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- The Anatomy of Grieving
- Just Okay
- A Journal of Grief
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- The Year of Magical Thinking
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The Year of Magical Thinking
Joan Didion
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Suite Francaise
ASIN: 1400078431
Release Date: 2007-02-13 |
Book Description
From one of America’s iconic writers, a stunning book of electric honesty and passion. Joan Didion explores an intensely personal yet universal experience: a portrait of a marriage--and a life, in good times and bad--that will speak to anyone who has ever loved a husband or wife or child.
Customer Reviews:
The Anatomy of Grieving.......2007-10-14
Joan Didion's husband of 40 years, the writer John Gregory Dunne, died of a sudden heart attack during a quiet evening in their Manhattan apartment in 2003. They'd just returned from visiting their only daughter, Quintana, in a coma and septic shock at Beth Israel North Hospital.
As the doctor delivers the news of her husband's death, he characterizes Joan Didion as a "pretty cool customer"-and it's clear throughout this book that she characterizes herself that way, too. In her memoir chronicalling the year following his death, Didion grapples to maintain this sense of self-identity amidst the inclement emotions of grief, anger, and loss. Using her graceful and level-headed prose, she dismantles her emotions: consulting texts ranging from Freud to Emily Post, she looks at grief objectively in order to understand it, and perhaps, exorcise it. She reads medical books and the autopsy report, employing the "magical thinking" of the title to see what she can do to fix them and make life as it was.
When this method fails, readers experience her sense of marvel at her lack of control over memories and sorrow. She describes it as a "vortex" when one stray thought leads her through a tunnel of memories. She carefully tries to avoid these, but, of course, can't. Readers learn about their wedding, places they lived, trips they took-all peppered with refrains like incantations against remembering.
The book captures her constant struggle between remembering and letting go (recognizing that her husband won't need his running shoes when he comes back, for example). She avoids characterizations and descriptions of her husband and daughter, and rather focuses on her very personal memories. Magical Thinking is a personal process for Didion, and readers are witness to her method of maintaining control-one that is heartbreaking, and characteristically elegant.
Just Okay.......2007-10-12
With a topic like death, you almost have a sure winner. There will always be readers who react strongly (and sympathetically) about death.
Although there are parts in the book I felt were poignant and written well, overall I felt the book was egotistical and self-serving. In more than one instance, there are allusions to the many accolades and milestones the author has garnered. There are allusions to celebrities and her involvement in elite social circles. This, I felt, detracted from the topic of death and grief.
I don't regret reading the book and would recommend it to someone who has recently lost a loved one. But there are many more books worth reading other than this one.
A Journal of Grief.......2007-10-09
I probably don't need to write a review for this book, but I did want to put my opinion out there.
I wanted to read Joan Didion because of her reputation and this was the most readily available book. I have read a few of her individual essays but this was first exposure to a full length work by Ms. Didion. The writing in all of her work is strong. This book, however, seems almost to be missing something.
With that being said, what a terribly hard topic to write about and still write well? I would still recommend this to anyone dealing with the loss of someone close to you, but I think there is other work by Joan Didion that is a better example of her expertise.
Loss.......2007-10-06
I have just finished reading, "The Year of Magical Thinking". I was unable to put the book down, once I started it. I have been a health care professional for 30 years. I have dealt with personal experiences of death and loss, and have also had the privilege of observing people, dying patients, and their grieving families, who have undergone the same experiences. The author was able to convey the tremendous sense of loss that a person goes through when a close family member, or friend, dies.
It is almost as if an arm or a leg, or, even, a heart has been excised from the person who has been left to cope. I have found that the only thing that really alleviates the pain, is time. There are people who are so afraid of losing a loved one that they live their entire lives without being open to love because they fear the inevitable loss. I would recommend this book to everyone because, in a lifetime, we will all be called upon to cope with death, loss, and grief. When we experience our own "magical thinking", we will at least be able to understand that we are not alone. There are others who have felt the same way we do and have reacted in the same ways as we have.
