Customer Reviews:
Kupalo, Volos, Mokosh . . ........2004-01-23
This is the corrected title for my review, below.
kupala, volos, mokosh . . ........2004-01-18
This book is intended for those interested in old Slavic beliefs, and it is well illustrated with photos and artwork. The book begins with information on history and culture, then delves into gods and goddesses, nature spirits, demons, folktales, and sorcery. Most of these nature spirits are described as dangerous, which can be disappointing. This book is NOT about vampires, as these get just 2 pages. The book is generally more fun than academic. If it is your kind of thing, you should get it. You will be happy with the many illustrations.
It's not about vampires at all.........2003-11-13
First of all, the title is very misleading to provide wider appeal especially with the vampire lore trend bs. The book has very little dealings with vampire myth, but it focuses well on some areas of paganism and other things throughout eastern europe. A decent book and very much worth the price. If it will ever be re-printed, they should deffinately change the title and remove Vlad photo from the cover, a non-slav by the way, it shouldn't be there.
Book Description
The Simplest Path, Step One: Free Your Mind delineates, in one slim volume, a complete system for achieving personal spiritual awakening, along with a straightforward, no-nonsense plan individuals and groups so enlightened can follow to awaken Humanity en masse and positively transform the world. This book contains keys to awakening. Awakening from our personal dream shatters the solid "box" of limitation memes have built around our lives, and frees us to fluidly craft our personalities, environments, relationships, careers, etc. as an artist paints a landscape or a sculptor teases form from formless clay. All of us awakening together from the shared dream of the planet will mark the birth of our species out of our current global nightmare of decline into a limitless future literally beyond our present ability to imagine, even in our "wildest dreams," indeed.
Customer Reviews:
Way Beyond "Socrates Revisited".......2007-08-22
After reading the commentary attached to the one star rating given by the young man from Texas, I feel compelled to step forward in defense of this very fine book. With only one exception, every point made in that negative review is simply wrong. Just not factually correct. The reviewer identifies himself as a young man (... "to my young mind"), and since all of his other Amazon reviews are of TV episodes on DVD, video games and rock music CDs I take him at his word. Well, I am an "old man," closing in on my sixty-third birthday, and I came to Mr. Casspriano's book after six decades of life experience, the last three of those decades a zealous practitioner of Zen Buddhism. I say this not to "brag," but simply to qualify myself as a reviewer before beginning.
I'll start where the one star reviewer closed his argument, with his statement that the simplest path reduces to two Socratic concepts: "Admit that you don't know anything" and "know yourself."
The first part is nominally true (the exception). Like Zen Buddhism, a central tenet of the simplest path is working to release the false notion we all hold that we know ourselves, other people, the world around us. But identifying and releasing our attachments to our illusions is a life's work, not some brash "I don't know nothin'!" as the young Texan seems to imply. Under normal circumstances, we go about our daily lives with no idea we are deluded about anything, as Maya (the illusion of the phenomenal world around and even inside us) is so convincing that most of us never even think to question its validity. Casspriano did not invent the notion of human beings being trapped in illusion, as this truth was known to the timeless authors of the Hindu Vedas and is central to all schools of Buddhism (not just Zen). But his scientific/spiritual exploration of the mechanism by which Maya ensnares our minds and can, with effort, be overcome is among the best "plain English" explanations of this process I have read. There is no "inscrutable mystery" in the simplest path (a criticism that has been accurately leveled toward Zen Buddhism, as a lot of Eastern thought truly does come off as "inscrutable" when translated into English and/or the metaphors of Western culture). Casspriano lays out in no-nonsense American English exactly what our brains are doing when they create the illusion we mistake for reality, then shows the reader in the same clear terms how to train his or her brain to break free of illusion and taste reality as-it-is. In just 216 pages, that is no mean feat. After thirty years of Zen practice and numerous kensho experiences (of varying depths and intensities), I can say from personal experience that Casspriano is correct. Enlightenment comes as the fruit of a long, incremental process of retraining the mind to touch reality in a new way, and the process described in the simplest path is the same as that followed in Zen practice, especially Rienzi Zen koan study (I'll have more to say about this in a later paragraph). Casspriano's approach and language is very different from traditional Zen (more "scientific," and no sitting meditation is required), which I think would appeal to Americans and other Westerners seeking to experience "awakening" without necessarily committing themselves to a religion like Buddhism, but the internal mental/spiritual process and final destination are the same.
