Book Description
Plymouth, July 1801: Richard Bolitho's small squadron, still repairing the scars of battle earned in heavy action at Copenhagen, has been months away from the sea. After eight years of war with France, Britain must make a gesture that will show strength and determination—and one which will dramatically weaken the French cause. Rear-Admiral Bolitho must follow his flag's tradition of victory, even though—for the first time in his life—he is torn between the demands of public duty and personal need.
Customer Reviews:
In action -- again!.......2007-06-30
Peace talks between France and England are reputedly underway. As with any negotiation, each side wants to have a stronger hand to get the most out of the final agreement. In this case, in 1801, Napoleon's France is building a massive invasion fleet intending that to be its ace in the hole during the negotiations. On the British side, there is a debate on what to do? With everyone tired of the war that has stretched for eight long years, maybe it is time to agree to peace terms, and if Napoleon gets a bit more, so what. On the other hand, there are people who believe that Great Britain needs to be able to get out of the war with their heads held high to justify the enormous sacrifices that were made.
On the latter side of that debate is Admiral Beauchamp but time is running short. So, he naturally commands Rear Admiral Richard Bolitho and his squadron to go to the shore of France and destroy as much of the invasion fleet as he can. Even though Bolitho has only just come back from the battle of Copenhagen, and his heart is more concerned with the beautiful Belinda than the navy, the tradition of service insists and off he goes to patrol the Bay of Biscay.
As usual with Bolitho stories, the Rear Admiral is not content to sit in his ship's great cabin plotting out strategy and watching his youngers execute it. Instead, Bolitho moves to a frigate which engages in one shore raid; is wrecked and washes ashore in France; is captured as a prisoner of war; gets shipped by the French to a different prison and is released by a different frigate from his squadron; and ultimately decides to fight a battle in one ship against five French ships of the line. Of course he also manages to destroy the invasion fleet thereby fulfilling his country's needs; gets the support of his complete command even though he does not know most of them; has Herrick support him in all kinds of crazy situations; and wins the heart and soul of Belinda.
In other words, a normal Bolitho story. This one was better than some of the more recent ones because the author focused again on the military tactics and naval engagements and let go of the romantic storyline that took up so much of the previous novel. There are too many coincidences as usual and the normal cast of characters is always there. Yes, Herrick, Allday, Pasco, Inch, Keane and more are present as is a ship from the past: the Phalarope returns to service and is attached to Bolitho's squadron. Adam Pascoe is assigned to it and many memories are rekindled during the book.
The story is competently told and the believability of the scenario is there. There is no need to hide Bolitho in the shadows of the bigger events or in support of Lord Nelson as the story is of a small and unimportant series of events in historical terms, yet clearly important to the people involved. If you are a Bolitho fan, you will enjoy this book!
A Tradition of Victory.......2007-01-19
Book #14 in this extensive series is no less filled with the excitement and drama of ficticious naval history. Alexander Kent pulls no punches when it comes to the not-so-romantic life at sea of the 1700-1800's.
A must read for Bolitho fans. And the genius of Kent allows a reader to pick up any of the Bolitho series and read it as an individual book of interest. But be sure to read the entire series starting with book one.
A Tradition of Victory - Alexander Kent.......2006-03-11
Wonderful sea adventure. The entire series is very entertaining. It is so realistic that I felt I was back in the days of sailing ships. I have now read 22 of the 26 books in the series and each is delightful. The romantic scenes are very tenderly done and the pictures of life on the old sailing war vessels is great. It compares favorably with Patrick O'Brian's books.
Equality Dick wins again.......2002-02-14
Kent has promoted Richard Bolitho an admiral earlier in the full series than do most other authors of nautical fiction, and with 14 long years to go before Bonaparte's defeat. Frigate captains have all the "fun," while admirals are involved in remote command decisions for masses of big slow ships. So how does Kent keep Bolitho busy and his readers excited? Will we see more of his nephew, Pascoe, already a first lieutenant? As a new rear-admiral in Book 13, Bolitho precipitously jumped aboard a frigate for a pursuit. Here Kent makes it so that nothing of Bolitho's squadron, after its pummeling in the Baltic, is initially available for the Biscay blockade BUT frigates! (And after the usual complaining about the perennial scarcity of frigates.) Once on station everyone is upset about the reappearance of the ancient Phalarope, Bolitho's first command long ago, and now with his nephew aboard as well. I was never clear just why its presence is so ghastly; nothing bad seems to happen. The fact her captain is a suspected coward is a separate theme made much of at first—Bolitho and his loyal Acting-Commodore Herrick almost fall out over dealing with him—but then peters out in late scenes.
