Book Description
THE TABERNACLE: This superb work on Israel's wilderness tabernacle explores in depth the service of the priesthood and the significance of the sacrifices. The well-organized content and numerous illustrations will open new vistas of biblical truth as ceremonies, sacrifices, and priestly service reveal the perfections of the messiah.
Customer Reviews:
wonderfuk.......2007-05-08
The book is wonderful and very well published. I received it in record time. Thank you very much.
Tabernacle.......2007-04-04
It's very good information regarding the entirely tabernacle. The typology of the tabernacle is much learned. The book is recommended if you want to know more about Jesus Christ. It is enjoyably read. :-)
You wont want to buy any other book on this topic........2005-09-14
Many Books on the Tabernacle but this one is such detail of describing of Christ. Uses alot of scripture. Awesome book. Well not resell. I will use as a refrence book along with the Bible
An extensively researched presentation.......2004-02-09
The Tabernacle: Shadows Of The Messiah, Its Sacrifices, Services, And Priesthood by David M. Levy examines the description and ministries of the Tabernacle as portrayed in fifty chapters of the Old Testament. This extensively researched presentation, offering full-color photographs and a wealth of archaeological evidence as well as close study of the Old Testament itself, sheds new light on the sacrifices, services, and priesthood of this ancient institution which figures so prominently in Judeo-Christian religious history. The Tabernacle is a welcome and highly recommended addition to Biblical Studies reading lists.
Not the greatest.......2003-11-05
A pretty good book. But, if you are not Protestant you might be in for a slightly rough read. The author dwells heavily on the notion of legal imputation of the righteiousness of God. The book is not as organized as I hoped it would be. I was left with some unanswered questions about the priesthood and the sacrificial system. Also, there were not enough diagrams here for my liking. But still and all, I got a lot out of it.
Book Description
Through a series of critical readings this book builds a picture of the Roman reaction to, and adoption of, the Greek poetry of the last three pre-Christian centuries. Although the poetry of the greatest figure of Greek poetry after Alexander, Callimachus of Cyrene, and his contemporaries stands at the heart of the book, the individual studies embrace the full scope of what remains of Hellenistic poetry, both high literary productions and the more marginal poetry, such as that in honour of the great goddess Isis. The singularity of the poetry of Catullus and Virgil, of Horace and the elegists, emerges as more rich and complex than has hitherto been appreciated. Individual studies concern the poets' declared attitudes to their own work, the figure of Dionysus/Bacchus and the poetry of world conquest, the creation of similes, and the conversion of Greek bucolic into Latin pastoral.
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The Greek Concept of Justice: From Its Shadow in Homer to Its Substance in Plato
Eric Havelock
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0674362209 |
Book Description
ountaineers speak and write lyrically about risk; with-out it, they say, there would be none of the self-knowl-edge that reputedly comes from pushing life to its extreme edges. Excluded from that self-knowledge are the voices of those left behind: the parents, spouses, children, and loved ones who until now have maintained the code of silence about the dark side of adventure. In Where the Mountain Casts Its Shadow, Maria Coffey goes beyond the typical climbing book to question the reasons why men and women give their lives to the mountains, and reveal the consequences of loving people who pursue such risk. Many of the world's top climbers-or their widows and families-offer intimate perspectives on adventure and its costly aftermath, including Jim Wickwire, Conrad Anker, Lynn Hill, Joe Simpson, Chris Bonington, Ed Viesturs, Anatoli Boukreev, Alex Lowe, and others. The result is a powerful, affecting, and important book that strips the romance from adventure and returns it to the human realm.
Customer Reviews:
Darwin rules.......2004-04-20
I loved this book, but probably not for the reasons of most other readers. It reminded me of the Darwin Rules website and books celebrating the ways in which people find to remove themselves from the gene pool.
Surely this applies to mountaineers! This is my conclusion after reading Maria Coffey's engaging book. She relates harrowing tale after harrowing tale in which these absurd risk takers try again and again to kill themselves. Eventually they all seem to succeded.
It becomes hilarious after about the fourth chapter.
Coffey does not try to make us feel sorry for those left behind. This is a wise ploy as it would only soften the impact of what she has to say, which is that these people cannot be helped, but perhaps understood.
Asks all the right questions.......2004-04-04
A terrific successor to Fragile Edge by the same author. That book was a personal journey - a quest for answers - followed by the author after the death of her famous mountain climber boyfriend on the slopes of Everest.
This book looks at the effect of following this most dangerous of passions on the partners left behind and some who sometimes accompany their loved ones. Even more interestingly, Maria Coffey looks at the point of views of those who have no choice in their relationships with those whose addiction seems as self-serving and as inevitable as any other addiction - parents and children.
I really liked Coffey's earlier book, and I recommend this one as much. I believe she has matured as a writer as well. She has the knack of addressing very large picture issues yet not losing sight of the personal and `small moments'.
