Filled with significance missed by most
920972
The vow taken by Giovanni in the end of the film is the same as the vow of the Boddhisattva. I think most people who watch this film miss this point. This vow is not the result of martyrdom or of a Fruedian desire for self-torture, but rather the result of a sort of enlightenment, brought on by a mystical experience or a crisis. Think about what it would take to make you vow to sacrifice your own personal happiness and even to accept suffering for the good of everybody else. The symbollism is the same as that of Christ being crucified, or of Osiris willfully getting into the coffin presented by Apophis. The scorpion is not only a symbol of death, but also of spiritual rebirth.
3313037
Once upon a time, people did not have paper.  They passed knowledge down from generation to generation telling stories using what they saw in nature, especially the enduring stars.  And not simply any knowledge, but important scientific knowledge about the timing of seasons (required for things like the critical science of agriculture) and how spring would return from winter. And layered top of that, stories of heroism, miracles, and sacrifice to make those stories impactful, meaningful, and memorable so they could be passed down through the ages. This fascinating book succinctly connects the full zodiac of stars (constellations) to the ancient story attached to them, which endures to this day. An important work.
2531120
Yet another book focused on the deep significance of Egyptian theology. It's not very hard to read, unlike some of its ilk, though it feels more wordy than it needs to be. For those who have read Erik Hornung's&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Conceptions-of-God-in-Ancient-Egypt/dp/0801483840/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt</a>, its treatment of the gods themselves won't provide much that's new. However, its scope is broader than the gods per se. There are chapters on mythology and its relationship with ritual, the process of creation, kingship, maat, the belief surrounding Osiris, afterlife beliefs, the question of monotheistic thought in Egyptian religion, and morality. On some of these subjects there's much less study than you'd expect, so Tobin's work on them is welcome. For instance, only a few recent Egyptologists have tried to define what role myth actually played in Egyptian society. Tobin argues that we should not expect myths to form coherent stories (in Egypt they largely don't), because the symbolic significance of myth is more easily preserved if myth is conveyed in a flexible, fragmentary form. He also says that mythic symbolism "perhaps demonstrates a greater reverence for the divine than do the most profound and abstract theological statements"interesting because, in addition to being an Egyptologist, Tobin is an Anglican minister!

Tobin's conclusion describes the most important principles of Egyptian religion. One was life, which was regarded as a force all its own, a power that continuously flowed through the world. That explains why the ankh sign, the hieroglyph for "life", is so ubiquitous in Egyptian art (and is therefore a famous symbol even today). The second principle was maat, the order that defined how the world should function. The third is the existence of deities, whose core purpose was to maintain maat and thus maintain the proper flow of life-force throughout the world. Tobin thus arrives at a conclusion similar to&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Religion-of-the-Ancient-Egyptians/dp/9155424333/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Religion of the Ancient Egyptians</a>&nbsp;but describes it much less abstrusely.

Although I disagree with a few of the details in Tobin's analysis and think it's missing another fundamental principle of Egyptian religion (heka, defined in&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Mechanics-of-Ancient-Egyptian-Magical-Practice/dp/0918986753/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice</a>), his work is a great help in understanding the Egyptian worldview at its most basic.
3429393
My initial impression: this book is a little disappointing because of two shortcomings.
First: While this book is 256 pages, unfortunately that includes 152 pages for appendices, notes, bibliography, and index. When you exclude the introduction, that leaves a 100-page book to cover this subject.
Second: With a subject rich in how airmen overcame their fears, I would have expected the author to include at least a few photos to illustrate the talismans or nose art that reinforce the topic. Unfortunately, there is not a single photo other than the book's cover. There are so many photos available to make the point of coping with "Flying Against Fate," but not in this book.

