Amazon.com
Here's another management parable that draws its lesson from an unlikely source--this time it's the fun-loving fishmongers at Seattle's Pike Place Market. In Fish! the heroine, Mary Jane Ramirez, recently widowed and mother of two, is asked to engineer a turnaround of her company's troubled operations department, a group that authors Stephen Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen describe as a "toxic energy dump." Most reasonable heads would cut their losses and move on. Why bother with this bunch of losers? But the authors don't make it so easy for Mary Jane. Instead, she's left to sort out this mess with the help of head fishmonger Lonnie. Based on a bestselling corporate education video, Fish! aims to help employees find their way to a fun and happy workplace. While some may find the story line and prescriptions--such as "Choose Your Attitude," "Make Their Day," and "Be Present"--downright corny, others will find a good dose of worthwhile motivational management techniques. If you loved Who Moved My Cheese? then you'll find much to like here. And don't worry about Mary Jane and kids. Fish! has a happy ending for everyone. --Harry C. Edwards
Book Description
Imagine a workplace where everyone chooses to bring energy, passion, and a positive attitude to the job every day. Imagine an environment in which people are truly connected to their work, to their colleagues, and to their customers. In this engrossing parable, a fictional manager is charged with the responsibility of turning a chronically unenthusiastic and unhelpful department into an effective team. Across the street from her office is Seattles very real Pike Place Fish Market, world famous and wildly successful thanks to its fun, bustling, joyful atmosphere and customer service. By applying ingeniously simple lessons learned from the actual Pike Place fishmongers, our manager learns how to energize those who report to her and effect an astonishing transformation in her workplace. Addressing todays work issues (including employee retention and burnout) with an engaging metaphor and an appealing message that applies to any sector of any organization, Fish! offers wisdom that is easy to grasp, instantly applicable, and profoundthe hallmarks of a true business classic. Based on a bestselling ChartHouse training video which has been adopted by corporations including Southwest Airlines, Sprint, and Nordstrom.
Download Description
In this engrossing parable, a fictional manager is charged with the responsibility of turning a chronically unenthusiastic and unhelpful department into an effective team.
Customer Reviews:
Quick Read...Makes some GREAT points!.......2007-08-13
This book is a quick read for anyone...the story was interesting enough to keep my attention all the way through. Even though this book was depicting more severe circumstances than I have faced, I could still find ways to relate to the information. It's a nice reminder to practice good work habits every day!
Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results.......2007-07-16
The book is good for the use as a morale booster in the workplace. It is easily adaptable to a variety of environments.
Fish!.......2007-02-26
Received complete order in a reasonable amount of time and without any problems. Would order from them again.
Fish! .......2007-02-20
Good, and a light read. The ideas are powerful and worth taking time to think about.
Fun, Fun, Fun.......2007-01-30
This book is a super quick read and you'll find yourself able to not only grasp but also implement the key concepts the very same day in any organisation - if you chose to. This book has been so successful it's spawned a whole series of other similar books - but start with this one. Not only does this book help you to make your work fun, it's a fun read itself.
Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Five years ago, Jim Collins asked the question, "Can a good company become a great company and if so, how?" In Good to Great Collins, the author of Built to Last, concludes that it is possible, but finds there are no silver bullets. Collins and his team of researchers began their quest by sorting through a list of 1,435 companies, looking for those that made substantial improvements in their performance over time. They finally settled on 11--including Fannie Mae, Gillette, Walgreens, and Wells Fargo--and discovered common traits that challenged many of the conventional notions of corporate success. Making the transition from good to great doesn't require a high-profile CEO, the latest technology, innovative change management, or even a fine-tuned business strategy. At the heart of those rare and truly great companies was a corporate culture that rigorously found and promoted disciplined people to think and act in a disciplined manner. Peppered with dozens of stories and examples from the great and not so great, the book offers a well-reasoned road map to excellence that any organization would do well to consider. Like Built to Last, Good to Great is one of those books that managers and CEOs will be reading and rereading for years to come. --Harry C. Edwards
Book Description
The Challenge
Built to Last, the defining management study of the nineties, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the verybeginning.
But what about the company that is not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness?
The Study
For years, this question preyed on the mind of Jim Collins. Are there companies that defy gravity and convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? And if so, what are the universal distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great?
The Standards
Using tough benchmarks, Collins and his research team identified a set of elite companies that made the leap to great results and sustained those results for at least fifteen years. How great? After the leap, the good-to-great companies generated cumulative stock returns that beat the general stock market by an average of seven times in fifteen years, better than twice the results delivered by a composite index of the world's greatest companies, including Coca-Cola, Intel, General Electric, and Merck.
The Comparisons
The research team contrasted the good-to-great companies with a carefully selected set of comparison companies that failed to make the leap from good to great. What was different? Why did one set of companies become truly great performers while the other set remained only good?
Over five years, the team analyzed the histories of all twenty-eight companies in the study. After sifting through mountains of data and thousands of pages of interviews, Collins and his crew discovered the key determinants of greatness -- why some companies make the leap and others don't.
The Findings
The findings of the Good to Great study will surprise many readers and shed light on virtually every area of management strategy and practice. The findings include:
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Level 5 Leaders: The research team was shocked to discover the type of leadership required to achieve greatness.
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The Hedgehog Concept (Simplicity within the Three Circles): To go from good to great requires transcending the curse of competence.
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A Culture of Discipline: When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great results. Technology Accelerators: Good-to-great companies think differently about the role of technology.
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The Flywheel and the Doom Loop: Those who launch radical change programs and wrenching restructurings will almost certainly fail to make the leap.
“Some of the key concepts discerned in the study,” comments Jim Collins, "fly in the face of our modern business culture and will, quite frankly, upset some people.”
Perhaps, but who can afford to ignore these findings?
Customer Reviews:
A very thought-provoking book for people trying to grow their business........2007-10-02
This was a very interesting book for me to read. I have to imagine that I am in a pretty narrow target market for this book, though the concepts may be broadly applied. I work for a small business and can see many opportunities to put this book's findings to work.
The book tells the various stories of companies that made a transition from a market participant to market leader and saw sustained success for at least 15 years. The author was able to identify a few common factors between these companies, and he and his research team present them as a model for us to follow.
I had but one small issue, which is probably not information that contributes to the rest of the research. They detail radical decisions made by upper management, sometimes completely changing the face of an established business. I figure there must be a largely disproportionate number of business that fail when they made the same or a similar move. I would have liked to see some detail behind how those successful companies came to make that decision. The decision itself was largely overlooked.
