Ghosts of Tsavo: Tracking the Mythic Lions of East Africa

Book Description

In 1898, two hauntingly elusive maneless lions killed and ate 140 workers who were building a railroad bridge over the Tsavo River in Kenya. These seemingly invincible man-eaters literally stopped the British Empire in its tracks during their year-long reign of terror. But the bloody exploits of these animals, immortalized in John Patterson's 1907 book, The Man-Eaters of Tsavo, and two feature films, Bwana Devil in 1952 and The Ghost and the Darkness in 1996, are only part of the story.

Caputo's Ghosts of Tsavo is a search for truth, exploring both how these near-mythical maneless beasts became man-eaters and the more unsettling proposition: Do they represent a feline “missing link” between modern lions and the prehistoric lions that preyed on our Pleistocene ancestors. Setting out over the forbidding plains of Kenya's Tsavo National Park, Caputo and his small corps of discovery—a photographer and a few armed rangers from the Kenya Park Service—follow two eminent scientists from the University of Minnesota determined to unlock the secrets of Africa's most efficient killers.

Suffused with the raw beauty and primitive danger of Tsavo's wild landscape, Ghosts of Tsavo is a totally absorbing adventure narrative by an author justly regarded as among the finest writers of his generation.

Customer Reviews:

An interesting work.......2006-08-19

The author tags along on a couple of scientific studies and reports what actually goes on. Very entertaining and enlightening but the theory that proved most promising is discounted in a similar study so we still don't have the answer to why the lions are maneless. But, that's nature...

The blend of science and adventure here makes for a riveting read.......2005-11-07

Philip Caputo's Ghosts Of Tsavo: Stalking The Mystery Lions Of East Africa blends travelogue with nature in telling of the author's journey to Kenya's Tsavo National Park on foot with his guides, then in companionship with two scientists who seek close encounters with the big cats. Are the maneless lions found in Tsavo a subspecies of African lion, and a missing link? These lions are especially fierce, and the blend of science and adventure here makes for a riveting read.

The Outlaw Lions.......2004-03-27

"Tsavo" means "place of slaughter" - the lions there are abnormally large, have maneless males, and are historically known as man-eaters. In 1898 two rogue lions terrorized a railway construction project; these lions were called "Ghost" and "Darkness" and inspired a 1996 film about this event. The Tsavo district is in south Kenya adjacent to Tanzania. This pair of lions would sneak into the construction camp at night, snatch up men from their tents and consume them within hearing distance. The engineer in charge, Lt. Col. John Henry Patterson, was an experienced tiger hunter but was often outwitted by these beasts. The contract laborers from India came to regard them as body-snatching demons. Eventually Patterson shot one lion from a platform. He trailed the second after wounding it (pp.7-8). A century later another man-eating lion appeared (pp.9-21). Note how this implies another form of colonial oppression: the people cannot keep and bear arms. A dozen 12 gauge shotguns could eliminate these wild beasts.

There are other beasts preying on Kenya today (p.33). Muggings, murders, and carjackings are so common that tourism is declining. This is matched by other sub-Sahara African countries. White colonials are safe in their fortresses, like medieval aristocracy (p.34). Tsavo lions are genetically different from common lions. They may be descended from maneless cave lions of the Pleistocene period. Their massive size matches their prey: the large, strong Cape buffalo (p.44). Theory says a crippling wound causes a lion to turn man-eater; the other reason is a loss of natural prey due to disease or over-hunting (p.46). Or they were taught from preying on abandoned bodies! Most man-eaters killed were in good or fair condition (p.47). Page 47 tells how a lion was killed with a knife!

