firestone Syndrome
Stephen P. Beeler
Advocate House
P.O. Box 3691, Sarasota, FL 34230-3691
ISBN 0970657641, $24.95, hardcover
Jodi Greene
Reviewer
Author Stephen Beeler, worked for the Los Angles Sheriff's Department for 21 years, serving as
everything from a patrol officer to working in administration. He has "talked the talk" and
"walked
the walk." He knows law enforcement and what can go wrong in it. The Firestone Syndrome
portrays what happens when officers of the law act above the law, taking matters into their own
hands. It also shows the checks and balances that provide damage control, and the bravery of
those
who patrol their own.
The "Stoney Boys," an elitist group of deputies assigned to the Firestone Sheriff's sub-station in
South Central Los Angeles, accept the axiom "absence of crime" just not the method by which it
should be achieved. Through the hard work of their superiors and one very brave fellow officer,
this
network of renegade cops is revealed and dealt with but not without danger to their
opposition.
Fiction? Yes, but as Deputy Chief of Police Robert P. White of Flagstaff, AZ, put it, "This story
reflects what can happen when the police' think they are at war with their community. Although
situated in Los Angeles, this syndrome can occur anywhere that police leaders aren't
diligent."
In The Firestone Syndrome, Beeler.strips the mantra from television and movie portrayals of
grunt-level police work. He thumbs his nose at political correctness, cleverly castigating the
courts,
the justice system, politics and politicians and bureaucratic favoritism. His characters are real and
recognizable: they exist in every police and sheriff's department in the country.
Learn more about The Firestone Syndrome at http://www.FirestoneSyndrome.com
Bret's Bookshelf
Dreamcatcher
Stephen King
Pocket Books
1230 Avenue of the Americas, 13th fl., New York, NY 10020
ISBN: 074343627X, Price: $7.99, Pages: 882, 1-800-223-2336
From alien abductions to telepathy to carnivorous intestinal parasites, Dreamcatcher is another
fascinating voyage into the strange, and sometimes frightening, mind of Stephen King. Told
mainly
from the perspective of four lifelong friends-childhood residents of the ill-fated town of Derry-the
story follows an attempted alien invasion and its aftermath.
The four main characters-Henry, Pete, Jonesy, and Beaver-returning to Maine for their annual
hunting trip, find themselves caught in a medical quarantine. Trapped at their cabin, Jonesy and
the
Beav encounter a lost hunter, sick and disoriented, and offer him shelter. Not too far away, Pete
and
Henry are nearly killed when they come across a second hunter comatose in the road.
It is quickly discovered that the hunters are not sick; they are infected with an alien parasite, and a
hungry one at that. This turn of events concerns even the aliens, who want to control humanity,
not
destroy it. But for some reason, Earth's climate is inhospitable to them and its residents are highly
resistant to their control. Jonesy is the first person they encounter immune to the destructive
effects
of their byrus. Possessed by an alien intelligence, trapped within his own mind, Jonesy is forced to
aid the aliens in their assault on Earth.
Henry leads the effort to save Jonesy-and humanity-from destruction. Battling not only the aliens
but
a fanatical military commander, Henry must draw on the special bond between the four friends
and
on Duddits, the Down's-syndrome boy who had been their childhood companion and the
beneficiary
of their kindest deed.
Though far from King's best work, Dreamcatcher holds the reader's interest. The story has all the
King standards: bullies; people from (and drawn back to) that terrifyingly-tragic region of Maine;
and children, reunited as adults and strengthened by their unity, forced to deal with unbelievable
nightmares. It also contains a few delightful references to King's earlier works-some overt and
some
carefully hidden.
Dreamcatcher, soon to be adapted into a feature length film (and likely ruined in the process) does
have a few flaws. The excessive cursing and stream-of-consciousness writing, which I found so
cutting-edge in my youth, becomes less intriguing as I grow older. As usual, uncensored
descriptions
of violence and references to various abuses are plentiful, so plentiful it can make a reader doubt
that
any of us had happy childhoods. Though I'd recommend this book to both fans of King and
horror,
as a whole, the story lacked King's usual power, leaving me satisfied, but not necessarily wanting
more.
Beneath The Vaulted Hills
Sean Russell
DAW Books
ISBN: 0886777941, Price: $6.99, Pages: 480
Beneath the Vaulted Hills is a beautifully-conceived fantasy tale. Written by Sean Russell, author
of
the Moontide and Magic Rise duology, the story follows Erasmus Flattery-a man of science once
fostered in the home of Lord Eldrich, the last of Farrland's magi. Erasmus is called upon to aide
his
friend, Samual Hayes, in escaping capture by both men of the Admiralty and a group of
mysterious
strangers.
Erasmus, haunted by demons from his past, has spent his life seeking knowledge of the arcane.
His
relationship with Hayes brings him closer than ever to realizing his goal. But he is not the only
player
in this game of intrigue. The Tellerites, a band of renegade magi long thought dead, seek
knowledge
now known only by Lord Eldrich. Eldrich, a figure of mystery and legend, more feared than
admired, will stop at nothing to remove the last vestiges of magic from the world before he, too,
is
forced to leave. Each character has a role in the story, and the dramatic, cliff-hanger ending leaves
the reader wondering which characters move the pieces, and which are the pawns.
The concepts of empiricism and natural science, strongly woven throughout Beneath the Vaulted
Hills, are rarely considered in fantasy works, and the setting-a late-medieval society, empowered
through the use of the recently-developed cannon-is one not often explored by fantasy writers.
Nevertheless, Russell manages to instill both personality and believability into his characters and
their countries. Fans of both science and magic will delight in Russell's work.
Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone
J. K. Rowling
Scholastic
ISBN: 0-590-35342-X, Price: $6.99, Pages: 309
Few authors can write fiction appreciated by both children and adults, but J. K. Rowling is one
such
author. Her fantasy series, beginning with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, has captured the
attention-and the hearts-of readers worldwide.
Set in a semi-fictitious England, the story chronicles the adventures of Harry Potter,
wizard-in-training. Following the death of his parents, an infant Harry is left in the care of his aunt
and uncle, two of the world's most devout Muggles (non magic-users). Despised by his adoptive
family, Harry grows to adolescence in the cupboard under the stairs, completely ignorant of his
parents'-and his own-magical abilities.
On the eve of his eleventh birthday, Harry's life changes forever. Despite a near-heroic effort on
the
part of his uncle, Harry not only discovers his magical heritage but also learns that he has been
accepted into Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Happy-perhaps for the first time in
his
life-Harry bids goodbye to number four Privet Drive and makes his way to Hogwart's.
Once there, Harry finds himself in a an exciting world, a world vastly different from the one he
knew. He quickly makes friends-the redheaded Ron Weasley and his mischievous brothers, the
bookish Hermione Granger, and Hogwart's giant groundskeeper Hagrid-but also finds an enemy
in
the young Draco Malfoy.
Life at Hogwarts in not all studies and fun for Harry. Strange things begin to happen, and Harry
finds himself caught in the middle of them. Aided by his two closest friends, Harry investigates the
mysterious events going on at Hogwart's, unaware that they will reunite him with a figure from his
past.
Rowling's world is vivid, humorous, and original. Her characters range from lovable to despicable
and cover most of the spectrum between. From the fast-paced Quidditch match (an innovative
sport
to say the least!) to the bizarre Diagon Alley, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is filled with
surprising events and unexpected twists. Though the book is a quick read for adults, Rowling
should
be complimented on her ability to weave a tale both understandable to children and captivating to
all
age groups.
I did have a few complaints, largely technical, but on the whole, my opinion of the work is
positive.
I'd recommend it to anyone-Muggle or Mage-who wants to remember how magical childhood can
be.