Like many "business" books, I feel that much of what was written here was largely common sense. They weren't necessarily ideas that I have had or would have come up with on my own, but as I read them they seemed mundane in analysis. It made the reading slow going, but there was a silver lining -- for instant gratification, each chapter ends with a few pages of main concepts extracted from the text.
There was some very insightful research in Good to Great. The common elements identified were relevant and practical. It would not be an easy model to follow, but if it were it would defeat its own purpose to isolate those corporate characteristics that set successful companies apart. If you have ever wondered what steps you should follow to take your company from Good to Great, this is a book you should read (even if it is just the chapter summaries).
Good To Great.......2007-09-28
Our company is taking the advice of the book to heart. We have formed our "hedgehog" group and all are excited. We want to work in an environment of greatness. The book shows us the way. We have 7 of our employees who have agreed to "donate their time" at lunch several times a month to help us identify our circles. I would recommend this book to any company or organization that truly wants to have their maximum impact in the arena in which they operate!
My Business Bible.......2007-09-24
If I have a bible for business, this is it. First who then what is the only way to go!
Still applicable in 2007.......2007-09-19
I enjoyed the thought provoking aspect of this book. The different levels of leadership, the hedgehog concept are the two takeaways from this book.
How many of us fall into the trap of being everything to everyone? Most I suspect from the findings presented in the book.
Read this book to find out how you can strive to be a Level 5 leader. I found the book very insightful. Jim Collins and his team hit a homerun!
Renamed the "Leadership Bible".......2007-09-19
In a previous review I dubbed a Blanchard text as the Management Bible. Good to Great goes one step further. It teaches how to lead. Leadership is very different from management. Management is about details and processes. Leadership is about creating a storyline, then using it to motivate, overcome, and exceed. Good to Great by Jim Collins is about greatness.
The key to the "greatness storyline" is in identifying your Hedgehog Concept- that singular objective that will define your success. This also the most difficult part of leadership, an ability which most titled executives do not master. It is very easy to fall prey to the excuse that we "don't know what the future may bring" and we have to be "ready for anything". Hog wash. Or should I say hedgehog wash?
Greatness can only be achieved through singular purpose. The core of Good to Great teaches us not only how to identify it (the hedgehog Concept), but how to embrace it. The remainder of the book tells us how to apply it in broad strokes. This is the essence of strategic planning. Being able to understand and acheive this should be a prerequisite for any leadership position. Or for any aspiring entrepreneur.
Amazon.com
Yann Martel's imaginative and unforgettable Life of Pi is a magical reading experience, an endless blue expanse of storytelling about adventure, survival, and ultimately, faith. The precocious son of a zookeeper, 16-year-old Pi Patel is raised in Pondicherry, India, where he tries on various faiths for size, attracting "religions the way a dog attracts fleas." Planning a move to Canada, his father packs up the family and their menagerie and they hitch a ride on an enormous freighter. After a harrowing shipwreck, Pi finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean, trapped on a 26-foot lifeboat with a wounded zebra, a spotted hyena, a seasick orangutan, and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker ("His head was the size and color of the lifebuoy, with teeth"). It sounds like a colorful setup, but these wild beasts don't burst into song as if co-starring in an anthropomorphized Disney feature. After much gore and infighting, Pi and Richard Parker remain the boat's sole passengers, drifting for 227 days through shark-infested waters while fighting hunger, the elements, and an overactive imagination. In rich, hallucinatory passages, Pi recounts the harrowing journey as the days blur together, elegantly cataloging the endless passage of time and his struggles to survive: "It is pointless to say that this or that night was the worst of my life. I have so many bad nights to choose from that I've made none the champion."
An award winner in Canada (and winner of the 2002 Man Booker Prize), Life of Pi, Yann Martel's second novel, should prove to be a breakout book in the U.S. At one point in his journey, Pi recounts, "My greatest wish--other than salvation--was to have a book. A long book with a never-ending story. One that I could read again and again, with new eyes and fresh understanding each time." It's safe to say that the fabulous, fablelike Life of Pi is such a book. --Brad Thomas Parsons
Book Description
The son of a zookeeper, Pi Patel has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior and a fervent love of stories. When Pi is sixteen, his family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, along with their zoo animals bound for new homes.
The ship sinks. Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi, whose fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with Richard Parker for 227 days while lost at sea. When they finally reach the coast of Mexico, Richard Parker flees to the jungle, never to be seen again. The Japanese authorities who interrogate Pi refuse to believe his story and press him to tell them "the truth." After hours of coercion, Pi tells a second story, a story much less fantastical, much more conventional--but is it more true?
Customer Reviews:
An Entertaining and Unique Piece of Art.......2007-10-05
I literally just finished reading this book a few minutes ago, and the first thing I did was come to this site to see what others said about it. I think this is going to be one of those pieces that grows on me the further away I get from it, like how I felt about the movie American Beauty, which by the way turned out to be one of my favorite movies after all.
My first feeling after I was done with it was of shock, but the longer I sit here, thinking about it and reading the negative "1 star" reviews, the more I find myself defending and liking it. All the people that said it was "unbelievable" in their reviews need to seriously get a grip. This is a work of FICTION, and an interesting and entertaining one at that! When did we start berating artists for creating works that are unbelievable? So should we bad mouth the movie ET for depicting a boy flying around on his bike with an alien, or the Harry Potter series for assuming that there can actually be wizards and witches living amongst us in secret? Come on, those are some of the most beloved works in pop culture history, and they, like Life of Pi, are FICTON. Isn't that why we read and watch fiction? To be entertained with a good story and take our minds off of our mundane lives? Besides, that's exactly what Pi was trying to tell the Japanese men at the end....sometimes we all just need a good story to make us forget all the bad stuff that we have to endure in the real world. At least that's why I enjoy it.
With that being said, I thought the Life of Pi was a very entertaining read. Yann Martel does a great job of infusing his own brand of philosophical musings about God, country and family into a straight good old fashioned piece of adventure themed story telling. If you're squeamish or have a hard time dealing with violence and extreme situations, then you probably won't be able to get too into this book. I found myself grimacing a few times actually, but it's not worse than most of what you find on the Discovery Channel on any given afternoon. Also, if you don't enjoy a fluid, sometimes digressive, often ambling narrative and prefer the style of more straightforward prose such as that of Dean Koontz, then this might not interest you as well.
