Customer Reviews:
MyShelf.com Book Reviewer.......2003-02-09
Joan Schulze's talent is breathtaking. She seems to magically transform simple textile materials into breathing, talking works of art.
She takes her love for the time-honored tradition of quilting to new, modern-day heights and creates priceless masterpieces. In The Art of Joan Shulze, readers will have the opportunity to view some of her most spectacular works which project such rich, vibrant colors that they seem to leap off the pages.
As an added bonus, the author has included some original stories to enhance her memorable work and essays by well-known artists, celebrating Ms. Schulze's achievements. Fans world-wide should put this book on their to-buy list. It will become a treasured keepsake, worthy of being passed down to future generations.
Book Description
Picking up where Cod left off, an "invaluable" (Financial Times) look at the global crisis of overfishing.
Gourmands and health-conscious consumers alike have fallen for fish; last year per capita consumption in the United States hit an all-time high. Packed with nutrients and naturally low in fat, fish is the last animal we can still eat in good conscience.
Or can we?
In this vivid, eye-opening book—first published in the UK to wide acclaim and now extensively revised for an American audience—environmental journalist Charles Clover argues that our passion for fish is unsustainable. Seventy-five percent of the world's fish stocks are now fully exploited or overfished; the most popular varieties risk extinction within the next few decades.
Clover trawls the globe for answers, from Tokyo's sumptuous fish market to the heart of New England's fishing industry. He joins hardy sailors on high-tech boats, interviews top chefs whose menu selections can influence the fate of entire species, and examines the ineffective organizations charged with regulating the world's fisheries. Along the way he argues that governments as well as consumers can take steps to reverse this disturbing trend before it's too late. The price of a mouth-watering fillet of Chilean sea bass may seem outrageous, but The End of the Line shows its real cost to the ecosystem is far greater.
Customer Reviews:
A must read for anyone who wants to know about the state of our world fishery resources.......2007-06-06
For those of you who are concerned about the state of our fisheries and declining fish populations worldwide, I would suggest a newly published book, "The End of the Line," by Charles Clover. As The Independent suggests, his book is "the maritime equivalent of Silent Spring." Clover takes the reader on an unbiased tour of many of the most important fisheries throughout the world from Africa to Iceland, offshore to nearshore. His appraisal and commentary of fishery management is candid and insightful. I highly recommend this book to anyone who finds themselves trying to contemplate the disequilibrium between fishery management and sustainability. The book ends with some positive examples of fishery management of which there are sadly too few, and he has some helpful tips for all of us to do our part to ensure fish stocks for the next generation.
Highly Informative... A Must-Read!.......2007-01-03
"The End of the Line" is a well-written, highly informative book which addresses a serious global issue.
"Imagine what people would say if a band of hunters strung a mile of net between two immense all-terrain vehicles and dragged it at speed across the plains of Africa.... left behind is a strangely bedraggled landscape resembling a harrowed field... this efficient but highly unselective way of killing animals is known as trawling... it is practiced the world over every day, from the Barents Sea in the Arctic to the shores of Antarctica and from the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean and the central Pacific to the temperate waters off Cape Cod."
Overfishing is a serious problem that must be addressed. The statistics are staggering. As journalist Charles Clover shows in his global exploration of the destruction caused by overfishing, we have inflicted a crisis on the oceans in a single human lifetime greater than any yet caused by pollution.
The rape of the oceans by commercial fishing.......2006-08-22
This is one of the most important books I've read. I have purchased several copies of this book to give away. It speaks up on behalf of those denizens of the oceans that we think should belong in cans and sandwiches or pies or curries, or pet food - yielding their flavoursome goodness of Omega 3 oils - with plenty more replenishing themselves without end. I did know in the back of my head that something was wrong when we put faceless tuna into cat food and no one discusses byecatch on a can except for a "Dolphin Friendly" logo. The appalling horror of millions of tonnes of these things being hoovered up with up to 50 to even 90% of the take being discarded back to the ocean because they are not the target species is spelled out in this book along with the moribund state of just how little we as a species care for the oceans or engage in managing its most vital food resources.
As usual much of the blame falls flatly at the feet of politicians and fishing interests as well as the consumers abject ignorance that advertisers and chefs have been milking and continue to milk. When the oceans belong to us all, to enjoy recreationally - they have become the preserve of fishing interests that continue to suppress so much biodiversity. This is a story of greed gone mad with absolutely no safeguards in place by the very people who are in charge of doing anything about it.
Japan and the EEC come out as some of the most environmentally tarnished political units - the madness of the EEC fishing policy is revealed in all its glorious folly.
Tuna and swordfish, the most magnificient bony fish in the sea get a special mention along with the poor critically endgangered mega sharks that are often bycatch in tuna catches.
This is such a powerful book speaking up for dumb fish that I will try and do everything in my power to at least highlight the problem to others. So well written in this with Chapter 14 showing us some fine solutions from New Zealand - that you ought to buy this book now and share it with any of your concerned friends.
Charles Clover from the London Daily Telegraph has done a fantastic job of highlighting our superpredatory theft from the seas.
If you love eating fish, you should buy this book!.......2006-07-26
It is a fascinating, very well written book on a subject most people forget about in spite of how important it is: the food resources of the sea. When I first saw the book I wondered how the author could make an interesting topic out of it...when I started to browse it, I discovered a great amount of information about the wonderful world of the seas, about what so many companies are doing to our resources, about the repercusions hardly anyone is aware of.
I bought it and read it immediately.
One of the best non-fiction books I have read in the last few years.