When Melanie Larson's company goes through a corporate merger, the high-powered business
woman decides to quit and take stock of her life and career. She goes to Rochester, N.Y., at the
urging of her uncle Phillip, to stay with her cousin Sam who is a wild party gal. In the midst of
reevaluating her life, Melanie meets her neighbors, the suave Benjamin Rhodes and his enigmatic
daughter Taylor, both of whom are interested in befriending her.
Sam's dad hopes Melanie will be a good influence on his spend-a-holic daughter and encourages
Melanie to help her flighty cousin deal with business affairs that are in a shambles. This includes
starting up a store that Phillip has financed for Sam to run in the hopes that she will become more
responsible. Sam hasn't even bothered to decide what type of store to open, and when she takes
off
on a bender, Melanie is left to deal with it. After much thought, a bookshop is what Melanie
chooses to try to make a go of.
In the process of creating the store, Taylor and Melanie are brought closer together. What
follows
is a classic love story. The two women are compelling characters, and the author introduces
interesting secondary characters. The story clips along, so much so that I read the book in one
day.
I liked that the two women's relationship grew over time in a realistic manner.
Readers who enjoy intelligent, nuanced drama/romance will flock to this well-written story of two
women on the cusp of big changes. The plot is taut and the loves scenes well-rendered. Turning
The Page is a finely crafted book by a talented writer. I highly recommend it.
In a spin-off book from her debut novel, Coming Home, this author pens the story of Marika
Havers, a cynical immigration attorney living in Calgary, Canada. Marika is in a world of hurt.
No
relationship has ever lasted-except for an occasional loveless liaison with a woman named Cass,
who
uses Marika cruelly.
Rhiannon "Rhi" Davies lives a hardscrabble existence in a shabby part of town. She rents a room
from her mean-spirited aunt who took Rhi in at age ten when the girl's parents died. For years,
Rhi
has dreamed of escape from the critical, loveless aunt. Since getting a paralegal certificate, she's
saved every penny she can, planning and scheming to get out of her situation. Rhi enters Marika's
work life by taking a temporary paralegal job when the regular employee goes on maternity leave.
Marika and Rhi have almost nothing in common-except for their lack of faith in themselves or that
they are worthy of love.
When Rhi is attacked and badly injured by a crazed man in the office, Marika is shocked into
compassion. She takes Rhi into her home and cares for the convalescing young woman, and
against
all odds, the two women are drawn to one another.
This might be a typical romance except for two things. First of all, the writing is exquisite. Every
scene, every character, every detail is described with loving care. The secondary characters,
especially the kindly priest, the mean aunt, and several helpful friends, are well-drawn. Secondly,
the
story doesn't end with the two women gaining rapport and falling in love. Instead, Marika's past
comes back to haunt them, dragging them into danger and near death. The story ends up being
more than a typical romance and is, in fact, a cross-genre thriller.
Told with a deft touch by a talented writer, Broken Faith is an exhilarating story that gains power
the further the reader gets into it. There are so many twists and turns along the way, most of them
unexpected, and the suspense grows gradually as the reader becomes aware of the breadth of the
plot. Simply put, this is a terrific book, and I recommend it highly.
Lori L. Lake, Reviewer
http://www.lorillake.com/
Tony's Bookshelf
Dr. Tatiana''s Sex Advice To All Creation
Judson, O.
Metropolitan Books
c/o Henry Holt & Company
115 West 18th Street, New York, NY 10011
ISBN: 00805063315, $24.00, 1-888-330-8477
Whether the reader is a newcomer or season ticket holder with regards the comparative sex
behaviour literature, this volume will surely prove itself to be both tremendously entertaining and
educational. Judson's novel 'agony aunt' Q & A style of presentation makes for a clearly
accessible
text for a wide audience of all ages and levels of understanding. This is a great way to impart
much
of the bewildering array of comparative morphology and associated knowledge concerning the
rich
diversity of sexual behaviour across a broad swathe of species. This book will surely attract
many
from the younger generation to the study of evolutionary and comparative biology/psychology.
Many of us will wish that we had written this one! Not only do we read here about the birds and
the
bees', mammalian phyla are well represented throughout the 13 chapters. The full tour includes
gender differences (as well as similarities) and the how's and why's of the sex that might take
place
between them, whether that be in (serial) monogamy, polygyny, polyandry, or even
parthenogenetic
circumstances. The implications of each section for our better understanding of human sexual
behaviours (both normal and abnormal) are rarely explicit, and for the most part (possibly
intentionally so), are presented rather tongue-in-cheek. This is not a failing of the work,
however.
There is ample material here to occupy the lateral-thinking reader in this regard.
Although this book makes for a terrific vacation or conference-trip read whilst in transit, it also
has
much of seriousness to offer the student of comparative psychology, sociology, anthropology,
zoology or medicine. For those wishing to cut to the chase with the primary literature concerning
particular issues, over 20 pages of extensively referenced notes are provided. Although by no
means
dealing extensively with theoretical issues in the aetiology of particular sex behaviours, we do
meet
(albeit briefly) with Darwin, Fisher, Hamilton, Bateman, Muller and Wallace. The notes cover
every "Dear Dr. Tatiana..." Q & A presented in the book, and could well form the basis of core
tutorial reading and/or stimulation for small group discussions.
A welcome volume for the shelf at home as much as for the academic library, unless you're
comfortable with the public at large thinking that you're undergoing sex therapy counseling, be
sure
to carry it in a brown paper bag when moving between the two!
Up From Dragons: The Evolution Of Human Intelligence
Skoyles, J. R. and Sagan, D.
McGraw-Hill Book Company
Two Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121
ISBN: 0071378251, $27.95 1-800-722-4726
Championing the ascent of reptiles as much as the descent of man, this thoughtful volume on the
evolution of intelligence by Skoyles and Sagan is a welcome addition to the nature/nurture
neurophilosophy shelf. The authors take us well beyond the 'usual suspects' listing of gross
anatomical brain structure and function of the familiar phyla, traveling a welcome breadth of
comparative data to include a wide variety of species (including our earlier selves). Rather than
merely outline the familiar shopping list(s) of evolving structures culminating in the development
of
the modern human cerebral cortex, Skoyles & Sagan do not end with the discussion of its
distinctive "associative" or "silent" areas of the brain of old (as so many other authors are still
content to do). Instead, and throughout the book's eighteen chapters, we are treated to a series of
detailed proposals concerned with the continuously adaptive neural architecture of both the intra-
and inter-cerebral structures underlying the evolution human intelligent behavior. Reminiscent of
learning the names of Tolstoy's characters in the early pages of 'War & Peace', one meets here
parts
of the brain rarely mentioned (let alone claimed to be of any significance in explaining who we are
and why we behave as we do). Following the publication of this volume, the long overdue and
normally restricted cast of human brain features will now include the structure and functional
connectivities of the anterior cingulate, the amygdala, the insula, the orbital and dorsolateral
prefrontal cortex of the brain (and these are just a few of the characters amongst many others that
might have been introduced here). We may still not be able to agree upon how best to measure
intelligence (IQ, in my view, still tautologically measuring 'what IQ tests measure'), but the
physiological substrates of the brain supporting intelligent behavior are slowly coming to be
located
and characterized. Many of the examples and theoretical components put forward may perhps
appear predictable to those familiar with modern paradigms in comparative psychology and the
study of intelligent systems (both biological and man-made), but the real strength of this book is
to
be seen in its successfully discussing adaptive neural systems for the technical non-specialist. The
story as told here is a great achievement for a book aimed at the popular science reader.