The Year of Magical Thinking.......2007-10-01
A well-written book and a good sharing of personal emotions. Sometimes seemed like name-dropping at it's best (or worst) but I suppose if you know all the best people you mention them and their effect on your life.
Book Description
“this happened on December 30, 2003. That may seem a while ago but it won’t when it happens to you . . .”
In this dramatic adaptation of her award-winning, bestselling memoir (which Michiko Kakutani in The New York Times called “an indelible portrait of loss and grief . . . a haunting portrait of a four-decade-long marriage), Joan Didion transforms the story of the sudden and unexpected loss of her husband and their only daughter into a stunning and powerful one-woman play.
The first theatrical production of The Year of Magical Thinking opened at the Booth Theatre on March 29, 2007, starring Vanessa Redgrave and directed by David Hare.
Customer Reviews:
About the moments that can change lives.......2007-07-19
The Year of Magical Thinking possesses hauntingly concise prose. It is a one-woman show that reads like having a conversation with Didion. The telling is intimate enough to make it feel as if it is an older and wiser sister telling you what you may likely confront in your lifetime. It is detailed enough to make tangible for theatergoers in New York City and Los Angeles face what one wishes was unimaginable. It is phenomenal enough to show why Didion is one of the best writers of our times and that there is seemingly nothing that she fails to find the words for.
That there will be a moment in time when you feel unquestionably safe--and the moment following, one of the most important people in your life may pass on. She tells the reader about how she handled the passing of her husband as a journey--from being the cool, methodical thinker, as his passage from this life was confirmed, to being unable to give away his shoes because he would need them when he came back, to being able to come to terms with his absence.
Her daughter fell ill before her husband passed. While her daughter is in the hospital in California, Joan Didion faces more than treading on doctors' toes and doing everything possible to pull her daughter through the illness. She also faces streets full of memories ready to take her away into magical thinking. In order to keep away from the memories, she takes well-planned routes from her hotel room to her daughter's hospital room. Didion tells the story of seeing her daughter come out of illness, and then being unable to protect her from falling ill again, and her passage from this life.
The play is not filled with an overwhelming sense of hope, but hope still finds a home in the play. While reading it I couldn't help but think of those I know who have passed on and how I would handle it if my own husband and daughter were to pass out of this life before me. I imagined the unbearable grief as I read. By the end of the play I could feel how to make it through, to survive something that one would rather not.
Armchair Interviews says: It is that quiet, affirming hope that Didion's play possesses.
Privately Grieving Publicly..........2007-05-28
The Year of Magical Thinking a Play by Joan Didion is based on her memoir. This play gives you a voyeuristic journey inside a woman's grief. Ms. Didion, a noted author and playwright lost her husband in 2003. Within a short period of time, less than two years later, she would also lose her daughter. That kind of loss is unimaginable to most people. We all have experiences with losing loved-ones, but rarely two in such a short span of time. Ms. Didion's prose is written quite sparely and almost from a distance but it is no less wrenching. She appears to view her pain from a distance while feeling the full impact of it.
The play starts out with this passage; This happened on December 30, 2003. That may seem a while ago but it won't when it happens to you. And it will happen to you. The details will be different, but it will happen to you. That's what I am here to tell you. I felt those words down in my very being. Though the words were simple, they were poignant, heartfelt and oh so true. Anyone who has ever lost a loved one will feel the impact of her prose.
After her husband John Dunne passes, Joan appears to be in a state of suspended expectation. The most difficult thing for her to accept is that he is not coming home. In fact for many weeks she expects him to return. It's sad to read how hard it is to accept her lost.
Shortly thereafter when her daughter becomes ill, she has something else to be concerned with. She immerses herself in research about her daughter's illness to try to fill the void in her life. It is wrenching yet dispassionate in so many ways reading about her daughter's illness and ultimate demise. Ms. Didion has exposed her love and pain in an amazing way.
In sixty-two pages this play takes us through a roller coaster of feelings. What impacted me so was how the words were never overwrought, but so strongly felt. I loved the way she evaluated the relationship she had with both her husband and her daughter. The simple what-if-onlys. The Year of Magical Thinking allowed me to realize there is no set way to grieve and that we all react differently. I recommend this play and the aforementioned memoir to Joan Didion fans and to anyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one.