The only other book I've read recently that reminds me of this one is the very popular Cormac McCarthy Pulitzer Prize winner and Oprah Book Club selection, The Road. They both chronicle the journey of a boy (in The Road's case, a boy and his father) beating unbelievable odds and inconceivable circumstances to try and survive after a catastrophic event. Both are also written in a way that makes you feel as if you are experiencing the distress of the main characters, but in opposite ways. The Road has short, grammatically incorrect sentences that convey the urgency and erratic behavior of the parent and child on the run and trying to stay alive. In Life of Pi, the author sometimes rambles on in a nonsensical way, the same way your brain would function if you were suffering from hallucinations while nearing death on a lifeboat in the Pacific for over 200 days. I think that the authors' styles are what take both of the stories from just a couple of unremarkable novels you'd find in the discount bin, to truly memorable works of art.
In fact, I'm finding it very discomfiting that so many people gave it such bad reviews. I read through some of them, and I think the negative things they had to say about it says more about them than Martel's work. One review says they wish they were illiterate so they wouldn't have had to endure it and it made them vomit and want to scratch their skin off in the shower like a drug addict. Gee...I don't think I have to explain myself on that one. Others said it was boring, which makes me question our society's attention span more than anything because many of those same reviewers said they didn't even finish reading it. These same people are the ones that stopped watching the tv show Lost at the beginning of last season for the same reason. Well, if they would have just stuck around for a little while longer, in both cases, they would have been in for a pleasant surprise.
*Spoiler Alert in this Paragraph only*
Also, a common theme in the bad reviews was their distain for the ending. I thought that the ending was what really made the book something special. While anyone with half a brain would know that his original story had to have been false, whether he knew it or not since his delirium was quite advanced at some of his lowest points, the fact that he actually gives an alternate version of the story to the Japanese men, felt like a big payoff to me. I'm the kinda gal that likes to know what really happened...it helps me to bond with the characters and ultimately enjoy the story more in the end.
I was starting to get really upset with all the "1 star" reviews, until I did the math. A staggering 78% (as of today) gave it 4 or 5 stars which means they liked or loved it. Well, knowing that at least restored a little bit of my faith in the general public, because though it's not perfect nor the best thing I've ever read, it definitely doesn't deserve to be called horrible.
If you read a lot, like I do, and are looking for a unique story told in a distinctive style, and have an open mind, then definitely give this one a try.
Great narrative.......2007-10-01
Love all the literary elements in this story. I especially love that this story can evoke so much conversation at a book club which is why I had the pleasure of reading it. Highly recommended for a book club reading!!!
A great book.......2007-09-15
A great book- a story within a story, a story about stories, the stories we tell others and the stories we tell ourselves. The story of Pi's journey through the Pacific is told twice and the reader is left to wonder which is more accurate- but as with many "unreliable narrator" stories emotional truth trumps literal truth and the tiger may just be a metaphor for something else. Pi's final words about Richard Parker are haunting and the whole book is a fascinating meditation on the ever-stretching limits of human endurance.
An enjoyable but shallow read.......2007-09-14
I enjoyed reading this book like I've enjoyed watching James Bond movies; entertaining but shallow. That wouldn't be a problem if Martel wouldn't make such an outlandish claim as 'this story will make you believe in God' in the introduction. The book does start off in the right direction. Pi is introduced as an eclectic character who practices Hinduism, Christianity and Islam and lives a colorful life centered around a zoo. Martel certainly has a talent for descriptions, and this first part is all in all excellent. What is disappointing however is that after such a nice setup, we find out that it was all just an elaborate scheme to make the story of a boy lost at sea with a tiger on a boat somewhat believable. Most of the previously introduced characters are quickly forgotten as the narration centers on the harshness of life out at sea. Martel does a good job at suspending disbelief; but in switching the narrative he heads off in a completely different direction which he set up, which is talking about the relationship between truth and myth in religion.
Martel adds insult to injury in the last part of the book when he introduces an alternative account of Pi's time at sea. The alternate story itself is a great twist; what is terrible however is the following discussion between two minor characters in which the exact relationship between the two stories is detailed explicitly and completely seals off all other possible interpretations. Martel insults his reader by doing all the intellectual effort himself and spoon-feeding it to him. Pi first says that there is truth in all religions, and Martel says that his story will make you believe in God; then he gives two alternate explanations for Pi's time at sea, and asks which of the stories you like best. The reader has to brain-dead at that point not to connect the dots; but Martel does connect the dots, in EXPLICIT DETAIL. Never mind the fact that Martel's reflections on religion are about as profound as the ones of Paulo Coelho or as a self-help book; he butchers his whole story and insults the reader for the purpose of getting his simplistic point across.
I give it three stars nonetheless, because Martel does tell a thoroughly entertaining story. As a piece of pop litt, it succeeds; as a metaphysical reflection, it's a failure.
An unbelieveable book.......2007-09-10
Life of Pi is the kind of book that makes you love life a little more. Though quite impropable, the story is told in such a way, that you believe it - at least while you are reading - to have happened in real life for someone.
The book contains some great views on religion an zoology. I would suggest the worlds religious leaders to read it and then meet in the zoo to discuss it. The story is about a tragedy. The book is about friendship and reconciling with the demons inside you and around you.
Enjoy it.
Average customer rating:
- Didn't quite deliver
- I'm in love with Clare and Henry!!!
- One of My all Time Favorites
- A book that will keep you up all night!
- Unique romance
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The Time Traveler's Wife
Audrey Niffenegger
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 015602943X |
Book Description
A dazzling novel in the most untraditional fashion, this is the remarkable story of Henry DeTamble, a dashing, adventuresome librarian who travels involuntarily through time, and Clare Abshire, an artist whose life takes a natural sequential course. Henry and Clare's passionate love affair endures across a sea of time and captures the two lovers in an impossibly romantic trap, and it is Audrey Niffenegger's cinematic storytelling that makes the novel's unconventional chronology so vibrantly triumphant.
An enchanting debut and a spellbinding tale of fate and belief in the bonds of love, The Time Traveler's Wife is destined to captivate readers for years to come.