"Know yourself," on the other hand, is not in this book at all, at least not in the way the young reviewer, or Socrates for that matter, uses the phrase. As in Buddhism, Casspriano takes pains to demonstrate that "self" is as much of an illusion as our misapprehension of the phenomenal world, and is a byproduct of exactly the same mind process that creates outer Maya. A core teaching of Buddhism is that our "self," our personality/ego, is nothing more than an aggregation of outside influences that cluster together in our minds like shiny stones gathered into a pile, and which we mistake not only for something "real," but tragically, for our essential selves. Yet this "pile" has nothing really to do with who we are at all. Buddhism teaches "no-self." Belief in the illusion of a unique and independent "self" is our greatest obstacle to enlightenment. Wasting time and energy getting to "know yourself" in the Western sense is foreign to Eastern thought. Casspriano again does a great job of translating the Buddhist concept of "no-self" into Western scientific/spiritual terminology. He shows the process by which our ego/personality aggregate "piles up," as well as how to take the pile down, stone by stone. Enlightenment is what the pile was covering up, and so it naturally appears as soon as the pile is removed - but oh how we cling to our personal pile of stones! "Self" is what we must trade for enlightenment, what must be surrendered, and Casspriano returns to this truth many times in the simplest path. My point is that the one star reviewer's reduction of the simplest path to "know yourself" has no basis at all in the actual book.
As to the book being "gimmicky": Yes, the words "The Simplest Path" recur frequently throughout the book, but not in reference to the book itself (at least that's not how I took it), but rather to the system of understanding the mind and working toward "awakening" Casspriano is describing - and it is a complete system that deserves to be considered as a whole, on its own. At times the repetition does have a feel of "branding" in the commercial sense, so I understand where the reviewer may have taken his impression. But the simplest path, while resonant with Zen Buddhism (and apparently, according to Casspriano, with the Toltec philosophy espoused by Carlos Castaneda, of which I have no personal knowledge, so I'll have to take the author's word for that) is far enough different that it needs its own "name" to set it apart from other schools of similar but not identical thought. The reviewer's criticism is like saying that every use of the term "Zen" in a book called "Zen Buddhism" should be taken as a reference to the book, and not to the larger practice of Zen Buddhism as a spiritual discipline that the book is describing. Casspriano's point in repeatedly linking The Simplest Path, Zen Buddhism and Toltec Shamanism throughout the book, at least as I understood it, is to highlight these three spiritual practices as related reliable paths through a dark forest of illusion, a forest in which many apparent (and more popular) paths, including most (all?) religious beliefs, actively vie to mislead travelers toward deeper ensnarement in the dream, rather than leading them toward "awakening."
I want to say a word about koan study in Rienzi Zen and how it relates to the simplest path. Koans are those quirky Zen sayings and stories like "what is the sound of one hand clapping?" or "what was your original face before you (or your parents) were born?" that have no rational answer, and which Zen students turn and turn in their minds like the tumblers of a combination lock until their imprisoned psyches "explode" in a "super-rational" experience of reality beyond the illusion ("irrational" would be the wrong term, as that implies "nonsense"). That "super-rational" vision of reality is called "kensho." I have experienced it myself, more than once in my lifetime. I have come to think of Casspriano's "Key Questions" in the second half of the simplest path, especially the later seven of the ten, as "cultural koans" designed to trigger "collective kensho" for the whole human race at once. Like "what is the sound of one hand clapping?", unflinching consideration of the value of human life, of how our beliefs about the future shape the present, of the true origin and destiny of life on Earth, etc., especially as seen through the lens of Casspriano's "Key Question Technique," reveals that none of these questions have rational answers, yet all require our active and immediate response. Successful resolution of these larger riddles that impact everyone will require us all to eventually "explode" into reality, together, in a "super-rational" way. We'll have to break through the illusion and wake up together, as one (which has been the goal of Mahayana Buddhism, of which Zen is a sect, since around 200 BCE). That is the "Planetary Awakening" addressed in this book, and I believe Casspriano's "Key Questions" are a concrete step in that direction. I'm glad I spent my fifteen dollars.
This is my "old man" take on the simplest path, having encountered it after 30 years of Zen Buddhist practice (I'm not veering off my chosen path here, just bowing respectfully in passing toward Casspriano's). From a Buddhist perspective, the simplest path is true Dharma, though I do not get the impression from reading his book that Vincent Casspriano is himself a Buddhist or a follower of any religion. That to my mind makes his book all the more interesting.
True, but gimmicky.......2007-08-09
Casspriano's book is scientifically and philosophically sound as best as my young mind can tell, but I don't recommend this book. Its scattered with numerous pages of advertising about how his "program" works and how it compares to other religions and spiritual movements. Why must this author physically write out "The Simplest Path" in reference to his book every other page, and talk about his second volume? Perhaps because he's not out for pure truth, but for our money.
All this book comes down to after you strip away the nonsense is two things. First, admit that you don't truly know anything. Second, know yourself. Do those two things (they essentially both mean to question EVERYTHING), and you'll have Casspriano's "Planetary Awakening," with 15 bucks still in your pocket. And you'll be following the fundamental truths already said by Socrates.. so do yourself a favor and pick up Plato's "Apology" and read up on the Socratic dialogue on how to live a good life. And don't stop there, because you can't be sure he's right.
And I have 10 bucks that says these other couple of reviews were written by the book publisher. In any case, ignore the hype.
