Amazon.com
Here's another management parable that draws its lesson from an unlikely source--this time it's the fun-loving fishmongers at Seattle's Pike Place Market. In Fish! the heroine, Mary Jane Ramirez, recently widowed and mother of two, is asked to engineer a turnaround of her company's troubled operations department, a group that authors Stephen Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen describe as a "toxic energy dump." Most reasonable heads would cut their losses and move on. Why bother with this bunch of losers? But the authors don't make it so easy for Mary Jane. Instead, she's left to sort out this mess with the help of head fishmonger Lonnie. Based on a bestselling corporate education video, Fish! aims to help employees find their way to a fun and happy workplace. While some may find the story line and prescriptions--such as "Choose Your Attitude," "Make Their Day," and "Be Present"--downright corny, others will find a good dose of worthwhile motivational management techniques. If you loved Who Moved My Cheese? then you'll find much to like here. And don't worry about Mary Jane and kids. Fish! has a happy ending for everyone. --Harry C. Edwards
Book Description
Imagine a workplace where everyone chooses to bring energy, passion, and a positive attitude to the job every day. Imagine an environment in which people are truly connected to their work, to their colleagues, and to their customers. In this engrossing parable, a fictional manager is charged with the responsibility of turning a chronically unenthusiastic and unhelpful department into an effective team. Across the street from her office is Seattles very real Pike Place Fish Market, world famous and wildly successful thanks to its fun, bustling, joyful atmosphere and customer service. By applying ingeniously simple lessons learned from the actual Pike Place fishmongers, our manager learns how to energize those who report to her and effect an astonishing transformation in her workplace. Addressing todays work issues (including employee retention and burnout) with an engaging metaphor and an appealing message that applies to any sector of any organization, Fish! offers wisdom that is easy to grasp, instantly applicable, and profoundthe hallmarks of a true business classic. Based on a bestselling ChartHouse training video which has been adopted by corporations including Southwest Airlines, Sprint, and Nordstrom.
Download Description
In this engrossing parable, a fictional manager is charged with the responsibility of turning a chronically unenthusiastic and unhelpful department into an effective team.
Customer Reviews:
Quick Read...Makes some GREAT points!.......2007-08-13
This book is a quick read for anyone...the story was interesting enough to keep my attention all the way through. Even though this book was depicting more severe circumstances than I have faced, I could still find ways to relate to the information. It's a nice reminder to practice good work habits every day!
Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results.......2007-07-16
The book is good for the use as a morale booster in the workplace. It is easily adaptable to a variety of environments.
Fish!.......2007-02-26
Received complete order in a reasonable amount of time and without any problems. Would order from them again.
Fish! .......2007-02-20
Good, and a light read. The ideas are powerful and worth taking time to think about.
Fun, Fun, Fun.......2007-01-30
This book is a super quick read and you'll find yourself able to not only grasp but also implement the key concepts the very same day in any organisation - if you chose to. This book has been so successful it's spawned a whole series of other similar books - but start with this one. Not only does this book help you to make your work fun, it's a fun read itself.
Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Five years ago, Jim Collins asked the question, "Can a good company become a great company and if so, how?" In Good to Great Collins, the author of Built to Last, concludes that it is possible, but finds there are no silver bullets. Collins and his team of researchers began their quest by sorting through a list of 1,435 companies, looking for those that made substantial improvements in their performance over time. They finally settled on 11--including Fannie Mae, Gillette, Walgreens, and Wells Fargo--and discovered common traits that challenged many of the conventional notions of corporate success. Making the transition from good to great doesn't require a high-profile CEO, the latest technology, innovative change management, or even a fine-tuned business strategy. At the heart of those rare and truly great companies was a corporate culture that rigorously found and promoted disciplined people to think and act in a disciplined manner. Peppered with dozens of stories and examples from the great and not so great, the book offers a well-reasoned road map to excellence that any organization would do well to consider. Like Built to Last, Good to Great is one of those books that managers and CEOs will be reading and rereading for years to come. --Harry C. Edwards
Book Description
The Challenge
Built to Last, the defining management study of the nineties, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the verybeginning.
But what about the company that is not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness?
The Study
For years, this question preyed on the mind of Jim Collins. Are there companies that defy gravity and convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? And if so, what are the universal distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great?
The Standards
Using tough benchmarks, Collins and his research team identified a set of elite companies that made the leap to great results and sustained those results for at least fifteen years. How great? After the leap, the good-to-great companies generated cumulative stock returns that beat the general stock market by an average of seven times in fifteen years, better than twice the results delivered by a composite index of the world's greatest companies, including Coca-Cola, Intel, General Electric, and Merck.
The Comparisons
The research team contrasted the good-to-great companies with a carefully selected set of comparison companies that failed to make the leap from good to great. What was different? Why did one set of companies become truly great performers while the other set remained only good?
Over five years, the team analyzed the histories of all twenty-eight companies in the study. After sifting through mountains of data and thousands of pages of interviews, Collins and his crew discovered the key determinants of greatness -- why some companies make the leap and others don't.
The Findings
The findings of the Good to Great study will surprise many readers and shed light on virtually every area of management strategy and practice. The findings include:
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Level 5 Leaders: The research team was shocked to discover the type of leadership required to achieve greatness.
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The Hedgehog Concept (Simplicity within the Three Circles): To go from good to great requires transcending the curse of competence.
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A Culture of Discipline: When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great results. Technology Accelerators: Good-to-great companies think differently about the role of technology.
