Book Description
Henri Nouwen's intimate, inspiring diary of his first year in the L'Arche community called Daybreak, where he now makes his home and practices his ministry.
Customer Reviews:
He meets you right where you are.......2006-06-28
In the Road to Daybreak Nouwen seems to be able to reach us right where we are. He talks of his own flaws and failings and how Christ changes him in the midst. You will not be dissappointed with this book. Very relevant to where we are today.
person of faith.......2002-01-27
I learned a great deal about Fr Henri Nouwen from this book. THE ROAD TO DAYBREAK: A Spiritual Journey is his intimate diary that records the poignant year at L'Arche that began in the summer of 1985, a precious time of inner renewal and self-discovery. In his prologue, Fr Nouwen writes, "In the following pages there are words about L'Arche, about prayer, about living with handicapped people, about art, about city life, about filmmaking, about AIDS, about conflicts in the church, about Paris, London, San Francisco and Los Angeles, about Canada and a future there, and about many other small and great people and events. What binds them together in their wide variety is the spiritual struggle to say 'yes' to Jesus' invitation 'Come and follow me.'" It is this description of his spiritual journey and development over the year that is most intriguing to me. From reading these pages, I feel as though I have spoken to a friend whom I know quite well. Well enough to know his strengths in patience and tolerance, yet, also well enough to become annoyed at his foibles, Particularly, Fr Nouwen's incessant need for validation from his friends. Still, it is most striking to me the complete commitment that he has to serving his LORD. "Being in the world without being of it involves hard work." reads his entry for 10 May, "It requires a clear vision of what I want to do and how to do it. It requires a discipline of the eyes, the mind, and the heart. It requires a deep desire, as well as a strong commitment to live without interruptions in the name of Jesus." I learned of the discipline required by a desire to seek our unity in and through Jesus, the Christ. As Fr Nouwen described his work, I became aware that I am severely handicapped, myself. Although, I am blessed to be physically and mentally capable, I must confess I am spiritually handicapped. I can barely communicate in my spiritual relationship. I am challenged to maintain a consistent spiritual commitment, and I am completely dependent on the grace and mercy of the LORD, my GOD, in whose presence, I am. This insight which I received from reading this book has changed the way I view my own spiritual life and has strengthened that relationship. If you are interested in the life of Fr Henri Nouwen, or in a spiritual relationship as lived by someone, this book will be interesting to you. Although Fr Nouwen is a Catholic Priest, I think that people of all faiths and beliefs who are interested in a spiritual quest will gain from its reading. PEACE
Encouraging and Inspiring.......2001-08-15
This is a wonderfully inspiring book documenting Henri's journey from Ivy League professor to the priest of a community of people with severe disabilities. His story reminds us that the crux of the Christian life is not flashiness and worldly success, but that it comes from being a servant to the needy and poor of our world. As Henri shares his fears, anxieties, and triumphs of his journey, we are encouraged to face the things keeping us from fully giving our life to the poor (be it mentally, spiritually, financially, emotionally, etc.) and/or are encouraged in the work we are already doing with people society has cast aside. If the 11th chapter of Hebrews was rewritten, Henri Nouwen would be another example of someone who showed great faith in God by taking God at his word and going to a new place where he knew not what would happen to him. As a special education teacher who is involved in the community of people with disabilities, I found Henri to be a true inspiration and encouragement to continue ministering to--and certainly being ministered to by people who have disabilities. This book would be an encouragement to anyone who wants their life to reflect some of the most central teachings of Jesus.
road to daybreak.......2001-01-28
this book was a gift to my mom when she retired from her work about 5 years ago. i don't know how it interested me but i did read it from cover to cover. as i went along, i couldn't help but identify with henri nouwen. our situation in life may not be the same but i swear i've been feeling everything that he has been feeling. his joys, his sorrows, his nostalgia, his fears. and i couldn't help but find hope each time he talks about his little triumphs over himself and over the world. i was particularly moved by the fact that though he is a priest he was so keenly aware of his need for appreciation, affection, attention and respect. my own needs that i have been wanting to ignore for fear of appearing needy and vulnerable. and besides it's senseless to get them if you will just be humiliated in the end. the worst humiliation i guess is the reproach you give yourself for not knowing to act at situations which is otherwise very ordinary to ordinary people. it is the shame of finding out you have a delusion of grandeur. it is inspiring to note that henri nouwen lived through it all and found meaning to all of them. when he did, i found meaning to each of mine's struggles too. his acceptance and redirection of his need for intimacy made me realize that even this need can be harnessed for something better. in sharing his journey i had a journey of my own. my struggles have not ended. it is lifetime. but every now and then, i would remember exerpts this book. and i become more appreciative of myself, of the people who have been a part of me and the people who are yet to be a part of my growth. i believe, a lot of people would have the same benefits that it gave me if ever they read the book.
good read.......2000-11-14
Book showed priests as human this was good. I would also recommend the book An Encounter with A Prophet.