The basic thesis of the book follows the development of the nervous system in the aftermath of
the
'KT event' (coincident with the demise of the reptilian dinosaurs), which favored flexible, mobile
species with nocturnal, cold-adaptable behaviors, capable of finding shelter and forage. In
contrast,
species with relatively reflexive nervous systems, whilst satisfactory when situated in a stable,
predictable environment, can often fail to adapt to changes within the time course of sudden
catastrophic events. En route to the architecture of the modern human brain, we meet the
aetiology
of social and emotional life and their associated neural substrata in the prefrontal cerebral and
limbic
cortex (amongst other structures). The level of neuroanatomical detail is sufficient to provide a
coherent and consistent story of successive adaptations leading to the development of 'higher
intelligence', but the pathway taken argues not for this result deriving solely from phylogenetic
mutation (per se), but, and more importantly, from ontogenetic neural plasticity and enculturation
despite the SAME genetic makeup.
If this idea is new, and at first glance appears to be an uncomfortable one, don't panic! If the
authors
are right, your prefrontal brain cortex will soon get to work in generating some reflex inhibition,
allowing one to assess (and reassess) the situation, temporarily delay one's actions, and then to
organize and activate novel planned behaviors towards worked goals. Whether the modern
human
can prove him/herself to be intelligent enough to plan the survival of any future catastrophe
(whether it be of our own making or another KT-like event) we will have to wait and see. In the
meantime we have in this book, an accessible version of a still-emerging story telling how, and as
the solution to what challenges, the intelligence of a variety of species (including modern
humans)
currently evolved to demonstrate.
Excellently referenced throughout, with bibliography aplenty for those wishing to read more of
the
detailed research literature, my only gripe with this book would be with its lack of visualization
aids
for those unfamiliar with the brain areas mentioned. Although the text is sufficiently detailed to
allow the reader to construct crude schematics for him/herself (as one may have done in the case
of
Tolstoy's family trees?), both anatomical and flowchart illustrations might be of help in hastening
the orientation of those perhaps new to the anatomy and neurophysiology of the brain. Whether
this
would indeed have been the book that Carl Sagan would have written in 1977 had he possessed
the
vast corpus of knowledge concerning the brain now available, one may only guess? It is my own
view that Skoyles & Sagan's title serves more than to merely pay homage to 'The Dragons of
Eden', in whose memory this book is in part written.
Do-It-Yourself Eye-Movement Technique for Emotional Healing
Freidberg, F
New Harbinger Publications, Inc.
5674 Shattuck Avenue, Oakland, California. 94609
ISBN: 1-57224-256-6 $13.95, (800) 748-6273, www.newharbinger.com
The claim championed for Friedberg's 'Eye Movement Technique' (EMT) is that it may be used
to
"rapidly reduce emotional stress and redirect thinking in a positive, rational and optimistic way"
(p.2) -perhaps permanently, and without the expense of multiple professional therapy sessions!
Although cautious to advise sufferers of recurrent trauma (incl. PTSD, mood & personality
disorders) against self-treatment as a sole pathway to emotional stress relief, Friedberg puts forth
a
structured set of protocols for self-paced therapeutic implementation.
Much of the first half of the book is concerned with the stress, stressors, and the promise of
EMT
in countering stress-related tension and incapacity. Numerous theories attempting to explain the
stress-reducing phenomenon following EMT sessions are too briefly discussed, with varying
degrees of plausibility. For the practicing therapist or self-healer this is perhaps not a failing of
the
book, but I was surprised not to find a section dealing with at least the sensory physiology
adjunct
to applying EMT, or any discussion of its potential interaction with the psychophysiology of the
stress experience it seeks to alleviate.
In the 5th ('how to do it' DIY) chapter, we are introduced to the technique itself in a step-by-step
fashion, the reader being led through a series of stages with clearly marked progression or repeat
indicants given at each stage. One progression (perhaps surprising to the reader, especially given
Friedberg's chosen title) is the suggestion that the use of oscillatory eye movements be
abandoned,
and replaced instead by finger movements. Indeed, the latter would appear to be Friedberg's
preferred method of therapeutic interaction with his own clients (though he still calls it EMT ?).
This instead uses a distractive flip-flop bimanual 'tapping' of the clients hands or shoulders whilst
having them silently ponder on questions reminiscent of therapist school's of thought derived
from
Roget or Ellis.
The latter half of the volume is exclusively devoted to providing case studies and extracts of
actual
therapy sessions from the author's own clinical archives. Each of these later chapters deal with
specific concerns (phobia, panic, chronic pain, personal and social anxieties) with accompanying
procedures being retold amidst success stories, mostly with a positive outcome for the client. The
most remarkable and repeated claim, however, is not for EMT providing relief across such a wide
range of conditions, but in its speed of efficacy - often within a single session, without requiring
repeated administration. For those trying to help manage, or those actually suffering from the
effects of pre-clinical emotional stress conditions, EMT remains worthy of investigation. I would
suggest that EMT (albeit received in the form of oscillatory eye movements or bimanual tapping)
might at the very least prove a good vehicle in actively disrupting recurrent 'ruminations' and the
often repeated intrusions into ongoing thought processes familiar to the sufferer of emotional
stress.
Whether Friedberg' EMT does any more than merely interrupt worrisome replays by distraction
(think here of your own experience of trying to get rid of a tune that keeps 'going around in your
head'), his own case archive would seem to suggest a high degree of success with the
technique(s)
as illustrated in this volume. Add it to the therapy bookshelf between Rational Emotive Therapy
and
Biofeedback.
Tony Dickinson,
Reviewer
Shannon's Bookshelf
I Wanna Iguana
T.E. Watson, Illustrator by John Raptis
Paw Prints LLC
2384 Tokay Court, Paradise, CA 95969
ISBN: 1-58478-009-6, 32 pp., $16.95, hardcover picturebook, 2001,
www.tewatsononline.com
When a little boy decides he wants an iguana for a pet, he uses his vividly delightful imagination to
dream of what he and his new pet will do. I Wanna Iguana is a colorfully illustrated picture book,
sure to delight young children, whether their parents read it to them or they read it to
themselves.
The little boy's dream pet is talented and humorous, taking off to outer space and reading comics.
The drawings are laugh-out-loud funny, the prose amusing to adults and children alike. The last
few
pages of the book include instructions on the care and feeding of iguanas, for those kids who tell
their own parents, "I wanna iguana!"
I would definitely recommend this book for young grade-school children, and, of course, anyone
who loves iguanas.
17 Seconds To Weight Loss
Susan James
Vast Five
644 Greenville Avenue, Suite 218, Staunton, VA 24401
ISBN: 1-929072-79-1, 191 pp., paperback, 2001, http://www.susanjames.org/
17 Seconds To Weight Loss is no ordinary weight loss guide. But, maybe that is what we all
need,
something different than the same old weight loss plans. Something that tackles the deeper, more
unconscious reasons for not "being able" to lose weight. And, that is exactly what this book
provides.
Author Susan James, a formerly overweight woman, who now remains a trim size 9, says it is
"more
about energy and the application of Spirit than anything else." James believes we all have a
conscious choice to be exactly what we wish to be in life, whether it is to have a particular job, or
to
weigh a certain amount. James says, "Weight loss and body image has nothing to do with the food
that you eat or that you do not eat. It has to do with 'energy,' and how you move and form this
energy."
Divided into 72 chapters, some no more than a page, the perfect size for busy people, 17 Seconds
To Weight Loss brings James' claims to light. Her energy is infectious, and I found myself, many
times throughout the book nearly feeling that energy come off the page. The principles of User
Friendly Physics, which James introduces in other books she has written, state that weight loss is
simply a matter of "thinking" yourself thin, that 17 seconds of pure thought about what you want
and what you intend for your body to be like, is the equivalent, in terms of physics, of 2000 hours
of
action. The more you think pure thoughts of thinness, energy, health, etc., the more these
thoughts
compound upon themselves, bringing to reality exactly what you are thinking about. Other topics
discussed include how we sabotage ourselves, how we get to be overweight in the first place, and
how to be in harmony with what we want, not what we don't want.