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The Flywheel and the Doom Loop: Those who launch radical change programs and wrenching restructurings will almost certainly fail to make the leap.
“Some of the key concepts discerned in the study,” comments Jim Collins, "fly in the face of our modern business culture and will, quite frankly, upset some people.”
Perhaps, but who can afford to ignore these findings?
Customer Reviews:
A very thought-provoking book for people trying to grow their business........2007-10-02
This was a very interesting book for me to read. I have to imagine that I am in a pretty narrow target market for this book, though the concepts may be broadly applied. I work for a small business and can see many opportunities to put this book's findings to work.
The book tells the various stories of companies that made a transition from a market participant to market leader and saw sustained success for at least 15 years. The author was able to identify a few common factors between these companies, and he and his research team present them as a model for us to follow.
I had but one small issue, which is probably not information that contributes to the rest of the research. They detail radical decisions made by upper management, sometimes completely changing the face of an established business. I figure there must be a largely disproportionate number of business that fail when they made the same or a similar move. I would have liked to see some detail behind how those successful companies came to make that decision. The decision itself was largely overlooked.
Like many "business" books, I feel that much of what was written here was largely common sense. They weren't necessarily ideas that I have had or would have come up with on my own, but as I read them they seemed mundane in analysis. It made the reading slow going, but there was a silver lining -- for instant gratification, each chapter ends with a few pages of main concepts extracted from the text.
There was some very insightful research in Good to Great. The common elements identified were relevant and practical. It would not be an easy model to follow, but if it were it would defeat its own purpose to isolate those corporate characteristics that set successful companies apart. If you have ever wondered what steps you should follow to take your company from Good to Great, this is a book you should read (even if it is just the chapter summaries).
Good To Great.......2007-09-28
Our company is taking the advice of the book to heart. We have formed our "hedgehog" group and all are excited. We want to work in an environment of greatness. The book shows us the way. We have 7 of our employees who have agreed to "donate their time" at lunch several times a month to help us identify our circles. I would recommend this book to any company or organization that truly wants to have their maximum impact in the arena in which they operate!
My Business Bible.......2007-09-24
If I have a bible for business, this is it. First who then what is the only way to go!
Still applicable in 2007.......2007-09-19
I enjoyed the thought provoking aspect of this book. The different levels of leadership, the hedgehog concept are the two takeaways from this book.
How many of us fall into the trap of being everything to everyone? Most I suspect from the findings presented in the book.
Read this book to find out how you can strive to be a Level 5 leader. I found the book very insightful. Jim Collins and his team hit a homerun!
Renamed the "Leadership Bible".......2007-09-19
In a previous review I dubbed a Blanchard text as the Management Bible. Good to Great goes one step further. It teaches how to lead. Leadership is very different from management. Management is about details and processes. Leadership is about creating a storyline, then using it to motivate, overcome, and exceed. Good to Great by Jim Collins is about greatness.
The key to the "greatness storyline" is in identifying your Hedgehog Concept- that singular objective that will define your success. This also the most difficult part of leadership, an ability which most titled executives do not master. It is very easy to fall prey to the excuse that we "don't know what the future may bring" and we have to be "ready for anything". Hog wash. Or should I say hedgehog wash?
Greatness can only be achieved through singular purpose. The core of Good to Great teaches us not only how to identify it (the hedgehog Concept), but how to embrace it. The remainder of the book tells us how to apply it in broad strokes. This is the essence of strategic planning. Being able to understand and acheive this should be a prerequisite for any leadership position. Or for any aspiring entrepreneur.
Customer Reviews:
A Balanced Approach - 4th Edition.......2007-02-10
I purchased this book for a class I took in spring 06 and found it extremly helpful. I've applied the balance approach method in working with young children. I've also applied the information helping my 3 year old learn to read. He is now 4 and enjoys reading. I highly recommend this book.
Great book!!!.......2006-12-27
I found this book to be fantastic!!!! The green pages at the back give many great ideas for teachers of literacy.
Very useful.......2006-03-11
I needed to order this book for a class. It is well written and easy to read. As a reading teacher I can say that I will keep this book as a reference long after the class has ended. This edition comes with a CD (or DVD) which I have not previewed yet, but the instructor of my class raves about it.
A must have!!.......2003-03-08
I was first introduced to this book in one of my graduate literacy courses and I have been hooked every since. The teachers at my school pass it around constantly looking for ideas. My favorite aspect of this book is the fact that there are real teachers giving real examples of what works in their classrooms. There are no strategies that seem too hard implement in your classroom, because the layout is right there!! You know it can be done and it words because the examples in the book are proof! You don't feel like you are reading about some ideal or Utopia of a classroom. You are reading about REAL classrooms. I absolutely love it!
Excellent resource for teachers.......2002-11-17
This is an excellent resource. It is concise and contains a wealth of information. I teach second grade and am working on a Master's degree in literacy. I am finding this book to be invaluable. Much of the information is sorted into charts for easy referencing. So many of the books I have read lately seem to ramble on and on. This book makes it's point and moves on to other salient information. I get rid of so many of the professional books I purchase after I read them. This one is a keeper. It is very pertinent to the current trend in improving the literacy of our children.