Customer Reviews:
Didn't quite deliver.......2007-10-04
The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger was a really uninspiring book. The premise is kind of sci-fi, this guy is randomly transported to other times and places, leaving a pile of clothes behind, and arriving stark naked wherever he arrives, and then returning to where he disappeared from, again stark naked, and hoping to find the clothes he left behind are still there...and that is only the tip of the iceberg. There is a love story entwined with all this time travel. The book did not, in my opinion, deliver the story it advertised on the cover. It implied that the two main characters, man and wife, overcame danger, etc. in order to be together. It almost got there, but remained undeveloped. Also, this is a little bit of a soapbox here, but I think that this book could have been a lot better than it was. I find that I am really annoyed by crudity of language, especially in describing relationships. Why can we not use nice words when we talk about sex in books? Does the author talk like this to her lover/husband/partner? Do any of us? (Don't answer that, really) I think that her use of language in describing the sexual relationship of the main characters made the book less than ordinary and unappealing. It could have been charming, and the love story could have been inspiring. The author is a professor for heavens sake. One imagines that she has command of the English language, or at least a thesaurus. I will not buy this book or recommend this book to others, I'd be too embarrassed.
I'm in love with Clare and Henry!!!.......2007-10-03
My best friend, who is a bookworm, gave me this book to read. I can usually tell within a few pages if I'm going to like it and sure enough, after the first few paragraphs, I was hooked.
This is a love story; not a science fiction story. The fact that Henry has this condition that catapults him back and forth in his and Clare's past, is very important to the story, but not enough to make it a sci-fi story.
After reading how much Henry loved Clare and how tender and carful he was when he met her while she was a child, I found myself wanting to *be* Clare and have some love me as Henry does her. The author writes a truely awe inspiring love story that leaves me gasping for more.
This book has become my addiction over the past week; I find myself counting the hours until the kids go down to bed at night so I can curl up and read as much as I want without being interrupted. I've found myself laughing out loud, and crying...and I might add, I'll be finishing the book this evening. I'm saving it. I know it ends sadly and I've already found myself welling up with tears at the prospect of Henry's and Clare's fates.
When I am done with this book, I will give it back to my friend and I will get my own copy so that I may read the tale of Henry and Clare over and over and over. And I'm sure that each time I read it, I will get something else out of it that I missed before.
Someone on a blog about this book posted a comment about the author possibly doing a sequel. That would be awesome...perhaps they could call it "The Time Traveler's Daughter"...
This book is nothing short of beautiful. The characters are so real; I felt as though I knew them personally. I have visions of how beautiful Clare is with her long, copper hair and of how handsome and distinguished Henry is through all the stages of his life from young boy to man. I will miss them once I read the final pages this evening. You have to slow down and read this book, as there time changes and changes in location and year. It goes back and forth between Henry and Clare. You really do have to sort of just slow down and read, and sometimes re-read but it is SOOOO worth it...
One of My all Time Favorites.......2007-10-03
This book makes the top ten in my all time favorites! Such a cool story! Very different thats what makes it so great.Don't understand the bad reviews here.
A book that will keep you up all night!.......2007-10-01
I love, love, loved this book! Could not put it down. The characters are very compelling and it is a beautiful story about life, love, loss and everything else. It made me laugh and cry!
Unique romance.......2007-09-28
Could not put this down. I was sad when it was over. The story is captivating; don't think about Journeyman or Quantum Leap; think a Wrinkle in Time...
Average customer rating:
- True to it's title
- Things Fall apart audio
- Things Fall Apart
- All you never wanted to know about yams... and other such things.
- It Drags
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Things Fall Apart: A Novel
Chinua Achebe
Manufacturer: Anchor
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Achebe, Chinua
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ASIN: 0385474547
Release Date: 1994-09-01 |
Amazon.com
One of Chinua Achebe's many achievements in his acclaimed first novel, Things Fall Apart, is his relentlessly unsentimental rendering of Nigerian tribal life before and after the coming of colonialism. First published in 1958, just two years before Nigeria declared independence from Great Britain, the book eschews the obvious temptation of depicting pre-colonial life as a kind of Eden. Instead, Achebe sketches a world in which violence, war, and suffering exist, but are balanced by a strong sense of tradition, ritual, and social coherence. His Ibo protagonist, Okonkwo, is a self-made man. The son of a charming ne'er-do-well, he has worked all his life to overcome his father's weakness and has arrived, finally, at great prosperity and even greater reputation among his fellows in the village of Umuofia. Okonkwo is a champion wrestler, a prosperous farmer, husband to three wives and father to several children. He is also a man who exhibits flaws well-known in Greek tragedy:
Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children. Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness. It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic, the fear of the forest, and of the forces of nature, malevolent, red in tooth and claw. Okonkwo's fear was greater than these. It was not external but lay deep within himself. It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father.
And yet Achebe manages to make this cruel man deeply sympathetic. He is fond of his eldest daughter, and also of Ikemefuna, a young boy sent from another village as compensation for the wrongful death of a young woman from Umuofia. He even begins to feel pride in his eldest son, in whom he has too often seen his own father. Unfortunately, a series of tragic events tests the mettle of this strong man, and it is his fear of weakness that ultimately undoes him.
Achebe does not introduce the theme of colonialism until the last 50 pages or so. By then, Okonkwo has lost everything and been driven into exile. And yet, within the traditions of his culture, he still has hope of redemption. The arrival of missionaries in Umuofia, however, followed by representatives of the colonial government, completely disrupts Ibo culture, and in the chasm between old ways and new, Okonkwo is lost forever. Deceptively simple in its prose, Things Fall Apart packs a powerful punch as Achebe holds up the ruin of one proud man to stand for the destruction of an entire culture. --Alix Wilber
Book Description
This is Chinua Achebe's classic novel, with more than two million copies sold since its first U.S. publication in 1969. Combining a richly African story with the author's keen awareness of the qualities common to all humanity, Achebe here shows that he is "gloriously gifted, with the magic of an ebullient, generous, great talent." -- Nadine Gordimer
Customer Reviews:
True to it's title.......2007-09-22
It is amazing how a novel first published in 1959 about a Nigerian village, pre-colonization, still has relevance today. Talk about transcending time as well as cultures! Chinua Achebe is a magnificent story teller. I love authors who have the ability to transport me to worlds that seem so different from my own.
Okonkwo was a man that was obsessed with masculinity and the "power" of being masculine. Although I could see how harsh, abusive, and unyielding Okonkwo was towards his family, oddly I felt sympathy for the man. He was the product of his environment and culture. Apparently his callousness was worsened because of his fear that he should become like his father ----- a man with no title, in his culture, the equivalent of being a woman.
How many of us struggle to balance the new with the old? And how often do we question or all out resist changing times.... be it attitudes or ideas, advancements in technology, religion, policies, music, etc. Most of us reach a certain age where we would prefer our traditions be left alone. In some instances there should be no room for compromise, but in other instances perhaps there truly is improvement/advancement to be gained.