Some of the personal testimonies about coming to terms with loss and dealing with grief are true not only for losses under such circumstances, but there are some universal truths particularly for anyone who has had to deal with death and the "loss of a future", rather than a mere celebration of a life fulfilled (as many older person funerals have become in my culture in recent years).
An understated but important subtext for me is what this has to say about gender relations. It is no accident that most of those off risking their lives, and the fur=tures of those around them are male. Ms Coffey does touch on this, and especially the unusual circumstance of women with children who still pursue the apex of whatever mass of rock and ice they have their heart set on. However, she never table thumps an agenda . . . you are lft to ponder your own conclusions.
A remarkable achievement.That Ms Coffey has the confidence of so many associated with the pursuit is a testament to her insight and empathy.
I rate this alongside Ed Douglas's book "Chomolungma Sings The Blues" as my favourite books discussing ethical and spititual concerns about mountaineering.
powerful thoughts on unanswerable questions.......2004-03-13
Losing a friend or loved one is never an easy process, but it becomes even more tangled when they leave for a mountain adventure and never return. I first experienced this in the early 70's when 3 close friends were killed while attempting Mt. Elias in Canada. Maria Coffey examines how climbers and their families and friends cope with the devastating losses that shadow this sport.
She begins with a search for why people climb in the first place, and in particular why they continue after close calls; without becoming banal, she quotes Jim Wickwire, "One of the addictive aspects of climbing is that it allows you to be in the present moment in ways that are impossible in ordinary life". Similar thoughts come from Csikszentmihalyi's concept of 'flow' - which finds that the "enjoyment of risk comes not from the danger itself but from managing it, from the sense of exercising control in difficult situations." And then, there's the ultimate mountaineering existential futility of Camus' Sisyphus facing an "unspeakable penalty in which the whole being is exerted toward accomplishing nothing... Each atom of that stone , each mineral flake of that night filled mountain, in itself forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart".
The bulk of this powerful book interviews the survivors and comrades of lost climbers. At times, its difficult to read, but the feelings expressed range from acceptance to anger and denial. In most cases, there is a community of shared experience and values. Whether you're an active climber or arm chair mountaineer this book gives a much needed balance to the hyberbolic tales of expedition climbing. And for those of us who have lost people to the mountains it offers, not comfort, but a stoic acceptance.
A much-needed exploration of the price paid by some.......2004-02-22
My friend Arlene Blum (Anapurna: A Woman's Place) climbed in the Himalayas and elsewhere and lived to tell the tale. She now leads treks into the world's remote and wild regions, but she once rendered me speechless with her offhand reply to my horror at one hair-raising tale she told of crossing an ice bridge about a million miles up a some scary mountain.
"Why on earth would you do that?" I had asked, when I recovered my voice. And another unspoken question hung right behind the first: Having done it once and survived, why on God's green earth would you do it again? And again, and again.
"Oh, it's not really dangerous," and she poured me another cup of tea.
Not dangerous. Yeah, right.
Arlene had already lost a lover and several friends to accidents in high places, and others have died cold and lonely deaths since then. Not dangerous? I mean, what??
But there will still be those who MUST climb mountains. Some of them will die, and their survivors often are quoted as saying, "He died doing what he loved best," or the feminine equivalent. Maria Coffey's book, Where the Mountain Casts Its Shadow," chronicles the naked underbelly of the experience of this particular kind of loss. It looks behind the public quotes into the hearts and bleeding souls of the survivors, and I believe it's a story whose exposure is long overdue. The personal costs of extreme adventure are too often dismissed for the thrill of reading about the adventures themselves. Coffey handles with grace and delicacy the stories of wives, husbands, lovers, friends, and children left behind my someone who just had to climb yet one more mountain - for reasons the rest of us armchair travelers can't even begin to imagine.
Into the dark with a flashlight.......2004-02-07
Coffey is to be applauded for asking the hard questions about the climbing game. In my experience, mountaineers too often pay lip service to the death toll in the hills, regardless of their own struggles with grief and fear. I think it's because grief and fear become so tied up together for a high-altitude climber of any enduring ambition, it becomes very difficult for them to honestly talk about the issues -- because it's all very close to the surface and uncomfortable. Coffey's exploration, filtered through her own grief, is compelling but not complete. What's missing is that internal monologue where grief and fear are seen to be in starkest play. I certainly recommend Coffey's book, but I would urge you to look at the new book by Peter Hillary, `In The Ghost Country', to complete the picture of the dark side. There you'll enter Hillary's mind and find the grief and fear of the game working there for all to see, a lifetime of horror playing out in his head on a walk to the South Pole. I love both books.