Amazon.com
Yann Martel's imaginative and unforgettable Life of Pi is a magical reading experience, an endless blue expanse of storytelling about adventure, survival, and ultimately, faith. The precocious son of a zookeeper, 16-year-old Pi Patel is raised in Pondicherry, India, where he tries on various faiths for size, attracting "religions the way a dog attracts fleas." Planning a move to Canada, his father packs up the family and their menagerie and they hitch a ride on an enormous freighter. After a harrowing shipwreck, Pi finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean, trapped on a 26-foot lifeboat with a wounded zebra, a spotted hyena, a seasick orangutan, and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker ("His head was the size and color of the lifebuoy, with teeth"). It sounds like a colorful setup, but these wild beasts don't burst into song as if co-starring in an anthropomorphized Disney feature. After much gore and infighting, Pi and Richard Parker remain the boat's sole passengers, drifting for 227 days through shark-infested waters while fighting hunger, the elements, and an overactive imagination. In rich, hallucinatory passages, Pi recounts the harrowing journey as the days blur together, elegantly cataloging the endless passage of time and his struggles to survive: "It is pointless to say that this or that night was the worst of my life. I have so many bad nights to choose from that I've made none the champion."
An award winner in Canada (and winner of the 2002 Man Booker Prize), Life of Pi, Yann Martel's second novel, should prove to be a breakout book in the U.S. At one point in his journey, Pi recounts, "My greatest wish--other than salvation--was to have a book. A long book with a never-ending story. One that I could read again and again, with new eyes and fresh understanding each time." It's safe to say that the fabulous, fablelike Life of Pi is such a book. --Brad Thomas Parsons
Book Description
The son of a zookeeper, Pi Patel has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior and a fervent love of stories. When Pi is sixteen, his family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, along with their zoo animals bound for new homes.
The ship sinks. Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi, whose fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with Richard Parker for 227 days while lost at sea. When they finally reach the coast of Mexico, Richard Parker flees to the jungle, never to be seen again. The Japanese authorities who interrogate Pi refuse to believe his story and press him to tell them "the truth." After hours of coercion, Pi tells a second story, a story much less fantastical, much more conventional--but is it more true?
Customer Reviews:
Great narrative.......2007-10-01
Love all the literary elements in this story. I especially love that this story can evoke so much conversation at a book club which is why I had the pleasure of reading it. Highly recommended for a book club reading!!!
A great book.......2007-09-15
A great book- a story within a story, a story about stories, the stories we tell others and the stories we tell ourselves. The story of Pi's journey through the Pacific is told twice and the reader is left to wonder which is more accurate- but as with many "unreliable narrator" stories emotional truth trumps literal truth and the tiger may just be a metaphor for something else. Pi's final words about Richard Parker are haunting and the whole book is a fascinating meditation on the ever-stretching limits of human endurance.
An enjoyable but shallow read.......2007-09-14
I enjoyed reading this book like I've enjoyed watching James Bond movies; entertaining but shallow. That wouldn't be a problem if Martel wouldn't make such an outlandish claim as 'this story will make you believe in God' in the introduction. The book does start off in the right direction. Pi is introduced as an eclectic character who practices Hinduism, Christianity and Islam and lives a colorful life centered around a zoo. Martel certainly has a talent for descriptions, and this first part is all in all excellent. What is disappointing however is that after such a nice setup, we find out that it was all just an elaborate scheme to make the story of a boy lost at sea with a tiger on a boat somewhat believable. Most of the previously introduced characters are quickly forgotten as the narration centers on the harshness of life out at sea. Martel does a good job at suspending disbelief; but in switching the narrative he heads off in a completely different direction which he set up, which is talking about the relationship between truth and myth in religion.
Martel adds insult to injury in the last part of the book when he introduces an alternative account of Pi's time at sea. The alternate story itself is a great twist; what is terrible however is the following discussion between two minor characters in which the exact relationship between the two stories is detailed explicitly and completely seals off all other possible interpretations. Martel insults his reader by doing all the intellectual effort himself and spoon-feeding it to him. Pi first says that there is truth in all religions, and Martel says that his story will make you believe in God; then he gives two alternate explanations for Pi's time at sea, and asks which of the stories you like best. The reader has to brain-dead at that point not to connect the dots; but Martel does connect the dots, in EXPLICIT DETAIL. Never mind the fact that Martel's reflections on religion are about as profound as the ones of Paulo Coelho or as a self-help book; he butchers his whole story and insults the reader for the purpose of getting his simplistic point across.
I give it three stars nonetheless, because Martel does tell a thoroughly entertaining story. As a piece of pop litt, it succeeds; as a metaphysical reflection, it's a failure.
An unbelieveable book.......2007-09-10
Life of Pi is the kind of book that makes you love life a little more. Though quite impropable, the story is told in such a way, that you believe it - at least while you are reading - to have happened in real life for someone.
The book contains some great views on religion an zoology. I would suggest the worlds religious leaders to read it and then meet in the zoo to discuss it. The story is about a tragedy. The book is about friendship and reconciling with the demons inside you and around you.
Enjoy it.
I didn't find God but it's still a good read.......2007-09-09
This book is evidence that to see God, one has to believe in him. That is why this book failed me in that respect, but I still found this book a worthwhile read. But I did have a few minor complaints.
Chapter II was too long. The survival story with the tiger on the raft dragged on too long. There were too many "bone-crushing" scenes that left me a little uneasy.
But otherwise, for originality and creativity, I give this book high marks. I will also add that I do believe the secondary version of this story, revealed in Chapter III, is most likely the real story, which makes the symbolic analogies in the preceding pages more coherent. I also appreciated the author's added descriptions of animal behavior and habitats noteworthy.