Angelia Menchan
[...]
Book Description
This digital document is an article from New Criterion, published by Thomson Gale on May 1, 2007. The length of the article is 3149 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
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Title: Losing control.(Theater)(The Year of Magical Thinking, Howard Katz, King Lear, Mary Rose, Curtains )(Theater review)
Author: Brooke Allen
Publication:
New Criterion (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 25
Issue: 9
Page: 38(5)
Article Type: Theater review
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This digital document is an article from The Weekly Standard, published by Thomson Gale on November 21, 2005. The length of the article is 780 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: The Standard Reader; Joan Didion's Year of Magical Thinking.(Book review)
Author: Cynthia Grenier
Publication:
The Weekly Standard (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 21, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 11
Issue: 10
Page: NA
Article Type: Book review
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Year of Magical Thinking Assortment
Manufacturer: Random House Inc (P)
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ASIN: 0307385604 |
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-- The U.S.Korea Review
Customer Reviews:
Mind opening, thought provking.......2006-11-10
The Korea we knew as military troops was only a spot on the map. Did any of us take the time to understand the people we interfaced with, How our culture interwined with theres. This book is thought provking and brings many issues to the surface. A chance for our troops to understand the whole picture.
Disjointed and inconsistent argument.......2003-05-25
I am sorry to disappoint you but the "world's oldest profession" did not begin in Korea in 1950 with the American allies. Ms. Moon ignores important aspects of Korea's cultural sex industry: such as the fact that Korea's "Room Salons" have no equivalent in the U.S. However, the same room salons are found in China, Japan, and a number of other Asian countries. Other aspects such as prostitutes reversing the ties on their hanboks to advertise their profession are not even addressed. The Korean sex industry today services almost exclusively to Korean men. It is illegal for U.S. servicemembers to frequent prostitutes, though granted some can do it without getting caught. Ms. Moon follows too many tangents and inconsistencies throughout her book. For instance, she criticizes the new generation of sexually liberated Korean women who hook up with GI boyfriends, buy them gifts, and give them sex for free. This is taking business away from the prostitutes who are trying to make a living. Isn't that what she wants in the first place, to get rid of the sex industry? Another example is of the Korean woman who continued to turn tricks at the age of 60, as though this were the fault of the Americans that she couldn't go find a real job (when in fact they were the only ones giving her anything). The answer to the problem is simple. The Korean government will not develop programs to help victims of nor even acknowledge the social problems of the sex industry, because to do so will acknowledge that the industry exists. There are a few accuracies in the book, but their context is set in such a way as to promote her personal agenda.
an important work.......2003-01-29
This book gives an excellent history of US-ROK relations re: the US military troops in S. Korea. It also gives a vivid and detailed snapshot of the harsh, and sometimes brutal and tragic lives, of military prostitutes in the "camptowns." And finally, it provides international backdrop, context and setting of the Nixon doctrine, S. Korea's regime during the 1960's and 1970's, and aspects about the political economy. There is such a dearth of information on all these subjects taken from the POV of these women and on this topic, that I give this book 4 stars because it finally sheds light on a little-known area. It is indeed very well-written and informative. I felt I learned much about the macro and micro worlds of the US military in S. Korea from a very different and neglected perspective.