Much of the fossil evidence of early human evolution comes from the bones left by large feline predators. It still happens to bicycle riders and drinkers at pubs (p.132). Predators look for a sign of weakness or injury. Page 256 tells how to hunt a lion. Find a carcass, then track the lion to where it was sleeping. Kill it before it awakes. Males with large, dark manes are preferred by females (p.251). Two myths about man-eaters are disproved on page 266. Man-eaters are not old or injured, or can't catch "normal" prey. Primates, like humans, are the normal prey of big cats for thousands of years. 7,000 people were killed in India by tigers in the mid-1920s. 1,500 humans were killed in southern Tanzania between 1932 and 1947 (p.267). Lions use their strong jaws and powerful limbs to kill. They pull an animal down and break its neck or clamp down on its muzzle to suffocate it (p.268). An area free of wild prey can create man-eating lions, particularly if the colonial rulers ban firearms to the people. Burial practices left dead bodies above ground, which attracted predators and trained them as man-eaters. Epidemics and famine added to the human food supply (p.292).

Almost made it.......2003-11-15

Caputo is pulitzer winner. As such, I expected much more from his book. He seems to pose a basic question, "Are the lions in Tsavo genetically different?" He spends a great deal of time interviewing scientists about this point. He arranges funding for a study to be done. He goes to Africa, to Tsavo with some scientists. Where, according to his own account, he tells them that he doesn't want to know! He doesn't want science to de-mystify his world view.

In the end, he never really gets an answer. He also, seems to find it curious that lions should be man eaters. While in Africa, he is constantly asking professional hunters, long time residents and scientist to explain how this could be. Sorry, I don't understand why the question even has to be asked.

In the end, the book left me frustrated.

Engaging look at unusual lions.......2003-05-10

"Ghosts of Tsavo" is part travelogue, part natural history, part murder mystery, and part mid-life crisis for its author Philip Caputo. What it is as a whole is a fascinating, engaging look at the lions of Tsavo Park in Kenya. Caputo first became interested in these unusual lions as a result of a visit to the Field Museum in Chicago as a young boy. Therein were "Ghost" and "Darkness" two enormous males lions that terrorized constructions workers building a rail line through Tsavo. In fact terrorized may be too weak a word as they are credited with killing at least 120 people and literarily halting construction until they were eventually hunted down and killed by British Lt. Col. Patterson who was heading up the project. He recounted this effort in his famous memoir "The Man Eaters of Tsavo" and kindled a fascination with Kenya's lions that lingered with Caputo for half a century.

What sets the lions of Tsavo apart from the more familiar ones we know from nature documentaries, is that they are much bigger, and the males are either maneless of have very short manes, in either case nothing like the regal mountains of fur on their cousins from the Serengeti. In the first half of the book, Caputo explores reasons as to why this might by the case. It is possible that since Tsavo is much warmer than the Serengeti, manes are too expensive in terms of internal resources to grow. Another possibility is that the thick scrub brush and thorns of the region wear down manes before they ever become truly impressive.

However, it is a more controversial theory that makes for the most entertaining reading. Caputo encounters several scientists who argue that the lions of Tsavo are genetically distinct from the lions on the Serengeti. Moreover, they argue that the lions of Tsavo are in fact a throw back to prehistoric lions, quite literally walking fossils. The point to the lack of manes, the much larger height and girth and the fact that Tsavo lions hunt the enormous Cape Buffalo as justifications for this thesis.

Ultimately, Caputo, in three journeys to Kenya over the course of eighteen months (once as a tourist and twice with scientific expeditions) is never able to definitively state which hypothesis is correct. However, that in no way detracts from his rambling, conversational narrative. Caputo is not a scientist, and he in no way pretends to be one, although he does (and justifiably so) consider himself a well-informed observer. As such, he is not constrained by the rigors of academia, and can therefore transfer his passion for these lions and the mystery surrounding them onto the page. In fact, towards the end he grows weary of the scientific studies as they somehow detract from the powerful aura that surrounds the lions.