Although I don't understand what the big ruckus was about this book, I did find it an enjoyable read and a book worthy of a discussion group afterwards. I don't think this story is strictly a religious tale. Anyone with faith and devotion would relate to this book.
Average customer rating:
- Didn't quite deliver
- I'm in love with Clare and Henry!!!
- One of My all Time Favorites
- A book that will keep you up all night!
- Unique romance
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The Time Traveler's Wife
Audrey Niffenegger
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
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ASIN: 015602943X |
Book Description
A dazzling novel in the most untraditional fashion, this is the remarkable story of Henry DeTamble, a dashing, adventuresome librarian who travels involuntarily through time, and Clare Abshire, an artist whose life takes a natural sequential course. Henry and Clare's passionate love affair endures across a sea of time and captures the two lovers in an impossibly romantic trap, and it is Audrey Niffenegger's cinematic storytelling that makes the novel's unconventional chronology so vibrantly triumphant.
An enchanting debut and a spellbinding tale of fate and belief in the bonds of love, The Time Traveler's Wife is destined to captivate readers for years to come.
Customer Reviews:
Didn't quite deliver.......2007-10-04
The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger was a really uninspiring book. The premise is kind of sci-fi, this guy is randomly transported to other times and places, leaving a pile of clothes behind, and arriving stark naked wherever he arrives, and then returning to where he disappeared from, again stark naked, and hoping to find the clothes he left behind are still there...and that is only the tip of the iceberg. There is a love story entwined with all this time travel. The book did not, in my opinion, deliver the story it advertised on the cover. It implied that the two main characters, man and wife, overcame danger, etc. in order to be together. It almost got there, but remained undeveloped. Also, this is a little bit of a soapbox here, but I think that this book could have been a lot better than it was. I find that I am really annoyed by crudity of language, especially in describing relationships. Why can we not use nice words when we talk about sex in books? Does the author talk like this to her lover/husband/partner? Do any of us? (Don't answer that, really) I think that her use of language in describing the sexual relationship of the main characters made the book less than ordinary and unappealing. It could have been charming, and the love story could have been inspiring. The author is a professor for heavens sake. One imagines that she has command of the English language, or at least a thesaurus. I will not buy this book or recommend this book to others, I'd be too embarrassed.
I'm in love with Clare and Henry!!!.......2007-10-03
My best friend, who is a bookworm, gave me this book to read. I can usually tell within a few pages if I'm going to like it and sure enough, after the first few paragraphs, I was hooked.
This is a love story; not a science fiction story. The fact that Henry has this condition that catapults him back and forth in his and Clare's past, is very important to the story, but not enough to make it a sci-fi story.
After reading how much Henry loved Clare and how tender and carful he was when he met her while she was a child, I found myself wanting to *be* Clare and have some love me as Henry does her. The author writes a truely awe inspiring love story that leaves me gasping for more.
This book has become my addiction over the past week; I find myself counting the hours until the kids go down to bed at night so I can curl up and read as much as I want without being interrupted. I've found myself laughing out loud, and crying...and I might add, I'll be finishing the book this evening. I'm saving it. I know it ends sadly and I've already found myself welling up with tears at the prospect of Henry's and Clare's fates.
When I am done with this book, I will give it back to my friend and I will get my own copy so that I may read the tale of Henry and Clare over and over and over. And I'm sure that each time I read it, I will get something else out of it that I missed before.
Someone on a blog about this book posted a comment about the author possibly doing a sequel. That would be awesome...perhaps they could call it "The Time Traveler's Daughter"...
This book is nothing short of beautiful. The characters are so real; I felt as though I knew them personally. I have visions of how beautiful Clare is with her long, copper hair and of how handsome and distinguished Henry is through all the stages of his life from young boy to man. I will miss them once I read the final pages this evening. You have to slow down and read this book, as there time changes and changes in location and year. It goes back and forth between Henry and Clare. You really do have to sort of just slow down and read, and sometimes re-read but it is SOOOO worth it...
One of My all Time Favorites.......2007-10-03
This book makes the top ten in my all time favorites! Such a cool story! Very different thats what makes it so great.Don't understand the bad reviews here.
A book that will keep you up all night!.......2007-10-01
I love, love, loved this book! Could not put it down. The characters are very compelling and it is a beautiful story about life, love, loss and everything else. It made me laugh and cry!
Unique romance.......2007-09-28
Could not put this down. I was sad when it was over. The story is captivating; don't think about Journeyman or Quantum Leap; think a Wrinkle in Time...
Book Description
The two leading, bestselling experts on the Gnostic Gospels weigh in on the meaning of the controversial newly discovered Gospel of Judas
When the Gospel of Judas was published by the National Geographic Society in April 2006, it received extraordinary media attention and was immediately heralded as a major biblical discovery that rocked the world of scholars and laypeople alike. Elaine Pagels and Karen King are the first to reflect on this newfound text and its ramifications for telling the story of early Christianity. In Reading Judas, the two celebrated scholars illustrate how the newly discovered text provides a window onto understanding how Jesus' followers understood his death, why Judas betrayed Jesus, and why God allowed it.
Most contemporary readers will find passages in the ancient Gospel of Judas difficult to comprehend outside of its context in the ancient world. Reading Judas illuminates the intellectual assumptions behind Jesus' teaching to Judas and shows how conflict among the disciples was a tool frequently used by early Christian authors to explore matters of doubt and disagreement. Presented with the elegance, insight, and accessibility that has made Pagels and King the leading voices in this field, this is a book for academics and popular audience both. Pagels's five previous books, including The New York Times bestseller Beyond Belief, and King's The Gospel of Mary of Magdala prove that there is a considerable audience eager for this kind of informed and engaging writing.