Unfortunately, it's not a history book, but a sociological study. There, I would have to say is the book's weakness. The author's argument is that the women are not just "passive victims" but rather, "players" who played an indispensable role in US-ROK relations. She builds her argument by pointing out that typical state-to-state relations involving elites, government institutions, and "men in suits" fail to address how non-elite, lower-level "actors" play a role and how international policies not only impinge on their bodies but also how they express some "agency," or autonomy by the women themselves. This comes off as a somewhat exaggerated argument, tenuous at best, and only plausible in the ideal world of academia. It seems more like she is trying to set up a "straw person" argument that combines feminist theory, organizational theory, and sociological analysis. All fine and good for the acedmics, but I wasn't very convinced as a lay reader. What agency can you really give to women who are forced to prostitute their bodies? What power and resistance can one have by selling sex? To her credit, she does admit that their power is limited and that they are don't have much say. But still, the argumentis more to convince her advisory panel for her Ph.D dissertation than the general public. I think the power of her book remains the fact that she has given voice to an "invisible" segment of women who have been discriminated and neglected, and shown how the US-ROK military relationship very much involves them. I wouldn't use the word "player" because it connotes or implies more "agency" than they have, but again, this seems more to be a political academic thing that the author is trying to make that is irrelevent to the very major contribution she has made. I think that as long as you learn something from this book, which you will, it is definitely a must-read for those who wish to examine US-ROK relations.
Look for it in a library.......2003-01-14
Very bias look at a all too real social problem in S.Korea. These same establishments wholeheartly welcome Korea customers just as well as the GIs. What about the Glass Houses, the babershops, the coffee houses,and the call up escort services all catering to Korean men? (Glasshouses,barber shops are off limits to GIs)
Pretty much all the establishments that cater to GIs have now imported women from the Phillipines and the Russian Republics.
Many suffer abuse and many are cheated out of the measly monthly salary they get by the club managers.
not as good as its title.......2001-09-13
This book is neither as titillating as its title nor its cover photo would suggest. Rather, it is a middling academic volume documenting the unsurprising notions that when a foreign army is in town, a) local elites cooperate with the military authorities to provide commercial sex, b) when the army in question is the US army, black and white troops frequent different establishments, and c) the women involved do not regard their activities as manifestations of their patriotic duty.
Martin Limon's 'Jade Lady Burning' set in the same Korea demi-monde covers the same ground in the form of a detective novel and is an easier read.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Pacific Affairs, published by University of British Columbia on March 22, 1999. The length of the article is 654 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Sex Among Allies: Military Prostitution in U.S.-Korea Relations.(Review)
Author: Wolhee Choe
Publication:
Pacific Affairs (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 1999
Publisher: University of British Columbia
Volume: 72
Issue: 1
Page: 118(2)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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British parliamentarian and soldier Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) conceived of his plan for Decline and Fall while "musing amid the ruins of the Capitol" on a visit to Rome. For the next 10 years he worked away at his great history, which traces the decadence of the late empire from the time of the Antonines and the rise of Western Christianity. "The confusion of the times, and the scarcity of authentic memorials, pose equal difficulties to the historian, who attempts to preserve a clear and unbroken thread of narration," he writes. Despite these obstacles, Decline and Fall remains a model of historical exposition, and required reading for students of European history.
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(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)
Volumes 4, 5, and 6 of the Bury Text, in a boxed set. Introduction by Hugh Trevor-Roper
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"It was Rome, on the 15th of October 1764, as I sat musing amid the ruins of the Capitol, while the barefooted friars were singing vespers in the temple of Jupiter, that the idea of writing the decline and fall of the city first started to my mind," recorded Edward Gibbon with characteristic exactitude. Over a period of some twenty years, the luminous eighteenth-century historian--a precise, dapper, idiosyncratic little gentleman famous for rapping his snuff-box--devoted his considerable genius to writing an epic chronicle of the entire Roman Empire's decline. His single flash of inspiration produced what is arguably the greatest historical work in any language--and surely the most magnificent narrative history ever written in English. "Gibbon is one of those few who hold as high a place in the history of literature as in the roll of great historians," noted Professor J.B. Bury, his most celebrated editor.
Customer Reviews:
the decline and fall of the roman empire.......2007-08-26
very good detail on the history , most Caesars were killed and the army rulled.
Lots of Info.......2007-07-09
Tremendous amount of information and lots of historical data. Problem is the guy who wrote the book can speak the real english language and I often thought I was listning to a foreign language tape. I learned a lot and woud recomend this to anyone who wonders how something as great as the empire was, fell apart. Great learning experience.