A Unique and Inspiring Wake-up Call.......2007-05-15
This is one of the most clear-headed books I've read in years on the subject of real, nitty gritty, get your hands dirty spiritual development (as opposed to the fru fru New Age variety). So much of what passes for "spirituality" in our time amounts to some author, celebrity, priest, philosopher or self-appointed guru telling us what to "believe," sight unseen, if we want to reach heaven, attain enlightenment, achieve "ascension," etc. Casspriano takes an at times startling opposite approach. For Casspriano, such unquestioned/unquestionable beliefs are not only NOT the path to spiritual awakening, they represent the chief obstacle blocking our realization of higher consciousness. And it's not just religious beliefs ("faith") he's talking about, but all our beliefs about reality, especially those that enclose our thinking in "boxes" that limit our freedom to find solutions to real-world threats like Peak Oil, overpopulation, Global Warming, etc. Though much of the book focuses on individual enlightenment, for Casspriano, these larger planetary issues are "spiritual," as well. Whether the issue is our personal inability to find happiness or Humanity's collective rush toward physical extinction, the cause is the same - our wrong-headed beliefs about what's real. The solution is the same, as well - continuous, deep questioning. Using Richard Dawkins' concept of "memes" as a central metaphor, Casspriano first breaks down the basic process of belief, showing the mechanism in our brains by which beliefs misdirect and control our psyches, then he walks the reader through an exploration of a series of ten "anti-meme questions" aimed at breaking down the walls of our mental "boxes" and setting our minds free. With each question, he supplies an exercise designed to allow the reader to attain a personal taste of reality "beyond the box," especially as flavored by that chapter's "Key Question." For the most part, this formula works very well (with a few rare moments of over-exuberance on the author's part, as already described in other reviews, though as a card carrying vegan environmentalist, I can't say I particularly minded), delivering a cumulative series of death-blows to some of the most basic "pillars" of our present human consensus reality. Beyond the walls those pillars supported lies real reality, where we are all interconnected and interdependent, and, in Casspriano's view, mutually destined for greatness, if we can just wake up and grab the reins of our runaway culture in time. This is not a book for spiritual "feel gooders" seeking soft assurances that they're perfect just they way they are and everything's going to be all right, no matter what. This is a wake up call, a tool kit and a concrete action plan for becoming individually enlightened and collectively saving the world, all rolled up into one. That, I think, is a cause well-worthy of exuberance.
Challenge Consensus Reality!.......2007-05-10
This is a thoughtful book that addresses how we may go about developing a process to question our everyday consensus reality. I suppose if I have learned anything in 49 years of life, it is that all personal and social problems stem from our fundamental views on the nature of reality itself. Vincent Casspriano uses the concept of a "meme" as a fundamental unit of ideas, assumptions, etc. that often block our understanding of reality itself. One such meme, for example, may be that we have to "fight for our freedom" or the world's a "fearful" place and hence, we have to be ready to kill to protect ourselves. I suppose you could also use the word "paradigm" here as well, but the essential point of this book is that we "unconsciously" function in our life with many limited points of view that block our ability to solve problems on both a personal and a social basis.
While Vince Casspriano is to be congradulated for producing a book that presents both a methodology and a motivation for personal transformation, there are a few pitfalls here that the potential reader should be aware of before tackling this material. The author has some rather strong views on fossil fuel consumption, meet consumption, and the role of humans in the cycle of procreation. While I generally agree with his analysis on fossil fuel consumtion and meat consumption (as I have viewed large tracks of deforrested grazing land in developing countries), these viewpoints can distract the reader from the essential point here which is to rigourously question consensus reality. Since I am single, and have no motivation to have children, I definitely disagree with his views on the necessity of human procreation on this planet, but here again, it is important to extract the essential meaning rather than get caught in the specific political/social debates that these issues may spawn.
If you are serious about personal transformation with the potential for changing our global consciousness, than this book can be an invaluable tool. I do agree with the Author that a world population of "high functioning" people can resolve every planetary problem we face today. As we systematically question our consensus reality, we will see our problems in new ways, and with this new perspective, problems can often be quickly resolved or transcended.
A Simple Cure For What's "Eating Us".......2006-11-13
I considered titling this review, "Stop Whining, Wake Up and Get Busy Saving the World," but decided "Eating Us" would be more attention-grabbing - which matters because I believe Vincent Casspriano, Jr.'s "The Simplest Path, Step One: FREE YOUR MIND" is an important book, and I want to do whatever I can to draw your attention to it. Pick the title you like best. Both very fittingly describe what you will find within the pages of this remarkable new release from New Paradigm Press.