Book Description
Nearly a quarter-century after the fall of Saigon, the memory of America's defeat in Vietnam continues to haunt the national psyche. In Vietnam Shadows, former war correspondent Arnold Isaacs turns his reportorial eye to the conflict since Vietnam, covering the skirmishes and firefights of a cultural battle -- some would say stalemate -- that refuses to end.
Isaacs takes on the popular myths and misconceptions about Vietnam -- among them the mistaken belief that the U.S. military lacked clear goals. ("In many conversations with U.S. officers in Vietnam, I do not recall discovering any who were in doubt about what they were supposed to do there.") He exposes the myth of the MIAs -- a myth sustained not only by grieving relatives but also by professional con men of breathtaking cynicism -- and shows how the many false MIA stories may nonetheless reveal a deeper truth: "We lost something in Vietnam and we want it back." Isaacs talks to the veterans unable to forget the war no one wanted to talk to them about. He explores the class divisions deepened by a conflict in which the privileged avoided service that an earlier generation had embraced as a duty. (691 Harvard alumni died in World War II, Isaacs points out; in Vietnam, nineteen.) And he shows how the "Vietnam Syndrome" continues to affect nearly every major U.S. foreign policy decision, from the Persian Gulf to Somalia, Bosnia, and Haiti.
Capturing the ironic legacies of a war that abounds in them, Isaacs introduces the "new Americans" -- the Vietnamese, Thais, and Cambodians -- who fled Indochina to settle in the U.S., where fashion spreads in the New York Times Magazine feature models photographed in Vietnamese settings wearing "Indo-chic clothes" that sell for four to five years' income for the average Vietnamese. ("Farm girl's jacket in 'periwinkle blue' raw silk: $1,460 by Richard Tyler.") And he recounts the experiences of Americans who have returned to Vietnam, only to find their former enemies turned entrepreneurs -- such as the operators of a popular Saigon bar called Apocalypse Now.
Isaacs reports and writes for those whose lives were changed by the war and also for a generation that has come of age without memory of Vietnam but who nonetheless feels its shadow in the country they soon will lead.
Download Description
In Vietnam Shadows, former war correspondent Arnold Isaacs turns his reportorial eye to the conflict since Vietnam, covering the skirmishes and firefights of a cultural battle - some would say stalemate - that refuses to end. Isaacs takes on the popular myths and misconceptions about Vietnam - among them the mistaken belief that the U.S. military lacked clear goals. He exposes the myth of the MIAs - a myth sustained not only by grieving relatives but also by professional con men of breathtaking cynicism - and shows how the many false MIA stories may nonetheless reveal a deeper truth: "We lost something in Vietnam and we want it back". Isaacs talks to the veterans unable to forget the war no one wanted to talk about. He explores the class divisions deepened by a conflict in which the privileged avoided service that an earlier generation had embraced as a duty. And he shows how the "Vietnam Syndrome" continues to affect nearly every major U.S. foreign policy decision, from the Persion Gulf to Somalia, Bosnia, and Haiti.
Customer Reviews:
Exceptionally absorbing commentary.......2005-06-20
The author spent two or so years as a correspondent in Vietnam (1972-1975) The book has eight chapters, each discussing a factor involved with the aftermath to the war and how the war has affected events and people since its end and up to 1997. When the book was written the desire to avoid "another Vietnam" was strong. Our present President has however disregarded that desire and one would like to have an updated version of the author's thoughts on how Vietnam has affected the present war--which has proven the prescience of the first President Bush in avoiding a prolonged first Gulf War. This book is as fine a discussion of the aftereffects of Vietnam as I have read--I only wish it were updated to consider the events since 1997.
Still a Valuable Book.......2004-12-21
Even though this book was published in 1997, it is still a valuable book, and still relevant to American society in 2004.
First, the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia is *still* peddling its misinformation. I quote from their web site: "The League's highest priority is resolving the live prisoner question. Official intelligence indicates that Americans known to have been alive in captivity in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were not returned at the end of the war. *In the absence of evidence to the contrary, it must be assumed that these Americans may still be alive.*" (emphasis supplied) In _What's the Matter With Kansas_ Thomas Frank mentions Vietnam veterans who pretend that there are live American prisoners of war in Vietnam. Obviously, there are still many people in the USA who are intent on continuing the war against Vietnam by any means they can.
Second, the fawning sycophancy that was seemingly the order of the day after Ronald Reagan died gave powerful evidence of how many Americans prefer a pleasant fantasy to the unpleasant truth. That does not bode well for the way the USA deals with the legacy of the war in Vietnam.
Third, the way a group of shameless right-wing ideologues was able to smear John Kerry about his war-time record during the recent "election" not only demonstrates how far such ideologues will go in their efforts to rewrite history about the war in Vietnam but also what the USA will allow such people to get away with.
So, this book is very much worthwhile reading seven years on, although, sad to say, the people who most need to read it probably wouldn't accept it because it doesn't tell them what they want to hear (Americans in general seem to be inordinately insistent on being told what they want to hear).