Gibbon's Magnum Opus.......2007-05-12
It's a literary work of art. Gibbon's style of narration is breathtaking. On every page he comes out as the true scholar that he really is. His choice of words and his style of sentence construction is consummate on every level.
Other than that, the whole account is Gibbon's perspective of the Roman Empire on a strict level. While most will concur with him on the insanity of the likes of say, Caligula, Nero; or the politically cunning inclinations of Augustus, his treatment of Christianity is open to debate. Gibbon places Christianity at the top in his list of the factors that could possibly have accelerated the empire towards decadence and its ultimate disintegration. Though this can be true on some accounts, he offers no clear explanation on how the Eastern empire could have carried on for more centuries with the religion at its very centre. It's an unwritten edict that the Byzantines were more passionate about Jesus than Western christendom.
Also, in some pages, Gibbon argues that the Roman emperors, say Marcus Aurelius for example, never really would have had an inclination towards persecuting christians on grounds of political gains. For Gibbon argues that the political elite of Rome were well aware of the fact that some kind of religion maintained social order. But his arguments are at considerable, if not complete, loggerheads with the several accounts from other historians that Rome continued to persecute Christianity until Constantine.
Persecution of Christianity might necessarily not have completely been primary disdain for the christian concept which totally conflicts with the Roman edicts of deifying dead emperors. Christianity came in handy for rogue emperors to have this sect of minorities scapegoated for their own excesses (remember Nero's fire?) or to appease the minds of a disgruntled majority which preferred to suspect them.
Finally, his stand that the "whole" empire prospered and preferred Roman rule in the age of the five good emperors is open to debate. Pax Romana might have worked for the Italian mainland at best, but not necessarily in provinces even as close as, say, Gaul.
Gibbons Decline and fall of Rome.......2007-03-11
This is the definitive History of the Empire from the first emperor (Agustus or Octavian, if you wish). However given the time and hence style of English, it was written in it is not for the faint hearted. Stick with it though and it is a very rewarding reference book which you will have for life.
One thing I fail to understand is what Amazon sells Vols 1-3 and 4-6 as seperate items. By the lot in one go otherwise it's a bit like owning the old testement bible and not having set eyes on the New Testement.!!
Dramatic and Informative audio book version.......2007-03-09
Philip Madoc convincingly relates Gibbon's great insights into the history and significance of the final centuries of the Roman Empire in this 6 CD set. Abridged by neccesity, nevertheless Neville Jason comments between Gibbon's passage recited by Philip Madoc, and fills the gaps with a coherent narration. The whole production flows smoothly and dramatically, quite easy to follow. This is one of the most worthwhile audio book puchases I've ever made.
Average customer rating:
- Great history, great drama
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The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire
John Toland
Manufacturer: Bantam
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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ASIN: 0553264354
Release Date: 1982-10-01 |
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Great history, great drama.......1999-10-13
This book should be in print. The story of the Pacific War as the Japanese experienced it. Toland did extensive research, including interviews with people on the Japanese side who were involved with the war at every level--from the battlefield to the conferences where the emperor "presided". He has a novelist's eye for detail. The result is a sweeping historical account peppered with fascinating vignettes that show how these events impacted the lives of hundreds of individuals. A long book, but never boring.
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- Pouty, you pouting little Eugene Gore-obsessed prick!
- Another home run for Vidal
- Setting it Straight
- A Good Briefing on Vidal's Views
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Decline and Fall of the American Empire (The Real Story Series)
Gore Vidal
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The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000
ASIN: 1878825003 |
Book Description
Six essays on the theme of empire and republic, with particular focus on the national security state and the failure of the U.S. economic system./P>
Customer Reviews:
Pouty, you pouting little Eugene Gore-obsessed prick!.......2007-09-22
You stupid, imbecilic moron. Other than that you seem, yourself, OBSESSED with Eugene Gore (his birth name), his egotism is legendary, and has often been the subject of HIS OWN jokes! He used to appear on Laugh-In, and introduced HIMSELF as "Gore Vidal, a legend in his own mind!" How's that for self-mocking and laughing at one's self? You ought to try it, you fallaciously-arguing, Abusive-ad-Hominem, intellectual wannabe. Grow up. Argue with the man's viewpoints, as I should do with yours, except you present none, other than your personal prejudices, disguised as tell-all revelations. Child. Also, I guess you know that the essays reprinted here first appear in a hard-cover collection, published in 1992, right? Oh...