I have selected three short quotations to explore in this review that I think best summarize Casspriano's overall message:
From Chapter One, "The Boxes We Dream In":
"Right now, this very moment, you are asleep... Even if you are reading these words in broad daylight - sitting at your desk or beside the kitchen table, your feet firmly planted on the floor, eyes open, senses alert, feeling the weight of this book in your hands as sounds of life rise and fall rhythmically around you - you are deeply asleep, and dreaming furiously"
Now, the idea that Humans are sleeping, and must therefore "awaken," is by no means unique to Casspriano's "Simplest Path" spiritual system, being the root observation underlying pretty much all Eastern religion, and a lot of Western Occultism and New Age metaphysics, as well. In fairness, Casspriano makes no claim to this as an original insight, openly supporting his assessment of the human predicament with quotations taken from Animism, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. He then flows seamlessly into a list of complementary illustrations from the secular realms of Quantum Physics, brain/consciousness research, and most to-the-point, the study of memes and memetics, ala Evolutionary Biologist and world's best-known cheerleader for scientific atheism, Richard Dawkins.
If you've never heard of memes or memetics, a quick Google of those terms will reveal hundreds of serious, information-rich websites devoted to this now thirty-year old science. In a nutshell, a "meme" is a sort of contagious thought-form that spreads between people by way of imitation. Obvious memes in our environment include advertising jingles, fads and fashions, etc. Casspriano somewhat radically extends the concept to include just about everything that makes up the contents of our individual brains and shared human culture. While he resists redefining the word "meme" wholesale, he decidedly expands its definition to make memes and "memeplexes" (what you get when a number of memes band together into an organic, relational unit, like a religion or cultural or political movement) the basic, fundamental building blocks of everything we habitually label "real..."
And then he demonstrates, in at times excruciating detail, the complete emptiness of the "apparent-reality" that is a byproduct of memetic activity in our brains. What we call "real" is not real at all. It's an illusion spun up by our memes. And our memes are not original to us. They are "viral invaders" assailing our minds from without. Worse - and, while even this thought is not wholly unique to Casspriano, he certainly gives it his own very effective spin - memes are by no means mere passive beliefs or simple "harmless ideas." They are, Casspriano believes, actively predatory psychic parasites whose survival depends on our buying into the illusions they create in our minds. Think of illusion (Samsara, Maya, etc.) as a web we're caught in. Memes are the spider. We are the fly. Gotcha.
One thing I like very much about Casspriano's book is that he never asks us to take anything on faith, least of all this rather ugly depiction of the human psychic/spiritual condition. He not only challenges readers to test his hypothesis firsthand in order to experience what is real and true for ourselves, he spends a large chunk of the book outlining specific exercises anyone can do to escape memetic interference and personally experience reality as-it-is. The exercises in Part II of the book are powerful medicine... But this is a digression, so let me return to the point.
Memes are the spider, and we are the fly. A better metaphor might be that memes are the farmer, and we are the cow. Domesticated and docile, we allow memes to milk us daily, to extract from our minds the potent human psychic energy which, if reclaimed by us and put to proper human use, would quickly and positively transform our lives and our world. This transformation is awakening, ascension, enlightenment, metanoia, the Buddha-like change of consciousness most religions and spiritual systems on Earth hint at, but few ever actually deliver to followers. In this analysis, Casspriano's "Simplest Path" is very much in line with Gurdjieff's "Fourth Way," Carlos Castaneda's Toltec sorcery, and a few other well known spiritual practices inhabiting a somewhat darker, though perhaps more realistic corner of the New Age. But unlike most of those other systems, Casspriano's prescription for escaping illusion and awakening to reality is remarkably, well... simple.
From Chapter Three, "Waking Up":
"The simple truth is that we are sleeping because we lack sufficient energy to wake up."
And later in the same chapter:
"The real work that brings about awakening, rather than merely granting the external appearance of "being spiritual," while actually embroiling us ever more deeply in the dream, is a rigorous, daily commitment to the identification and elimination of every self-serving belief from which our personal dream-lives are constructed."
For "belief" in the quotation above, read "meme/memeplex." Casspriano certainly does, treating the terms as largely interchangeable. In the end, this genuinely simple - at least in the sense of being uncomplicated and pragmatic - spiritual practice amounts to discovering reality as-it-actually-is less by searching for a glimpse beyond the illusion, than by systematically withdrawing our participation in, and identification with, the dream. When we disentangle our psyches from memetic illusion, only reality remains. We don't have to chase it; to a meme-free mind, reality just appears. This is "Satori" in Zen Buddhism. This is "stopping the world" in the Toltec sorcery of Castaneda and others. Casspriano's genius lies in his talent for exposing the core mechanism behind such complex and often inscrutable spiritual systems, and for putting into plain language clear instructions for unraveling the dream and achieving personal awakening. The virus-like process by which memes take over and control our human minds, as described by Casspriano is, to my mind, very complicated (but well worth struggling through). What is genuinely simple about "The Simplest Path," however, is Casspriano's prescription for breaking those bonds, once you've made the effort to understand how they are created and maintained. For Casspriano, remaining a victim of spiritual sleep and energetic exploitation by memes is a complex activity in which we unconsciously invest enormous amounts of psychic energy every day of our lives. Awakening is the product of a simple act of withdrawing that investment, which automatically re-energizes of our minds and lives. Or as Casspriano cleverly phrases it when closing Chapter Three, "Waking Up":
"Unweave the tapestry of the dream, and awakening happens."