I do have a few small complaints, but 4 1/2 stars is not an option in this reviewing system.
For one thing, the author seems to give the impression at one point (inadvertent, I'm sure), that if you didn't serve in Vietnam you were somehow guilty of something. I joined the US Navy rather than be drafted, and yes, staying out of a war that I thought was quite pointless was part of my decision. Am I supposed to feel guilty about that?!?! I don't think so.
For another, the author seems to give people like James Webb too much credit for sincerity when they get self-righteous about those who didn't go to Vietnam. Somehow, those people don't seem to get upset about the chicken-hawks who act as though it was peachy keen for other people to go die in Vietnam as long as they didn't have to risk doing so. The author does mention the chicken-hawks, but he doesn't really point out the hypocrisy of people like Webb where they are concerned.
A few small flaws notwithstanding, this is an excellent book.
Insightful.......2004-03-09
The book discusses about the Vietnam War topics that have been ignored in the past: the veterans, the wall, the syndrome, the myth and the refugees. Basically it is about the long-term effects of the war on the public and the nation.
It is a well-written and conceived book that explained why the Vietnam War would not go away in the minds of many Americans. Part of it is related to the fact that Americans, especially veterans have invested so much in the process and have not gotten anything out of it, except physical and emotional scars. And to this day many still have not recovered from these scars.
Vietnam is still with us and will be so for a long time!.......2000-09-25
Mr. Isaacs has done a credible job of detailing the ongoing tragedy of Vietnam and its impact upon our politics, our foreign policy, our citizenry, Vietnamese immigrants and many veterans groups and issues, especially the POW/MIA issue. THat he does so in so short a book is a testament to the emotional power of his writing. However, the chapters are uneven, some are so short as to be barely worth mentioning, others give us an overview of issues without going to deeply in to them. The most interesting chapters are the ones on the POW/MIA issue and our ongoing Vietnam syndrome. In the POW/MIA chapter, the author nicely skewers those who continue to perpetrate the myth that there are still POW's in Vietnam. Inded this is one of the greatest postwar tragedies, that many groups feed off the grief of families by keeping this issue at the forefront of their conciousness (and their pocketbook) when in fact there is no proof, living or otherwise of any remaining POW's in Nam. Isaacs points out the folly of the issue and the fact that it keeps us from both reconciling with the families of those lost and normalizing relations with a country that is eager to put the war behind it as well. But the author points out that the war was never really about Vietnam, but more about us, and that is the real tragedy and the source of many of the misunderstandings of the war. The longer the war went on, the more the issue became saving American pride and face, and the less the issue was the people of Vietnam and the impact the war had upon them. Indeed, most postwar discussion focuses on what might have happened if we had either pulled out earlier or let the military unleash its full power, instead of talking about what did happen and why. This only lends credence to the authors point that the issues of the war have not yet been resolved, nor are they likely to be for a long time. If you are looking for a good overview of post Vietnam war issues, this is an excellent source book; but if you want to go into depth on one then its probably not what you are looking for, though it is useful in framing issues. Since this book came out there has been a huge output of information on the war, much of it excellent, though much of it falls into the trap of discussing what ifs instead of what did happen. And those of us who follow politics have heard the frequent references to the Vietnam syndrome by Clinton, BUsh, Reagan and others, both in describing past conflicts, i.e. the GUlf War, BOsnia, Haiti, and in framing future foreign invlovements, i.e. John McCain. Though the author only glazes over the issue i nthe syndrome chapter, another tragedy of Vietnam is that the U.S still has no recognizable foreign policy i nthe post cold war world. Good, if too short of a book, though unquestioably many will find fault with the author's politcs, even in a post war context.
a reader from New Jersey.......1999-12-16
I almost stopped reading this book after the first 3 chapters. While Dr. Isaacs claimed in his preface that he was attempting to be objective in his discussions, subtle derogatory(and I believe unfounded) comments about conservatives, particularly Ronald Reagan, made me doubt his objectivity. I have read enough books with obvious biases against either liberals or conservatives; I felt I didn't want to waste more time reading another one. I'm searching for the truth about the war, not rhetoric. However, I continued to read and I am glad I did. In particular, the chapters on the MIA/POW issue and Southeast Asians immigrants and refugees are absolutely excellent. Given my desire to learn about this period of history (I'm 36 years old and was only 12 years old in 1975), the chapter, Learning about the War, is also very interesting. While I don't feel the first 3 chapters offer anything new to the Vietnam discussion, chapters 5 - 8 are a treasure.
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The cross and its shadow
Stephen Nelson Haskell
Manufacturer: Review and Herald Pub. Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: 0828001340 |
Book Description
This book offers a series of penetrating reflections on the state of American culture and its prospects, from military to higher education, from religion and law to music and visual arts.