Customer Reviews:
Pretty thin, and methinks they doth protest against Bart Ehrman too much.......2007-09-07
Ehrman beat Pagels and King to the publishing punch with "The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot" in 2006. I don't know if that's why they feel they have to attack him (and others) in the introduction for allegedly trying to shoehorn the Gospel of Judas into a Gnostic boot or what, but their complaint just doesn't wash.
Their own description of the "doctrines" of GofJ would lead any blindfolded New Testament or early Christianity scholar to call GofJ "Gnosticizing," if not full-blown Gnostic, and it is.
Also, they give no story of the discovery of the codex, and do less to place it in historical background. And, the 50 pages of "Comments on the Translation" would have been better served coming at the start of the book, as a Sitz im Leben chapter, a la what I just said Ehrman did.
Besides, Ehrman's got a better analysis in general. And, I think he turns an even more skeptical eye to some matters of early Christian origins and development than do they. (For example, they seem to credit the Eucharist, in some way, as having started with an actual event, rather than made up out of pagan whole cloth by Paul.)
I might have three-started this, but I thought the attack in the introduction -- for whatever reason -- was egregious.
It's so logical.......2007-07-26
Book in excellent shape. Contents coincide with what I've been arguing, from a logical point of view, for decades: No betrayal no crucifixion, thus Judas was an accomplice, not a traitor.
Judas: Evil Incarnate or Fall Guy?.......2007-07-19
Eminently readable and intellectually stimulating.
The authors manage to maintain a neutral view of the writing, trying to put it into the historical context (persacution of one Christian sect by another).
I was most interested by the alternative view of the universe presented by this text.
Comparing the actual text of the gospel to the cleaned up version is an interesting exercise. It gave me insight into the workings of historical slueths.
The authors are somewhat obsessed with pointing out that the writer of the gospel is VERY angry about something (probably the fact that he and he group are being eliminated).
This book interests me in reading more of the gnostic texts.
Academic but readable book.......2007-07-03
This book contains 2 gems: The newly published Gospel of Judas and a readable, academic framework for understanding the gospel itself. I have recommended this book to several laity in my congregation. (I am a local church pastor.)
From Great Deceiver to Bosom Buddy..........2007-06-12
Judas Iscariot has played the role of Christianity's ultimate traitor for centuries. Tradition, as portrayed in the synoptic gospels, claims that he handed Jesus over to the Romans for thirty silver pieces. This vile act led to Jesus' crucifixion and death. So repugnant was this that his name has become synonymous with deceit and betrayal. For example, when Bob Dylan abandoned folk music for electric rock in 1966, an appalled audience member at the Royal Albert Hall yelled "Judas!" Right or wrong, everyone knew what that single name implied. Some cheered, some hissed. Pope Benedict XVI upheld the tradition in 2006 by accusing Judas of greed and power mongering. And why did the leader of the Catholic Church feel the need to reiterate this well-worn point in the twenty-first century? Because the long lost Gospel of Judas had resurfaced. A translation of this document's extant text appears in Part Two of "Reading Judas." Written sometime before 180 CE, the short gospel inverts tradition by depicting Judas as Jesus' most trusted Apostle, as his bosom buddy, his confidante. Not only that, Jesus shares the "mysteries of the Kingdom" with this great deceiver. And only with him. The gospel portrays the other Apostles as weak and conniving dolts who, according to Jesus, worship the wrong God through cruel sacrifice. Jesus' delineation of the "Mysteries" evoke elements similar to Pythagorianism, Platonism, Vedanta, and Buddhism. Certain sections of the gospel read more like Plato's "Timaeus" than the New Testament. In these passages, Jesus outlines a mystical mathematical transcendental cosmology involving a pantheon of lesser imperfect gods, one of which, called Saklas, created humanity, and the all knowing all seeing "Great Invisible Spirit" (the "real God") from which everything emanates. Humans have this Spirit within them, but they must search for it by examining the Self. Jesus' death will serve as an example to humankind that they can escape their physical bodies and enter the Heavenly Kingdom via the discovery of this inner Spirit. Jesus entrusts Judas with initiating this sacred event. Judas then indentifies Jesus to the accusers as instructed, receives some copper coins, and the text ends. Thus does Judas become, in this long lost gospel, the catalyst to humanity's salvation. Judas also sees the vision of his demise. The other Apostles will apparently stone him to death. But, as Jesus points out, such is the price for the "Mysteries of the Kingdom."
Part One of "Reading Judas" analyzes the Gospel in historical context. Drawing from voluminous sources, including the Bible, other Gnostic gospels, and various miscellaneous ancient texts, the essay's authors, Pagels and King, frame the Gospel of Judas as a text infused with anger. What caused this anger? In the second century CE, Christianity as we know it was solidifying under the auspices of bishops and clergy. Recent discoveries show that other interpretations of Jesus' death co-existed with the now dominate view. In other words, Christianity was not as homogenous as tradition suggests. Over time the fringe groups, along with their documents, were suppressed and outlawed as heretical. The Gospel of Judas, argue the authors, represents one of these alternate, or dissenting, ideologies. At the time of its composition Christian persecution was widespread and expanding. Certain founders of the nascent church, such as Tertullian, Ireneaus, and Heracleon, began to glorify the suffering of those who were killed in horrifying and unimaginable ways by the then pagan Roman government. Others Christians followed them "to glory" and met similar ghastly ends. Pagels and King argue that the Gopel of Judas' fervent anger stems from the church's encouragement of martyrdom. The "false venegeful God," according to the Jesus of the Gospel of Judas, demands such needless sacrifice. But the "true God" never would. Jesus demands that the Apostles "cease sacrificing!" So was the Gospel of Judas a protest piece? Maybe. It definitely paints an alternate picture of Jesus and Christianity.