Anyone can do this. Spiritual awakening, in Casspriano's view, may be hard work, but it is not complicated work. The path to enlightenment is really rather shockingly simple. Fall out of love with the dream. Reclaim your psychic energy. Wake up to reality.
The ten "Key Questions" Casspriano explores in the second section of the book are designed to put the theory laid out in Part I to practical and immediate use. Essentially, I think Casspriano sees these ten issues - why we treat enlightenment as an "airy-fairy" ideal instead of a measurable transformation of brain functioning, the excuses we make for avoiding personal responsibility and integrity along the lines of Castaneda's "impeccability," the fallacy of belief in a "separate self," etc. - as pillars of both our personal and collective human dreams. They are by no means an exhaustive listing of the memes twisting our minds. But they are primary keystones on which layers upon layers of the grand illusion are built. Topple these ten baseline pillars and the larger structure crumbles.
Casspriano explores some "Keys" more successfully than others. One downside to the book is that, especially in the "Keys," Casspriano's own memetic prejudices shine at times rather glaringly through, as when, in his discussion of the American "What Would Jesus Do?" religious fad, he characterizes the Evangelical Christian purveyors of WWJD as, "ultra-conservative, right wing ideologues." Even should the reader personally agree with such pronouncements, its hard to resist thinking, "Hey Vince! Your memes are showing!" But where he nails his point, Casspriano's prose can be downright inspiring, as with the "Key" cosmological study "Is Earth the Center of the Universe?," which explores the gap between what we know, scientifically, about the Universe and what our daily choices and behavior says we really believe, about the cosmos and about ourselves. His closing "Key" "Are We Alone?" so poetically frames the true stakes of our global human predicament - species survival VS extinction - that its hard to imagine anyone keeping their gaze glued squarely to their own self-involved navel in the wake of reading it. Of course we are not alone. There are six and a half billion of us on Planet Earth, and whether we awaken to what's best in us or follow our darkest drives over History's cliff into oblivion, we do so as one. One planet, one fate.
This notion of "oneness" and of a common, intertwined human spiritual and biological destiny is a core theme in The Simplest Path, Step One: FREE YOUR MIND that sets it apart from any spiritual book in recent memory. My final quotation from the book returns us to the opening lines of Chapter One, "The Boxes We Dream In":
"We are all aware of the challenges facing us as we enter together into the 21st Century:
· World oil supplies are running out.
· Global warming is transforming the Earth into a steamy greenhouse.
· Even as our technology connects the world, ideological extremism, terrorism and militarism divide us as never before.
· Headlines bombard us with news of war, famine, pestilence and death until we feel overwhelmed and unable to respond.
· Time is running out..."
Vincent Casspriano, Jr.'s "The Simplest Path to Personal and Planetary Transformation, Step One: FREE YOUR MIND" does not offer easy escape from these very pressing real-world human ills, but rather, a down to Earth, workable prescription for their cure. Yes, we must awaken as individuals, and, rest assured, "The Simplest Path" shows spiritual seekers exactly how to do that. But a prime message of "The Simplest Path" is that, for personal awakening to have meaning, it must occur within the context of a complete re-visioning of global culture, and a mass wrenching away of the wheel of History from the control of viral memes, that we might create a common cosmic human destiny worthy of our highest potential as a species.
Now that's a meme worth feeding.
Book Description
When Nathan Wachtel, the distinguished historical anthropologist, returned to the village of Chipaya, the site of his extensive fieldwork in the Bolivian Andes, he learned a group of Uru Indians was being incarcerated and tortured for no apparent reason. Even more strangely, no one—not even his closest informant and friend—would speak about it.
Wachtel discovered that a series of recent deaths and misfortunes in Chipaya had been attributed to the evil powers of the Urus, a group usually regarded with suspicion by the other ethnic groups. Those incarcerated were believed to be the chief sorcerers and vampires whose paganistic practices had brought death to Chipaya by upsetting the social order. Wachtel's investigation, told in Gods and Vampires: Back to Chipaya, reveals much about relations between the Urus and the region's dominant ethnic groups and confronts some of the most trenchant issues in contemporary anthropology. His analysis shows that the Urus had become victims of the same set of ideals the Spanish had used, centuries before, to establish their hegemony in the region.
Presented as a personal detective story, Gods and Vampires is Wachtel's latest work in a series studying the ongoing impact of the Spanish conquest on the Andean consciousness and social system. Its insight into Bolivian society and the legacy of hegemony confronts some of the most trenchant issues in contemporary anthropologyand will be of great interest to scholars of anthropology, Latin American studies, and Native American studies.
Product Description
an even better fantasy novel in nora roberts new trilogy!this is the second book in the series.....