Customer Reviews:
Shadows of the conservative mind.......2004-12-02
These essays take a clearly written, detailed and only occasionally overstated look at the state of our culture and our institutions. David Hart's essay on religion in America is the most cogent as he argues that a certain Dionysian form of Christian relgious fervor is holding sway over the country as liberal religion recedes. Robert Bork's essay on the imperial judiciary, which has ignored the Constitution to form judgments based on the thinking of the elite, is well written and exciting as well. Essays on architecture and poetry are better at showing us what isn't up to snuff rather than what should be happening (I rather like ornament in architecture, even if it's done ironically), and Mark Steyn's Jeremiad on the U.S. educational system, while true to a point, probably overstates the crisis in the classrooms. Finally, Hilton Kramer's summary of modernism is helpful for the lay reader seeking enlightenment of art, but as in his other work his attempts to draw a clear line between modernism and postmodernism, other than one is sincere and one isn't, just doesn't work. I, an uninformed reader, just can't see the difference between splatter and maggoty meat, although I admit that lots of excellent art has been brought forth over the last 50 years. These essays, however, make for engrossing reading, particularly the essay on military strategy, which attacks the Bush-Rumsfeld Defense Department, appropriately, from the right.
Book Description
Here is a classic collection of writings by the Surrealists on their mad love of moviegoing. Forty-odd theoretical, polemical, and poetical essays document Surrealism's scandalous and nonreductive take on film. The essayists include such names as Breton, Aragon, Desnos, Dali, Bunuel, and Man Ray, as well as many of the less famous, though equally fascinating figures of the movement.
Table of Contents:Available light / Paul Hammond
Some surrealist advice / The Surrealist Group
War letter / Jacques Vache
On decor / Louis Aragon
Cinema U.S.A. / Philippe Soupault
Battlegrounds and commonplaces / Rene Crevel
Against commercial cinema / Benjamin Peret
Buster Keaton's College / Luis Bunuel
Abstract of a critical history of the cinema / Salvador Dali
The marvelous is popular / Ado Kyrou
As in a wood / Andre Breton
Picture palaces / Robert Desnos
Plan for a cinema at the bottom of a lake / Bernard Roger
The lights go up / Jacques Brunius
Surrealism and cinema / Jean Goudal
Introduction to black-and-white magic / Albert Valentin
Crossing the bridge / Jacques Brunius
Sorcery and cinema / Antonin Artaud
The screen's prestige / Jacques Brunius
Remarks on cinematic oneirism / Robert Benayoun
The cinema, instrument of poetry / Luis Bunuel
Malombra, aura of absolute love / The Romanian Surrealist Group
Data toward the irrational enlargement of a film: The Shanghai Gesture / The Surrealist Group
The film and I / Ado Kyrou
Cinemage / Man Ray
Another kind of cinema / Marcel Marien
Intention and surprise / Nora Mitrani
The ideal summa / Petr Kral
Turkey broth and unlabeled love potions / Gerard Legrand
The fantastic - the marvelous / Ado Kyrou
Concerning King Kong / Jean Ferry
Larry Semon's message / Petr Kral
Hands off love / The Surrealist Group
Chaplin, the copper's nark / Jean-Louis Bedouin
Manifesto of the Surrealists concerning L'ge d'orr / The Surrealist Group
Zaroff; or, The prosperities of vice / Robert Benayoun
Eroticism / Robert Desnos
Eroticism = love / Ado Kyrou
Au repas des guerrieres / Nelly Kaplan
Female x film =
Customer Reviews:
A "must" for film buffs, popular culture and art students........2001-01-04
Now in a revised and expanded third edition, Paul Hammond's The Shadow And Its Shadow: Surrealist Writings On The Cinema gathers together a fascinating, informative, and challenging collection of writings by Surrealists on their love of, and involvement with, the movies. Here are to be found the writings of Andre Breton, Louis Aragon, Salvador Dali, Many Ray and many others. This highly recommended compendium of commentary is a "must" for professional and academic film history, popular culture, and surrealism reading lists.
Product Description
The House with a Clock in Its Walls; The Figure in the Shadows and The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring are three magically eerie tales gathered in this one-volume edition. The series opens as Lewis Barnavelt, a newly orphaned ten-year-old, comes to live with his Uncle Johnathan. Little does Lewis know that Uncle Johnathan and his next-door neighbor, Mrs. Zimmerman are witches. Lewis finds that he himself owns magical powers, and soon is thrust in a supernatural battle between good and evil. The second tale focuses on Grampa Barnavelt's old coin. Lewis thinks the coin is an amulet, but when he starts to wear it around his neck, bizarre things start to happen - and not all of them good. The last tale shifts the focus to thirteen-year-old Rose Rita, who is embittered because she cannot go to camp like Lewis. so Mrs. Zimmerman offers Rita an adventure of her own. But when a magical ring disappears, Rita gets more of an adventure than she bargained for. John Bellair's vivid characterization and and excruciatingly suspenseful plots make this series a thrilling ride!