Overall, "Reading Judas" enables general readers to grasp the document's signifigance. Most helpful are the some forty pages of commentary that accompany the translation. Though Pagels and King claim that this gospel doesn't belong in the Christian canon, they argue that it nonetheless demonstrates that the Christianity we have today was written by the winners. And those winners suppressed dissent so effectively that the Gospel of Judas, among others, remained lost for almost two millennia. All together, these ancient texts help scholars piece together the story of Christianity's development. "Reading Judas," though unlikely to alter anyone's faith, provides fascinating and provocative glimpses into the history of western civilization's dominant religion.
Book Description
Exemplary teacher research has established that explicit teaching plays a vital role in the K-8 classroom, with particular benefits for struggling readers. This book is a practical resource for explaining reading to students who do not learn to read easily. Identified are 22 major skills and strategies associated with vocabulary development, comprehension, word recognition, and fluency. Ways to explain each skill or strategy are illustrated with abundant concrete examples, which teachers can use as starting points for developing lessons tailored to the needs, strengths, and interests of their own students. The book also shows how to move from the teacher's explanation to the student's independent use of new concepts, and how to embed explicit teaching within a context of rich, engaging literacy experiences.
Customer Reviews:
Analytical explanation of reading.......2007-01-04
I am a tutor for third and fourth graders (employed by the school) and have found this book to be priceless in explaining the strategies of reading to 8, 9 and ten year olds - my target audience. The book is structured well and offers many examples of how to help struggling readers learn the "secrets" of good readers. After looking at several other 'Reading Comprehension' books, I chose this one based on the TOC and the foreward. It has proven to REALLY help me clarify each objective and teach the invisible process of active reading to my students. I'm very excited about the book and what it has to offer. Thanks!
Excellent book.......2006-02-20
I bought this book last year from Amazon, after being recommended it by a resource literacy teacher. It is very helpful to me, a classroom teacher. I would recommend it as great value for any teacher. I recently had the pleasure of hearing G Duffy speak at a day's conference here in New Zealand. He was so clear, so able to show the recent history of the teaching of reading, and how we might go about showing students the skills of comprehension, and what good readers do. In this book, G Duffy helps teachers model what good readers do. He is realistic and down to earth.
Great Resource for Literacy Coaches.......2005-05-04
This is a wonderful book to use while working with teachers in your building. Use it as a resource for yourself or share it with teachers to support what you are saying or modeling in their classrooms. After you have identified the strategy or skill the students are having trouble with, locate the skill in the index. Then read through the pages as Dr. Duffy describes the conceptual understanding that must be in place for the students to learn the skill. He also outlines how to introduce the skill, model the thinking, scaffold towards independence, apply it in reading and writing, and determine how to know if the lesson was successful. Some topic categories are vocabulary, comprehension strategies, word recognition, and fluency.
Individual chapters cogently provide examples.......2003-10-14
Gerald G. Duffy is a former classroom teacher and professor emeritus at Michigan State University. He draws upon his many years of experience and his considerable expertise in Explaining Reading: A Resource For Teaching Concepts, Skills, And Strategies to provide the reader with a solid guide for aiding in their teaching literacy to students who are slow to absorb the skill. Individual chapters cogently provide examples and ideas for explaining vocabulary, teaching word recognition, comprehension strategies, and a great deal more. Explaining Reading is highly recommended as an excellent and detailed advice guide -- especially for classroom teachers and home schoolers involved in a literacy instructional program.
Customer Reviews:
School Book.......2007-04-27
got this book for an anthro class at my University. its basically just a compilation of short stories (3 pages - 10 pages) about case studies in anthro. its an easy read and actually was pretty interesting.
Excellent collection, a standard in anthro -- and the 12th is DIFFERENT from the11th.......2006-04-15
I've used this collection off and on for years in teaching Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. It's a great book, a real standard in anthropology. Honestly, I think the relevance and quality of the essays varies from edition to edition. I liked the 11th more than the 12th. Sometimes a 'favorite' essay gets replaced; and then in the next edition it is returned. Go figure.
I note that sellers of used copies are claiming that the 11th edition is virtually the same as the 12th, that nearly every article is the same. THIS IS NOT TRUE!!!!!!!! I can't tell you how often I have students believe this and buy the 11th edition, then struggle all semester because they don't have the chapters I've assigned. Only someone who has never used the book in class, either as a student or a teacher, would make such an egregiously wrong claim. So, if you're looking for a nice, cheap, used version, make sure that you buy the edition being used in your class. Most teachers will not assign every single chapter in the book; most select 8-12 chapters, and they can well be the chapters that are not in the older edition.
Caveat Emptor ...
Good stuff.......2006-03-20
The book came fast and it was brand new. The book was crisp. It's a soft covered book but it still made that new hard-textbook sound. :0)
Excellent introduction to cultural anthropology!.......2005-05-13
This text was used in my introductory anthropolgy class, and I thoroughly enjoyed the readings. The text includes many case studies of differing cultures without being overly technical. I found this text easy to read, but very thought provoking. Highly recommended!