Amazon.com
Before Men, Women, and Chain Saws, most film critics assumed that horror (especially slasher) films entail a male viewer sadistically watching the plight of a female victim. Carol Clover argues convincingly that both male and female viewers not only identify with the victim, but experience, through the actions of the "final girl," a climactic moment of female power. As the Boston Globe writes, Men, Women, and Chain Saws "challenges simplistic assumptions about the relationship between gender and culture... [Clover] suggests that the 'low tradition' in horror movies possesses positive subversive potential, a space to explore gender ambiguity and transgress traditional boundaries of masculinity and femininity." Be forewarned, though: Clover addresses an academic audience, so her language can be heavy going.
Related title: The Dread of Difference: Gender and the Horror Film by Barry Keith Grant
Book Description
Do the pleasures of horror movies really begin and end in sadism? So the public discussion of film assumes, and so film theory claims. Carol Clover argues, however, that these films work mainly to engage the viewer in the plight of the victim-hero, who suffers fright but rises to vanquish the forces of oppression.
Clover, a medievalist, had written extensively on the literature and culture of early northern Europe, especially the Old Norse sagas. From her expertise in formulaic narrative grew her interest in contemporary cinema, which is, after all, yet another form of oral storytelling. Men, Women, and Chain Saws investigated the appeal of horror cinema, in particular the phenomenal popularity of those "low" genres that feature female heroes and play to male audiences: slasher, occult, and rape-revenge films. Such genres seem to offer sadistic pleasure to their viewers, and not much else. Clover, however, argued the reverse: that these films are designed to align spectators not with the male tormentor, but with the female tormented--with the suffering, pain, and anguish that the "final girl," as Clover calls the victim-hero, endures before rising, finally, to vanquish her oppressor.
The book has found an avid readership from students of film theory to major Hollywood filmmakers, and the figure of the final girl has been taken up by a wide range of artists, inspiring not just filmmakers but also musicians and poets.
Customer Reviews:
No opinion either way........2005-04-04
The book is undeniably well written. Alot of the author's points are valid, and her(?)ideas about the role of gender in horror films are interesting. What really burns me is that I'm not too sure that she actually watched some of the films she mentions. Or if she did, she didn't really pay too much attention.
I think that if one were to write a book about character study, they should probably pay closer attention to the characters they study. Make sense to me.
Overall, reading this book was helpful in the way it describes a relativly small audience....not horror fans, but people who want to pick apart horror movies in order to make sense of horror fans. For the academics, who don't know how to shut their brains off in order to just kick back and enjoy a good old fashoined "Killin' Movie", this book could really come in handy. For those of us who need no help in enjoying the genre, this book might help you speak the language of people who don't. This new ability could be useful when you get dragged into either an argument or a sophist's conversation on the subject. (Sophist being different than sophisticate...sophists only pretend to know what they're talking about when they are around people whom they believe to not know any better.)
All things being equal though...its an allright book.
P.S.
I secretly wonder sometimes, when people talk about how its always women being beaten, tortured and killed in horror films.
99% of these slasher films are about slashers. Duh...ok with that out of the way, let's ask ourselves who these slashers are.
Maniacs, (Almost always male) with some sort of abhorrent social disfunction. Sounds alot like our real life serial killers.
As bad as Jason Voorhese is, he doesn't even compare to the Green River Killer, or Edmund Kemper. As witty and Terrifying Freddy Kruger might be, his evil genius pales in comparison to guys like Carl Panzram or H.H. Holmes. As ruthlessly deranged Michael Meyers seems to be, he can't hold a candle to guys like Richard Speck or Richard Ramierez. Now, what do all these fellas, (real or screen character) have in common? THEY ALL KILLED WOMEN. Point of fact, our onscreen killers are much more equal opportunity than our real life madmen. So, is it any wonder that women are victims in these movies? Also, the women in most of these films tend to get off with just a nasty death. In most instances, the real life killers would do some fairly terrible things to their victims before they killed them.
Slumming academics.......2005-01-01
It's amazing that horror films, of all the genres, have undergone such 'serious' analysis in the academic film studies arena. It tells you a lot--considered to be a kind of low art form, it attracts serious scholars who, rather than applying common sense or rational thinking, literally invent whole vocabularies to disguise their utter lack of knowledge and general cluelessness with regards to these staples of 'pop' culture for the 'little people'.
It's classic academic constructs. It's obvious that Clover, and she's not alone, is either incapable or unwilling to just say what she means. Instead, and in order for a university press to pick these things up, the ideas have to be draped in dense, unreadable, and often laughable language.
Are there interesting ideas here? Yes, certainly. Are they easy to understand? They can be, but not here. You may feel like a moron after reading about your favorite slasher, but don't worry--you haven't been exposed to the careerism and isolation of the cinematic ivory tower yet.
The book can be half as long if they tried to make it accessible to the people who actually WATCH horror films, but it is instead geared toward people who want to study the people who watch horror films, from a detached perspective, armed with a dictionary and a black turtleneck.
I would actually recommend this book for horror fans, but with reservations. It does try to get at what is happening in this genre, and why we watch these movies. But don't feel bad if you laugh at some of it--that's part of the real world.
Good in spite of itself.......2004-08-09
The author is obviously an academic, and seeks to dignify her pop-culture subject with ludicrous rhetorical tropes borrowed from the grad school version of pop psychoanalysis. She says "gender" when she means sex. She is capable of writing phrases like "the killer's phallic purpose. . ." and sentences like "What -is- clear is that where there is -Wiederholungszwang- there is historical suffering --- suffering that has been more or less sexualized as 'erotogenic masochism.'" Clarity, it seems, ain't what it used to be. Charlatans like Gilles Deleuze and hatemongers like Susan Brownmiller appear in the bibliography, and the book is obviously addressed to an audience that has not yet learned to laugh at them.