Okonkwo's struggle is exactly that. He strives to leave behind a proud legacy. However, he makes bad decisions along the way. The more he tries to make things right the more it seems that misfortune comes his way. He's angered and confused about the changes that come upon his village but that combined with his pigheaded demeanor make for a disastrous result. It's a good book to take up beyond school required reading. Achebee gives his readers a great deal to consider.
Things Fall apart audio.......2007-09-11
My son had a senior project to do over the summer, he had to read this entire book and the first day back to school, he had a test on it, my son does not do well on reading, he can read great, but he has trouble remembering what he read, so I thought if he listened to it being read to him, he could follow along better, well he did, and he done well on his test and essay, I would recommend this product to anyone with similiar problems as my son has with reading.......
Things Fall Apart.......2007-09-10
My son needed this book for school and we received in time for school. Great service!
All you never wanted to know about yams... and other such things........2007-08-08
I had to read this for my high school advanced English class. I regret ever having picked it up. I feel very lucky that my brain was not fried after reading The-book-that-should-not-be-named. In short, if you want to read a bizarre book about African people and yams, then read this book. If not, go read something else.
It Drags.......2007-08-07
While the story itself is useful in giving a student the right mindset for African studies, the story itself lacks much of the marvel of other historically-based books. While the book is pointed towards lower-classmen in high school, the true audience should be college, where adults can completely analyze and idnetify the key points and emotions of the story.
Book Description
Tracy Kidder is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the author of the bestsellers
The Soul of a New Machine,
House,
Among
Schoolchildren, and
Home
Town. He has been described by the Baltimore Sun as the “master of the non-fiction narrative.” This powerful and inspiring new book shows how one person can make a difference, as Kidder tells the true story of a gifted man who is in love with the world and has set out to do all he can to cure it.
At the center of
Mountains Beyond Mountains stands Paul Farmer. Doctor, Harvard professor, renowned infectious-disease specialist, anthropologist, the recipient of a MacArthur “genius” grant, world-class Robin Hood, Farmer was brought up in a bus and on a boat, and in medical school found his life’s calling: to diagnose and cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. This magnificent book shows how radical change can be fostered in situations that seem insurmountable, and it also shows how a meaningful life can be created, as Farmer—brilliant, charismatic, charming, both a leader in international health and a doctor who finds time to make house calls in Boston and the mountains of Haiti—blasts through convention to get results.
Mountains Beyond Mountains takes us from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia as Farmer changes minds and practices through his dedication to the philosophy that "the only real nation is humanity" - a philosophy that is embodied in the small public charity he founded, Partners In Health. He enlists the help of the Gates Foundation, George Soros, the U.N.’s World Health Organization, and others in his quest to cure the world. At the heart of this book is the example of a life based on hope, and on an understanding of the truth of the Haitian proverb “Beyond mountains there are mountains”: as you solve one problem, another problem presents itself, and so you go on and try to solve that one too.
“
Mountains Beyond Mountains unfolds with the force of a gathering revelation,” says Annie Dillard, and Jonathan Harr says, “[Farmer] wants to change the world. Certainly this luminous and powerful book will change the way you see it.”
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
An Amazing Man.......2007-10-04
This book is inspiring but troubling as well. I am a nurse and find his ideas of medicine/poverty to be right on target. Fighting the system is what is hard, he manages to do so at least in his areas of clinical work. His take on poverty and the world economic systems while not new, is seen through the eyes of a scientist and an anthropoligist which gives it a slightly new twist. For anyone interested in a larger world view I would recommend this book. Dr. Farmer is a unique man and his efforts, where ever he is, to change the world's systems is a challenge to us all.
Very Good.......2007-09-25
Although I had to read this book for a mandatory assignment, it was not a labored read. The author writes in a way that allows the reader to continue reading easily and endlessly until the book is finished, or stop whenever the reader needs a break. The story is eye-opening and enlightening while arousing feelings of anger towards the governments overseas conduct with "democracy" and aiding big business. The tale is capturing and the read is light. The only reason it wasn't a five star is because I wasn't very fond of the assignment.
Awesome.......2007-09-15
Kidder's biographical account of the life and work of Dr. Paul Farmer is moving and munumental and reads like a novel---a compliment from me. The determination of one man supported by competent and trusted colleagues is an awesome monument to the power of the human spirit. Also opens American minds and hearts to the povery lying just off our borders in Haiti. Kidder's narrative is superbly told and presented most effectively with a plot line that moves in and out between past and present. Compact, concise and compelling.
Inspirational.......2007-09-05
It's wonderful that one man can turn his passion into something that benefits so many!
Tracy Kidder does it again.......2007-08-28
Tracy Kidder writes with real understanding of his subjects. From "Soul of the New Machine" to "Old Friends", his ability to understand his subjects at a very deep level comes through. Mounts Beyond Mountains is Tracy's best yet. I'd never heard of Paul Farmer when I started this book. Now I feel like I know and really understand him.
Average customer rating:
- Amazing
- A book that stays with you
- Hey!
- Good middle school book
- Modern-day classic
|
The Giver
Lois Lowry
Manufacturer: Laurel Leaf
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Holes
ASIN: 0440237688
Release Date: 2002-09-10 |
Product Description
When Jonas turns 12, he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver--who alone holds memories of pain and pleasure in life. Now there can be no turning back from the truth. Paperback.
Amazon.com
In a world with no poverty, no crime, no sickness and no unemployment, and where every family is happy, 12-year-old Jonas is chosen to be the community's Receiver of Memories. Under the tutelage of the Elders and an old man known as the Giver, he discovers the disturbing truth about his utopian world and struggles against the weight of its hypocrisy. With echoes of Brave New World, in this 1994 Newbery Medal winner, Lowry examines the idea that people might freely choose to give up their humanity in order to create a more stable society. Gradually Jonas learns just how costly this ordered and pain-free society can be, and boldly decides he cannot pay the price.
Customer Reviews:
Amazing.......2007-10-02
This book is my favorite book of all time (although the Twilight series comes quite close). It made me cry when I realized that only the Giver and Reciever had any emotions, had any love. When Jonas askes his mom if she loves him, she says there is no thing as love.... a heart breaking point of the book, when one puts him or herself in that situation. Anyone who did not like this book didn't read it with the right maturity, with an open mind.
My little brother HATES to read. He had to read this book in school, and he actually read it. He enjoyed it and bought Gathering Blue and the Messanger to read too, although he didn't quite find those two as good as this.