Excellent for those new to cultural anthropology.......2000-03-30
This is an ideal book to use to try to pull people into the study of cultural anthropology. It successfully stays away from the excessive use of jargon. The articles are short enough that even students with the lowest attention spans can't complain. The articles themselves come from many different angles, and while almost all of them are extremely articulate and well-structured, they also tend to be successful at emotionally engaging the reader. If used in a class, students will respond.
Average customer rating:
- True to it's title
- Things Fall apart audio
- Things Fall Apart
- All you never wanted to know about yams... and other such things.
- It Drags
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Things Fall Apart: A Novel
Chinua Achebe
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ASIN: 0385474547
Release Date: 1994-09-01 |
Amazon.com
One of Chinua Achebe's many achievements in his acclaimed first novel, Things Fall Apart, is his relentlessly unsentimental rendering of Nigerian tribal life before and after the coming of colonialism. First published in 1958, just two years before Nigeria declared independence from Great Britain, the book eschews the obvious temptation of depicting pre-colonial life as a kind of Eden. Instead, Achebe sketches a world in which violence, war, and suffering exist, but are balanced by a strong sense of tradition, ritual, and social coherence. His Ibo protagonist, Okonkwo, is a self-made man. The son of a charming ne'er-do-well, he has worked all his life to overcome his father's weakness and has arrived, finally, at great prosperity and even greater reputation among his fellows in the village of Umuofia. Okonkwo is a champion wrestler, a prosperous farmer, husband to three wives and father to several children. He is also a man who exhibits flaws well-known in Greek tragedy:
Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children. Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness. It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic, the fear of the forest, and of the forces of nature, malevolent, red in tooth and claw. Okonkwo's fear was greater than these. It was not external but lay deep within himself. It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father.
And yet Achebe manages to make this cruel man deeply sympathetic. He is fond of his eldest daughter, and also of Ikemefuna, a young boy sent from another village as compensation for the wrongful death of a young woman from Umuofia. He even begins to feel pride in his eldest son, in whom he has too often seen his own father. Unfortunately, a series of tragic events tests the mettle of this strong man, and it is his fear of weakness that ultimately undoes him.
Achebe does not introduce the theme of colonialism until the last 50 pages or so. By then, Okonkwo has lost everything and been driven into exile. And yet, within the traditions of his culture, he still has hope of redemption. The arrival of missionaries in Umuofia, however, followed by representatives of the colonial government, completely disrupts Ibo culture, and in the chasm between old ways and new, Okonkwo is lost forever. Deceptively simple in its prose, Things Fall Apart packs a powerful punch as Achebe holds up the ruin of one proud man to stand for the destruction of an entire culture. --Alix Wilber
Book Description
This is Chinua Achebe's classic novel, with more than two million copies sold since its first U.S. publication in 1969. Combining a richly African story with the author's keen awareness of the qualities common to all humanity, Achebe here shows that he is "gloriously gifted, with the magic of an ebullient, generous, great talent." -- Nadine Gordimer
Customer Reviews:
True to it's title.......2007-09-22
It is amazing how a novel first published in 1959 about a Nigerian village, pre-colonization, still has relevance today. Talk about transcending time as well as cultures! Chinua Achebe is a magnificent story teller. I love authors who have the ability to transport me to worlds that seem so different from my own.
Okonkwo was a man that was obsessed with masculinity and the "power" of being masculine. Although I could see how harsh, abusive, and unyielding Okonkwo was towards his family, oddly I felt sympathy for the man. He was the product of his environment and culture. Apparently his callousness was worsened because of his fear that he should become like his father ----- a man with no title, in his culture, the equivalent of being a woman.
How many of us struggle to balance the new with the old? And how often do we question or all out resist changing times.... be it attitudes or ideas, advancements in technology, religion, policies, music, etc. Most of us reach a certain age where we would prefer our traditions be left alone. In some instances there should be no room for compromise, but in other instances perhaps there truly is improvement/advancement to be gained.
Okonkwo's struggle is exactly that. He strives to leave behind a proud legacy. However, he makes bad decisions along the way. The more he tries to make things right the more it seems that misfortune comes his way. He's angered and confused about the changes that come upon his village but that combined with his pigheaded demeanor make for a disastrous result. It's a good book to take up beyond school required reading. Achebee gives his readers a great deal to consider.
Things Fall apart audio.......2007-09-11
My son had a senior project to do over the summer, he had to read this entire book and the first day back to school, he had a test on it, my son does not do well on reading, he can read great, but he has trouble remembering what he read, so I thought if he listened to it being read to him, he could follow along better, well he did, and he done well on his test and essay, I would recommend this product to anyone with similiar problems as my son has with reading.......
Things Fall Apart.......2007-09-10
My son needed this book for school and we received in time for school. Great service!
All you never wanted to know about yams... and other such things........2007-08-08
I had to read this for my high school advanced English class. I regret ever having picked it up. I feel very lucky that my brain was not fried after reading The-book-that-should-not-be-named. In short, if you want to read a bizarre book about African people and yams, then read this book. If not, go read something else.
It Drags.......2007-08-07
While the story itself is useful in giving a student the right mindset for African studies, the story itself lacks much of the marvel of other historically-based books. While the book is pointed towards lower-classmen in high school, the true audience should be college, where adults can completely analyze and idnetify the key points and emotions of the story.