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Vampires or Gods
William Meyers
Manufacturer: III Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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| Religion & Spirituality
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ASIN: 096229375X |
Customer Reviews:
Vampires are real.......2006-01-06
Vampires or Gods? by William Meyers [non-fiction]
ISBN 0-9622937-5-X 192 pages, 8.5 x 11" $15.00
Reviewed by Joan D'Arc in Paranoia (#6)
Osiris & Isis, Hercules, Krishna, Caligula, Quetzalcoatl, Jesus, Chang Ling, Dracula ... What do these historical figures have in common? An intriguing hypothesis comes soaring your way when you pick up the new III Publishing title Vampires or Gods? It would seem that these infamous persons, and more discussed in this book, were reanimated humans. Yes, these are people who died, and were risen from the dead to become immortal beings, Vampires one and all.
Vampires or Gods? describes the legends surrounding history's most enigmatic figures and gives credence to the theory that their "legendary" prowess in the cycles of human mayhem was the result of rituals which set them up as immortal. As a matter of fact, these beings may have made several reappearances in earthly historical cycles as other ghouls of infamy! In all of the cases, the author argues that reanimation--the act of rising from the dead- affords one the credentials of Supreme Being-hood. Meyers states that Dracula, son of Dracul (the Romanian word for Dragon or Serpent) was actually Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia (not really Transylvania), an immortal being who went on to be a powerful figure in the Catholic Church, heading the European Inquisition. And why not? His resume stated that he was an immortal!
When Dracul & Son, Inc. introduced Catholicism to Wallachia, we find that the Order of the Dragon promised "eternal life to nobles who would forcibly convert their subjects to Catholicism"! Is this the secret so well protected by the Catholic Church? There are even rumors, states Meyers, that Dracula is alive and well and residing in the Vatican today. Now that's not so difficult to believe!
So, is religion in fact vampire worship? Meyers warns that, to preserve its own immortality, the vampire may merely be interested in your soul (life energy) or perhaps in slaves for its invisible empire. So don't be fooled. Pick up this book right away."
http://www.vampiretemple.com/
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- Genius
- incoherent nonsense
- enlightening yet humbling read
- Despite the author's best intentions, HARMLESS.
- Brilliant
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When the Kissing Had to Stop: Cult Studs, Khmer Newts, Langley Spooks, Techno-Geeks, Video Drones, Author Gods, Serial Killers, Vampire Media, Alien Sperm-Suckers, Satanic Therapists, and Those of Us Who Hold a Left-Wing Grudge in the Post Toasties New World Hip-Hop
John Leonard
Manufacturer: New Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Popular Culture
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ASIN: 1565846435 |
Amazon.com
When John Leonard says he's going to "use a nifty novel, Philip Kerr's A Philosophical Investigation, as an excuse to talk about everything else under the fascistic sun," he means it, as a review of a futuristic thriller turns into a grand tour of modern culture, with stops to look at (among other things) the history of serial killers, Weimar Germany, E.O. Wilson's theories of sociobiology, the life of Ludwig Wittgenstein, the roots of psychoanalysis, a 4th-century woman mathematician, and Copenhagen's paltry commemoration of Soren Kierkegaard. In these essays, gathered from various publications (mostly The Nation), Leonard takes on everything from Toni Morrison to the X-Files movie in freewheeling, energetic style. Reading cultural criticism hasn't been this much fun since Lester Bangs was on the scene. When the Kissing Had to Stop is probably best suited for periodic dipping rather than a straight-through reading, because it is possible to overdose on the massive amounts of cultural literacy crammed into Leonard's prose. But who could resist the rough charms of a man who notes, in the middle of reviewing Bret Easton Ellis, "I read this stuff so you don't have to"? --Ron Hogan
Book Description
One of the Voice Literary Supplement's "25 Favorites," the acclaimed critic's essays on contemporary literature and pop culture, now in paperback. Leading literary critic John Leonard is "the fastest wit in the East" (The New York Times Book Review) and a master at decoding the fears and longings that animate our popular culture. He is at his strongest in these "highly informed and cogently argued" (Publishers Weekly) essays on the best new literature of today and what it tells us about America now. When the Kissing Had to Stop shows how our great novelists and essayists, from Don DeLillo to Toni Morrison, can help us find some sense and sanity amid the dull roar of tabloids, talk shows, and the Disneyfication of everything. Chosen as one of the Voice Literary Supplement's "25 Favorites of 1999," When the Kissing Had to Stop is an exhilarating ride into the ferocious intellect of a literary gourmand.
Customer Reviews:
Genius.......2000-12-29
It's not a word I use lightly, but there's no better way to describe John Leonard than to say he's a genius. He certainly won't appeal to everyone's taste, but if you like essays written by a man whose mind ranges over the whole course of human history and knowledge, and who isn't afraid to bring all that knowledge together in a single sentence, then here's the guy for you. Not only is he a genius, but he's also terribly witty, and you don't get that from a lot of geniuses.
But you won't like Leonard if all you want from an essay about a book is an answer to the question, "Should I read it?" or if you are a fan of such folks as Newt Gingrich, Ronald Reagan, or Attila the Hun. (But don't think Leonard's leftism is knee-jerk; there's a wonderful essay in here about smoking, in which he confesses, "I stick burning leaves in my foodhole," and goes on to explore his life as a social pariah among all of his purer-than-thou lefty friends.)