Customer Reviews:
Enchanting horror and a little bit of kid angst.......2007-09-19
John Bellairs is a master of children's horror that I'm afraid the world has forgotten in the Harry Potter rush. As much as I love all that good stuff, nothing beats Bellairs' aura on a little town in 1940's Michigan where anything spooky can happen.
The three novels in this volume ("The House with a Clock in its Walls", "The Figure in the Shadows", and "The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring") focus on a orphan boy named Lewis who has come to the town of New Zebedee to live with his eccentric uncle who just so happens to be a wizard. What proceeds is various dippings into the supernatural.
And these are not the "cute" supernatural, at least in the usual sense. Sure, Stephen King and Anne Rice would probably consider these adventures kid stuff, but they are they are perfectly creative enough for kids; honestly, I think they're more creative than most of the adult horror out there. Bellairs deals with necromancy, Biblical prophecy, possession, the whole nine yards, but all very tastefully done to be suitable to this age group.
Besides the horror, these are books about what it's like to be a kid. Bellairs gets into the heads of his characters with their thoughts and worries and hopes like few do whilst balancing another subject.
His writing is also absolutely enchanting. Without being flowery, he is a master of description with exellent pacing and a storytelling voice that just draws you in.
I know these are a couple decades old, but I adored this mans' works as a kid, and even now I can't think of many things better to do than curl up with these stories.
Still A Good Read.......2007-04-29
I read these books years ago, found them creepy, and forgot about them until recently. These are aimed at a young adult reader, but they're atmospheric and well written, and definitely make enjoyable adult reading. Check out the pages on the individual books for more info, but the three books in one edition is a great deal. These are also excellent for pre-teens and older who enjoy books on the supernatural. They do deal with themes of witchcraft and magic, but otherwise, contain no objectionable content.
Bellairs' Barnavelt/Zimmerman Trilogy.......2007-03-21
This volume contains:
House with a Clock in its Walls (1973)
The Figure in the Shadows (1975)
The Letter, the Witch and the Ring (1976)
I have not read all of Bellairs' novels, so I cannot say whether these three are really his the "best". But the grouping is appropriate for other reasons: These are in fact the first three of Bellair's supernatural horror novels for kids; each is a sequel to the last; and all three feature the characters Lewis Barnavelt, Jonathan Van Olden Barnavelt, Mrs. Zimmerman, and (in the last two novels) Rose-Rita Pottinger. Moreover, the collection is more-or-less complete, since these are the only ones featuring these characters that were written entirely by Bellairs and published during his lifetime. The "next" in the series, entitled "The Ghost in the Mirror" was published posthumously after being completed by Brad Strickland in 1993 (after a gap of 17 years, during which Bellairs switched to writing about Johnny Dixon and Anthony Monday). Strickland has gone on to write his own adventures in the series (with what success I cannot say).
HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS begins with the orphaned Lewis Barnavelt, aged 10, being sent to live with his crazy Uncle Jonathan, and his batty neighbor Mrs. Zimmerman. The Uncle and the neighbor both turn out to be magicians (of the benevolent sort), and the grand old house they inhabit is filled with magical artifacts and mysteries, including a strange ticking sound reputed to come from a hidden clock. Matters get serious after the insecure Lewis, in an attempt to impress a friend, ignores his uncle's warning that he should never attempt magic. Creepy, scary fun ensues.
The next two novels in the series are just as well written, and every bit as creepy and scary as the original. However, the grimness becomes a little more unrelenting, and some kids may even find it depressing. One reason for this is that Bellairs seems to have somewhat regretted sending mixed messages in his first book, by his positive portrayal of magic as practiced by Mrs. Zimmerman and Uncle Jonathan. In the course of these volumes Mrs. Zimmerman is almost completely deprived of her powers. Bellairs continues to pay lip service to the idea that they are both benevolent minor magicians, but he ceases to show them using magic to positive effect. Magic use becomes, for all practical purposes, almost entirely associated with evil, and any dabbling therein leads only to horrific consequences.
I don't think Bellairs is necessarily wrong to want to discourage kids from seeking occult powers. However, it is a possibly unintended effect of this decision that the stories become increasingly and unrelentingly horrific and depressing. While the first volume made it seem as though there were powerful forces of Good to compete with those of Evil, the two sequels start to seem a bit like reading H.P. Lovecraft, wherein Evil has all the power.
The edition contains the original Edward Gorey illustrations for the first novel. Unfortunately, other artists illustrated the two sequels. The latter illustrations do not enchance the stories, which would be better off without them.