Very little of the book focuses on what to eat in order to achieve weight loss, but there are a
couple
of short chapters on the subject. In spite of having included these suggestions, James reiterates
that
weight loss doesn't have anything to do with the weight loss plan chosen, but with the thoughts
we
think. 17 Seconds To Weight Loss is most definitely unlike any weight loss book I have ever
read,
but I came away feeling that this book holds a key...maybe the key...to weight loss for millions of
people out there. It is definitely worth reading! It may change your life forever, in many ways
besides just your weight.
Shannon McKelden Cave
Reviewer
Liana's Bookshelf
Writing Poems
Peter Sansom
Bloodaxe Books Ltd
P.O. Box 1SN, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE99 1SN
ISBN 1852242043, UK 7.95 British pounds, 1994, paperback, 128 pp, www.amazon.com
Peter Sansom, one of the best contemporary poets, has extensive experience of poetry workshops
and courses and has held several placements in schools and colleges. He was also
writer-in-residence
at Doncaster Central library for three years and he is a director of The Poetry Business in
Huddersfield and co-editor of The North Magazine and Smith/Doorstop Books and
Cassettes.
Writing Poems is a 'little book that does not tell you what or how to write, but helps you say
genuinely what you genuinely need to say,' the writer says at the introduction of the book.
The book includes ten sections:
Section one deals with Poetry and the Marketplace, Submitting Poems to Magazines and other
interesting topics.
Section two analyzes a poem . There the reader will learn the basics about meter , rhyme and free
verse. The Spirit of the Age comes in section three, offering the reader a range of literary fashions
,
while, section four, Almost a Remembrance, displays practical hints on how to create the vivid
detail
poems need by comparing and contrasting various poems.
"There is plenty to be said about the poems , but I want to draw your attention to their endings,"
the
writer says. "It is tempting to finish a poem with a flourish , but the bigger the ending the more it
has
to have been earned by what precedes it."
Section five ,Writing Poems, focuses on more detailed elements , such as punctuation, drafting
,the
disaster poem and many other. " I think free verse looks odd with capitals heading the lines," the
writer advises.
Workshop techniques and writing games are included in section six. An extremely interesting
section
showing the readers how to enhance their writing and give them the motive to keep on writing.
Packed with topics and questions to help the new writer create is easy to follow and fun as
well:
" FREE WRITING (also called hot-penning). Use as a warm-up and as an exercise in itself. There
are three rules:
Once you've started you must not stop writing.
You must not think. Let the writing go its own way...
You must not rhyme."
A detailed approach of meter, rhyme , half-rhyme and free verse is in section seven , informing the
reader about Given or Fixed form. Section eight is about Some Given Forms, that is to say,
stanzas,
sonnet sequences, Haiku and other. In section nine are displayed some poets and poems, while
section ten ,Where to Go from Here, includes a glossary of technical terms.
At the end of the book there is a bibliography section and then a section with Some Useful
Addresses, such as The Poetry Society, London, Scottish Art Council and other.
There is also a Libraries list, a Critical section and a Writing Courses list.
Peter Sansom's Writing Poems is an easy read that offers the reader thorough knowledge on
poetry
writing. The poet-to-be will find this workshop-book invaluable and practical as well. There are
numerous examples throughout the book and a lot of information on how to submit to magazines,
the small presses and other handy details.
Moreover, the writer includes brief resumes and discussion of literary history and literary fashions
,
and the creative process itself. On completing this book, the readers can decide for themselves
how
they want their work to develop, whether that magazine was right in returning it or if they simply
don't know "their poetic arse from their elbow".
Writing Poems caters for new writers, poetry reviewers, as well as all readers who wish to
educate
themselves in poetry related areas.
It is an excellent ,informative book that no one should miss.
Related Titles by Peter Sansom:
On The Pennine Way, 1988
Everything You've Heard Is True, 1990
Making Peace With The Things In Your Life
Cindy Glovinsky, M.S.W, A.C.S.W.
Griffin/St Martin's Press
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, 2002
ISBN 0312284888, US $14.95,CAN $21.95, Paperback, 304 pp
Cindy Glovinsky, a psychotherapist, professional organizer, author, and public speaker whose
insights help relieve others from the anxiety, stress, and overwhelm resulting from chronic clutter,
is
also the founder of Fresh Start Organizing, an organizing consulting business located in Ann
Arbor,
Michigan.
There are many books in the market on the subject of getting organized that give us suggestions
on
how to best store our goods or arrange our closets, but this book is unique in the way it deals
with
the problem of clutter.
Making Peace With The Things In Your Life is not just another book of How-to solutions, but
rather a journey through life's experiences and the residue they leave behind in the form of both
emotional and physical clutter. The author focuses on the internal issues of clutter, the emotional
attachments to clutter and finally, how we can make peace with all the things cluttering our
lives.
Packed with reflective questions which help readers to evaluate habits and understand the
underlying
reasons why they have trouble with things, this book makes them become conscious of habits and
feelings that may have been buried for years.
'Did your parents reward you with things?'
'Do you feel ashamed by the number of things you have?'
'Do you often put things someplace "temporary" that turns out to be permanent?'
These are only some of the questions the readers will find in the book.
There are four sections in all, each one dealing with the analysis of all the pros and cons of our
relationship with things and then providing practical solutions to the problem. It starts with
'Rethinking Things', where the readers are helped to rethink their concept of Things. '...the first
step
in resolving the Thing issue is to recognize that, for you, it IS an issue. For someone else- even
someone much messier than you are- it may not be, but it's an issue for you because it BOTHERS
you', the author says.
'You and Your THINGS: Taking Inventory' comes next, guiding you through a systematic
inventory
of your Thing habits and Thing feelings.
'Why THINGS Keep overwhelming you' is section three . It describes possible causes of Thing
problems together with suggestions for dealing with them. Cindy Glovinsky advises:
'Make homes for all your possessions as near as possible to where you use them'
'Keep your possessions as minimal and as low maintenance as possible.'
'Accept the fact that YOU CANNOT HAVE AS MANY THINGS AS PEOPLE HAVE WHO
ARE
NOT SPACE POOR.'
Section four is 'What to Do About THINGS'. Here the readers will put what they have learned
into
action. 'ONE THING AT A TIME,' the author says, 'means doing something with your eyes and
with your mind. You must, first of all, stop looking at too many Things at the same time.' And the
author concludes: 'In the final analysis, the best things in life are not Things but moments. No sane
person would think of sacrificing moments with loved ones, ...for the sake of mere Things-or so it
seems.'
The author emphasizes words and phrases throughout the book by putting them in all caps in
order
to help chronically disorganized people who have attention problems and need more intense
stimuli
to catch their attention.
At the end of the book , there is an appendix including Cindy Glovinsky's website:
www.freststartorganizing.com
Here the readers can find articles, links, resources and info about Cindy's organizing business ,
Fresh
Start Organizing, as well as information about how to order this book. There is also a list of
Resources for Help with Organizing, such as the Obsessive-Compulsive disorder Foundation, and
the Simple living/volunteer opportunities list packed with websites and other info.
There is a Sources section as well, offering more info and a Further Reading section on page
277.
Making Peace With The Things In Your Life is a highly informative and useful book that 'it is not
meant to replace the externally focused organizing books that you may already have but to enable
you to make better use of them after rethinking every aspect of you and Things,' the author says.
It
offers the reader invaluable info and practical advice on how to get rid of clutter-chaos that pests
most of us.