Another home run for Vidal.......2007-04-08
This book, or pamphlet I should say, was just as good as "Imperial America" which was written by the same author, Gore Vidal. I especially like Vidal's essays titled "The Day the American Empire ran out of Gas" and "Monotheism and it's Discontents". I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Vidal or who likes some good home controversial but provocative writing.
Setting it Straight.......2006-12-17
I love reading the reviews on authors with whom I have a more than passing familiarity. After catching Vidal several times on C-SPAN, I've become a fan. Up until that time, I had read only a novel or two, completely unaware of his opinions. I was pleased to learn that he is completely irreverent in approaching the marbleized icons of our history. People educated beyond the fifth-grader's rote-instilled hagiographies of our Founding Fathers (registered trademark) understand that most of our education is more an indoctrination, a demand for worship, than an accurate history with the intention of informing us. Only the truly naive believe that our leaders have been benevolent servants representing WE THE PEOPLE. Such a stifling approach precludes progress, since everything is considered perfect, in a perfect country established by perfect, selfless servants pursuing the highest ideals for the brotherhood of humanity. Anyone interested in progress and who challenges this facile indoctrination are labeled as a subversive, and that being the case, Gore Vidal is definitely a subversive. And an incredibly entertaining one at that. His detractors incensed by his perceptions are likely to betray their own ignorance, such as the one reviewer below called "Pouty." My goodness! How benighted he's betrayed himself to be! I honestly can't say if Gore Vidal's first name is "Eugene," but I know for a fact that he didn't just take up the name "Gore" for the salability of it. "Gore" was originally his LAST name, and he is in fact cousin to Al Gore (for whom, despite his consanguinity, he has little use). This I learned from his other essays, along with the fact that the Gore family has hobnobbed with the social, entertainment, and -- most importantly -- POLITICAL elite for at least a hundred and fifty years. Gore Vidal can share with you some inside stories. That's what makes his essays and speeches so important. He's a man who while born into, and currently comfortably ensconced in, the elite class disdains the values normally associated with it. His essays nearly always suggest that revolution should be in a vigorous republic an ongoing enterprise. He exemplifies the premise that INTELLECT is the necessary ingredient to true participation in the democratic process. I highly recommend not only this collection, but an even better collection, THE LAST EMPIRE. He'll give you something to think about, if you're so inclined.
A Good Briefing on Vidal's Views.......2005-03-30
I have read several great books by Vidal over the past few months. This book is more or less a summary of several others that he has written. If you are new to Vidal, this is a great place to start. I have read collections of his essays, The Last Empire was great. It gets into more detail on many of the topics covered in this book.
Illogic.......2004-11-24
Pouty,
Didn't anyone teach you in school that character assassination does not win an argument? Ad hominem attacks are never valid. Even if the the things you say about Vidal were true, your argument doesn't address his points. No matter how you smear the man, it doesn't make him wrong.
This is elementary logic.
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Gibbon: Making History (Historians on Historians)
Roy Porter
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
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| Europe
| History
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0312027281 |
Book Description
"Its theme is the most overwhelming phenomenon in recorded history -- the disintegration not of a nation, but of an old and rich and apparently indestructible civilization." --Moses Hadas, editor.
Customer Reviews:
Good, short introduction to Roman history.......2007-09-18
Granted, reading this book might not be considered the greatest accomplishments if you were standing among scholars. However, if your goal is an overview to this subject, then you will have succeeded once you have completed this succinct book. I thought it was well worth the time, but I don't think it has motivated me to go out and buy the complete unabridged version.