Three tales in the Lewis Barnavelt series.......2007-01-22
John Bellairs is best known as the author of sixteen gothic mystery novels for young adults comprising the Lewis Barnavelt, Anthony Monday, and Johnny Dixon series. The three stories in this book are the first three in the Lewis Barnavelt series, although the last has more to do with his friend, Rose Rita. The tales collected in this book are "The House with a Clock in Its Walls," "The Figure in the Shadows," and "The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring."
So far from what I've read of this author, his characters tend to be elderly eccentrics, or ordinary children (no superkids, here). Lewis is resourceful, but with a child's fears and limitations. Most especially, he is afraid that his uncle won't like him, that the kids in his new school will make fun of him, and that he'll never have a friend. His uncle, Jonathan and neighbor, Mrs. Zimmerman are very likeable magicians. They play poker with Lewis and make him chocolate chip cookies and cocoa, and generally treat him as a small adult.
The House with a Clock in its Walls (1973) - illustrated by Edward Gorey
Lewis is a newly orphaned, plump ten-year-old, who wears "purple corduroy trousers, the kind that go `whip-whip' when you walk." The author often claimed that his imagination got stuck at ten, and here is Lewis, age ten, going to live with his Uncle Jonathan in New Zebedee, Michigan. The year is 1948, and New Zebedee bears a strong resemblance to Marshall, Michigan, where the author was born--- The Cronin House and the GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) Hall still stand in Marshall, just as their counterparts do in New Zebedee.
The only thing Uncle Jonathan is reluctant to talk about with Lewis is the ticking noise within the walls of his old mansion, recently acquired from a deceased magician.
Lewis discovers that his uncle makes midnight excursions throughout the house, stopping and restarting all of the old clocks. He slowly gets involved in the mystery of an undiscovered clock. The wizardly Izzard couple who used to live in the house are both dead, but what did they leave behind and why?
There are some genuinely frightening scenes in "The House with a Clock in its Walls"---most especially when Lewis tries to impress a new friend by stealing one of his uncle's magic books and taking it to the graveyard at midnight on Halloween---but I don't want to spoil the story for you (Hint: there's a scene straight out of "Count Magnus" by M.R. James when the lock pops off of the crypt). Let me say that this is a truly scary book, and if the author's imagination got stuck at ten, he must lived an awesomely spooky tenth year.
"The Figure in the Shadows" (1975) - illustrated by Mercer Mayer
Lewis wants desperately to believe that an old coin belonging to his Great-Great-Grampa Barnavelt has magical powers. He is being bullied at school and starts to wear the old Civil War coin around his neck for protection. Finally Lewis turns on the bully and beats him up, but he soon learns that the coin has other, even darker powers.
When Lewis begins to see a shadowy figure in a long coat and starts to get scary messages, he asks his friend, Rose Rita to take the coin and throw it away. She wrestles the coin away from him, but instead of throwing it into the storm drain, she hides it.
The bully starts in on Lewis again, and he decides he'll do anything to get the coin back again, even steal it from Rose Rita.
This story has a very spooky climax that will scare even the grown-ups who are reading it to their children.
"The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring" (1976) - illustrated by Richard Egielski
Rose Rita is mad at the world. Her friend, Lewis Barnavelt is going to Boy Scout camp for the summer, and he is the only one who appreciates her for what she is: a tomboy with a great pitching arm who has no interest in growing up into the world of proms and pretty gowns. When Mrs. Zimmerman offers to take her on a trip to see the farm she just inherited from her cousin, Oley, Rose Rita jumps at the chance.
Unfortunately when Mrs. Zimmerman and Rose Rita arrive at the farmhouse up in the woods of Northern Michigan, it has been ransacked. The ring that Oley had found and believed to be magic has been stolen.
When Mrs. Zimmerman herself disappears, it is up to Rose Rita to solve the deepening mystery.
Don't expect milksop magic or easy solutions from this author. Rose Rita has to confront both interior and exterior demons, and comes very close to death before Bellairs winds down to his usual cocoa and cookies (well, roasted marshmallows in this story) ending.
The Best Of John Bellairs.......2007-01-18
Good product, prompt service. John really writes for much younger readers (I'm 83) but is a comfortable read anyway.
Book Description
On October 21, 1861, Confederate troops scored what was probably the most complete victory by either side in the Civil War at a place calle Ball's Bluff, thirty-five miles west of Washington, DC, on the Virginia bank of the Potomac River. Union soldiers were driven in a panic off the high bluff into the river, where many of them drowned.
Customer Reviews:
Small Battle, Big Aftermath.......2004-08-21
This is an excellent, self-contained work on a little known action of the Civil War. With so many works done on the major events of the war its refreshing to see something different for a change. Mr. Farwell is an English historian who has written many books on life in the British army during the Victorian era, which was the same time as the Civil War. The different perspective that a none-American writer has on the subject can be refreshing. Here Farwell applies his easy going and engaging style to describe the personalities and events involived in a little known battle from the early stages of the Civil War.