If you are interested in lions in general, or if the prospect of some spine-tingling tales of man-eating lions sounds appealing, "Ghost of Tsavo" is well worth reading. However, beyond the surface elements, Caputo has written a book that captures the raw spirituality of nature, and that bemoans modern man's detachment from the primitive. So it is entirely likely that even if you have no interest in lions at all, you may be drawn to Caputo's lament for something we don't even realize we have lost. Either way, "Ghost's of Tsavo" is well worth reading.

Jake Mohlman

Iron Shirt Chi Kung I: Once a Martial Art, Now the Practice That Strengthens the Internal Organs, Roots Oneself Solidly, and Unifies Physical, Menta
Average customer rating:

Practice and patience

Careful.

Caution: Packing-breathing no longer taught.

Good material, dangerous to practice

Nice How-To for Iron Shirt Concepts

Iron Shirt Chi Kung I: Once a Martial Art, Now the Practice That Strengthens the Internal Organs, Roots Oneself Solidly, and Unifies Physical, Menta
Mantak Chia
Manufacturer: Healing Tao Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Customer Reviews:

Practice and patience.......2005-10-04

I have this book and have done the execrises piecementaly over the course of a year and have suffered no ill effects. I was simultaniouly researching Dr. Yang Jwung-Ming's book on Qigong for Health and Martial Arts. What must be taken into account is the fact that like any other exercise routine you must work up to it and keep youself free from outside influences and polutants, such as alchohol and tobacco use, as well as participation in sex, which depletes Chi.You must also have a free and clear, disciplined mind.

Careful........2005-03-14

As I was reading this I found a few interesting things I would like to impliment in my Qigong practice, however the author does go overboard. I mean, it's understandable how massaging certain private areas on occassion may help circulation of blood and vital flow of energy, BUT I don't think it's a good practice for anyone to start attaching heavy weights to his testicles. I kid you not, that's what this guy says to do.
A somewhat interesting book but if you do decide to read it please use some common sense.
A good book but be wary of the authors unhealthy obsession with his balls.

Caution: Packing-breathing no longer taught........2004-12-29

While some portions of this book are still in use (postures and rooting)...
The Iron Shirt packing-breathing techniques have not been actively taught by Chia-based organizations for quite some years, because too many people were getting hurt.

Good material, dangerous to practice.......2004-04-19

While I do not really know weather or not master M.Chia is a real Daoist master, I do know that most of the techniques in this book take 15-20 years to learn, and only after fully mastering the standing meditation (1 hour daily), inner smile, microcosmic & macrocosmic orbit (after many years of hard daily training), you may start practicing the iron shirt (which is indeed not really necessary for a healthy life).

Just for a simple example, a friend of mine, who bought this particular book and started practicing it without consulting his whushu teacher first, got some major breath disorder and lost his erection for a couple of months.

The book indeed contains some interesting topics, worth reading, but be very careful and practice only under a supervision of an experienced master.

Nice How-To for Iron Shirt Concepts.......2003-08-26

After reading this book, I read the existing reviews here before writing mine.

I liked this book. It is like many Mantak Chia books,detailed and well-organized. I know that some reviewers complained about the organization, but what Chia does is give step-by-step instructions for a number of exercises. It gets confusing when trying to digest it in totality. Like reading a math text cover to cover. It helps if you read a part, practice it, master it. All of a sudden, the next chapter makes sense, and it works!

I think the reason why Chia does not focus more on energy is because he does that elsewhere. He has a number of books. He's focusing on the specific techniques for this specific process-- Iron Shirt.

I agree that one should not practice without an instructor. But it is impossible to really learn this stuff from a book. Internal martial arts in general. External martial arts, for that matter, too. Meditation, qigong, it all benefits from having an instructor. Books are ancillary materials. As are videos. References only, a different perspective. Supplements.

Particularly for those looking at enhancing your Wu Chi posture structurally, this is a great book. For standing meditation exercises, this is a great reference. As for danger with packing-- I always stick with Kumar Frantzis' 70% rule... do something 70%. As you progress, that 70% will become more and
more.