The story features two battles, the failed first setting up the sacrificial second, separated by soulful anxiety over the unreliable captain and the beloveds of several captains. Bolitho's squadron is racing to complete a secretive mission on which the Admiralty in general seems to frown, adding to the general malaise. One point of interest is to compare Bolitho's admiral's perspective on coastal and shore battles with the similar attack enthusiastically made by a junior Horatio Hornblower. Since we don't actually get to hear the Admiralty's final orders, it's unclear whether Bolitho actually ignores them? Another aspect of the novel is the parallelism established between Bolitho and his opposite number, a wiley French admiral. The French want to move an invasion fleet into the Channel and Bolitho wants to prevent that. Each has a parallel problem to solve, namely the presence of the other with an equal squadron.
Maybe I've been reading this series too rapidly, for I didn't enjoy this voyage as much as most. As Bolitho has aged, approaching 50, he seems to be more concerned with positive personal and family relations. Bolitho is now regularly torn between duty and desire, his mind often wandering to insecure thoughts of his Belinda and home. I found the good times comradery and pining for loved ones among old series friends repetitive and rather tiresome (if not also unrealistic, and as if they have their own private and ongoing war). He, or the people around him, have become more explicit about his hero status equivalent to Lord Nelson's, and Kent makes more of Bolitho hero worship as a plot element. Destroying 300 boats with just a few broadsides, as Kent alludes in one battle, is quite fantastical, or an editorial error. Although much is made of the significance of the secret French semaphore system, and the importance of breaking it, actually so doing has no tactical effect on attacking French boats or encountering the French squadron. As usual, there's no map.
Tough Going for Bolitho in the Bay of Biscay........2000-12-14
. In the months before the Peace of Amiens provides a short breathing space, Richard Bolitho takes command of a blockading squadron off the Loire Estuary and, as always, is soon in the thick of action, launching attacks on French harbours and shipping. Napoleonic information technology, in the form of land-based semaphore signalling, provides a significant complication and Bolitho not only loses a ship, and a friend, but falls prisoner to the enemy. At this point one feared a repeat of the plot of Forrester's classic "Flying Colours" but Kent knows better and provides a satisfyingly different twist. The story is full of the usual action and accurate period detail. As with all the Bolitho books, much pleasure is also provided by the steady development of the other familiar characters such as Herrick, Allday, Pascoe and Inch. Now in his mid-forties, Bolitho has aged convincingly through the series and the relationships between himself and his long-time friends are depicted with considerable realism and charm. Another thoroughly enjoyable read for aficionados.
Book Description
As the Roman empire declined and 'fell', contemporary glorification of the emperor's triumphal rulership reached new heights, strewing traces of the empire's perennial victory across the physical and mental landscape of late antiquity. In this, the first comprehensive study of how a great imperial ceremony actually developed and how it influenced both the eastern and western heirs to the Roman legacy, the Roman triumph's resurgence and afterlife is documented from the Tetrarchy down to the end of the Macedonian dynasty in Byzantium and down to Charlemagne's successors in the early medieval West. This perspective shows that celebrations of the ruler's victory experienced unceasing change in ritual form and content and that these changes mirrored broader trends in the development of society and the monarchy. At the same time, it casts new light on the late Roman origins of the trappings of early medieval kingship. Far from the imperial capital, the cult of triumphal rulership permeated local elites, as commanders in the provinces imitated the supreme victor by staging triumphs of their own, and the new Germanic kings followed suit. Classicists, medievalists, Byzantinists, specialists of art and ritual will find here new data and approaches to a central problem in the transformation of the Roman empire which culminated in the new civilization of Byzantium and the Germanic Kingdoms.
Customer Reviews:
Another Enjoyable Neels Story........2006-11-29
Book Description: Amelia and Tom had been engaged a long time -- too long! She was beginning to worry about why he was so reluctant to set a date. So when her father first suggested that the three of them should have a holiday in Norway, Amelia thought that in such relaxed surroundings she and Tom would finally be able to settle their future. Instead, Amelia found Gideon van der Tolck often at her side, and his company became increasingly appealing....