A clear and brief overview of a great book........2007-05-20
Moses Hadas was a noted classical scholar and a talented writer. His version of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon, is the most accessible version available. It retains many of Gibbons insights and offers some of Gibbon's most interesting quotes, as: "...so intimate is the connection between the throne and the alter that the banner of the church is very seldom seen on the side of the people." For anyone interested in the similarities between Rome and the United States it is a must read.
Beautifully abridged from the original work.......2006-03-04
Moses Hadas has done an excellent job in condensing Gibbon's masterpiece into a portable reader. Though far shorter than the original work that runs into thousands of pages, it succeeds in giving the reader a broad sense of the Decline and Fall, without bogging him down with extraneous details.
After completing this book, I was so intrigued that I bought the full 3-volume Penguin unabridged edition. Up to now, years later, I have only read about three-quarters of the first volume, and I do not expect to complete it anytime soon. It is obviously not that the unabridged version is bad, but that it is meant for a scholarly audience, and thus contains many chapters which are boring for the casual reader, such as a painfully detailed description of the Empire's finances. This abridged version omits all those parts, and leaves the reader with a compelling and coherent narrative of the process of corruption that destroyed arguably the greatest civilisation in the history of Mankind.
I recommend without reservation this book to anyone with an interest in the history of past civilisations.
An Effective Abridgement.......2001-04-26
I think the other reviewer misunderstands Hadas's intention. As Hadas states in his introduction, this book is intended as digest and, hopefully, a guide to the fuller work. Hadas pragmatically realizes that most readers are unlikely to undertake a multi-volume book that totals literally thousands of pages; but his abridgement -- rendered with admirable coherence for such an undertaking -- provides both a taste of the fuller work and hopefully a temptation to read it. If more scholars like Hadas existed, the great works of literature and antquity might have a broader readership today.
Short recap of 500 years of Roman decline in 200 pages.......1997-07-02
Eventhough this is an abridgement of Gibbon's
great treatise it is a shame that the subject is treated in such a cursory fashion. Little attention is given to one emperor before the reader is pushed on to the next one.
Hadas' edition does give us some of the early history of growth of Christianity, one of the underlying causes of the downfall.
All in all, I found myself wanting more detail. After reading this book I felt like a had read the equivalent of a Chinese meal. It was OK but I soon found myself wanting more
Average customer rating:
- Rome and America both ...are DEAD
- Usual Leftist Prejudices Impersonating Ideas
- Blew me away
- An amazing insight into a complex subject.
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The Decline and Fall of the American Empire
Manufacturer: BookSurge Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1591095077
Release Date: 2002-12-03 |
Product Description
The fall from grace of the greatest power on earth since ancient Rome is recounted with parallel and politically correct references to the analog of ancient Rome.
If you are happy with life in America, don't read this book.
Customer Reviews:
Rome and America both ...are DEAD.......2007-06-05
No doubt that ROME's decline was caused by immigration and the paralels are stunning.
We are going on the same course as ROME...I think we are there already.
Interesting read.....
Usual Leftist Prejudices Impersonating Ideas.......2006-04-02
This book is the usual leftist self-parody. To quote Shaw, "This is not a book one should put down lightly. It should be thrown with great force."
Blew me away.......2005-03-12
I have been so immersed in the struggle I forgot who I was struggling with. Bang, this vook brings it home.
Murray is better than a psychiatrist. He has probed the human psyche and produced the panacea.
An amazing insight into a complex subject........2004-04-16
An amazing insight into a complex subject. It explains why America is despised by our foreign neighbors and purported friends and why there is so much graft and corruption at home. I rate it A+. It's hard to imagine that a documentary can be a page turner but this one certainly is.
Murray brushes the sands of history and reveals the coming fate and continued destruction of personal liberties in the American Empire. A must read for the individual feeling ever more pressures for simply being accomplished.
I'm impressed with the breadth and depth of this man's penetration of our national situation. "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!" Doesn't mean anything. Everybody squawks and nobody does anything to turn away from our headlong rush to destruction. If Murray ran for president he'd have my vote. But as he points out, "The juggernaut has a life of it's own and the best and brightest of us cannot apply even the flimsy brakes." The shame is that nothing seems able to save us.