Every page herein is suffused with a stunning literacy, and Leonard drops titles the way most of us shed skin. I would love to spy on him for a day, because I don't know how he has crammed so much knowledge into himself. He writes brilliantly about the whole history of cyberpunk, then goes on to fine surveys of African literature, Israeli literature, and everything that ever hit a page in the USA. But Leonard knows more than books, for he seems to have seen at least one episode of every television show ever created and made it to all of the major movies of the past fifty years or so. He's got a good grasp of American political history, and he seems to have some sort of social life. He's even got time for AA meetings.
I don't know how he does it, but thank whatever deity you can imagine for him. He's a wizard with words, an encyclopedia of everything, but more than that he's got vision, scruples, morality. And he wants to find the same in other people. He writes, "I like to be reminded that once there were writers for whom the convulsions of our time were a revelation, an insult or a wound, instead of a thesis topic cross-linked in a Nexis search to syndicate a rant."
Sure, Leonard's references sometimes cross themselves into a feedback loop, and he's got a love of paragraph-long lists, and he has a tendency to recycle himself from previous books and articles (having read all of Leonard's collections of essays over the years, I've heard that satire means "never having to say you're sorry", as does arch-conservatism, while standard liberalism means "always having to say you're sorry", but the phrase is so great I don't mind Leonard's apparent determination to keep it in perpetual print). His indulgences and habits are a part of his charm, and I wouldn't want him to lose any of it. There is not and has never been a critic like John Leonard -- perhaps there has never even been any sort of writer like him. But I haven't read quite enough to speak authoritatively on every writer who ever lived; Leonard has, though, so I'll defer to him.
incoherent nonsense.......1999-09-15
I agree 100% with the reader who writes that Leonard's prose is borderline incoherent. Borderline is too nice! It's vulgar mania dressed up to look like a real literary style. What rubbish! I'm less offended by Leonard's tiresome, slack, unexercised, undemanding leftism (though anyone who can call Giuliani's reign in New York "Mussolini meantime", as Leonard does in his Grace Paly piece, is not only being morally offesnive, but shows that he simply doesan't respect the weight and actual meaning of words: in itself, a disqualification for a man who poses as a critic.) No, it's not the politics so much that offends me as the vulgar literary sensibility, whipping itself up into hysterias, so that readers are fooled into thinking that here is a journalistic Thomas Pynchon. The prose is truly crass, tin-eared, clumsy, and exhibitionist. What this man thinks of a "poetry" is just the kind of foolish, bumbling-but-apparently-flashy language that rock stars put on the backs of records, and that rock journalists use in publications like NME. God help us that this man has set himself up as a critic. (But then, this is someone who thinks that Barbara Kingsolver is "our very own Gordimer or Lessing": q.e.d., not a literary mind.)
enlightening yet humbling read.......1999-08-15
I found this book to be one of the more unusual things I've ever read. It had multiple personalities; Entertaining, Enlightening, Humbling, Compelling, Strange, Compelling, and I'm sure I'm missing a few. The vocabulary is unbelievable. Don't touch this book without a dictionary in-hand. However, the writing is captivating. It alone is worth the price of reading about writers and works you've never heard of, with attendant feelings of functional illiteracy. I put this book down often. But, I always picked it back up. It was a unique read.
Despite the author's best intentions, HARMLESS........1999-07-29
John Leonard is a left-winger. Fine, so am I. The trouble is, he thinks that this is a daring and remarkable thing to be. Every few pages he lets us in on his leftism and (more subtly, though subtlety has never been his thing) how incredibly proud of himself he is for being leftist. You get the sense that he wishes there were some real and imminent peril in praising Toni Morrison, but there isn't--and he KNOWS it--and therefore his tough-boy declarations are not only repetitive but repulsive. Does he care about the left's constituency, or does he just want to be seen caring in order to get chummy reviews from the Village Voice? Also, has anyone noticed that his prose is more often than not borderline incoherent?
Brilliant.......1999-06-29
John Leonard has been making me get up early on Sunday mornings so that I may watch his reviews of T.V. and media on CBS's "Sunday Morning". From those early morning encounters, I was prepared for the pacing and precision of his sentences. But now, after sampling this fine collection of essays, what a pleasure it is to savor his words on the page, like hard candy.
Average customer rating:
- Who knew she wrote more than Gooey Romance.
- wonderful book, especially if you enjoy fantasy and romance!
- Dance of the Imagination...
- Very enjoyable, even if it's a little too much like Buffy!
- Such a letdown!
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Dance of the Gods (The Circle Trilogy, Book 2)
Nora Roberts
Manufacturer: Thorndike Press
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Valley of Silence (The Circle Trilogy, Book 3)
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Morrigan's Cross (The Circle Trilogy, Book 1)
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Angels Fall
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Spellbound
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Born in Death
ASIN: 0786286784 |
Book Description
Second in the new paranormal Circle Trilogy.