The book caters for Therapists, stress-suffering patients, and a wider audience - all of those who
feel
that they need a more organized lifestyle. It is accessible to both chronically disorganized people
and
everyone else who is curious to find out why they are messy. Cindy Glovinsky's style is supportive
and friendly and the book is easy to read as well as enjoyable.
Cindy's articles on organizing have been published in various papers such as the Washtenaw
PARENT and the Naponews, and Emma Jackson, a reporter of The Ann Arbor News ,has
commended on Cindy's work in a full page article of hers.
For more info on Cindy's workshops and keynote programs call 1-888-68-impact or
630-377-8101
or visit www.Doitwithimpact.com
Red Plaid Shirt: Stories New & Selected
Diane Schoemperlen
Harper Flamingo Canada / A Phyllis Bruce Book, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., Toronto
ISBN 0002005182, $29.95 Canadian; 310 pp. incl. notes, hardcover, 1976-96 short-story
collection,
pub. 2002
The name "Red Plaid Shirt" is shared by one of 21 (see below) short stories in this collection,
dating
in that instance from 1988.
Of those 21 "shorties", another is possessed of the unusual title, "Railroading or: Twelve Small
Stories with the Word 'Train' in the Title". Owing to space considerations I won't discuss that
specific work below, but the front dust-jacket flap's blurb speaks of "these 21 stories" and I
suppose
that 21 is also the author's own, official count. As you will see, certain other stories here are also
structured in more or less discrete parts, so that a 12-section "Railroading" tale proves not all that
different from some others - only in talking about its sections this way.
Omitting notes, etc., the shorties occupy 304 pages, unadjusted for blank spaces at the ends of
individual stories or the like. Thus the average length works out to nearly 14 1/2 pages per tale,
which could be the average length of chapters in a novel. Assuming about 11.5 words per line and
31.5 lines per page on average, let's say there are 360 words per page. By this approximation and
making allowance for blank areas, it seems the average story in this collection may be around
5100
words long.
I know of no numerical norm for short stories, but I believe these are pretty typical in length. Yet
each tends to tell its own story in its own style, and I don't believe that 21 of them can all be
reviewed within the space one may allot for the review of a single novel. The best I can (and in
fact
will) do is review a few examples.
The blurb on the turned-in back flap of this book's dustjacket mentions five Schoemperlen
short-story collections but only one novel, titled "In the Language of Love". "Shorties" thus seem
to
be her clear forte, and I for one suspect that she may have written her novel largely to prove that
she
can do a novelist's work too, if need be.
The title of "Losing Ground" (1976), the first, comparatively lengthy (about 20 pages) opus in
this
collection, is a metaphor that the narrator (a young girl), hears twice in the mouth of her aunt. On
the first occasion the aunt says the dying family patriarch is "losing ground". On the second
occasion
she says the European race is losing ground relative to the indigenous population. The latter may
probably be construed as a racist, us-versus-them remark, but there's very little such talk.
"Losing Ground" reads more like a memoir than like a short story, recounting miscellaneous
family
happenings and conversations over a series of summers until the year of the girl's puberty and her
grandfather's (the patriarch's) death and burial. I'm in no position, though, to allege that "Losing
Ground" IS a memoir; to me, it only SEEMS like one. While the trivia-filled family history is
charmingly told, I find nothing resembling a plot; rather, as we look on, the characters simply
grow
older.
Why should I care? Firstly, I do try to inform readers accurately about books I review. Secondly,
my
nose is still out of joint from a time when First Prize in a short-story contest went to the writer of
a
memoir, NOT a short story; while I, with a bona fide short story, came in second. Only an
imposture
stood between me and marketable glory! Oh well ...
Calling Schoemperlen's second item, "This Town" (1979), a short story again seems a stretch -
but
in a different, more innovative sense. Less than eight pages long, it largely describes an unnamed
town under a series of headings, beginning with "GENERAL INFORMATION:" "CLIMATE:"
AND "POPULATION:". Most entries under such headers are whimsical or even comical. Various
personal names are mentioned, but characters to go with them are developed very little if at all,
except through the reader's assembly of snippets from various sections. For instance, under
"PUBLIC HEALTH:" we learn of a certain Kevin only that he said, "We are all suffering from
chronic lack of oxygen." - no more, no less. Kevin, though, is also quoted once or twice more,
from
which we may try to "know" him.
"Frogs" (1982) comes closer to a conventional short story, but is really about people. Frogs
(toads
too are mentioned) seem mere diversions - until you stop reading literally, and interpret
allegorically.
The figurative aspect resides in these first two lines: "Val's mother always told her: 'You've got to
kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince.'" According to my best interpretation, Val's mother
meant, "If you distribute your kisses (or perhaps sexual favours) indiscriminately, you must go
through a lot of men before you can find good husband material."
The entire first page (plus two lines of the second) discusses frogs and toads - but thereafter,
frogs
are only mentioned in one bad joke and as part of one natural setting.
Throughout most of "Frogs", Val has her Simon (a novelist, confound it! Why couldn't
Schoemperlen have made him something more original, such as a fishing-boat captain? It's not as
if
Simon's calling has any bearing on the tale); or else a Leonard instead, for a few pages.
She and Simon have been in discord over a question of marriage and/or children. Has Val not
kissed
enough figurative frogs yet? At the tale's end, the question remains unresolved - although it seems
as
if Simon may be slowly becoming a prince, given Val's importuning.
"Hockey Night in Canada" (1982), fourth segment of the book and a little over 13 pages long,
borrows the name of a national TV institution, the theme tune of which is instantly recognized if
not
sung (it has no words) by at least half the country's population.
HNiC has something in common with the first in the volume, "Losing Ground", in that it could
easily
be taken for a memoir, and has rather little plot.
The girl protagonist draws word sketches of, and tells anecdotes about, her family and her
mother's
special friend, Rita. The girl's father has an inexplicable adherence to the Chicago Black Hawks,
while Rita favours the Montre'al Canadiens and the girl's mother focusses her mind
elsewhere.
Much of the description tells of Rita's past life, current employment, and wintertime car troubles.
On
account of Rita's frequent presence, the girl also learns that the one great love of her mother's life
had been broken up by parents, and that in consequence the father she knows as her own has been
something of a make-do consolation prize.
Outdoors in this tale, it may be the hockey season; indoors, a mood of intimacy and warmth
prevails.
For instance, a paragraph on page 54 tells how the girl sometimes had the house to herself, when,
"I
curled up on the chesterfield with the record player on and wrote in the datebook Rita had given
me
..."
I admit it; I have an hidden reason to quote just that sentence. North Americans seem to think that
"chesterfield" is a solely Canadian word for what would be called a "sofa" in the States. That's
largely untrue; my Oxford dictionary, published in England, defines chesterfield as "a sofa with a
padded back, seat, and ends". That is, a chesterfield is just a civilized sofa. The term probably is in
normal use throughout the English-speaking world ... except where separation from the Old
Country
occurred before the better model of furniture existed. Thus it seems that Canada isn't peculiar in
saying "chesterfield"; instead, the U.S.A. seems peculiar in NOT saying it!
[If there's room here for an amusing but rather irrelevant anecdote, my old school's pep song
contained the line, "On the track and in the gym and on the rugby field ...", but we students
always
corrupted it as, "On the track and in the gym and on the chesterfield ...", that item having been a
favourite place for teenagers' mutual explorations.]
"Hockey Night in Canada" ends in the indeterminate fashion that by now seems Schoemperlen's
typical idiom. Tidy-minded readers who like neat and complete story endings may dislike her
style,
accordingly.
"Clues" (1984) is narrated by a small-town woman looking back on her own adolescence, much
of
which she'd spent unhappily seeking clues to the achievement of her own corruption, as if to
epitomize reasons for every parent's dread of the teenage years. Smoking stolen cigarettes is as far
as she gets within this tale, but more is implied for later years.