Another enjoyable Neels story. At times I found Amelia irritating and did not find her as kind or as selfless as may of Neels' heroines. Gideon was very patient and giving, far more then many would have been. Will she remain "frosty" or will she "thaw" before it's too late?
Average customer rating:
- A Christmas Carol In July
- A Great Read!
- Involving and Insightful
- "The Silver Thaw "
- Exceptional Book
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The Silver Thaw
Thomas Saint McReynolds
Manufacturer: iUniverse, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 059541821X |
Book Description
A manager for a mega corporation, Ready Smith is at a crossroads. One year ago, his wife, Arzz, left him after twenty-four years of marriage. Following twelve months of denial, he realizes that he feels numb to everything around him. Now, Ready is desperate to make amends and reconnect with Arzz and his two adult children. But is it too late?
Ready is about to learn the true nature of forgiveness and redemption as he undertakes his formidable quest for reconciliation. He finds a kindred spirit in Hillary Bush, an African-American woman he barely knows, but with whom he shares a particular bond. There are parallels in their lives that transcend coincidence, and Ready learns that she has known more than her share of personal tragedy. Ultimately, the strength she displays in the face of her suffering gives Ready the courage to go on when he finds himself in the "silver thaw" of his own life.
Customer Reviews:
A Christmas Carol In July.......2007-05-22
I enjoyed "The Silver Thaw" as much as any novel that I have ever read. It took me on an emotional roller coaster as I experienced just about every human emotion possible in reading it. I would describe it as a modern day "Christmas Carol" in July. Thomas Saint McReynolds prose is as beautiful as Dicken's and his story is equally impressive. By the time I was a few chapters into it I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. It was unpredictable and not a simple formula story.
A Great Read!.......2007-03-30
At 45 Ready Smith finds himself to be just another cog in the corporate machine grinding out profits for the soulless elite. Feeling disconnected and numb, as if every nerve in his body has been given a double shot of Novacain, Ready begins to realize he's lost everything in his life that had any meaning. Fate intervenes and starts a series of events that trigger Ready to attempt to reconnect with the life he's been absent from.
Set in the Pacific Northwest and drawing deeply from contemporary culture and current events, there was a lot for myself as a reader to identify with. McReynolds gives us an intriguing peek inside the mind of a man trying to find himself. I look forward to seeing more from this author.
Involving and Insightful .......2007-03-16
"The Silver Thaw" by Thomas Saint McReynolds is not only entertaining and emotionally involving, but as far as I'm concerned it's one of the most important works of fiction I've come across in recent memory. Why? Because with this story McReynolds is holding a mirror up to today's society, and what is reflected there is an accurate, if not altogether pleasant, image of who we are and where we are in America today.
Like everyone else in the country (I would hope), I was outraged by the whole Enron scandal, and McReynolds seems to draw upon the outrage of a nation by going behind the scenes, as it were, to illustrate the soullessness that is Corporate America in the 21st Century. The main character, Ready Smith, is a man who gets so caught up in his career with "EnTrustCo," the huge corporation he works for, that he neglects his wife and family to the point that he ends up losing them.
As the story begins, Ready's wife, Arzz, has been gone for nearly a year, having left him abruptly one day after more than twenty years of marriage. It finally hits Ready when he wakes up one day and realizes that he doesn't care about anything anymore. In fact, he can't "feel" anything, and starts to wonder if he's losing his humanity. He wonders at one point if this is what it feels like to be "comfortably numb," as he remembers Pink Floyd said in one of their songs.
As the story progresses, you really get to know Ready Smith- what he's thinking and what he's going through emotionally as he tries to turn his life around. McReynolds has a way of making you feel Ready's exasperation and frustration as he hits one roadblock after another, and that's one of the things that makes this such a good read; this isn't a fairy-tale, happily-ever-after story, but one that shows how real life more often than not plays out.
At first, I didn't know what to think of Ready Smith, whether or not I was even going to like him. But this is a complex character- like people are in real life- and after a few chapters I began to strongly identify with him, I think because of the "humanity" within him that ultimately is revealed, and once you begin to see the contrast between who Ready is and those he's been working for, Ready emerges as a truly sympathetic character. On the other side of the coin, McReynolds gives you a good look at what makes a businessman like EnTrustCo CEO Franklin Forbes Bedlam tick and what motivates him, which can be summed up in two words: money and power.