Balls Bluff certainly can't compare with the fame of Gettysburg or others, but it can provide an interesting look at how a small scale action was fought, as well as illustrate some of the politics that were involved with the incorporation of State troops into Federal service. This battle also provides a classic study of how things can go wrong very quickly in a military operation. The Union was looking for a fight after the debacle at Bull Run, and they found it almost accidentally at Balls Bluff. Stone, the union officer in command, failed to keep a close eye on his ameteur subordinate Baker, the result being another debacle at Balls Bluff with even more shocking results.
The fact that the Union was defeated was not half so bad as the way it happaned, a terrible rout and ensuing slaughter of helpess union troops on the cliffs of the river. The politics of the battle's aftermath show how scapegoats are often found in a Republic. What happaned to Stone was not unlike what had often occured in ancient Athens. Political witch-hunts are not a recent development. Stone was wrongly accused for the failings of Baker. Had the latter lived there might have been a different reckoning. The book wonderfully points out the politicis and history of the early war period, and stands on its own as a fine read. You don't have to know any Civil War history to enjoy this work. In that sense it would make a good high school assignment indeed!
A Small battle with Great Political Significance.......2001-12-24
After reading this very well written book about a small battle shortly after the first battle of Bull Run, I had to visit the battle site in Leesburg, VA., which is on the Potomac River just northwest of Washington D.C. The site is breath taking as it fits Farwell's description of this seemingly lonely site very well. The reconnaissance assignment led by Colonel Baker, a close friend of Lincoln and Senator from Oregon, becomes a total military failure. The military amateur is not at the battle front early on but over time, Baker commits virtually his complete force up the high bluffs from the river to a virtual open plain to be picked off by the unseen enemy hidden in the woods, which included forces commanded by the infamous Confederate General Evans of the later famous Tramp Brigade. Baker is picked up off early after arriving on the field in the late afternoon, virtually contributong to a full-scale rout as the Union soldiers panic to the bluffs and the river, shot down as they try to escape. Bodies fall into the Potomac and many actual float down river to Washington. This total failure after Bull Run has great political and psychological fall out for Lincoln and the government. The commanding officer, Stone, that sent Baker across the river is not at fault but he quickly becomes a scapegoat and the Committee for the Conduct of the War is born. The committee ruthlessly imprisons General Stone, whose failure to recognize the seriousness of his charges and his abandonment by the self serving McClellan (better you than me) contributes to his harsh treatment. The committee lives on to Court Martial Fitz John Porter at second Bull Run and terrorize numerous Union Officers in the future. Farwell presents a well written and readable book opn this small battle that, so shortly after Bull Run, shocked the Union and the politicians of the north.
A "gem" of a book!.......2000-12-05
Indepth analysis of a small,little-known,early Civil War engagement whose ramifications had poignant consequences for the Union.Farwell has written a facinating,readable account, incorporating brief character studies of many interesting participants. The only disappointment is the lack of good maps of the battle site and surrounding area. Nevertheless,it will whet your appetite for an exploratory visit to the Leesburg area.
A Very Good Book!.......1997-12-11
Farwell did an excellent job in his telling of the Battle of Ball's Bluff, fought in the Fall of 1861 on the Virginia side of the Potomac River, just upstream of Washington.....Having had an interest in this battle (especially its enormous political ramifications) for over 20 years (I lived close by), I found the book a delight to read. While much of Farwell's material about the battle obviously comes from "Battles and Leaders", the Official Records, etc., he added tidbits of information that made the book even more interesting. For example, two of Paul Revere's grandsons fought there, as did Oliver W. Holmes, Jr., a grandson of George Washington, and many others of famous lineage. Also, Ball's Bluff was so named since George Washington Ball - another descendant of our 1st President - lived nearby. In addition, Farwell interjects anecdotes which give insight into the life of the ordinary soldier in the early phases of the war.....Farwell's major contribution, however, is in presenting the enormous political consequences of this small battle, in which the extremely popular Senator, Colonel Edward Baker - Lincoln's closest friend - was killed. Federal General Stone was cast as the scapegoat, jailed, and ruined - though no charges were ever filed; and the infamous "Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War" was formed. The result was "McCarthyism" almost 100 years before the real thing.......I have only two criticisms of Farwell's work: he failed to cite his references; and the sole map provided was most inadequate. I had additional maps and my personal knowledge of the area at my disposal, but for the reader unfamiliar with the battle, the battlefield, and the surrounding area, a series of better maps would prove most useful and make the book much easier to follow......This is a book BOTH for beginners and hard-core Civil War buffs. A long time coming, it was truly a delight! Philip Szlyk, Millbury, Massachusetts
Summary of Balls bluff.......1997-04-29
Byron farwells book is great
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