Still, the central thesis of the book is in fact a cogent analysis of the ritual of the 1980s variety "slasher" film, and if you overlook the bogus jargon she gets it mostly right. The book convincingly goes through the rituals involved in this highly stereotypical variety of film. Even the vaguely radical academic version of sexual politics has some purpose in this: these slasher films, like all accepted exercises in gore and the temporary suspension of tabooed subjects, attempt to justify their existence by claiming in some obscure way to reinforce social norms. It would be a much better book if it were written in workaday English, but it is nevertheless an interesting read, and insightful almost despite itself.
One-sex theory? Anal birth?.......2004-01-02
Really doesn't sound like the beginnings of a discussion of horror films. The language used in this book is so far over my head that I begin to feel stupid, and that what I thought I knew about movies (which is more than most people I know) must certainly not be enough to even be allowed to watch them. What's disappointing is that I want to agree with the theories in the book. Clover's premise is that watching horror movies is not a sadistic act, and that the young men who watch them are really identifying with the female victim-hero, instead of just gawking at boobies. I like the idea that the viewer identifies with the monster and the victim. But I don't think the author can really identify with... humanity! The word 'psychobabble' does come to mind. It makes me wonder what she's hiding from, or who she's trying to impress. I don't think she has any grasp at all of these films or why I watch so many of them.
It just seems to me like this woman has put every word she knows into a theory I think I can sum up in less than fifty pages. Sentences don't need to be that long to get a point across.
To sum up, if you are a horror film fan with an IQ of 160 or less, do not read this book! It was written for high-brow, academic types who are fascinated by the rituals and habits of us lower creatures, but wouldn't be caught dead in a theatre with less than eighteen screens. However, if you are a high-brow, academic type who is fascinated by the rituals and habits of us lower creatures, but wouldn't be caught dead in a theatre with less than eighteen screens, you might like it.
She just does not get horror movies, that's all........2001-02-26
I bought this book hoping to read a balanced and insightful analysis of gender in horror. What I got was the same trite "analysis" that seems so fashionable today. This book is profoundly feminist, in a very offensive sort of way. I am terribly sorry, but the author really needs more than a few months' worth of watching horror (see her own admission on p.19) and more than rudemintary understanding of pop psychology, to make a compelling case.
Briefly, her "analysis" of the female in modern horror slasher movies goes like this. Clover begins with the observation that most of these (American) films concentrate on the abuse, victimization, and triumph of a woman. The author then asks (i) why a woman and (ii) why do mostly male viewers watch these films. Her interpretation is that the "Final Girl" in these movies is really a male! It seems that in Clover's world, most males are homosexual, or at least bisexual, and they seem to have some bizarre beating fantasies. Because showing a male in this position would be uncomfortable for the male viewers (it would expose their forbidden fantasies too close for comfort), an unfemale female is substituted.
Clover simply misses several very simple things, which leads her to the mental acrobatics necessary to account for the phenomenon. Why does she dismiss the directors when they say that having a woman suffer is essential to horror? I don't know, but it is obvious that (i) out culture regards men as active, that is, when men are victimized, there's little sympathy for them---we expect them to react, strike back, and die in the attempt---which means that if you want emotions in the audience, you better go after a girl; (ii) our society focuses on female beauty much more than male beauty---from an aesthetical perspective, destroying something beautiful is much more painful; (iii) the reason why The Final Girl is not too feminine is because these horror films are American---one characteristic trait of this culture is the belief that the outcast, the underdog, can succeed through his/her own efforts---that's why the main character is seen as an outcast; (iv) the basic plot of these films is a variation on the ancient myths of the hero---someone who goes through incredible ordeals, and wins against all odds---this sort of story, however, is mostly attractive to males, which is why you don't tend to see many women at these films. This is a brief synopsis of a larger argument where every step is substantiated, but it illustrates why Clover's view is plain wrong.
It would have been helpful if she had viewed some European or Japanese horror films: she would have found out that many of the features characteristic of US films are simply missing. It would have been helpful if she did not regard horror as low art (she does, her posturing to the contrary notwithstanding). It would have been better if she avoided the turgid prose common to texts where the author either has little to say or tries to disguise wrong ideas.
Finally, Clover completely misses an important consequence of horror being made idependently of Hollywood. It's not just that it can cater shamelessly to the most exploitative taste (which some do), but low-budget cinema is a more accurate reflection of trends in contemporary society. While Hollywood produces slick and ultimately empty movies, B-flicks incorporate things the way the authors see them---the Final Girl in horror is nothing less than an acknowledgment of the achievements of gender equality. There are now female heroines (much more resourceful than the bungling males in these movies) and they triumph over adversity, and against the onslaught of maniacal males. This seems like a good statement of the fact that our society has come to accept women in roles that traditionally were not available to them.
Customer Reviews:
This series is a great introduction to grammar!.......2007-09-24
I use this series of books throughout the school year in third grade before jumping into the parts of speech. They are a fun and engaging way to start off a lesson.
Time to learn your grammar!.......2004-07-09
These books are so good at helping kids learn the parts of speech. They give so many clear examples of sentences, with the specific part of speech in a different color so everyone will notice it. I used these in a classroom during english class and they all loved it. A+ to this book!
Takes the pain out of grammar!.......2002-12-04
Kudos to Brian P. Cleary and Brian Gable for their terrific book about Prepositions! My nine year-old learned all about the function of this difficult part of speech in the few minutes it took for us to sail through the funny, rhyming text. The illustrated cat-like characters are bright and colorful, and the prepositions themselves are highlighted to make thme easier to identify. Reminds me a little of the schoolhouse rock show from my childhood!