I particularly liked the way Chia mechanistically describes what to do step-by-step. When your instructor says, work on your chi belt and you stare and say-- how? Then your instructor says, feel this, now do it! And you say-- that's really cool, but I'm still not sure how to do it-- Chia gives you a roadmap. Or even if your instructor tells you how, Chia gives you a roadmap to compare with.

As for who is right/wrong, where Iron Shirt really came from, what preliminary exercises should go with this or that-- I think there are many paths to any one goal. This is one. There are others. Now go find the one that gets you where you want to go.

I'd recommend this book for those who are still walking the path. For those who've reached the end of their journey, why'd you buy the book in the first place?

Iron Shirt Chi Kung I: Once a Martial Art, Now the Practice That Strengthens the Internal Organs, Roots Oneself Solidly, and Unifies Physical, Menta
Average customer rating:
Iron Shirt Chi Kung I: Once a Martial Art, Now the Practice That Strengthens the Internal Organs, Roots Oneself Solidly, and Unifies Physical, Menta
Mantak Chia
Manufacturer: Healing Tao
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000JTVU56

Book Description

This authoritative reference aid to mastering the Japanese writing system makes learning kanji and kana a quick and painless process. In clear, large-sized entires, A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters details each of the General Use Characters--the 1,945 characters prescribed by the Japanese Ministry of Education for everyday use. Both Japanese readings and English meanings are given, along with stroke-count and stroke-order, examples of usage, and suggestions for memorizing. The components of each character are detailed. The kanji are graded according to Ministry of Education guidelines, allowing the student to prioritize them and track progress.

Comprehensive and clear, A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters makes Japanese writing accessible to everyone.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Kanji dictionary for the layman!.......2007-10-12

I like Japanese but I've never taken a class. This book has been beautifully structured in a way that facilitates short lessons for the casual reader. I've also found the indices especially helpful in quickly identifying various kanji by either stroke order or phonetic reading. This is a very well thought out and elegantly presented book.

A fun way to study kanji.......2007-06-11

This book has been an amazing resource for me throughout my study of the Japanese language. More than any other this book has inspired me to develop my kanji proficiency.

(See the image of the back cover of the first edition for a reproduction of what the pages look like.)

I love the whole idea of the book. It is because books like this can be written that I became so infatuated with the Japanese language. Obviously it is a book that could only be written for an ideograph-based language, and that's what makes it so interesting. You can simply flip through the book and you are reviewing kanji, just as if you were using flash cards. There are also three example vocabulary words given for each character. So you can use the book to learn the characters and also to add to your vocabulary.

I wrote my own mnemonics in the book as I found many of his to be unhelpful, but I think that is always the way it works with mnemonics--the ones you develop yourself are always more effective.

One of the problems with the way the mnemonics work is that the examples given often "go in the wrong direction". For me, my problem with kanji almost always stems from trying to decipher a character I am trying to read. So I want to get from the pattern of the character to the meaning. I seldom write kanji, so it is less helpful to go from the meaning to the pattern of the character, but the mnemonics are mixed up so they often go both ways.

In general, the book is not great for studying vocabulary words. More helpful for vocabulary for me has been simply studying the definitions given in a somewhat basic middle schoolers' Japanese-Japanese dictionary.

So bottom line: This book offers the best way to study kanji.

An Excellent Reference.......2007-05-05

The book contains brief entries that excellently explain the etymology of each of the joyo kanji. Each entry also contains pronunciations, examples, stroke count, suggestions for memorization, and a brief mnemonic. The mnemonics are (as in most textbooks) of inconsistent quality (some are just _weird_), but some are quite good, and the suggestions for memorization are useful. The book is well-indexed (the index of characters by reading is extremely helpful) and well cross-referenced (very useful when encountering new components in a complex kanji).

The only major strike against this book is its somewhat misleading title; it really should be called "A Guide to the Origins of Japanese Characters" or something similar. While some people (including myself) will find the etymological information alone to be a major help in learning and memorizing characters, some will find it far less helpful for that purpose.