McReynolds infuses his story with a lot of heart, and the relationships that are examined between Ready and Hillary (a woman he hires as his secretary), and between Ready and his children, Summer Rain and Michelangelo Vincent, are by turns touching and heartbreaking. This is all serious stuff, of course, but McReynolds also laces his story with just enough humor to give the reader an emotional break from time to time.
More than the story itself, the imaginative and stylistic approach McReynolds uses in the telling of it makes it an even more rewarding experience. At times he uses a stream-of-consciousness technique that threw me at first, but once I realized what he was doing it was like a door into Ready's thoughts had opened up, which provided the kind of insights that really helped flesh out Ready, as well as the other characters. After a certain point, I couldn't wait to find out how Ready's travails were going to be resolved, while at the same time, this was one of those books I didn't want to see end, I think because it touched upon the whole spectrum of the experience we call life- love, sadness, hope, despair, what we want and what we need, it's all here. I can't think of another book, in fact, that's affected me this way since "Angela's Ashes," by Frank McCourt.
"The Silver Thaw " .......2007-03-04
The Silver Thaw, written by the talented Thomas Saint McReynolds, is a work of art. McReynolds not only captures the quintessential elements of how corportate greed effects the "human" side of the corporate world, but also the negative trickle effect it can have on one's family. Follow along as Ready Smith, the main character, finds himself single after twenty four years of marrige, and starts questioning what he's become. McReynolds' writing offers stunning detail and refreshing honesty that brings the story alive. It is an important book to read, especially now, given the fact that Americans are living in the shadow of big corporations and not realizing just how that is impacting our everyday lives.
Exceptional Book.......2007-03-04
This book by Thomas Saint McReynolds is an extraordinary commentary on contemporary society. It's about a man named Ready Able Smith, who without realizing what he was doing, sacrificed everything over the years that really meant anything to him, all for the sake of a "career." Finally, at the age of 45, he wakes up to the fact that his wife is gone (she left him after 24 years of marriage) and his two children, now adults, want nothing to do with him. "The Silver Thaw" is the story of how Ready Smith goes about trying to put his life back together.
The corporation Ready works for is EnTrustCo, reminiscent of Enron, which McReynolds must have had in mind when he wrote this, and it works so well. EnTrustCo is huge, with fingers in all kinds of pies (which McReynolds points out in an especially memorable chapter), and if you've ever worked in Corporate America, or known anyone who has, you'll know someone just like Ready Smith. I certainly do, which is one of the things that made this story so compelling for me. It's an emotional journey (at one point I actually had to stop reading because I was crying so hard) that really makes you stop and think about the things that really matter in life.
McReynolds knows human nature and puts that knowledge between the covers of this book as well as any author I've ever read, right up there with Dostoevsky and Virginia Woolf. This is an introspective character study, and McReynolds has a way of getting the reader inside the head of his protagonist, which is a rare talent, and he writes with a kind of rhythm that sweeps the reader along from one page to the next.
This is one of the best books I've read in a long time, 5 stars just isn't enough.
Average customer rating:
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The Silver Thaw
Betty Neels
Manufacturer: Harlequin Mills and Boon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0733513085 |
Average customer rating:
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The Silver Thaw
Betty Neels
Manufacturer: Harlequin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OOF110 |
Average customer rating:
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THE SILVER THAW - HR2386
Manufacturer: Harlequin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000HQZVEW |
Average customer rating:
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Silver Thaw and Selected Stories
Ron Johnson
Manufacturer: Salvo Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1930486553 |
Customer Reviews:
A Notable Novella.......2006-11-09
Ron Johnson's Silver Thaw and Selected Stories is a satisfying and engaging read. The title novella is written in crisp, tight prose that moves the story along effortlessly, although one can well imagine how the author labored over each word to make the words flow smoothly. The short tale is rich in questions about morality and sexuality, exploring the breakdown of barriers and loss of innocence in the 1960s during the Vietnam era. The narrator, Art, falls in love, marries and tries to understand and define his role as father and husband against the outside forces of free sex in the world, yet one feels the story is more about his trying to make sense out of the relationship between his and his wife's friends, Honey and Jess. Honey comes from a dysfunctional home, and Jess, upon first meeting Art, tells him he wishes to become an assassin. From that alarming statement, the novella keeps the reader turning the pages, never disappointing, yet never becoming sensational to the point of the ridiculous. The book is a deeply thought-out and concise portrait of two relationships, and how two couples can live so very differently, despite the friendship between them.