My Students finally know this part of speech!.......2002-04-02
I teach 4th grade in a suburban school system where the kids are pretty bright, but prepositions have always been a little sticky for this age group. Brian P. Cleary's new book, UNDER, OVER BY THE CLOVER: What is a Preposition, is a class favorite, and also a favorite of mine because it takes on a kind of tricky part of speech and leaves my kids smiling. I liked his other books about nouns and verbs and adjectives also! This clarifies the preposition's role in our language, and is funny and catchy to boot!
Average customer rating:
- Brothers
- ^.^
- presentation counts
- Clover
- Beautiful Manga by CLAMP =^-^=
|
Clover (Clover, 1)
Manufacturer: TokyoPop
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Comics & Graphic Novels
| Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic
| Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Graphic Novels
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
Science Fiction
| Graphic Novels
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
Shojo (Girls)
| Manga
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
Clamp
| By Creator
| Manga
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
TokyoPop
| By Publisher
| Manga
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
Fantasy
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Teens
| Subjects
| Books
Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Teens
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Clover #2
-
The One I Love
-
Shirahime Syo (Snow Goddess Tales)
-
Man of Many Faces, Book 1
-
Clover 1 (Clamp)
ASIN: 1892213664 |
Book Description
As the Clover saga concludes, we flashback to reveal Gingetsu`s first meeting with the three-leaf clover, Ran. Like Sue, Ran was imprisoned for the good of society. But Ran yearned to live a life that was more like a human and less like a lab rat, and broke free from. Now, Gingetsu is ordered to track him down and bring him back to the laboratory. It's a mission he doesn't want to take on, but as everyone knows, the Wizards never give anyone the option to refuse. From the imaginative CLAMP team, responsible for Cardcaptor Sakura, Chobits, and Magic Knight Rayearth, Clover is a cyber-romance that will be hard to forget.
Customer Reviews:
Brothers.......2005-08-15
The plot here concerns twin brothers A and C. They are both Clover 3s and will die if they leave their government operated cage - the facility where they live alone together. Trouble starts when C decides to leave. We see this through the eyes of Sue, the Clover 4 kept in a cage that really does look like a bird cage. (Clover 4s can psychically see Clover 3s, Clover 3s can see Clover 2s, and Clover 2s can see Clover 1s.) Here she telepathically communicates very briefly with C and the government studies her nervously to try and predict his behavior.
He is located by the government, who discuss what to do with him. (The twins are pretty young, maybe twelve, so clearly he won't be off on his own.) The real plot is resolving the relationship between A and C. A feels abandoned and is jealous of anyone C meets in the outside world. Also he can psychically kill people, so that is a bit of a problem. The two brothers communicate telepathically and things that happen to C outside the cage contribute to them sorting things out. Meanwhile we see some tiny secrets revealed about government agent Gingetsu and a night club singer Ora, who is dating a government agent and in other ways more centrally connected to the bigger story.
The graphics here are good. There is a lot of negative space here, but it does contribute to mood and pacing. Graphics are straight black and white with lots of curly ques and organic shapes. In other books in the series this got a bit overly sappy - pin up girls in a very idealized style abound. Here maybe because the subject matter was more on the twin boys and the government agents it wasn't so so sugary sweet.
From reading this and Clover 3 I would say that these books fit a specific taste. Don't hate me for it if you are a fan, but they are kind of vague for me. You piece the story together and things aren't always chronological. That isn't a problem, except that often the story seems pretty simple without layers of meaning. So rereading doesn't feel like it gives me more. If you love the series, then this particular book was fine, so go for it. If you haven't read the series at all then borrow before you buy, and don't start with Clover 3.
^.^.......2004-07-01
Clover seems to be one of CLAMP's lesser known works, but I find it to be one of their better works. The story is interestig and presented in an appealing way through beautiful art. As with most of most of CLAMP's manga, Clover includes interesting character relationships, including a gay couple(one partner being much older than the other)so if you're not into that sort of thing you should probobly stay away from this manga(or CLAMP in general, as most of their works contain controversial relationships). Clover is a futuristic fantasy filled with emotion centered around a few psychic youths who are feared and restrained by the government for fear of their powers. There is a good deal of action but more than that it is a character-driven emotional drama. The first two volumes are one complete story, the third is a prequel, and the fourth is a prequel to the prequel. All in all The characters, story, and art make it a great read.
presentation counts.......2004-06-20
Clover # 4 is short, like all other books in the four-part series, but that hardly matters at all. In the last intstallment of Clover, an unusually light-hearted Kuzuhiko, Ora, and Sue all have cameo roles, although the story features Ran (C), and his brother, A. Gingetsu gets a large part as well, but not as great as I expected after reading the summary. Reading through #4 the first time left me feeling slightly let down, because I had the impression that the story would be a follow-up on the breif appearance Ran and Gingetsu had in the first book. (I haven't read 2 or 3.)I was annoyed, because Clover is one of the more expensive mangas and I felt I could have invested my money more wisely. But then I went through it a second time and realized that it was good as a prequel, as well. The presentation is in very crip chairascuro (black and white), which gives it a very classical feeling. (I'm aware manga is typically printed in black and white anyways, but Clover has heavy contrast and large areas filled in with simple black or white, aka negative space.) This may appear cheap- but in actuality it's skillful oraganization and presentation that makes Clover so unique, and aesthetically pleasing. In truth, screentoning (using little dots for shading) would lessen the somber, repessive tension that emphasizes the theme of captivity so well. In the end, I was glad I bought Clover, although I'm still irritated by the length.