Minor strikes against this book include the lack of kana readings (the author also somewhat confusingly transliterates "ou" and "oo" in the same way, as another reviewer pointed out) and the lack of stroke order (leaving that out was probably a good decision overall, though, since adding that would make the book quite a bit bigger and it's quite sizable as it is). It's worth noting that this is neither textbook nor kanji dictionary, nor is it a substitute for either. Still, I think this book is an excellent reference for any serious student of Japanese writing, preferably as a supplement to a good kanji textbook and dictionary.

A LOT of superfluous info...........2007-03-13

This book is obviously very well-researched and thorough -- it covers all the essential 1,945 kanji, but I found the mnemonics rather annoyingly pedantic and the background information generally unnecessary. Every kanji has a paragraph of scholarly data about the primitive protoforms and etymological arguments.

Perhaps interesting to some; of little practical use to me.

One of the best..........2007-03-03

This is one of the best books on the market for learning Japanese kanji. Each character is broken up into brush stroke order, the Japanese and Chinese readings are provided, and samples of various combinations using the character are shown. They are neatly organized, and an appendix makes it very easy to look them up in a hurry. Note: this book will not help you learn the Japanese language, and provides little assistance with syntax, hiragana and katakana, but it is a great way to look up complex characters for quick reference.

Remembering the Kanji II: A Systematic Guide to Reading Japanese Characters

Average customer rating:

Most certainly NOT all you need.
Good, but be prepared to put more of yourself
buy this series, but not here
All you need for Japanese literacy
So easy!

Remembering the Kanji II: A Systematic Guide to Reading Japanese Characters
James W. Heisig
Manufacturer: Japan Publications Trading
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

Beneath the notorious inconsistencies in the way the Japanese language has come to pronounce the characters it received from China in the fifth century, there lies a solid and rather ample base of coherent patterns. Discovering these patterns can reduce to a minimum the time spent in brute
memorization of sounds unrelated to written forms. Volume II of REMEMBERING THE KANJI takes you step by step through the varieties of phonetic pattern and offers helpful hints for learning kanji that resist systematization.

Customer Reviews:

Most certainly NOT all you need........2005-12-16

I'm a big fan of Heisig's first volume but this second volume takes his principle of "divide and conquer" just too far in my opinion.

Working through this volume means learning just a single reading for each of the 2000-odd kanji introduced in volume 1. What does that mean? It means that after studying and absorbing all the information in this book you will still have virtually no practical ability to read Japanese. This is because most kanji have more than one reading. Becoming literate in Japanese depends crucially on knowing multiple readings of kanji and on being familiar with a reasonable body of vocabulary associated with those readings.

One of the other reviewers states "I am reading compounds like never before". Great, but my question is- what are the chances that you are reading them correctly when you know only a single reading for each kanji? The only Japanese you can read with confidence after using this book are the one word per kanji that happen to be presented. It's a little like learning one word for each letter of the alphabet and expecting to be able to read English.

For my money the method employed in Kanji in Context (Japan Times) is much more efficient and what's more actually DOES take you a good way towards literacy. Kanji in Context concentrates on teaching kanji meanings and readings in the context of the vocabulary associated with those kanji. A consequence of this method is that you begin to acquire a native-like appreciation for how a kanji is likely to be read - even in previously unseen compounds. You are able to make practical use of the knowledge (i.e you are able to read Japanese) long before you reach the end of the book. Another good little book for starting to acquire that level of familiarity is "Decoding the Kanji" by Habein (Kadansha International)

The main value of this book is in pointing out those few kanji elements that act a reliable (more or less) guide to at least one "on" reading. But that is a small part of the whole and that information can be found on the web for free. Heisig's first volume is excellent for developing a familiarity with the kanji but volume 2 achieves too little gain to be worth it, particularly when better alterantives are available.