This book is overall clean and sincere. It makes us appricate everything so much more.
A book that stays with you.......2007-09-29
I remember reading this book in elementary school. I also remember that I hated this book. I could not stand it. As I grew older, I appreciated the nuances and messages contained in this "child" book. I recommend this book to any child or adult on what an "utopian" society could look like.
Hey!.......2007-09-10
Hey! look over here ok now that I've got your attention, if you're looking for a strange but good book then this is the perfect book for you. The Giver by Lois Lowry explains how the Giver gives Jonas thoughts and teaches him different feelings from everyone else. To start, Jonas lives in a very strange town. The community that he lives in is unusually different in its ways and rules. Also, in The Giver, he gives Jonas real thoughts and feelings. The feelings are happy, sad, and miserable. Finally, Jonas leaves the community. Unfortunately, if I tell you why it would ruin the whole story! So you better read this book to find out why Jonas ran away!
Good middle school book.......2007-08-25
School report for my son (8th grader) He liked it, I read it too and enjoyed it.
Modern-day classic.......2007-08-15
Anyone who wouldn't give this book 5 stars, must have missed the point. It's on my list of 10 all-time best books I've read. I read the book 10 years ago & still think about the main characters. This author is such a clever writer. A real pleasure to read her books. I've read them as an adult, even though they are written for teens. Great book club discussion book!
Average customer rating:
- A keeper for the home library
- One of the most fascinating books
- Chasing dreams
- Just Okay
- Yea, I'll add to the hype, but just look past it all.
|
The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream
Paulo Coelho
Manufacturer: HarperSanFrancisco
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Binding: Paperback
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The Alchemist (Plus)
ASIN: 0062502182 |
Amazon.com
Like the one-time bestseller Jonathan Livingston Seagull, The Alchemist presents a simple fable, based on simple truths and places it in a highly unique situation. And though we may sniff a bestselling formula, it is certainly not a new one: even the ancient tribal storytellers knew that this is the most successful method of entertaining an audience while slipping in a lesson or two. Brazilian storyteller Paulo Coehlo introduces Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who one night dreams of a distant treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. And so he's off: leaving Spain to literally follow his dream.
Along the way he meets many spiritual messengers, who come in unassuming forms such as a camel driver and a well-read Englishman. In one of the Englishman's books, Santiago first learns about the alchemists--men who believed that if a metal were heated for many years, it would free itself of all its individual properties, and what was left would be the "Soul of the World." Of course he does eventually meet an alchemist, and the ensuing student-teacher relationship clarifies much of the boy's misguided agenda, while also emboldening him to stay true to his dreams. "My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy confides to the alchemist one night as they look up at a moonless night.
"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself," the alchemist replies. "And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity." --Gail Hudson
Book Description
Paulo Coelho's enchanting novel has inspired a devoted following around the world, and this tenth anniversary edition, with a new introduction from the author, will only increase that following. This story, dazzling in its powerful simplicity and inspiring wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest. No one knows what the treasure is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the way. But what starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a discovery of the treasures found within. Lush, evocative, and deeply humane, the story of Santiago is an eternal testament to the transforming power of our dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts.
Download Description
My Heart Is Afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy told the alchemist one night as they looked up at the moonless sky."Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams."
Every few decades a book is published that changes the lives of its readers forever. The Alchemist is such a book. With over a million and a half copies sold around the world, The Alchemist has already established itself as a modern classic, universally admired. Paulo Coelho's charming fable, now available in English for the first time, will enchant and inspire an even wider audience of readers for generations to come.
The Alchemist is the magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found. From his home in Spain he journeys to the markets of Tangiers and across the Egyptian desert to a fateful encounter with the alchemist.
The story of the treasures Santiago finds along the way teaches us, as only a few stories have done, about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, above all, following our dreams.
Customer Reviews:
A keeper for the home library.......2007-09-11
This is a special book that makes an uplifting gift to someone wanting to seek their dream, but isn't sure to take that first step. I will read this again.
One of the most fascinating books.......2007-09-06
The Alchemist is an amazing book for anyone "searching for answers". It really reinforces the notion that it's all about the journey - not the destination. Well written and far more complex than the simple writing style might lead you to believe. This edition was a gift for a friend - it's beautiful to look at, as well.
Chasing dreams.......2007-08-23
A co-worker brought her copy of this book in one day for me to see. It was love at first sight and I knew I wanted my own copy. A month later, I bought one for myself on my birthday. I read it in two afternoons. It is a really good book. I would suggest it to anyone. It is very simple writing but the message is quite deep.
Just Okay.......2007-08-03
I liked THE ALCHEMIST, but didn't love it. It starts out very well, but it quickly gets bogged down by excessive symbolism and a lot of detail that didn't seem essential to the story.
The major point of this book is to pursue your life dreams, as opposed to making excuses for not doing so. I certainly support this message, but I felt that Coelho took 165 pages to convey a relatively straightforward point. This book is also heavily unrealistic in spots (the wind talks, the sun, etc.), which diminishes the power of its message, at least to me.
I read the most recent trade paperback edition of THE ALCHEMIST, and would suggest that you read the four-page introduction by Paulo Coelho before purchasing this novel. In that introduction, Coelho summarizes the main themes and ideas of THE ALCHEMIST in a crystal clear manner that I thought was more effective than the novel itself. If the message resonates with you, then by all means buy this book and enjoy it. Otherwise, you probably will not like it.
Yea, I'll add to the hype, but just look past it all........2007-07-31
No spoilers.
If you're reading these online reviews in order to determine if you'll like The Alchemist based off of what others thought about it, then you're probably a little confused right now. The best advice on this I can give is that if you read it and like it/love it like many people here, then obviously you'll be happy with your choice, but if you read it and don't like it/hate it, it's not a big deal because it's one of the shorter quality novels you'll ever come across at only 192 pages.
Having said that, I'm adding to the hype about this book by saying that I can't recall coming across novel with such presence and thought in such a simple form. One negative reviewer claimed reading this was like reading a high school book report, and the odd thing about that comment is, while I can see where a comment like that would come from due to simplicity of the writing style, the thoughts behind the words come from nothing less than a great thinker.
If you're skeptical about reading this book, please just ignore the reviews (I guess that would mean mine too :] ) and take the chance to do it for yourself. Will this book change your life? No. Is it the best most ispirational book ever written. Well that's subjective, but for me, no. It's just a great book to step away from your hectic world with for an evening (and believe me, you probably will finish this in an evening), so give it a try.