Having served in the "Mighty" Eighth Air Force, I appreciate how important it was for Airmen to be motivated when they had to go into combat day after day, when they feared the odds were stacked against surviving the 25 bombing missions it took to complete a combat tour. Many WWII first person accounts describe the challenges they faced in dealing with these risks. I think the author could have created a more substantial account of how these warriors accomplished their wartime missions while suppressing those fears.
3670766
When I first obtained this book, I expected more and was, to say the least, disappointed on many levels. Perhaps a bit more inclusion, perhaps a bit more insight, and perhaps a bit more reasoning as to why these people are "The Most Influential People of the 20th Century would have made this a better book because, in some ways, the book is semi-informative. Still, the book, with its inclusion of the mainstream "notables" that don't have the power to bring controversy to the table, leaves many figures in the shadows that should have been, could have been, and perhaps were in many - except the Time Book's staff - people's minds, the most influential people in the 20th century.
  The List, in case you're a fan and want to read some 3-4 page blurbs on these individuals, is broken into two categories:
(1) Leaders and Revolutionaries: Theodore Roosevelt, Lenin, Margaret Sanger, F.D. Roosevelt, Hitler, Churchill, E. Roosevelt, Gandhi, David Ben-Gurion, Mao Zedong, Ho Chi Minh, M. L. K. , Pope J.P. II, M. Thatcher, Ayatollah Puhollah Khomeini, R. Reagan, Lee Walesa, Gorbachev, N. Mandela, and The Unknown Rebel.
(2) Artists and Entertainers: Picasso, Corbusier, Graham, Chanel, James Joyce, T.S. Eliot, C. Chaplin, Spielberg, M. Brando, Igor Stravinsky, L. Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Rodgers and Hammerstein, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Lucille Ball, Jim Henson, Oprah, and Bart Simpson.
As you can tell, this list is a bit lacking and, in many cases, a few pages doesn't do the person it covers justice. Still, if you like little snippets that candycoat the past by glossing over the transgressions of the those in favor and casting stones at those who aren't, then you may, somehow, find this book more enlightening than I did.
2688742
This is an as yet unequalled study on an aspect of the cultural history of the West (and in particular of the English-speaking world) which has up to now been under-rated. The so-called occult, despite its important place in  the dynamics of cultural interaction, has not been granted its proper place  in history, not so much because of any particular "conspiracy"  but rather due - paradoxically - to a "Victorian" view by which  "history" is mainly or exclusively limited to political, military  and economic problems. The early aspects of the impact of the Theosophical  movement on Anglo-American culture have been documented here, and it is to  be hoped that it will stimulate other researchers to explore this  many-faceted topic.
4363132
Fatherland makes for a solid read, engaging from beginning to end, but it could have done so much more. I initially purchased this book more for the purposes of exploring alternative history than for the main plot. The plot turned out to be worthwhile, but I was disappointed by a lack of exploration of this society. I was especially curious about Kennedy's meeting; the book did not elaborate on that as much as I would have liked.

The main plot is engaging, albeit somewhat cliched. A foreign journalist joins the protagonist? I've read that many times before. It's mostly the twists and turns that make this worthwhile. The end shocked me, although in hindsight I should have seen that coming. But I won't ruin it for those who haven't read the book.
2112006
This was a wonderful lense through which to look at Islam and its various incarnations in daily life. It was quite beautifully written and the characters brought a sort of melange of perspectives. Where it lacked was its mystery quality - the reveals weren't all that shocking or interesting and by the end I felt rather unattached to the plot outcome. Perhaps because the peripheral characters were not alive enough or their inner-workings not entirely made clear? I'm unsure. But it didn't help that the motivations of the sort of 'bad guy,' who was on something if a crusade (really trying not to give too much away here), were not really all that well explained or concluded. And then, I felt, dismissed by another character in a fairly weak way. Which from such a strong character felt a lot like agenda pushing or placation from the author. I'm interested in perspective, but neither the anti-hero or the hero (and there are a fair amount of these in the book, so I use the term somewhat loosely) really exhibited much conviction or, frankly, strength of argument. This was a problem for me, since this breakdown occurred at the crux of the book and (since, in theory this perspective set a lot of things into motion) it sort of made the great parts of the story leading up to it feel less weighty.