Now let me jump over "Tickets to Spain" (1985) - noting that our best Spanish dictionary doesn't
contain the alleged word, 'ly', clearly intended to be 'y', meaning 'and' ... thus posing a question of
how to get reliable proofreading in foreign tongues? (Answer: proof it yourself.)
I also bypass "A Simple Story" (1987), "The Man of My Dreams" (1987), and "In a Dark Season"
(1988). This is done for no other reason than to keep my notes proportionate to the verbiage I
expend on more unitary works, while bringing us to the "Red Plaid Shirt" (1988) story.
It begins on page 145 in these words:
"RED PLAID SHIRT
that your mother bought you one summer in Banff. It is 100% pure virgin wool, itchy but
flattering
against your pale skin, your black hair. You got it in a store called Western Outfitters, of the sort
indigenous to the region, which stocked only REAL (as opposed to designer) blue jeans, Stetson
hats ..."
Readers who don't know the Canadian Rocky Mountains may wish to know that Banff, Alberta, is
like a "capital" to the highly scenic Banff National Park. It lies on the Trans-Canada Highway,
Highway 1, about 110 km / 65 miles northwest of Calgary and is named for a place in eastern
Scotland, more likely for sentimental than for geographic reasons.
This makes only two stories that I recall seeing written in the second person. That unusual
technique
makes "you", the reader, assume the persona of a somewhat wayward, female protagonist, no
matter
in which sex you were originally placed by your parents' chromosomes. As to the waywardness
aspect, plenty of folk nowadays are no more circumspect that the "you" of this tale, and those will
no doubt consider her quite normal.
Author Schoemperlen often experiments with unusual forms of writing, but I wonder how many
males who read of their own reporting for obortions in this yarn will react with surprise? Forcing
us
all to be someone we are not is a fault inherent in the second-person point-of-view.
Another unusual feature is this tale's structure, centring upon one garment after another, until
"you"
have named a fairly comprehensive female wardrobe (without lingerie, however), citing
reminiscences or anecdotes relating to each item. "You" also list numerous synonyms for the basic
garment colours; e.g., "BLUE COTTON SWEATSHIRT" evokes "azure aqua turquoise delft ...
cerulean ... indigo ultramarine ..."
By the end, an affecting if sometimes tawdry story has been told by innovative means that often
seem indirect. "You", the girl in this story, have by now kissed many more frogs than did the girl
in
the story actually named "Frogs", yet not one of them has turned into a prince.
At one point I thought this tale's title "Red Plaid Shirt", might have been chosen to represent the
entire volume because photographing a swatch of red plaid cloth would simplify the cover design;
now I see that the honour may instead have gone to this specific piece for its novelty, perhaps
even
for its genius.
This volume contains many remarkable if not always comfortable short stories, then, but they are
too
numerous to cover more, here.
My curiosity is now whetted to see how Schoemperlen's novel, "In the Language of Love", is
structured, and how it may read. I must hope it won't prove to be just too too clevah for
words.
Bones To Pick: A Phoebe Fairfax Mystery
Suzanne North
McClelland & Stewart, Inc.
481 University Avenue, Suite 900, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G 2E9
ISBN 0-7710-6800-X, price $22.99 Canadian; 268 pp., 1-800-788-1074
Again we have a third novel in an otherwise unsampled (by me) mystery series, this time evidently
by
a Western Canadian author although there are next to no author notes in this volume.
I can't at present comment on North's first two volumes, named "Healthy, Wealthy & Dead" and
"Seeing is Deceiving", but in the case of "Bones to Pick" I initially wanted to include the word
"anthropological" in the genre name. Yet it's not really about anthropology per se, but rather
about
some people in that science, and about other people in those scientists' lives. They include the
three
members of an all-female Calgary television crew, the book's narrator being TV photographer
Phoebe Fairfax.
The setting is in southern Alberta, Canada. The predominantly oil & gas oriented city of Calgary
lies
within sight of mountains in the gorgeous Banff National Park and the Rocky Mountains Forest
Reserve, in the southwesterly portion of that area; while Drumheller, on the Red Deer River, is
more
centrally located, perhaps an hour and a half northeast of Calgary by car.
That's where the Royal Tyrrell Museum stands, in the rapidly eroding dinosaur-fossil Badlands
country, where this mystery begins.
Knowing next to nothing about Suzanne North, I have the impression that a certain proportion of
this book's content, e.g., concerning riding horses, may be somewhat autobiographical. I consider
that this is generally as it should be, though; works of fiction (science fiction notably excepted)
should be based on known realities. For example, in one John Updike story, some guys play
pickup
basketball - surely requiring that Updike not be ignorant, at any rate, about that game.
Alberta is sometimes called Canada's Bible Belt. Religious literalism is not unknown there. It's
quite
credible, then, that in this tale protesters become aroused against paleontologists, for the findings
of
paleontology tend to support Darwinism which, alas, the Bible doesn't explicitly enough
foreshadow.
Thus a group named Geologists for Jesus (although it could equally have been a non-Christian
group
holding fundamentalist beliefs, and although there actually is only one geologist among them)
kicks
off the action on page 1 by so blocking the highway as to impede the TV crew in question, on its
way to cover an exhibit opening at the Tyrrell.
This exhibit is to display very early human remains recovered in faraway Africa and brought to the
Tyrrell as a fundraising stunt. The purpose is to allow the onetime Albertan credited with that find
to
continue his work, while further massaging his already gigantic ego.
Ancient though the hominid bones are, they are only on the order of 1/20th (or less) as old as the
dinosaur remains typifying the Drumheller area; there is no suggestion of passing them off as a
local
find, then, and their installation at the Tyrrell, although elaborate, is temporary, their next stop
being
scheduled at the Royal Ontario Museum.
If there isn't one kind of phoniness, however, there's another. The professional talents of the
fellow
who takes the credit lie really in public relations and deceptive speech (not to mention his major
avocation of seducing women), rather than in paleontology; while it's that Great Man's lowly Field
Assistant who is the real finder of bones.
In literary terms, the relationship between these two men may be compared to that between a
glittering celebrity who acts as the Front Man to hoodwink the public into buying a book
composed
by a hired, anonymous researcher/ghost-writer - after which the celebrity phony may unblushingly
take full credit for what he/she claims as "my" book. (In a sense, in fact, he doesn't lie if, through
purchasing all rights to the book, the Front Man OWNS it ... yet at the same time, the work was
not
DONE by him.)
This novel's back-cover blurb gives away more of the plot than I think proper, and so I'll not
quote it
here. Let me instead assert that "Bones to Pick" is well named both literally and figuratively.
Various
characters in the tale certainly do have quarrels with others. It's quite a study in personalities and
relationships, and also in personality and relationship disorders.
As already suggested, there's not a great deal of paleo-whatever science involved, the exhumation
of
hominid bones already belonging to the past at the book's opening. About all we learn concerns
the
shipping and display of such remains. As a substitute for science we probably learn more, in fact,
about the trade of TV photography.
The lone, actual geologist among the Geologists for Jesus eventually undergoes an epiphany that I
consider close to bang-on. The rest of this Mystery deserves to be left as such, for you to enjoy
without compromise.
Yet remarks on style remain fair game. Author North's writing, while not extreme, may be
described
as moderately vivid and no-holds-barred, revealing no reluctance to use crude Anglo-Saxon
four-letter words when called for by the plot. Her work is about as Canadian as (say) Lawrence
Block's is American, or as P.G. Wodehouse's was English. It does not however portray the
outsider's cliche'd views of Canadianism. For one thing, I believe the word "Eh?" doesn't turn up
even once in this tale (although I've noticed it in such places as Walt Disney's version of
"Winnie-the-Pooh", of which only the bear idea was Canadian in origin (perfectly true! "Winnie"
was
short for Winnipeg, and it represents a Canadian black bear taken to England as their regimental
mascot by Canadian troops in World War I.)