Amazon.com
For most writers, the greatest challenge of spiritual writing is to keep it grounded in concrete language. The temptation is to wander off into the clouds of ethereal epiphanies, only to lose readers with woo-woo thinking and sacred-laced clichés. Thankfully, Anne Lamott (Operating Instructions, Crooked Little Heart) knows better. In this collection of essays, Lamott offers her trademark wit and irreverence in describing her reluctant journey into faith. Every epiphany is framed in plainspoken (and, yes, occasionally crassly spoken) real-life, honest-to-God experiences. For example, after having an abortion, Lamott felt the presence of Christ sitting in her bedroom:
This experience spooked me badly, but I thought it was just an apparition born of fear and self-loathing and booze and loss of blood. But then everywhere I went I had the feeling that a little cat was following me, wanting me to reach down and pick it up, wanting me to open the door and let it in. But I knew what would happen: you let a cat in one time, give it a little milk and then it stays forever.
Whether she's writing about airplane turbulence, bulimia, her "feta cheese thighs," or consulting God over how to parent her son, Lamott keeps her spirituality firmly planted in solid scenes and believable metaphors. As a result, this is a richly satisfying armchair-travel experience, highlighting the tender mercies of Lamott's life that nudged her into Christian faith. --Gail Hudson
Amazon.com Audiobook Review
Anne Lamott admits that she's "ever so slightly more anxious than the average hypochondriac." When faced with a small, irregular mole and a family history of skin cancer, however, she remembers her faith in God and enjoys some peace--despite behaving "a little more like Nathan Lane in The Birdcage than I would have hoped." Author Lamott reads these wonderfully detailed postcards from her meandering journey to faith. With sharp and bittersweet humor, she recounts a past full of bad relationships with men, with food, with drugs, with alcohol, and worst of all, with herself. She battles her demons thanks to the love of her friends and family and her "lurch of faith" to embrace religion, that "puzzling thing inside me that had begun to tug on my sleeve from time to time, trying to get my attention." Inspiring but not dogmatic, Traveling Mercies is a treasure. (Running time: 4 hours, 3 cassettes) --C.B. Delaney
Book Description
Anne Lamott claims the two best prayers she knows are: "Help me, help me, help me" and "Thank you, thank you, thank you." She has a friend whose morning prayer each day is "Whatever," and whose evening prayer is "Oh, well." Anne thinks of Jesus as "Casper the friendly savior" and describes God as "one crafty mother."
Despite--or because of--her irreverence, faith is a natural subject for Anne Lamott. Since
Operating Instructions and
Bird by Bird, her fans have been waiting for her to write the book that explained how she came to the big-hearted, grateful, generous faith that she so often alluded to in her two earlier nonfiction books. The people in Anne Lamott's real life are like beloved characters in a favorite series for her readers--her friend Pammy, her son, Sam, and the many funny and wise folks who attend her church are all familiar. And
Traveling Mercies is a welcome return to those lives, as well as an introduction to new companions Lamott treats with the same candor, insight, and tenderness.
Lamott's faith isn't about easy answers, which is part of what endears her to believers as well as nonbelievers. Against all odds, she came to believe in God and then, even more miraculously, in herself. As she puts it, "My coming to faith did not start with a leap but rather a series of staggers." At once tough, personal, affectionate, wise, and very funny,
Traveling Mercies tells in exuberant detail how Anne Lamott learned to shine the light of faith on the darkest part of ordinary life, exposing surprising pockets of meaning and hope.
Download Description
Traveling Mercies takes us on a journey through Anne Lamott's troubled past to illuminate her devout but quirky walk of faith: how, against all odds, she came to believe in God, and the myriad ways in which that faith sustains and guides her in everyday life. With an exuberant mix of passion and self-deprecating humor, Lamott explores whether certain behaviors will get her "a better seat in heaven, " perhaps "near the dessert table, " or whether her mistakes "make Jesus want to drink gin straight out of the cat disk" She writes about her family, about helping a friend through the devastating illness of her baby, about wanting but not having all the answers for her eight-year-old son.
Through the hard-won wisdom that forms the core of her beliefs, and with wit, insight, and lots of heart, she shows us how she creates a life balance of connectedness and liberation.
Customer Reviews:
Mercy on Us.......2007-09-19
This is one of my favorite books, and I've read it many times. The essay on Forgiveness is a classic. I'm not sure how Annie Lamott makes fundamentalist Christianity palatable, but she manages to convey a deep sense of faith and gratitude along with a quirky charming wit about it all -- especially about herself.
I (heart) Anne Lamott.......2007-08-25
I pretty much love any essay Anne Lamott writes, and I appreciate her foray into the spiritual side of life. She makes faith very real and very every day/accesible ... something we all need. Her humor and witty prose make the reading enjoyable as well.
A Great and Pleasant Read.......2007-08-09
From the start to the end, Anne Lamott's writing is greatly captivating and keeps her readers guessing as to what she's getting at, then leaves us with great philosophical insight, all the while keeping her humorous input she's so famous for.
Although she writes with freedom and confidence, some of her ideas about "faith" may not be what most people expect, but then again, these are her own thoughts about faith, what she's gone through and how she has come to be the person she is today.
She carries along a great novel, somewhat of an autobiography with her son Sam, and warmly welcomes any readers willing to read to the very end. Lots of great quotations to write down; a definite read for anyone.
Put me out of my misery.......2007-08-07
Having read previously published books by Anne LaMott, I admit I was unenthusiastic about reading this book group selection. Much of the material is rehashed from previous works but now autobiographically instead of as "fiction."
I found her self-depricating tone to be disingenuous and much of her self pity to stem from personal problems that were self-inflicted. (Did that last sentence mention "self?") The book is centered on her self involvement which often attempts to depict herself as being gritty, worldly, and street-experienced.
While she has had experience as an alcoholic and sex addict, she never seems to rise above it in any inspirational way. Authors such as Frank McCort of Angela's Ashes and Jeannette Walls of the Glass Castle were confronted with horrible childhoods but managed to survive with a spunk and spirit I admired. I couldn't figure out what was so bad in Anne LaMott's life that she had to complain about and/or turn to self abuse to cope. I grew up with my own share of dysfunction but chose to take a more optimistic outlook on life.
Although I agree with many of her political points of view, it did not sit well with me how she launched personal attacks on those who held opposing views. "The New Adventures of Old Christine" is able to satirize those annoying holier-than-thou mothers at the PTO in a much more humorous way and that's saying a lot for a TV situation comedy compared to this literary selection.