This review might be way too convoluted, but Amazon did ask... ; )

I will say, I'd consider this book a far greater feat as it stands than if its strengths and weaknesses were reversed; Ferraris seems to have gotten the difficult parts really right and perhaps lost focus on the mystery elements. I do think, however, that its absolutely worth the read and I plan to pick up another one of her books soon.
3061214
Lists are something I have always loved  as a young man getting on two decades ago I devoured and was greatly influenced by the best albums lists of Joseph S. Harrington in Blastitude and David Keenan in Scotlands Sunday Times, along with from the opposite angle the Intercollegiate Studies Institutes Fifty Worst and Fifty Best books of the twentieth century.

In recent years I have been a little less interested in lists; however that is most likely because of familiarity and the absence of anything convincing.

When I received this book momentarily, I was grateful but did not feel that I  starved for space  could afford to keep it. Nonetheless, I did feel The Worlds Greatest Idea: The Fifty Greatest Ideas that Have Changed Humanity nonetheless did deserve some kind of look.

With this decent look, I can say that the book does offer a reasonable look at the important ideas of human history, from the end of the last ice age to the present. A large number of essential ideas are present on almost every aspect of human society  art, culture, technology, politics, transport. Even the value of such inventions as democracy and agriculture is questioned and analysed by Farndon, so as to give a perspective upon those who philosophically opposed each idea. Having read as much as I have, I am wholly aware of how democracy has been opposed by Christianity in favour of the moral obligations of monarch and oligarch  and how it was Marxism which gave democracy both popular and intellectual appeal.

However, for a person like me the trouble is how  The Worlds Greatest Idea: The Fifty Greatest Ideas that Have Changed Humanity is too shallow and superficial in the way it looks at every idea. At all events for someone with my knowledge, I would expect more analysis of their importance.

There are also a number of very bad omissions, like electrolysis (which allowed the use of 4,999 parts per 5,000 of the Earths accessible rock for the first time  and a much larger proportion still in flatter, older continents) and fertilisers (which did much more to change agriculture than inventions listed in the text.

All in all,  The Worlds Greatest Idea: The Fifty Greatest Ideas that Have Changed Humanity is only a very basic book for relatively young readers. For those with the knowledge I have it comes off as very much shallow.
3929052
In THE END OF YOUR LIFE BOOK CLUB, Will Schwalbe shares his memories about his remarkable  mother and discusses the books they read together during her last year suffering from pancreatic cancer.

Mary Anne Schwalbe was an impressive, committed humanitarian who had been a Director of Admissions at Harvard, who was a founder of the International Rescue Committee, and was during her last years of life the prime force behind the establishment of the first public library in Afghanistan. She was also an avid reader, who with her son formed a two-person book club which became an important part of both their lives.

When I started to read THE END OF YOUR LIFE BOOK CLUB, I had high expectations, as I was hoping to gain some profound insights about books I hadn't read, and to learn how discussion of these books enabled both a mother and son to talk directly about their experience as she faced death. This book did not particularly fulfill either of these expectations very well.

HOWEVER it did introduce a truly admirable and altruistic woman. It did present a model of a parent and adult child sharing meaningful reading and bonding more deeply at the end of life. It did reveal tidbits of information (although usually not as much as revealed in an Amazon review) about a few dozen books, some of which are likely to be appealing enough for many readers to want to borrow or buy.

Mother and son read mostly fiction but also nonfiction, contemporary and classic, religious and non-religious, and did not shy away from difficult subjects.  Most of the books discussed are well-known; some are not, but still likely to interest many readers. The books included such titles as: Olive Kitteridge, Murder in the Cathedral, Gilead, The Last Lecture, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Uncommon Reader, People of the Book, The Lizard Cage, Interpreter of Maladies, Suite Francaise, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, and Appointment in Samarra.