Good, but be prepared to put more of yourself.......2005-10-18

First off, you can download the intro to this book from Nanzan Institute's website. And if you know some Spanish, you can download the intro and a part of the second chapter of the Spanish edition, called "Kanji para recordar II", both from Nanzan's website and from the translator's website, Nipoweb.

So far, I've covered 55% of the on-yomi presented in the first 10 chapters. The chore ideas behind this book are:

-Focus on one thing at a time: You've already learned the writing, now you continue with on-yomi and later will finish with kun-yomi.

-Avoid (as much as possible) illustrating new on-yomi with compunds containing other on-yomi not learnt yet. This leads to duplication and even triplication of sample words, and even to the use of rare compunds to illustrate common on-yomi. However, for the most part, it works.

-Try to take the most advantage of the fact that most kanji are phonetic, rather than "ideographic", compunds. So you though all the kanji were sound-independent ideograms? Fortunately, you're wrong! Most of them have forever engraved their pronunciation in their writing. However, it seems that their importing to Japan via Korea, the fact that some kanji were re-introduced in later times from a different region of China, the phonetic adaptation (or deformation?) to Japanese pronunciation, the natural change of pronunciation over time, and the fact that some traditional on-yomi were suppressed from the Joyo-Kanji list (for the most part, this book abides by the official list of on-yomi) have rendered this learning tool an almost complete waste of time in some cases, and an uphill battle in others. However, Heisig made his best to give some order to this mess.

-You must learn kun-yomi on a need-basis. You're only given a mnemonic tool to learn them and a list of all officialy recognized kun-yomi, but no particular order to their study. Thus, at this point, after having learnt the writing and on-yomi of all Joyo Kanji, you might guess that now it's a good time to pay due respect to the "proficiency levels" of the official test (JLPT), or to your own textbooks. Anyway, now you'll have a really huge headstart.

Now, about the method:

While the first book gave you all the intelectual "tools" to perform the task, this one gives you just clues: You are told that if you associate a certain "signal primitive" with its on-yomi, you can remember the on-yomi of all characters sharing the same phonetic component (well, that's 100% true for chapter 2, at least), but you are not given any method on how to associate that shape with that sound. However, since you're supposed to have finished RTK 1, and probably "Remembering the Kana", you already know what to do: Create mnemonics! Regarding the chapters that rely only on sample compunds, you'll found it a lot harder, and if you don't already know the compunds, you'll probably end up creating mnemonics for every single on-yomi you find difficult to remember. Thus, the main merit of this book is the orderly fashion of presenting on-yomi, not any particular memorization method.

buy this series, but not here.......2005-06-30

Remembering the Kanji is everything it's cracked up to be, if you have a decent visual imagination. I'm an artist, not a linguist, and I've enjoyed my way through a quarter of the first volume in a month. I can't wait to get to the next lesson every day. At my fairly leisurely pace, I'll be high-school literate by the end of the year. The ease and pleasure of Heisig's method put a fire beneath a long-cherished fantasy to learn to read Chinese - and opened the door to Japanese (which is what most people are looking for here) and Korean in the process.

But beware! I ordered vols. II and III, from different vendors listed here, without shopping around first. I paid a whopping 98.00 for v. III (Instant Gratification tax, and I'd read it was o.o.p. / rare), and two days later, my order for v. II, which was to cost under 30.00, was cancelled, AND EVERY OTHER VENDOR ON AMAZON JACKED UP THEIR PRICES!!! Going rate today is 117.00. Puhleeeze.

Go to Kinokuniya online, an extremely reputable Japanese bookseller with whom I've done business before. Including shipping from New York (I.G. tax again),I paid 46.00 for v. II. They have stores on the west coast, as well as in Asia.