As for Americans who pronounce "about" as "abawt", and who then take delight in making nasty
jibes at Canadians for supposedly saying "aboot", they must make the best they can of North's
standard English spellings.
However, both Americanisms and Briticisms are far more publicized (ballyhhoed?) than
practically
any matters Canadian. For foreign markets, therefore, the book might benefit from addition of a
short glossary, e.g., explaining CBC as "Canadian Broadcasting Corporation".
The style, per se, of the mystery does not make central character Phoebe appear as one of those
common, amazingly clever detectives, whether professional or amateur. Rather, she merely is an
observant (largely because of her photographer's eye) and reasonably intelligent member of the
general public, whose profession leads her to unusual places, situations, and acquaintances; and
whose sometimes dopey and impromptu decisions back her into awkward corners from which she
may emerge actually ahead of the game.
She is, in short, an accidental, reluctant, entirely unpretentious quasi-sleuth, whose genius for
being
in exactly the wrong place at, largely by chance, exactly the right time seems unparalleled.
I recommend "Bones to Pick" as a novel that's informative, even educational, as well as
entertaining.
But then, you see, I happen to enjoy the process of learning, whereas it's possible that you may
even
hate it.
The Repentant Rake: A Restoration Mystery
Edward Marston
Headline Book Publishing, London
ISBN 0747275866, price 17.99 British Pounds; 306 pp., w. map of Restoration-period (17th
century) London
At the front of this volume are listed other Edward Marston tales, all of them mysteries in either
of
two series. The 11 Domesday mysteries all have four-word titles of the form, "The [animals of a
given species] of [English place]" - for instance, "The Owls of Gloucester".
Then come three Restoration mysteries if we include the work now under review, each having a
three-word title comparable to "The Repentant Rake".
This is my first acquaintance with Marston's work, but I doubt it'll be my last. From the present,
single sample, I can't tell whether his other books also contain romantic elements. Anyway, I hope
any maps in those works are better developed than the one in "The Repentant Rake"; it fails to
identify various streets named in the text, frustrating readers having limited or no acquaintance of
even present-day London, I'd think.
For instance, is the several-times-mentioned Fleet Lane the same as today's Fleet Street? Even if
so,
just where is that, again?
Marston writes middlebrow, 99% modern English, expending little effort to mimic the speech of
the
3 1/3 centuries old period described. Only occasionally does a truly oldfashioned expression such
as
"'sdeath!" (expurgated from "God's death!") appear, and never do we encounter the convoluted
and
endless sentences of authentically antique writing.
In essence, then, only references to that era's events, such as the Plague and London's Great Fire,
or
to the use of swords, travel on horseback, etc., exist to remind us of the historical setting. Some
expressions may even be from our own day; if this suspicion were to be substantiated through
research, it would indicate notable anachronisms.
On the other hand a merit of this book, bearing it in mind that I'm no judge of Marston's previous
novels, is that the first-try reader finds it easy to pick up the threads of characters' lives that
clearly
are carried over from previous "installments" of the same series.
How Marston does that is interesting. On page 1 the clearly carried-over character, Christopher
Redmayne, is in conversation with a bluff new character, Sir Julius Cheever, who is feeling out the
ambitious young architect to see whether he will be suitable, not just technically but even
politically,
to design and oversee construction of Cheever's proposed new townhouse in London. During
their
conversation we learn much about the current state of England, and about Cheever's brusque
manner, soldierly past, and political future. We also learn about Redmayne himself, but not in a
manner likely to bore readers of the previous volumes in the series. The men's negotiations in fact
make a perfect screen for the necessary situation- and character-building task that author Marston
is
subtly pursuing.
We also glimpse a first attraction between Cheever's younger daughter, Susan, and Christopher,
before the latter rushes back to his drawing table to begin his new commission. That romantic
interest will grow throughout the work. It is never prurient, and indeed we have no description of
the young lady's physical attributes; at one point we're told she wore a closely fitted gown on a
given
day, but that's about it.
The Restoration (of the British monarchy after the execution of Charles I, the rule of Oliver
Cromwell, and all that) was a generally dissolute period in English history. As exceptions proving
the rule, Christopher and Susan seem at least comparatively, even remarkably chaste.
Yet as it happens, both of these mutually susceptible young people have elder brothers who are
known as "rakes" (rakehells, hell-raisers). Christopher's brother, Henry, is a self-centred, clueless,
arrogant fop when not reacting in abject cowardice to threats by mail. I feel Marston insists too
repetitiously upon these traits, though, and he paints Henry's coterie of drinking, gambling,
whoring
friends as no whit better.
If we were to call Christopher's brother Henry the Shallow, then in justice we should call Susan's
brother Gabriel the Deep. For whereas Henry will not consider reform, but only hopes to return as
quickly as possible to his unfettered vices, Gabriel has quietly married and abandoned his sinful
ways, to pursue a new path toward salvation.
The Cromwellian Puritans - whose army of commoners the crop-pated "Roundheads" had been -
had not all been eliminated in combat, converted, or packed off to America as colonists.
Protracted,
destructive, rancorous civil warfare had recently racked England and, as has since been the case in
such similarly afflicted countries as France, USA, and Russia, members of the defeated faction
remained at large among the general population. Emotions could still run high ... as was true of
Sir
Julius Cheever, a former Roundhead officer who had come to despise his son's Cavalier-like (i.e.,
seemingly idle and, worse, associated with the aristocratic Cavalier faction) literary leanings, as
well
as the young man's loose morals. Before page 1, father and son had had a falling out, and the
young
man had left the parental nest under a bitterly dark cloud.
In fact, memories of the late warfare between Cavalier and Roundhead largely occasioned the
entire
series of crimes on which this work of fiction is based.
While the theme of rakish elder brothers develops, a second one is begun involving Jonathan Bale,
a
constable of a ward of London now under reconstruction after having been razed in the Great Fire
of 1666, which had destroyed even the ward's Baynard's Castle, presumably a stone edifice. Bale
and
another constable find a corpse they are unable to identify locally. Jonathan's wife suggests that
Christopher Redmayne might be able to help, for the cadaver is particularly well dressed and
barbered, suggesting he might be known at the Royal Court - and although Christopher is not a
courtier, his brother Henry is.
It is thus that, on pages 57-58, we learn that Christopher and Jonathan already know one another,
and even have worked together previously, in one or both earlier volumes of the same series.
We know Henry is alive at that point, but we don't know about Gabriel Cheever, Susan's brother,
whose reputation has been even more extreme ... although, as it turns out, somewhat unfairly
now,
subsequent to his actions to reform himself.
It's interesting that author Marston has chosen to feature as his series protagonist an architect,
whereas too many intellectually inbred writers have written about writers, perhaps even writers
who
suffer from writers' block - a fad that once prompted me to compose a short satire in which
members
of a co-op, "The Writers' Bloc", shared a Manhattan building named "The Writers' Block", and
endlessly discussed that same malady!
It's true that Marston makes Gabriel Cheever a talented poet, an embarrassingly accurate diarist,
and
a would-be playwright, but Gabriel's role in the story is minimal and, better yet, we read here no
mention at all of the fell "writer's block". Yet Gabriel's diary record does become central to the
plot,
and we also are given actually quite interesting insights into the book trade generally of 17th
century
London. As Marston himself clearly prefers the deep to the shallow, when he does thus delve into
literary matters, readers may be assured they are worth pursuing.
I find "The Repentant Rake" an entertaining book, but not extremely gripping. It is not the typical
mystery story in which clues are laid out and the reader is then challenged to a battle of wits with
some super-sleuth. Here, traps are laid for nameless, faceless criminals, and then we must stand
back
and wait to discover who will fall into them.