One book that the author mentioned was especially helpful to him was THE ETIQUETTE OF ILNESS by Susan Halpern. Halpern advised readers not to ask an ill person "how are you feeling?" but rather "do you want me to ask you how you are feeling?"  That guidance alone was particularly meaningful to me.

At the end of the book, Schwalbe includes a complete list of the titles and authors of all the books he mentioned or (usually briefly) discussed.

The wisdom shared by both Schwalbe's, although not particularly deep or original, is nevertheless valuable and helpful to anyone seeking guidelines for living. "When you couldn't decide between two things," Mary Anne Schwalbe  advised her son, "you should choose the one that allowed you to change course if necessary, not the road less traveled by but the road with the exit ramp."

"Never make assumptions about people,"  she used to say. To those who were physically declining, she advised not to avoid making plans, but rather to make plans anyway - and cancel them if necessary. She herself continued her own altruistic projects for as long as she was able.

Most readers are likely to be moved by Mary Anne Schwalbe and the mother/son relationship. I was. But I was also very much aware of negative feelings that emerged in me when reading the book  - irritation at Schwalbe's unceasing adoration of his mother, and envy of her and their relationship. Those of you who did not have admirable mothers, or parents with whom you could discuss books, or families with whom you were close, might also experience discomfort or even resentment while reading THE END OF YOUR LIFE BOOK CLUB.

My advice: If negative feelings emerge, recognize them. Bear with them. Keep reading.  You won't regret it.  Know also that the end of the book is particularly heartfelt - you won't want to miss it.

You may even be inspired to read and discuss books more often with those you love, and hopefully even before they are dying.
4168715
Outrageously overlooked in the history of New England spirituality, Mary Moody Emerson (1774-1863), in this book, has at last been brought fully into public light.

To make sense of her contribution, much of the book catches the reader up with the early religious history of New England (I had little idea of the high-stakes tensions of the religious personalities in the New England Calvinist lines leading into the 19th Century!), and Mary's immediate milieu as a woman in that society. Her rigorous, forceful, idiosyncratic personality and guidance were a spiritual crucible for those around her, especially young men and women. Most notably, as far as history is concerned, with Ralph Waldo Emerson, a nephew. Waldo always regarded her as his seminal spritual mentor. She set the bar, and very high.

Scholarly, with a wealth of new material, this study offers the first full-length study of Mary Moody Emerson. Fascinating.

I knock one star off the five-star ranking because of the difficulty in reading. Part is the author's dense style, and part, perhaps, the very small type-face.
2614459
While I thoroughly appreciate all the years and work that must have gone into writing this book, I felt there were some major things missing. It was ultimately very interesting and stimulating - but it was presented in a weird way.
Ronson seemed to be in all the right places in all the right times, receiving information most journalists would be lucky to get. Instead, he emphasized all the wrong parts - some sections I just didn't understand why they were included. Don't expect a documentation of how these extremists came to be or what they do - it is more of a highly empathetic journey into their daily lives and how they are "just like us".
3206064
This is a charming book - well written and engaging, and wonderful in how it pulls together so many diverse threads, from geology to military history to environmental policy to art history to economics. And although my eyes glazed over a little when the book discusses intricacies of the Dutch poltroon families upstate (my main interest as a New Yorker is recognizing them as Manhattan street names) I think the work is broad in its appeal. Lewis's argument that the Hudson river has been central to shaping American history and culture is compelling and evocatively set forth.