And on a very practical note- the frosty dustjacket for the book is beautiful, but has a tendency to tear, even when you're trying to be careful. I know someone who is a nut when it comes to the caretaking of her books, and yet the cover had an almost full vertical rip in the front. When she lent it to me, I carried it in a backpack that held the rest of my books, and took out only to find that the cover had ripped all the way around. The corners of the books get wrinkled easily too, on account of the material- the best thing to do seems to be to remove the dust jacket when you're carrying clover, and then replace it when on the shelf. Either that, or handle sparingly. I also reccommend purchase online- few Clover books that have been leafed thorugh by customers at the store are left intact. (it's just that fragile.)
Clover.......2004-02-24
In my opinion, Clover is simply beautiful. The use of heavy contrasts between black and white, and the songs in the book are just beautiful, and the whole story is deep and sad.
I would recommend buying 1 and 2 together, as they are a story in themselves.
Actually, I bought 4 first, then 3, and finally 1 and 2. Why? Because, 4 is actually the one that happens first, chronologically. 4 is the prequel to 3, and 3 happens before 1. It makes a little more sense to buy it like that, I think. It explains who Ora (Oruha) is before you read 1, so you don't end up wondering.
The only thing I can slate it for is the font they used- Times New Roman?! I HATE that font. Also, my colour pages fell out easily.. maybe I shouldnt have stared at them so much ^_^;;
Beautiful Manga by CLAMP =^-^=.......2003-01-05
This is one of the most beautiful manga I have ever seen; the graphics are absolutely fantastic (but of course, who would expect anything different from CLAMP??) and the plot is woven together in the most thoughtful and intriguing way, with some flashbacks of the past that at first don't seem to relate to the story, but suddenly do. Throughout the story beautiful songs are interlaced, and though their words may seem pretty simplistic, the further along you get in the story, the more they start to hold meaning. =^-^= However, for all you sensitive manga readers Clover may not be for you, as it starts to get very, very sad. I cried at the end of the third book, it was so sad (and I've never cried over a book, NEVER! =^-^=). Overall this series, Clover, is very good, but make sure that when you're reading to have a box of tissues nearby! =^-^=
Book Description
In Taking the Path of Zen, Robert Aitken provided a concise guide to zazen (Zen meditation) and other aspects of the practice of Zen. In The Mind of Clover he addresses the world beyond the zazen cushions, illuminating issues of appropriate personal and social action through an exploration of the philosophical complexities of Zen ethics.
Aitken's approach is clear and sure as he shows how our minds can be as nurturing as clover, which enriches the soil and benefits the environment as it grows. The opening chapters discuss the Ten Grave Precepts of Zen, which, Aitken points out, are "not commandments etched in stone but expressions of inspiration written in something more fluid than water." Aitken approaches these precepts, the core of Zen ethics, from several perspectives, offering many layers of interpretation. Like ripples in a pond, the circles of his interpretation increasingly widen, and he expands his focus to confront corporate theft and oppression, the role of women in Zen and society, abortion, nuclear war, pollution of the environment, and other concerns.
The Mind of Clover champions the cause of personal responsibility in modern society, encouraging nonviolent activism based on clear convictions. It is a guide that engages, that invites us to realize our own potential for confident and responsible action.
Customer Reviews:
"Maka Hannya Haramita Shingyo...".......2007-03-28
As a Zen practitioner preparing for Jukai I found Aitken-roshi's THE MIND OF CLOVER to be possibly the best book I have read to date on the Ten Grave Precepts.
These Precepts (not to kill, lie, steal, self-aggrandize, defame others, misuse sex, misuse intoxicants, become wrongfully angered, to be generous, and to honor awareness, learning and community) are very similar to the Judeo-Christian Commandments in form. Aitken-roshi shows the reader however that the precepts are not simply ordinances imposed from outside but the very building blocks of personality and social interaction. He illustrates well how the precepts can and must be interpreted not blindly but with full cognizance of circumstance and consequence, both on a personal level and on a global level.
THE MIND OF CLOVER takes what could be a very fuzzy and indeterminate subject and presents it with elegant simplicity. The book has been described quite correctly as a sonata, with each successive chapter building on the ones before it to reach a grand conclusion.
One may disagree with certain of Aitken-roshi's personal observations---at times, his social politics seem reflexively trapped in 1960s amber---but there is no question that THE MIND OF CLOVER transmutes the practice of Zen from "simply sitting" in zazen to an active philosophy of life, allowing the adherent to take the calm, the awareness, and the wisdom found on the zafu and translate it into a way of daily living based on compassion and intimacy with all things.
This book is excellently read in conjunction with Tenshin Reb Anderson's BEING UPRIGHT, a rather more remotely philosophical treatment of the Precepts on a less mundane, more spiritual level.
I read it often, to say the least.......2006-12-15
It seems many people don't "connect" with this book. For myself, I find it more than inspiring. I have gone through many copies. I give it away regularly. I've lost one in a stream. Whenever I am feeling out of touch with my practice or my life, I read it. Or I read it when I'm feeling strong. Yes, I read it often.
Aitken Roshi's teachings resonate deeply for me. Who knows why?
This is the first book I read about Zen ethics and for me, it is the best. I find Aitken's writing to be clear, concise and beautiful. He was humble about areas in which he had doubt or un-knowing.
I think is important to correct the mistaken notion that Zen is without an ethical base. Our culture has absorbed this idea with silly expressions like "that's so Zen" or mistaking Zen for nihilism (or vice versa).
Please give this book a try.
Didn't connect with me .......2005-03-16
This book is well-written, the subject is an important one, and the author seems quite sincere. But it didn't connect with me. That may well be my failing.