All you need for Japanese literacy.......2005-02-15

If you're reading this review, you either (a) have not tried Heisig's method at all, and are curious about the results of the later volume(s), or (b) you're in the middle of studying the first volume, and are curious as to the benefits of the second volume (For the first volume lacks the immediate benefits of modern application). If you've already completed the first volume, you will unquestionably move on to the second volume simply because it's a natural progression of studies. Whoever finishes the first book will be move onto this book regardless of what this review says. But the likelihood of one actually finishing the first book (Not to sound pessimistic) is not very high in the first place. In fact, everybody that I've talked to (In real life, NOT through the internet or through e-mail) that started the first volume of Remembering the Kanji have not completed it. They may have gotten halfway, but it became too hard, and they fizzled out. This seems to be a common thing. So provided you can get through the very tough first volume, this is where the benefits start become pronounced. But without the first book, this book has very little meaning; so you can't skip the first book. Period.

I'd also like you to note that (At the time of writing this review) there are a total of three other reviews here. Compare this to the 30+ reviews of the first book. Why? It is because most that have purchased the first volume of RtK did not complete it. In fact, I feel that many that reviewed the first volume of RtK on this website have not truly tried to use the method, they merely comment about the underlying concept and immediate benefits (or lack thereof). I've already reviewed the first volume of RtK on this web site, so I don't need to explain how I feel about it.

This is "Volume 2" in the series; it therefore assumes that you have mastered volume 1 to a reasonable degree. Volume 1 made you connect an English keyword to some 2,000 kanji; although you could not read a single kanji, they were more fermiliar to you (And completing this course in it's entirety was a very, VERY hard task). You become somewhat similar to a Chinese person that is fermiliar with the meaning of kanji characters in their native language, and all they have to learn is a different way to pronounce them. So volume 1 sort of "levels the playing field" between you and the kanji. But it is only in volume 2 that you truly begin to "play" with the skills you've learned, and hit kanji completely out of the ballpark.

This second volume is a "Guide" rather than the first book, which was a "Course." This is because it mustn't be followed to the "t," unlike the first volume. Here, kanji are broken down into groups, many of which have a similar set of strokes that signal a certain reading (They are called "signal primates"). Although not every kanji is like this, there are quite a few, therefore making it possible to systematically learn quite a few readings. When the system of "signal primitives" cannot apply, common word compounds are used to help remember characters.

The biggest bulk of the book is devoted to learning about the ON reading (or Chinese reading of the kanji). Each frame consists of one kanji, one reading, and one compound to reinforce that one reading. Because many kanji have more than one ON reading, sometimes the same kanji will be seen on multiple frames. The KUN (Or Japanese reading) is not consistent with any rules, so there isn't much of a way to systemize the learning of it. At the end of the book Heisig presents a concept of tagging each phonetic element with an image, similar to what was done with volume 1. Combine the phonetic elements, combine the images, and come up with a memorable story or image to connect the two. Eventually you will forget the story or image you used to connect the two, and you'll just remember that such-and-such word has such-and-such meaning. I have yet to try this, but it seems to fall into place with his other kanji-learning methods.

This book builds upon the flashcards you were supposed to have made when you studied and reviewed the kanji from the first volume. There is a flashcard program called "King Kanji" (Google it) for your computer or PDA. When you download the program, flashcard files of every single Heisig kanji are included. Using their "lesson creator" feature, I am creating flashcards of the compounds introduced in this second volume. I prefer this way of creating flashcards rather than by hand. They're much easier to keep track of. (A program called "Stackz" is also good for creating and reviewing vocabulary introduced here).

What am I getting out of this book? I'm reading compounds I've never seen before, I'm seeing kanji in my head when I hear or speak a word, I'm remembering vocabulary at a very quick rate. This book (As well as the first volume) have played a vital role in my understanding of not only kanji, but the Japanese language as a whole. I no longer have to gaze and wonder about this elaborate system of writing; the ability to truly understand it is now within my grasp. Just the self-confidence and sense of accomplishment this has brought me is enough to merit me buying this book. Although I'm still working my way though this book, I've gained a degree of knowledge and ability that I would have never dreamt of. Assuming I continue to make progress like I am now, literacy is no longer a passing thought, it will be an achievement.