With one vampire determined to rule the earth, the Circle of Six prepares to battle for their lives-and their hearts.
Customer Reviews:
Who knew she wrote more than Gooey Romance........2007-09-18
This series was my first exposure to Nora Roberts, I have to admit I never gave her books a second look, why would I read a trashy romance novel. Well I found I had been painting her with a very prejudiced brush, what a mistake! This is a great fantasy series, and the romance there is is very fun and not over the top. I will definitely look for more fantasy books from Ms. Roberts.
wonderful book, especially if you enjoy fantasy and romance!.......2007-08-19
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It had the perfect mix of fantasy and romance. Blair is not your typical romance novel heroine. All of the main characters contribute to the story with their unique personalities and style. This is a great trilogy!
Dance of the Imagination..........2007-08-16
Not as superb as the first book of the triology, but still fabulous! The story had some lags and the romance between the two was just not as intense as that of Hoyt and Glenna, but still another smash hit filled with all awe! Fantasy and reality have a heavenly mix once again! A MUST READ TRILOGY!!
Very enjoyable, even if it's a little too much like Buffy!.......2007-06-08
It took me a long time to get into the 1st book in this series, but after I did I couldn't put them down. I read all three back to back and really enjoyed them. I am a huge fan of Buffy and Angel, the shows, and found a lot of odd similarities between some of the characters from the TV shows and in the books, but oh well. All in all, enjoyable. If you're a Nora Roberts fan, give them a chance, I'm sure you will enjoy!
Such a letdown!.......2007-05-26
Hello,
Im bucking the trend here...but I hated this book! Don't get me wrong NR is an excelent wordsmith, however Blair and Larkin's story was so...BLAH!
I can't think of anything good to write- oh yes it made me anticipate Moira and Cian's story all the more
Average customer rating:
- This story will keep you guessing.
- Death of a Vampire God
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Death of a Vampire God
David W. Lucas , and
Jennifer Jean Walczak
Manufacturer: PublishAmerica
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 142411960X
Release Date: 2006-06-26 |
Book Description
Evelynn, Goddess of the Vampires, tells the story based on the history of the God of the Vampires, Drake. Who once controlled the vampire nation? One autumn night a storm approached, and a vampire named Nixon came and destroyed a family, leaving a small child an orphan. Eighteen years later the young child has grown up and now works for a radio company. While he is getting off work Nixon reappears to him. He had been chosen because in the blood of the man he shares the line of those chosen to destroy Drake. Along with Nixon and his friend Rave, they start to train the young man to fight the Vampire God. A hunter is on the trail of the young man, and the young man races across the world to find the tomb of Drake. However, not knowing that Lord Schneider, the God of Werewolves, has a war between him and Drake that has been brewing for years, can the young man destroy Drake before Lord Schneider finds him and destroys him?
Customer Reviews:
This story will keep you guessing........2007-08-19
Evelynn Goddess of the vampires tells her story about how she came to be the Queen of the Night. Evelynn did not want to be a vampire, but her life was stolen from her and she can never get it back,she is damned to eternal life. When Drake is to awaken and rule the Vampire Nation again, Evelynn is beside herself with grief.
One night after Evelynn performed a safety ritual, a burnt shadow of a man appears warning her that the vampire will take the child. The man appears from time to time through the story, he seems familiar to Evelynn but in the beginning she can not place where she knows the shadowed figure from.
Eighteen years after becoming an orphan at the hands of a vampire, Lance meets the man responsible for his parents deaths. Nixon appeared and began to tell Lance his parents had to die so that Lance could live to carry on with an important destiny; to put an end to all vampires.
But there was a lot of training that must be done and time was running short.
A war between the God of Werewolves and Drake God of Vampires has been raging for years and it will be a race to see if Lance can get to Drake and destroy him before Lord Schneider does.
A hunter after Lance makes the journey more difficult than it should be, but will the road needing to be traveled become too difficult?
Ms. Walczak and Mr. Lucas have written a spellbinding story that captivates the reader. The beginning was confusing for me, I could not tell who was telling the story at first. But as the story progressed it got much better and had me enthralled. This story has a way of thinking you know what is coming next, but your guesses are always wrong. This book was a pleasure to read and I think it is worthy of 4 hearts.
Death of a Vampire God.......2006-08-10
The writers take you through a journey that is full of mystery and secrets. The story is filled with love, passion, intrigue and rivalry that pull you in. You can never be sure what the characters might do whether they are good or evil or somewhere in between. They draw you closer to the edge to see where they are going. But as soon as you are sure you know, the adventure will twist and lead you in another direction. I look forward to reading more from the authors and discover what will happen.
Books:
- From Sexual Revolution to God Revolution (Fireside)
- Global Sociology: Introducing Five Contemporary Societies
- Gossip Girl #11: Don't You Forget About Me: A Gossip Girl Novel (Gossip Girl)
- Governance of the Consuming Passions: A History of Sumptuary Law
- Handbook of Material Culture
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
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