The first time I read thru it nothing registered. That's rare for me, I usually, independent of whether I agree or disagree with what I am reading, find much stimulation in what I read.
So I went thru it a second time, this time underlining (which I rarely do) to help me pay better attention and identify what seems special. I underlined in 17 places in the book. Then I listed them on paper. I looked over the list and 13 of those items seemed familiar (not to say I'm any master of them, but this book didn't seem to bring anything new to them). Of the remaining 4, by the next day, they still seemed significant but not useful: I didn't see any way to work with them. Here, again, this undoubtedly reflects a lot of my own limitations.
I don't doubt that some people, perhaps many people, who are reached by a different style than I am, will find this book valuable. The precepts certainly deserve the kind of thoughtfulness that Aitken has given them and is encouraging.
At times, Aitken struck me as arrogant or opinionated. I suppose that is hard to avoid when teaching. When he writes, in the chapter on "Not Sparing the Dharma Assets", that "Making money with money is not earning a living, in my view", does he fail to appreciate the value and talent of those who risk capital on investments that are critical for making modern markets work and for fueling innovations. It may become just too easy in the role of teacher to overreach and, as the Quakers say, speak beyond one's measure. I may be doing that now, it's hard not to do. Aitken doesn't elaborate (so far as I could see) on what his concern is about making money with money. Throughout the book he asserts without explanation and seems comfortable with that.
Oddly, although Zen seems to place an emphasis on freeing oneself of (too much) abstraction so as to learn to experience life more directly and concretely, in this book the precepts are heavily abstracted, such that "not killing" is interpreted as, for example, an instruction to listen with care so as not to "kill" anothers views.
Curiously, following the letdown of reading this book, I found Brad Warner's "Hardcore Zen", which includes a chapter on the percepts. I resonated much more with that book.
As to "The Mind of Clover", I can't say whether you will find it helpful or not. I would suggest to a friend without regret that they could easily do without it.
A guide to daily practice.......2001-01-05
Though I would hardly consider myself an athority of any kind on Zen, I feel I must offer an alternative perspective to the other review. This book is essentially an attempt to show us how to bring what we cultivate in zazen into the everyday world of our jobs and families. Of course there is a discussion of the eight fold path, as well as a discussion of the importance of environmental stewardship, in which context Aitken Roshi employs the clover as a symbol, but it is not a guide to "plant-like mindlessness".
That being said, I think this book, like the several other books that I have read by Aitken, is written in a very accessible, broad minded, and compassionate manner. Any who are interested in Zen at any level, or simply interested in interacting with the world around them attentively and lovingly, would benefit from reading this book.
Returning to the Natural State.......2000-10-22
The author takes the Eightfold Path of Buddhism. It is discussed itme by item, in sufficient detail to show how the sense of self that goes with one's individual personality can be shed.
The idea is to continue to act completely natural and to do all those things expected of a human being in one's particular status, position, etc. just as clover grows and behaves exactly as it should in its perticular sstatus and position.
Clover has no mind or the functions associataed with the mind; the human being then acts just aa normally as the clover with the additional feature of a mind, but without any more cognitive identity of self than the clover.
Customer Reviews:
Read Cause I Had To: Will Read Again Cause I Liked It.......2007-02-20
Um. The title should basically say all I need to say. If you didn't get my point, then I shall say it again. I bought the book because it was a required text for an English class. I loved it, and will read it again, the next time without direction.
A 4 Leaf Clover.......2006-09-01
I have been wanting to read Inside Daisy Clover ever since I read Armistead Maupin's 'Maybe The Moon' and realised that Daisy Clover was the writer's inspiration for that wonderful story. Gavin Lambert has a way of making you believe what he writes. His character, Daisy Clover, is someone that you learn to love, despite her oversized ego and pathetic nature. I highly recommend this book and I also look forward to reading more of Lambert's books.
Hollywood Insanity From The Inside Out.......2001-12-05
Told in the form a teenager's casually kept journal, "Inside Daisy Clover" is the story of a street-wise, hard-knocks kid with plenty of common sense who unexpectly vaults to stardom in the 1950s--only to find herself so much camera-fodder for dream factory machinery. Determined to hold onto her own values, Gavin Lambert's Daisy Clover becomes one of the most memorable women in modern American fiction: witty, rebellious, and unwilling to give away an inch of personal integrity even while drowning in Hollywood's ocean of self-created myth. Easily one of the finest books and most readable novels I've read in many years, you'll want to keep this one your shelf and return to it again and again.
Average customer rating:
|
Wallace Stevens' Poetics: The Neglected Rhetoric
Angus J. Cleghorn
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| History & Criticism
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
20th Century
| Poetry
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Poetry
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| Classics
| Comic
| Contemporary
| Literary
General
| Criticism & Theory
| History & Criticism
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
United States
| Single Authors
| Poetry
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
British Literature
| English
| Humanities
| New & Used Textbooks
| Stores
| Books
Look Inside Fiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Wallace Stevens: The Poems of Our Climate
ASIN: 0312231016 |
Book Description
Stevens’ poetry undermines the safeguarded classifications people use to contain knowledge. Political labels were prominent in 1930s America, when Marxism led many writers to prioritize politics over aesthetics. Stevens’ poetry employs rhetoric to show that art and state function through similar appeals, and that these forms of persuasion govern history. The long poem, “Owl’s Clover,” responds to Depression ideologies by dramatizing the nominal barriers people construct to stem their fears. This study also responds to critical misapprehension about “Owl’s Clover,” and argues that the poem’s rhetorical poetics are crucial to understanding Stevens’ complete poetry as an ethical challenge to the destructive and rigidly repetitive routes of history.