My main criticism is the lack of visual accompaniment. This river has inspired extraordinary maps, documents, photographs, and paintings - a whole "school" of art for goodness sake - giving us just handful of postage stamp black and white reproductions in the book is a missed opportunity. The paucity of imagery is really a demerit.
744325
Hochschild reveals some important issues overlooked in many accounts of the Great War. He looks at the links between previous conflicts and the war, and how the pride and imperial ambitions of a number of nations culminated in the senseless carnage in Europe. The influences of a number of social movements and people and how they opposed the war are also revealed, the actions of which to some extent helped end the catastrophe. This book reminds us of the painful lessons of war, which in this day and age unfortunately seem to have been forgotten.
2657707
This is a warm, touching book, insightful and full of depth.  It is  particularly interesting as it reflects a distinctly Jewish American world  view.  Accordingly, it reflects the wisdom, the search for truth, and  purpose one typically associates with that subculture.  One is struck,  however, by how happiness alludes these intelligent, productive characters  who Reiken suggests are indicative of Jewish upper middle class New  Jersey.
The author effectively represents the quest for happiness and the  longing for satisfaction of the generation which came to maturity in the  '60's and '70's mirrored in the eyes of its children.  Besides the  melancholy reflected in its adults, the book is sad in depicting the impact  of the parents' emotional tribulations on the latest generation, yet it is  bittersweet and full of hope in reflecting the resilience and promise of  the emerging generation.  However, he only brushes, and disappointingly  alludes tangently to the influence of the last generation (in this case the  grandparents of the recorder) and how its influence largely determined the  choices with which their children now struggle.
While I savored the  familiar cultural references, I was also struck by how separate and apart  the Jewish subculture is which Reiken describes.  That he effectively and  convincingly depicts this group suggests that this is his own reference.  However, he ineffectively represents parallel Christian, and specifically  Italian American culture which he portrays in a primitive, rough, almost  raw manner indicative of negative stereotypes.
The book is satisfying,  moving, and quite worth reading.
2807349
It is often remarked that after the war there were many more claiming to have been active member of the anti-German resistance in France then there ever were actual active members. There were also participants who only became involved in the Resistance upon the odds becoming fair to middling that Germany would indeed be defeated by the Allies, and an even larger portion who - while not taking an active role in resistance activities - still turned a selectively blind eye on mysterious comings and goings of friends and neighbors, on the presence of strangely fit young men with little knowledge of French, or small children with strange accents, and of mysterious stocks of contraband of all kinds. A smaller proportion of French were active collaborators, enthusiastically working hand in glove with the German occupying authorities - and this book is about two hundred and thirty of the first category who were arrested by the third, and sent to Nazi concentration camps for their activities.

By January of 1943, two hundred and thirty women - schoolgirls, young mothers, and ladies of a certain age - had been arrested all across France for everything from painting V-for-Victory on a schoolhouse wall to sheltering escaped Allied POWs, smuggling Jews into safety, carrying messages for the Resistance, to printing and distributing clandestine newspapers. Some were married to Resistants - and more than a few of them had become widows because of such activities. Many of them left children behind when they were sent in a group to Auschwitz-Birkenau - and of the hundred and thirty women, only forty-nine would return upon liberation. Those survivors, and those friends and comrades who did not return were bonded as comrades during those two horrible years. The circumstance of their Resistance activities was the thing most of them had in common; self-selected from the general population, and throughout the course of their imprisonment, the close ties between them gave heart and encouragement to each other when they faltered. The author conducted painstakingly thorough interviews with as many of the still living survivors of the group as she could locate. This account is an intermittently gripping read, although a little marred for me by being an advanced proof. Certain illustrations are noted only as intended for insertion later, and existing photos have only a notation that the caption for it should be supplied later - which is a disappointment as I would like to have been able to put the faces of these women to the accounts of their stubborn heroism. And while trying to do all of the women honor, it makes for a rather unfocused read. Perhaps the narrative would have been better served by focusing on a few - on those were most representative of the sub-groups within the larger collection of women: those who were political, those who were drawn into it by the activities of their men, a handful who had not been involved at all.

A final irony lies in the fact that a number of the women in this account are described as being dedicated members of the Communist Party, leaving one to wonder if they would have been enthusiastic -- if the opportunity came about to consign their political opponents to a Stalinist gulag.
111509
Brought to light several missing pieces from the series of books.