Learning kanji can be one of the single most difficult tasks for the Western learner of Japanese. With this book (Along with the first volume), this doesn't have to be the case. If you wish to be literate in Japanese, all you need is right here. No, this is not some magical tool that will make you literate in a week; your progress will depend entirely on how much work you put into it (See my review for book 1).

Quite simply, Heisig found the door to Japanese literacy. All you have to do is be determined enough to open it.

So easy!.......2002-07-23

I have been living in Japan for almost three years now, and for two and a half of those years I tried to learn Kanji the usual way- that is, the same way Japanese do; write the character on a word card and the on and the kun readings, as well as the english meaning, on the other side. Impossible. So a friend of mine recommended the first book of Heisig's and I'm flying through them. I can't wait to finish it so I can buy this book. Living in Japan makes it easier, I'm sure, because I'm surrounded by the things. I just can't forget them!

Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters

Average customer rating:

Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters
Kenneth Henshall
Manufacturer: TUTTLE PUBLISHING +
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000SNNGDM

A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters

Average customer rating:

A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters
Kenneth G. Henshall
Manufacturer: Charles E. Tuttle Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000WZ2VPK

The Stone That the Builder Refused: A Novel
Average customer rating:

a depressing conclusion to an excellent story

A Truly Great Series Of Historical Novels.

The Stone That the Builder Refused: A Novel
Madison Smartt Bell
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Bell, Madison Smartt | ( B ) | Authors, A-Z | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Master of the Crossroads

All Souls' Rising

Toussaint Louverture: A Biography

Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution

Getting Haiti Right This Time: The U.S. and the Coup (Read and Resist)

ASIN: 037542282X
Release Date: 2004-11-09

Book Description

The Stone that the Builder Refused is the final volume of Madison Smartt Bell’s masterful trilogy about the Haitian Revolution–the first successful slave revolution in history–which begins with All Souls' Rising (a finalist for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award) and continues with Master of the Crossroads. Each of these three novels can be read independently of the two others; of the trilogy, The Baltimore Sun has said, “[It] will make an indelible mark on literary history–one worthy of occupying the same shelf as Tolstoy’s War and Peace.”

Customer Reviews:

a depressing conclusion to an excellent story.......2005-01-03

I had read the first 2 books of this trilogy and looked forward to the third with a great deal of anticipation. After a hundred pages, however, I felt a sinking sensation as I realized that this story could not possibly have a happy ending. Bell had done such an excellent job realizing his characters that I felt deeply involved in their lives. After the horrendous atrocities of slavery and the slave revolts and subsequent battles, it seemed that the island was finally at some sort of peace.
But what a price! Then as the French arrived to re-assert their primacy and General Louveture succumbs to hubris the precarious peace falls apart and the bloodshed begins again with blacks against whites.
This last book completes the trilogy and tells a story that few of us know anything about. Haiti is a huge mystery to me and these books helped me understand a little why this country is the way it is. The legacy of slavery and the battles that were required to end it as well as the enduring suspicians between white and black are lessons for all of us even at this time (maybe particularly at this time).

A Truly Great Series Of Historical Novels........2004-12-22

The three novels in this series are the best historical novels I have ever read. They deal with a horrifying event, the slave rebellion in Haiti. Bell does not flinch from the horrors the contending groups and individuals inflicted on each other. The historical background is well covered in the plot and appendix. Written by a master novelist. Bell also covers fascinating subjects like the Voodoo mythos that still exists in Haiti today. Reading this novel, one begins to understand the chaos of Haiti today. A country born in this much bloodshed and hatred is destined for more. In terms of gallons of blood spilled, our own revolution was a mere skirmish.

If you are at all interested in Haiti, race, relations, history, or just reading a good story, you should read this and the other two novels in the series, All Souls Rising and The Master Of The Crossroads.

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