Amazon.com
In his debut novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini accomplishes what very few contemporary novelists are able to do. He manages to provide an educational and eye-opening account of a country's political turmoil--in this case, Afghanistan--while also developing characters whose heartbreaking struggles and emotional triumphs resonate with readers long after the last page has been turned over. And he does this on his first try.
The Kite Runner follows the story of Amir, the privileged son of a wealthy businessman in Kabul, and Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant. As children in the relatively stable Afghanistan of the early 1970s, the boys are inseparable. They spend idyllic days running kites and telling stories of mystical places and powerful warriors until an unspeakable event changes the nature of their relationship forever, and eventually cements their bond in ways neither boy could have ever predicted. Even after Amir and his father flee to America, Amir remains haunted by his cowardly actions and disloyalty. In part, it is these demons and the sometimes impossible quest for forgiveness that bring him back to his war-torn native land after it comes under Taliban rule. ("...I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.")
Some of the plot's turns and twists may be somewhat implausible, but Hosseini has created characters that seem so real that one almost forgets that The Kite Runner is a novel and not a memoir. At a time when Afghanistan has been thrust into the forefront of America's collective consciousness ("people sipping lattes at Starbucks were talking about the battle for Kunduz"), Hosseini offers an honest, sometimes tragic, sometimes funny, but always heartfelt view of a fascinating land. Perhaps the only true flaw in this extraordinary novel is that it ends all too soon. --Gisele Toueg
Book Description
The timely and critically acclaimed debut novel that's becoming a word-of-mouth phenomenon...
Download Description
"Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable, beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan nonetheless grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan , the son of Amir's father's servant, is a Hazara, member of a shunned ethnic minority. Their intertwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them. When the Soviets invade and Amir and his father flee the country for a new life in California, Amir thinks that he has escaped his past. And yet he cannot leave the memory of Hassan behind him. The Kite Runner is a novel about friendship, betrayal, and the price of loyalty. It is about the bonds between fathers and sons, and the power of their lies. Written against a history that has not been told in fiction before, The Kite Runner describes the rich culture and beauty of a land in the process of being destroyed. But with the devastation, Khaled Hosseini also gives us hope: through the novel's faith in the power of reading and storytelling, and in the possibilities he shows for redemption."
Customer Reviews:
Great work of contemporary literature.......2007-10-03
I usualy don't read fictional books, but after reading the reviews of "The Kite Runner" I thought I would give it a shot; and having a backround in literature, I must say that this is one of the best pieces of modern day literature I have ever read (I feel it is comparable to the greats like Steinbeck, Hemmingway, and Fitzgerald, only in a different time and place). Also, the term 'page turner' gets used too frequently when reading reviews, but this is a true page turner (hard to take yourself away from it)
One absorbing read...from a "non-reader" (at least like you all!).......2007-10-01
I am not one who reads a lot....BUT when I do it is usually because I have found something so absorbing and riveting that I simply can't put it down.Why should I review the plot when everyone else at Amazon seems to be arguing about it.So, I will say adieu with ,"This is is single most vividly- written -easy -to-read -and -quick -to -feel -emotion -novel" that I have ever enjoyed .That's all....can't wait for the movie, which is usually my forte.
Look Into A Different World..........2007-09-30
Khaled Hosseini's debut novel is an astonishing work beckoning Western readers into an unforgettable, resonating world. Hosseini weaves a haunting tale about innocence lost, betrayal, and the daunting road leading to redemption.
Amir is a successful novelist living every refugee's dream; his life is peaceful, far from war-torn Afghanistan, and he's a naturalized American citizen enjoying a freedom he never thought possible. Far from the violence they fled as youths, he and his wife Soraya are at peace.
That peace is threatened; however, when a voice from the past calls, freeing painful memories with the simple phrase: "There is a way to be good again".
Now Amir must embark on two harrowing journeys; one to remember a dear friend he betrayed long ago; another a dangerous odyssey into Taliban-occupied Afghanistan to find his this same friend's son, in an attempt to redeem his sins. Not only will Amir be changed forever, but he'll also find a way - though not without great personal sacrifice - to be "good again".
"The Kite Runner" is written with amazing depth and sensitivity; its narrative humming with a nostalgic yearning all readers can connect to. Though a few climactic moments seem slightly out of place - better fitting an action/thriller - the story is real and authentic, with very little frills. For the most part apolitical, this novel isn't about agenda, but rather about earning forgiveness - even if it's only from self. It's also a challenging look at how other nations besides the United States have been shattered by terrorism.
kite runner.......2007-09-30
The Kite Runner
Kite runner was one of the best book I ever read about Afghanistan. I Felt the book. I can't wait for the Movie.
A journey without leaving the couch........2007-09-29
This is a beautiful story with pleasant writing supporting a fabulous plot, real characters that you become emotionally involved with and a background that is off the beaten path for most of us.
This is one of the best books I have ever read. I really appreciated the fact that I was able to completely focus and submerge myself in the setting, story and characters because the writer's style did not distract me with unnecessary lanaguage.
This is one of those books that you keep reading far past bedtime because you can't wait to find out what happens next, but when you get to the last chapters you start to feel torn between wanting to finish the story but not wanting it to be over. It is a book that you will read more than once.
I read a lot of books and I struggle to find titles that are not a waste of time, that will challenge my mind and engage me, but not wear me out just trying to wade through the writing style. This is a book I will keep on my shelf and not trade.
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