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Road to Daybreak, The: A Spiritual Journey
Henri J.M. Nouwen
Manufacturer: Darton,Longman & Todd Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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| Nouwen, Henri
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Paperback
| Nouwen, Henri
| ( N )
| Authors, A-Z
| Religion & Spirituality
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ASIN: B000OPWH8E |
Customer Reviews:
Women Warlords.......2007-04-08
As has already been said, only the cover is illustrated by McBride, but the text makes it worth every penny anyway. The book consists of the following chapters:
The True Amazons-Warrior Women of the Sarmatians and Scythians
Amazons of the Jungle-Elite groups of female warriors in topical African and South American armies
Braver than her Husband-The stories of Artemisia and Zenobia, not warriors personally, but skilled leaders of them
Celtic Queens-The mythical account of Medb, as well as the real histories of the cunning Cartimandua and the vicious Boudica
Women of Christ-Aethelflaed, Matilda of Tuscany, and Eleanor of Aquitaine-women in the Middle Ages who led men and armies
Hundred Years War Women-Jeanne of Montfort, Christine de Pisan, and the famous Jeanne d'Arc, Joan of Arc
Angus McBride alert!.......2006-10-14
Simply put, the newer paperback edition of Women Warlords has only a cover by Angus McBride. And that's all! Since the book has his cover, technically I guess he is the illustrator, but there are no interior color plates usually found in books illustrated by Angus McBride, and for me half the value of these and the Osprey books are in the incredibly researched and painted color plates.
The hard bound edition published in the UK in 1989 by Blandford includes 16 full page color illustrations by McBride, in addition to the cover, which features a different portrait of Matilda of Tuscany than McBride painted for the interior. While there are no explanations of the weapons and battle dress shown in the plates, as in the Osprey books, the pictures of the outfits, weapons and historical figures, in dramatic and fighting poses , with backgrounds, make the early edition of Women Warlords among McBrides' better efforts.
So if you like the color illustrations by the cover artist of this book, don't buy this paperback edition. Search out the 1989 HARD BOUND book.
A good solid effort with some great Ilustartions.......2005-05-01
A subject that until now that has not been covered well. The author has done some solid work and coupled with McBride is well worth the price.
Some Soldiers, Some Generals.......1998-05-27
Newark gives a good analysis of what one might call the Amazon influence. Rather than just being about female generals, he gets down to the trenches, compiling the evidence for woman warriors among the Steppe tribes of Eurasia, in South America (the reason they called the one river the Amazon) and in Dahomey. Also, he makes plain the sociological change from the Medieval woman warlord like Aethelflaed of Mercia or Matilda of Tuscany -- a feudal noble defending her turf -- to the modern "Joan of Arc" image, of the idealistic woman of the people fighting out of patriotism. He does not cover any of the lower-level fighting women of Europe, however, nor the female warlords outside of Europe.
Amazon.com
Annette Gordon-Reed, a professor of law at New York Law School, doesn't take a position for or against the proposition that Thomas Jefferson may have had a liaison of nearly 40 years with a slave named Sally Hemings, and that Hemings may have borne him several children. Instead, in this scrupulously researched book, Gordon-Reed examines the evidence both for and against Jefferson's liasion with Hemings. Among the strongest evidence in this provocative book is the fact that though Jefferson's time in Virginia was limited when he was in public life, Hemings's six children--born over 15 years--were delivered with months after each of Jefferson's stays at Monticello.
Customer Reviews:
wonderful reading.......2007-09-12
I bought and read this book before the DNA results. This is the most unbiased look at the Jefferson-Hemings story I have read so far. The author examines the facts pro and con. According to Madison Hemings, Sally's son, the child she had after returning to Monticello from Paris died. Why can't this be believed? This would explain why the Woodson DNA test was negative. Despite all his greatness, Thomas Jefferson was just a man, subject to all the weaknesses that we all possess. The true feelings that these two had for each other will never be known but I choose to believe that he loved her. That is the only way that I can forgive him for being a slave owner.
Very Skillful Lawyerly Presentation of History.......2007-07-07
This is a very solid and well researched book. The author makes a very thorough and logical presentation to prove her case. Much in the manner of a courtroom argument. It is effective. I came away from reading the book convinced that Jefferson, in all reasonable liklihood, did father Sally Hemings five mixed race children.
Sally Hemings was 1/4 African in descent, 3/4's European. By all accounts, she was a picture of beauty. Jefferson was, apparently, unexpectedly presented with her youthful beauty when Sally accompanied his youngest daughter from his former, deceased wife to France where Jefferson was representing US government interests.