Despite a few promising moments, the romantic theme develops into little more than a flirtation
marked by smiles and polite words, garnished with a little hand-holding and a single peck on the
cheek. Although it seems a bit too readily approved and even fostered by usually censorious
elders,
the embryonic relationship is left dangling at the tale's end. I speculate that the next book in the
series may simply ignore Susan Cheever's former existence, to let Simon Pure (I mean Christopher
Redmayne, of course) begin again from scratch, with no carry-on baggage.
Yet it's not impossible that more may someday develop between these two - but to this book's
end,
the concept of marriage doesn't seem to enter their beady little minds (to the likely disappointment
of
many readers), while an unsanctified affair would be contrary to the unearthly image that Marston
has buildt for Christopher in particular.
Is this series hero low on testosterone, I have to wonder? Why, at his age I ... Well, never
mind!
Girl From The South
Joanna Trollope
McArthur & Company, Toronto; Bloomsbury Publishing, London)
ISBN 1-55278-269-7, price Can $24.95; 311 pp.
Viking Press
ISBN: 067003097X; $24.95
Another term for this book's genre is suggested by denial in the following back-cover quotation
from
the "Toronto Star", these few lines also revealing why the author's surname is familiar: "Joanna
Trollope's understanding of her characters is so acute that it lifts her well above the soap opera
category of novelists and reminds critics of her 19th century forbear, the great Victorian novelist
Anthony Trollope."
It is always refreshing at least to begin reading a work of this calibre, marked perhaps above all by
a
wonderful gender evenhandedness and absence of prejudice or rancour (except in the mouths of
one
or two woman characters who, when provoked, stigmatize all men as "shits", or words to that
effect) - but their relationships are the real substance of this work, and those seem dismally
defective.
Although not labelled "Part One" and so forth, the work is divided into parts, the first being
specified in three lines: CHARLESTON / SOUTH CAROLINA / LATE SPRING. Charleston is
one
of those cities reeking of a history that comes readily to any reader's mind who has visited the
place.
While we aren't told which "late spring" it is, the time is recent, for cellphones and e-mail are
often
mentioned. The described generation of physically if not emotionally mature, still youngish adults
has thus grown up since the Sexual Revolution. What a difference that fact makes!
Part 1 occupies the first 35 pages, introducing three generations (or four, counting the baby born
partway through the tale) of a "good" Charleston family. The protagonist-apparent and title
character is attractive, clever, but unsettled Gillon Stokes. At the outset she is undergoing
internship
in a museum of modern art, and also works at a couple of paying, part-time McJobs to earn
enough
to support herself. At the end of Part 1, though, out of the blue Gillon announces that she is
applying
for a job in London, England and, seemingly with vast confidence (perhaps unintended by
Trollope)
in her employability, indicates that she won't be in Charleston when her sister's baby is due, in
early
November.
After Gillon's odd display of counting an unhatched chicken or of crossing an unreached bridge,
the
curtain descends for some time on Charleston and its people. Gillon virtually vanishes, abdicating
her
initial protagonist spot in the next Part.
Part 2, LONDON / SUMMER, doesn't exactly introduce, but simply HAS a whole new cast.
These
are English folk in an English setting. I so report in the hope of saving my readers the confusion I
experienced here. The transition is very abrupt, and scarcely explained; for after all, Gillon had
previously only mentioned her INTENTION TO APPLY for a London job, and none was even in
view at Part 1's end.
The new group is so independent of the now familiar American family that I wondered for a time
whether "Girl From the South" were perhaps a collection of short stories, not a novel? However,
at
an artsy party 35 pages later (it takes that long for the 2 + 2 to make 4), an English girl named
Tilly,
who has just received a full glass of red wine, is jostled so heavily as to send the liquid onto a
trajectory to coat another girl - who turns out to be an American, and indeed none other than our
Gillon. Parts 1 and 2 are portions of a single tale, then, after all!
A geographical comparison not found in the book may be helpful here. London, at roughly 51
degrees 30 minutes North, lies about 18 deg. 45 min., or 1125 nautical miles (1296 statute miles,
2085 kilometres) north of Charleston, which is located around 32 deg. 45 min. North.
Charleston is moreover around the latitude of Casablanca, Morocco, and lies south of every part
of
Europe. London, in contrast, is about as far north as is the tip of James Bay, the southerly
extension
of Hudson Bay issuing upon the Arctic Ocean.
The Gulf Stream vastly moderates London's climate, but it can do nothing for its short days and
long
nights in winter, or for the reverse in summertime. Yet London's winter days are longer than those
experirenced in Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, and St. Petersburg, four important cities around 60
deg.
N, also the northerly limit of Canada's western provinces.
London's winter days may often be dull and wet, then, but hardly black, even if lacking bright
snow;
while any such great city at night radiates a great deal of light into the environment which,
especially
during overcasts, reflects much of it right back. I thus feel that when Author Trollope calls the
winter weather "blackness", she uses poetic licence chiefly representing one character's or
another's
depression.
Returning to the opening of Part 2, the scene is aboard a crowded train running from King's Lynn
to
London. This much may sound reasonable, given Gillon's earlier announced intention of moving
to
London. Yet now we suddenly find ourselves looking at the world, not through her eyes, but
through those of some fellow named Henry - which made me ask myself, "Just who the devil is
this
Henry?" Had I read of him before, I wondered, then suffered an amnesia attack?
I went back and scanned Part 1 once, then again, before concluding that this unknown Henry's
sudden, unaccountable apparition is an annoying (for I have much better ways of killing time than
searching books for things they don't contain) failure in the story's continuity - but not, luckily, in
my
memory. Thus I feel relieved of my first worry, but I feel once again that some editor muffed
his/her
presumed duty to edit the story for contretemps, or screw-ups if you prefer. As I've asked before,
"Why can't editors edit?!"
Perhaps a book need not have only one protagonist - or, for that matter, even one. A good tale is
a good tale, however it is structured; to have a single, constant leading character is a merely usual
convention.
Being one's own constant "protagonist" is however in keeping with our mentally normal
experience
of life. Folk who experience the real world as if seeing it through serial pairs of eyes may suffer
from
multiple personality disorder - a condition perhaps calling for psychiatric treatment. It is therefore
the norm to write first-person stories from a single point of view (POV), and usually the teller is
the
tale's sole protagonist. (Exceptions are those stories structured as Joseph Conrad contrived some
of
his with a narrator named Marlow, thought to be a pseudonym for himself. A "Marlow" recites
stories in which he himself plays no active part, while others act as the real protagonists.)
Third-person storytelling, on the other hand, can throw a yarn open to numerous personalities
who
may, if the author wishes, take turns acting as protagonists. "Girl From the South" exemplifies this
approach.
Gillon is absent from the scene of action a good deal of the time, during which others play the
protagonist (if any leading role can in fact be distinguished). She is always the title character, the
"Girl From the South", though; her only possible rival is her less quirky sister.
Initially, the wine-splashing accident is not as negative an experience as it may sound, for it serves
to
introduce people, and to break Gillon's isolation far from home, while advancing her tale. It will
however later lead to much sadness when Gillon, the splashee, abstracts the affections of the
aforementioned Henry from Tilly, the splasher.
The situation "goes critical" after just four months of Gillon's stay in London, when she decides to
fly home to be with her sister, who is about to give birth. In a dopey moment - or has she
unconsciously been waiting all along for her chance to get even by raining on Tilly's parade? - she
invites Tilly's increasingly interested lover Henry, a professional wildlife photographer, to visit
Charleston and study that area's abundant wildlife. He quickly accepts, to Tilly's not exclusive
horror.