I forced myself to finish the last third of the book after our book group discussion because those chapters seemed to be the most poignant. Yes, that was the best part of the book. The chapters about being kind to her aging body and dealing with aging parents were the most honest and touching sections.
Even so, this is not a book I would recommend to someone looking for emotional uplift or spiritual insight.
TOP FIVE ON MY "BEST-LOVED BOOKS" LIST.......2007-07-03
I keep a list of best-loved books, which is coming in handy lately as I hit my forties and tend to rebuy books I've already read (sometimes getting through several chapters before I figure this out). If I put the list in order, Traveling Mercies would immediately make my top five. Lamott's autobiographical essays are hilarious and heartbreaking and wonderful, and make me wish she lived next door. I've read Traveling Mercies all the way through at least six times, and picked it up countless other times to enjoy one of the stand-alone chapters. I love the poetic compassion of some of the passages so much that I read them outloud. If you're a mom, you've got to read the chapter on forgiveness - Lamott's attempt to deal with her resentment of a perfect, day-planner writing, cupcake baking, field trip-chaperoning mom. We've all been there on some level. I keep going back to this book when I need to teach adult Sunday school, because it's such a beautiful exploration of Christian faith in a life that's messy and funny and difficult and real.
Average customer rating:
- Riveting Red Tent!
- A Man's Point Of View
- A different life
- An enjoyable piece of fiction
- Red`Tent
|
The Red Tent
Anita Diamant
Manufacturer: Picador
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0312195516 |
Amazon.com
The red tent is the place where women gathered during their cycles of birthing, menses, and even illness. Like the conversations and mysteries held within this feminine tent, this sweeping piece of fiction offers an insider's look at the daily life of a biblical sorority of mothers and wives and their one and only daughter, Dinah. Told in the voice of Jacob's daughter Dinah (who only received a glimpse of recognition in the Book of Genesis), we are privy to the fascinating feminine characters who bled within the red tent. In a confiding and poetic voice, Dinah whispers stories of her four mothers, Rachel, Leah, Zilpah, and Bilhah--all wives to Jacob, and each one embodying unique feminine traits. As she reveals these sensual and emotionally charged stories we learn of birthing miracles, slaves, artisans, household gods, and sisterhood secrets. Eventually Dinah delves into her own saga of betrayals, grief, and a call to midwifery.
"Like any sisters who live together and share a husband, my mother and aunties spun a sticky web of loyalties and grudges," Anita Diamant writes in the voice of Dinah. "They traded secrets like bracelets, and these were handed down to me the only surviving girl. They told me things I was too young to hear. They held my face between their hands and made me swear to remember." Remembering women's earthy stories and passionate history is indeed the theme of this magnificent book. In fact, it's been said that The Red Tent is what the Bible might have been had it been written by God's daughters, instead of her sons. --Gail Hudson
Book Description
Her name is Dinah. In the Bible, her life is only hinted at in a brief and violent detour within the more familiar chapters of the Book of Genesis that are about her father, Jacob, and his dozen sons. Told in Dinah's voice, this novel reveals the traditions and turmoils of ancient womanhood-the world of the red tent. It begins with the story of her mothers-Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah-the four wives of Jacob. They love Dinah and give her gifts that sustain her through a hard-working youth, a calling to midwifery, and a new home in a foreign land. Dinah's story reaches out from a remarkable period of early history and creates an intimate connection with the past. Deeply affecting, The Red Tent combines rich storytelling with a valuable achievement in modern fiction: a new view of biblical women's society.
Customer Reviews:
Riveting Red Tent!.......2007-10-05
I could not put it down....It gave me the desire to go back and read my bible in a new light, from a woman's point of view! The characters in the bible came to life with their own unique personalities, although I know that the book is a novel and the author is not claiming historical accuracy. This book is a must-read!
A Man's Point Of View.......2007-10-02
I am 66 years old and just finished this book. People saw me reading "A Thousand Splended Suns" and recommended "The Red Tent". Both books are about women. I am sure women appreciate them because they learn about other times and culture. For a man, I think these books are so revealing because we learn, in addition, what its like to be a woman. I loved them both and cried reading both. I highly recommend them. You will have an emotional experience you will never forget.
A different life.......2007-09-30
I found the story hard to follow in the beginning, but I was drawn in more and more by the view of a woman's life in the past. It was engrossing.
An enjoyable piece of fiction.......2007-09-29
When I enjoy book as much as I enjoyed "The Red Tent" I always make myself read the "1 star" reviews. Here are some things to know before you read this book and are disappointed:
1) It is is fiction. It is found in the fiction section. It is listed as fiction.
2) The Bible is not exactly a verbatim account of history. I realize that this offends many, but the old testament is a compilation and translation of many stories and facts over a very long period of time. Personally, I can barely get a phone message correct. The "biblical scholars" who took offense made me smile. They need to refer to my #1 comment. The middle eastern experts also need to refer to #1. For me, this book opened my mind to a time period that I previously had little or no interest in and knew very little about. Because I read this book, I did more research to learn the facts.
3) Women menstruate. Men, if this offends you, beware. Women, if you find it icky to talk about, again, probably not the book for you. Let's just say the title is a big warning that this is a large part of the book.
4) There is a lot of emphasis on childbirth because before birth control, this tended to happen. A lot. Again, if birthing is too much, this is probably not the book for you.
5) The writing is wonderful. I think the reason this book draws such a strong reaction is because of how well the author depicts each situation and character. It is amazing. I felt like I was there.
6) This work of fiction made me think of how many versions there are of history. I am Catholic and I had never really thought of how ridiculous circumcism is or sounds to outside religions. This also made me rethink my original perception of those crazy, statue worshipping pagans (again being Catholic and growing up in a bible thumping, born again town, I could relate). I walked away with a "What if.."
7) It's unique. So many authors have tried to replicate this book. I think it's great that it inspired an entire genre of historical fiction from D List history makers. Kind of a "History from Kathy Griffin's Perspective."
So read it as fiction and you will enjoy yourself. If you think it's a documentary, you won't like because I'm sure there are many inconsistencies. This is extremely well-written, well developed and overall a fabulously enjoyable read. It is by far one of my all time favorite books- largely because of the writing and that it made me curious about a time period that I knew little about prior to reading the book.
Red`Tent.......2007-09-27
This book was purchased for a library reading group. I thought the book was OK but I do not think it is appropriate for a mixed group discussion.
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