Average customer rating:
- The only great Photos of early Charlottesville
- Old-Timey C-Ville
- A Great Historical Record of a Beautiful City
- Holsinger's Charlottesville: A Collection of Photographs
|
Holsinger's Charlottesville: A Collection of Photographs
Cecile Wendover Clover , and
Rufus W. Holsinger
Manufacturer: Art Restoration Services
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
History
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| United States
| Travel
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
South
| United States
| Travel
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| State & Local
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Southeast
| State & Local
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside History Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0963937456 |
Customer Reviews:
The only great Photos of early Charlottesville.......2006-12-07
While we watch Charlottesville grow into a small cosmopolitan city, it's great to know there's ONE book of photographs that really tells the story of Charlottesville, Virginia in the beginning of the early 20th century.
There are other superb books on Charlottesville & the surrounding county of Albemarle like Kenneth Lay's but this is your best source for "early downtown" photos.
Old-Timey C-Ville.......2005-02-15
Rufus Holsinger was a traveling photographer who settled in Charlottesville in the late 1880s and spent the next forty years as the city's preeminent portrait photographer. In 1910 a fire destroyed a good portion of his original plates, and then following his death, the remainder sat unprotected in the studio basement until their rediscovery in the 1970s. The "Holsinger Collection" was then archived at the University of Virginia library, and comprises some 9,000 plates, of which about 7,500 are studio portraits. The authors have carefully selected 75 of the non-portraits and assembled them in this handsomely produced volume to try and create a sense of old Charlottesville.
Because the original plates are huge format (8" x 10") and have been very nicely restored, the resulting prints in the book are visually stunning, with beautiful gradations, highlights, shadows, and detail. Subject matter includes a number of intersections and streets that now form major arteries in Charlottesville. Alas, many of the buildings shows have since been razed or substantially altered. Each photo has been well researched and is nicely captioned from a historical standpoint. The one weakness to the text is an overabundance of naming various eminent figures and grandees from the city's past in long lists that are unlikely to have any meaning for modern readers. There's a fair amount of attention given to the University of Virginia, though not perhaps, as much as one might expect.
The book's one major annoyance is a lack of a map of contemporary Charlottesville indicating just where each photo is and in what direction it faces. As someone who lived in Charlottesville for two years, I had a great deal of trouble trying to figure out where each picture was sited. I had to sit down with a city map next to me as I went through the book, and it would have been so much nicer if the publishers had done this work for me. Still, it's a nice gift for someone moving to the city (which was recently ranked the top city in America for quality of living). Be sure to get the most recent edition (1995), as it corrects a few errors in fact.
A Great Historical Record of a Beautiful City.......2000-06-09
Those of us in Virginia know that Charlottesville is a national treasure, and always has been. Rufus Holsinger was able to capture on film the beauty, uniqueness, and significance of this wonderful city. Now anyone in the world can see how Charlottesville looked during this time period. Rufus Holsinger made that possible for all of us.
Holsinger's Charlottesville: A Collection of Photographs.......2000-03-30
Wonderful book! I'm new to the area and learned so much about the history of Charlotetsville and UVA. Very Very Interesting and HIGHLY recommended!
Book Description
Old-time politics, piety, and St. Patrick’s Day parades loom large when the Irish come to the American mind. None truly represents the complex legacy or contributions of the nation’s oldest ethnic group, who rank among the most highly educated and affluent Americans today.
In
Irish America, Maureen Dezell takes a new and invigorated look at Americans of Irish Catholic ancestry — who they are, and how they got that way. A welcome antidote to so many standard-issue, sentimental representations of the Irish in the United States,
Irish America focuses on popular culture as well as politics; the Irish in the Midwest and West as well as the East; the “new Irish” immigrants; the complicated role of the Church today; and the unheralded heritage of Irish American women. Deftly weaving history, reporting, and the observations of more than 100 men and women of Irish descent on both sides of the Atlantic, Dezell presents an insightful and highly readable portrait of a people and a culture.
Customer Reviews:
The Irish in America.......2007-07-12
Most Irish Americans interviewed for this book apologized to the author because they felt like they really had nothing to offer about Irish American culture. The Irish may be the one ethnic group in the U.S. who don't appreciate or recognize their uniqueness and commonality. This book helps the Irish to see themselves as they are, both good and bad. An eye opener.
Know your culture.......2007-02-15
A book I have devoured and given many times as a gift. Just because you're Irish-American doesn't mean you understand your culture. This book gave me many lightbulb moments as I saw friends and family in light of our culture instead of merely quirky individuals. The distinctions between Irish and Irish-Americans and East Coast vs Midwestern Irish-Americans were also eye-openers. And it is useful to rise above the stereotypes of Irish-Americans as drinkers and brawlers to see their role in creating and maintaining an amazing array of Catholic institutions.
The light at the end of the tunnel is a train.......2005-12-14
Reading Dezell, despite the choppy prose style and the staggered pace of the unevenly detailed chapters and the topical arrangement of historical fact, sociological theory, and often less than revealing (given the Irish reticence beneath the bluster as she explains) interviews with I suppose her assorted cronies and whoever they suggested in turn, this is essential reading anyhow. Typically I lavishly denigrate before I grudgingly praise, itself an Irish American trait.
She's best on the following explorations: how the stereotype of the male drinker came about only post-Famine, as the clergy channeled the surplus men's unattainable longings for a farm and a bride into the safer domain of the local pub. Why and how single women emigrating a century ago constituted 60% of the Irish, and how even as of 1990, 30% more females than males counted themselves in the census as Irish. Along with an especially successful dismantling of a host of cartoonish images to find which best mirror the true strength of the matriarchical (or plain female-dominated, as not all became brides and mothers even in America) power within the family and the Church and the schools, Dezell takes great pains to account for the combination of bluster and reserve that is so much part of Irish Americans who otherwise think they're totally assimilated.