Each shenanigan that this book reveals about American politics is so obvious and yet so well concealed that it shocks me to realize how deeply I was trapped in my own tailor-made politically correct haze. His syllogism of the ancient Roman Praetorians and the modern American Lobbyists hits right to the mark. I wouldn't be surprised to find he's high on the CIA's hit list because of it. It was my unexpected pleasure and exceptional delight to breathlessly tear through the pages. Then to find that this source book on political skullduggery was also an interesting novel cinched the deal. I sent a copy to each of my smug politically correct colleagues for Christmas. The howling hasn't stopped yet. Read this book. It will definitively alter your perspective on what's in store for us here in America. Attaboy Dr. Murray! Keep writing.
Average customer rating:
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The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Edward Gibbon
Manufacturer: Wildside Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Rome
| Ancient
| History
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 080959241X |
Average customer rating:
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The decline and fall of the American Empire
Mark H Podwal
Manufacturer: [Darien House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
| 21st Century
| African Americans
| Civil War
| Colonial Period
| General
| Revolution & Founding
| State & Local
North America
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: B0006D0CT0 |
Product Description
Symposium on the bicentennial of the publication of Gibbon's great history.
Twenty-plus papers on past and current impact of the work.
Average customer rating:
- Good overview of Africa's bird diversity
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Birds of Africa: From Seabirds to Seed-Eaters
Chris Stuart
Manufacturer: M.I.T. PRESS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Birdwatching
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Reference
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Ornithology
| Zoology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0262194309 |
Book Description
This book celebrates and provides a useful and highly readable introduction to Africa's magnificent avian diversity. Neither a field guide nor a biological text, it presents an overview of African birds and describes and depicts the lives and habits of almost 2,400 species.
The African continent and its associated islands are home to the world's second largest assemblage of birds, spanning two of the planet's great faunal kingdoms. The authors have divided the birds into large groups, with each chapter focusing on a particular group. Each group shares a common characteristic easily recognized by the nonspecialist: preferred habitat, main feeding behavior, or breeding method. For ease of reference, the bird families comprising each chapter are discussed in alphabetical order.
Although a great deal is known about the birds of Africa, much still awaits discovery. Entire species have yet to be described and entered into the scientific literature; sadly, some birds may become extinct before they can be properly studied. A recurring theme in the book is the threat to many species posed by the loss or dramatic modification of habitats and by human actions such as pesticide use, hunting for food and trade, and the destruction of forests. The authors emphasize that if current trends continue, more and more bird species will become endangered.
Customer Reviews:
Good overview of Africa's bird diversity.......2000-04-08
There are a great number of bird species in Africa. A species-by-species account would take hundreds of pages. Although such volumes do exist, they are often very expensive. In this book, husband and wife naturalists Chris & Tilde Stuart have presented a beautifully illustrated introduction to Africa's bird diversity which is both affordable and informative. The book is neither a field guide nor an academic tome. The authors have divided the book into several chapters, each one on a group of birds that share similar general characteristics--penguins and terns are in the seabird chapter, and hornbills and marabou storks are in another. Within each chapter, the birds are subdivided into families, which adds a nice systematic touch to the book. The text includes details on natural history and biology--I would like to have seen more biological detail and inclusion of more species, but as previously mentioned, the book is intended as an introduction to the birds of Africa, not as an in-depth treatment. Although the text is useful, perhaps the best part of the book is the spectacular colour photographs that adorn every page. The Stuarts' are renowned wildlife photographers, and their talent shines through. For what it sets out to accomplish, Birds of Africa succeeds admirably.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Wilson Bulletin, published by Wilson Ornithological Society on December 1, 2000. The length of the article is 784 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: BIRDS OF AFRICA: FROM SEABIRDS TO SEED-EATERS.(Review) (book review)
Author: Leon A. Bennun
Publication:
Wilson Bulletin (Refereed)
Date: December 1, 2000
Publisher: Wilson Ornithological Society
Volume: 112
Issue: 4
Page: 567
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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