Some reviewers have referred to Jefferson as a rapist and a child molestor. I think that's a bit much. The "past is a different place" as some thoughtful historian once described it. Teenage girls in the 18th century--and for much of the 19th century--were seen as legitimate romantic interests and potential wives for middle aged men of substance. It, apparently, was not particularly frowned upon during that period. Gordon-Reed gives an example of this with Jefferson's friend James Madison who was hopelessly in love with a teenage girl. She rejected him for someone closer to her own age. However, he eventually wound up with a much younger Dolly Madison for a wife. And apparently was not socially condemned for it. The past is a different place. Not better by any means, necessarily, but different. Something to keep in mind....
The author makes the argument that Jefferson's real sin was not in loving a "slave girl." The real sin was his enslavement of other humans for his own financial benefit. He couldn't let go of the financial benefits and the ease of living that his slaves brought him. He could never close the distance between his high sounding and beautifully eloquent rhetoric about human equality, fraternity, and liberty and his actual practices--however relatively enlightened for the times--as a slave owner at Monticello.
It's far from inconceivable that Jefferson and Hemings might have been lovers and even married in a social environment with slavery extinct. She was, after all, the 1/2 sister of his beloved deceased wife. And as stated, she was 3/4's European descent. If one--or society for that matter--wants to set up a binary system of black/white, then it sounds like Sally Hemings would logically be more closely classified as "white." However, Americans, then and even now, subscribed to the slavemaster's logic of "one drop of African blood" means that the person must be "black." An artifical social construct, but one tune many of us still dance to. I think humans are far more complicated and multi-faceted than "racial fundamentalists" would have us believe.
Jefferson is guilty of being a slaveowner and of being a hypocrite given his political and philosophical idealism. However, if he did love and have affection for Sally Hemmings in the manner that the author implies and suggests, then I am in agreement with the author that that would be no crime. However, we'll never know for sure, because the probable relationship was so evidently carefully concealed, as best as it could be, from the prying eyes of future generations.
I first heard about the Sally Hemings "scandal" from Gore Vidal. He said that the conventional historians who defend Jefferson against the "abomination" of loving a slave girl argue this way:
Thomas Jefferson was a great man.
Great men do not live with their slave girls.
Consequently, Thomas Jefferson did not live with Sally Hemings.
This is the type of conventional idiocy that sometimes passes itself off as "history."
Annette Gordon-Reed's book is well worth the effort of reading if you're interested in the subject. I thought it a very well balanced and intellectually honest effort.
Believe it, I do........2007-05-18
Shame, on these so called Historians, that turn away from what is so plan to me and anyone else with common sense. Why is it so hard to believe that Thomas Jefferson did in fact have a relationship with his slave, Sally? Yes, he is one of the key figures in establishing the United States, Yes; he spoke of freedom and equality. However, he did not practice what he was preaching. He fought for freedom and independence and kept slaves in bondage, he recorded births of his slaves along side the inventory of his animals. They were property no more, no less, including Sally, she was taken advantage of, and that is the bottom line. A 40+ male having sex with a 14 yr old child, makes me sick to my stomach. I visited Monticello last week, the view was breath taking, the house was all it appeared on television, but I secretly mourned for the slaves that were made to live, work and die there. No matter what they individually wanted to call it, love, lust, rape, what it was, was wrong. And, why the Jeffersonians don't want to acknowledge it, is simple, it is racism, fueled by some magnificent notion that Jefferson was better than they average slave owner. He kept all his fair colored slaves close to the house and all the darker slaves in the fields. He would leave the plantation when they were whipped; he was no better that any other slaveholder. He violated rights, and profited from their labor, and what was their reward ....he had them sold off to get out of debt, with the exception of Sally's children. If he thought slavery was so wrong, why did he do nothing to stop it?
As my 11 year old said to me; if he was president why didn't just stop slavery? After all he was so moral, respected and powerful. Wasn't he?
Check out Jefferson's Blood on PBS website...very interesting.
No longer a "Controversy".......2007-03-16
Jefferson owned slaves. As did his father before him. Jefferson was a man of his times and Sally Hemings a slave woman of hers. There is no big 'mystery' here. Jefferson and Hemings had a sexual relationship that produced offspring. DNA is not necessarily needed to help prove that. Reed does not state this in her book as fact, but she makes it clear that this was the most likely scenario. And exposes the bigotry throughout the centuries that have tried to cover it up. Great book if you're really interested in this subject. I have never read a finer book on it.
A detailed analysis of the alleged Jefferson Hemmings affair from a different angle.......2006-11-07
The author has done her homework and is well-versed on this particular subject. She goes into extreme detail, analyzing multiple pieces of historical evidence, both circumstantial and documented. The latest version of her book also has an introductory chapter on the light that physical evidence, DNA, has shed on what is already known.