She also takes the time at the end, in a section that could have been profitably expanded, into contrasting Irish-born with Irish American personalities and attitudes. The extroversion of the latter, contrary to the stereotype of the former, reminded me of the hypomanic theory recently advanced--if 2% of a population emigrates no matter how hard the times (and I assume this figure was greater at times in Ireland's past), these go-getters may carry a genetic trait tending towards restlessness and enterprenuership and iconoclasm, therefore the US benefited (even more than Canada or Australia) in combining these eager immigrants' traits with a capitalist and free-market oriented economy that rewarded risk-takers.
Back to Dezell, her look into the psyche of Irish America is the most persuasive part of her rather too quickly-paced and impressionistic account. It scrambles so much into the pan that the small size of the pages cannot adequately contain all that needs to be studied. This book would have benefitted from greater length (rare that I can say that) and a slower rate of examining so much that needs elaboration. For instance, while she quotes Kerby Miller once, this pioneering historian's thesis (in Emigrants & Exiles, 1987) that the exilic strain accounted for in Irish America could be traced back to the passive construction of the Irish language might have been a fascinating test of Dezell's observations about Irish American caution.
A glaring absence throughout this book is an almost total neglect of the Irish language; while little sustained in the US by emigrants, nonetheless it had a higher and more persistent presence than has long been presumed; while Dezell asserts that the Irish had the immediate advantage off the boat of speaking English, this is arguable for many 19c arrivals, at least as to fluency, and the lack of which accounted for some of the more stereotypical Irishisms that found their way onto stage and screen on both sides of the ocean. Still, the appended notes can point you in the necessary directions for further examination of most of the larger issues she raises.
Particularly noteworthy: how the "new Irish" of the 80s/90s had jump-started cultural revivals in the moribund festival/Noraid dichotomous diversions that seemed to have limited Irish American continuity and activism; why only in the 90s did Notre Dame and Boston College--she's good on the rivalry--get the funds and the impetus to start Irish Studies programs, long after other ethnic and racial groups had done so; how the decline of priests and nuns is changing the Church for the better among the laity despite the defection of so many Catholics; and how philanthropic and charitable giving can be accounted for in essential traits of Irish humility and fatalism.
All in all, a readable account, if not the last word.
"Now ,don't go getting above buttermilk.".......2004-10-25
I've not heard the above saying before,but knew immediately exactly what it meant.This book is an excellent review of what it means to be Irish and what Irish,and particularly Catholic Irish is all about.
There are over 50 million scattered around the world who claim Irish ancestory;and by no means are they all alike.
"Almost anything you can say about Irish Americans is both true and false."
Dezell's discussion about CWASP's, Catholic/Celtic White Anglo Saxon Protestants,is a bit different ,but right on the mark.
The book is loaded with one-liners or epigrams.Here are a few to get your curiosity:
"No point being Irish unless you think that the world is going to break your heart someday."
"As is often the case, conventional wisdom is wrong."
"Irish blood doesn't water down very well,the strain must be strong."
"God gives us no more than we can bear." Rose Kennedy
"There is no race of people for which pychoanalysis is of no use whatsoever ." Sigmund Freud
"If you're feeling something,for Gods's sake take something."
"If I'm Irish and I lose my arm,someone is going to tell me,'it's a good thing I didn't lose them both."
A great read for anyone interested in Irish culture ,be it in Ireland,America or even here in Canada.
Oh, It's So True!.......2002-12-22
I'm a Jew from New York, married to someone from South Boston. One of my familys closest friends (now regrettably desceased) came to the US from Belfast at the age of 10. Maureen Dezell has great interviews and made me laugh because I can see all of what she is talking about. I also have friends in Toastmasters from Ireland, and look forward to visiting in 2004. Then I can see the other side of Maureen Dezell's book. The book can be read in a quiet evening. Think of a deep psychological tome, only very readable and funny.
Her description of Michael Flatley and Riverdance keeps popping up.
No, I wont tell you. Read the book!
Books:
- The Art of the Comic Book: An Aesthetic History (Studies in Popular Culture)
- The Authentic Story of Pinocchio of Tuscany
- The Collaborative Way to Divorce: The Revolutionary Method that Results in Less Stress, Lower Costs, and Happier Kids--Without Going to Court
- The Complete Calvin and Hobbes (Calvin & Hobbes)
- The Complete Calvin and Hobbes (Calvin & Hobbes)
- The Complete Stories of Robert Louis Stevenson: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Nineteen Other Tales (Modern Library Classics)
- The Covenant/The Betrayal/The Sacrifice/The Prodigal/The Revelation (Abram's Daughters 1-5)
- The Double Bind: A Novel
- The Far Side Gallery 2007 Off The Wall Page-a-Day Calendar
- The Good housekeeping illustrated encyclopedia of gardening
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Career Fitness Program: Exercising your Options
- Meeting the Needs of Multiethnic and Multiracial Children in Schools
- Kalki
- I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World, Special 75th Anniversary Edition
- Mafalda 2
- National Electrical Code 2005 Softcover Version
- Remaking a World: Violence, Social Suffering, and Recovery
- The Bear's Embrace: A True Story of Survival
- Local government sales taxes: Issues and options for revenue diversification
- The World Economy: Global Trade Policy 1999
Quilt National 2007: The Best of Contemporary Quilts (Quilt National)
Creative Quilts: Inspiration, Texture & Stitch
The Surface Designer's Handbook: Dyeing, Printing, Painting, and Creating Resists on Fabric