While careful not to draw a definitive conclusion about whether or not Jefferson fathered the children of Sally Hemmings, the author very tactfully points to certain pieces of evidence and interjects her opinions, sometimes subtly, while other times being quite obvious. While this may be considered bias by some, in essence, she appears to be responding to what she considers ongoing extreme bias and prejudice in past biographies by Jefferson historians. This is really what her book is about, more than anything, is how historians have, in her view, edified Jefferson and chosen to ignore certain pieces of important evidence, downplaying and ridiculing some, while choosing to emphasize other.
This writing is a direct attack on the way American history has been controlled and propagated by white males at the expense of slaves and their descendants. Annette Gordon-Read is a well educated, African American historian/attorney, who is taking a stand, and she presents a compelling case. She feels the voice of blacks in history has been squelched and ridiculed, and on this particular subject she points out the shortcomings of historians who have glorified Jefferson while maintaining a stereotypical view of blacks.
On the downside, I personally felt the author came across too strong in labeling Jefferson a "racist". She could have presented the facts in this area and let readers make up their own minds, rather than coming across as harsh and judgmental. She also provides a lot of speculation throughout the book. She is careful, however, to avoid statements as fact when she cannot prove them (this is what she continually accuses her predecessors as doing). Perhaps much of this conjecture is necessary to counter the multitude of speculation that has been articulated by so many historians who have downplayed or disputed the likelihood (or to them, even the possibility) of the Jefferson-Hemmings affair. The author is also very repetitive. The book could have easily been cut in half and been just as effective. However, this repetition also drives certain points home and helps the reader remember certain key elements.
Overall, this is very interesting reading, and it is also very well-written. The author communicates extremely well and her writing flows nicely and is easy to understand.
If you have any interest in the (likely) Jefferson-Hemmings affair, this book is a must read. I gave it 5 stars, despite my criticisms, as 4 stars would not have given this book the credit is deserves (perhaps a 4.5?).
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Mississippi Quarterly, published by Mississippi State University on March 22, 2000. The length of the article is 3199 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: Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy.(Review) (book review)
Author: Stephanie M.h. Camp
Publication:
The Mississippi Quarterly (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 2000
Publisher: Mississippi State University
Volume: 53
Issue: 2
Page: 275
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
In Last Animals at theZoo, Colin Tudge argues that zoos have become an essential part of modernconservation strategy, and that the only real hope for saving many endangeredspecies is through creative use of zoos in combination with restoration ofnatural habitats. From the genetics of captive breeding to techniques ofbehavioral enrichment, Tudge examines all aspects of zoo conservation programs and explains how the precarious existence of so many animals can best be protected.
Customer Reviews:
Thought-provoking.......2002-06-18
In addition to providing an excellent overview of the role of modern zoos and of captive breeding programs, Tudge also begins the book with an overview of the ethics of conservation. Unfortunately, I did not find in that discussion an ethos that really worked for me, but the presentation did give me much food for thought - which after all is what I look for in a good book.
Conservation Makes Sense.......2000-11-21
This book showed amazing depth in its amount of pages. The author's ideas simply made sense. Conservation is presented from every angle, never simply glossed over. The topic is made interesting and easy to understand, with explanations simple yet in-depth. All perspectives are shown. While the author makes his views known, he gives you enough room to let you form your own opinion. This book is great!
Filled with great information on conservation breeding.......1996-12-11
If you ever wanted to know more about efforts to save endangered animals, this is the book to start with. It is easy to read, but does not shy away from discussing relevant aspects of genetics. Chapter 4, "The Theory of Conservation Breeding," is especially good in detailing the practical goals conservation breeders hope to achieve and also the many problems they face
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Last Animals at the Zoo: How Mass Extinctions Can Be Stopped. (book reviews): An article from: Issues in Science and Technology
Michael H. Robinson
Manufacturer: National Academy of Sciences
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
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ASIN: B000925HVG
Release Date: 2005-07-28 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Issues in Science and Technology, published by National Academy of Sciences on March 22, 1993. The length of the article is 2183 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: Last Animals at the Zoo: How Mass Extinctions Can Be Stopped. (book reviews)
Author: Michael H. Robinson
Publication:
Issues in Science and Technology (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 1993
Publisher: National Academy of Sciences
Volume: v9
Issue: n3
Page: p83(4)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Books:
- The Saga of Hugh Glass: Pirate, Pawnee, and Mountain Man
- The Secrets of Mariko: A Year in the Life of a Japanese Woman and Her Family
- The Signers: The 56 Stories Behind the Declaration of Independence
- Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary
- Tolkien and C.S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship
- Tropicana Nights: The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub
- Two or Three Things I Know for Sure
- Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
- Unscripted (WWE)
- Vivien: The Life of Vivien Leigh
Books Index
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Adam: God's Beloved
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