The accompanying "Selected Stories" are also very concise and satisfying. In particular, most of them contain similar characters, and while each stands by itself, after reading the group of them, one feels a connection between them, almost as if one had just read a second novella, for they build on each other much like Hemingway's Nick stories. They create a realistic and moving portrait of a working class family struggling to survive through difficult times, yet with a resolve to carry on through whatever they may face. There is some intense character insight, especially in the mother in "Women's Work". One only wishes there were more stories about the family--but perhaps they are yet to come from Ron Johnson's mature and capable pen.
- Tyler R. Tichelaar, author of Iron Pioneers and The Queen City, available on Amazon
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Patternmaster
Octavia E. Butler
Manufacturer: Aspect
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Butler, Octavia E.
| ( B )
| Authors, A-Z
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
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| Books
Fantasy
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
| Alternate History
| Anthologies
| Arthurian
| Contemporary
| Epic
| General
| Historical
| History & Criticism
| Magic & Wizards
| Series
General
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
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Butler, Octavia E.
| African American
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
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ASIN: 0446362816 |
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Patternmaster
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000F3RHVC |
Product Description
The book centers on a rigidly stratified society ruled by telepathic people called Patternists. It became the first installment in her highly regarded Patternist series, whose later titles, include Mind of My Mind (1977); Survivor (1978); Wild Seed (1980); and Clays Ark (1984).
Amazon.com
One of the foremost scholars on Gnosticism now explores the fascinating and often misinterpreted woman known as Mary Magdalene. Following the recent whirl of interest in Mary Magdalene that was generated by The Da Vinci Code, Marvin Meyer (The Ancient Mysteries) delves into the earliest texts available to reveal a disciple of great spiritual maturity who was extremely influential in the survival of Christianity. Although he is doubtful of the grand conspiracies laid out in The Da Vinci Code, Meyers does believe that it was institutionalized sexism that caused Mary to be deliberately "marginalized" as a prostitute in the New Testament. "The portrait of Mary in literature and art as a reformed whore is impressive, but it is mistaken in terms of historical accuracy and literary interpretation," he asserts. "…It was not until the late sixth century that Po! pe Gregory the Great formally identified Mary Magdalene with the prostitute of Luke 7, and the identification stuck." In fact, Meyer claims that there is no convincing documentation to link Mary with the unnamed prostitute who washes Jesus' feet with her tears. Using his scholarly authority as well as extensive research supplied by Esther A. De Boer, Ph.D. (Mary Magdalene: Beyond the Myth), he helps Mary emerge from the shadows of Orthodox Church and gain her rightful place as the highly influential disciple and apostle of Jesus. He believes that Mary had a physical love relationship with Jesus, and was probably the mysterious "beloved" disciple that is mentioned in the Gospel of John. Furthermore, he believes that Jesus may have seen Mary as the most spiritually evolved disciple. Much of the book includes quotes and interpretations of the earliest literary sources available, including the recently discovered Gospel of Mary (written in the second century), as well as the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke, John, Peter, Thomas, and Phillip. --Gail Hudson
Book Description
Collected together for the first time are the original Gospel of Mary, one of the "Gnostic Gospels," and three other secret texts that reveal the significant role Mary Magdalene played in Jesus' inner circle of disciples.
This is a new translation of the Gospel of Mary, as well as Meyer's translations of significant portions of other Gnostic gospels and texts in which Mary Magdalene plays a major part, including the Gospel of Philip, the Gospel of Thomas, Dialogues with the Saviour, and Pistis Sophia. Also included are the passages in the New Testament Gospels that feature Mary Magdalene, and they can now be read in a whole new light. Cumulatively, these texts reveal a vibrant oral tradition in which Mary Magdalene is not only a follower of Jesus but his companion and closest disciple.
The book will include lively historical introduction by Meyer, and an interpretive essay by Karen King at Harvard Divinity School, the foremost expert on the Gospel of Mary, whose translation and commentary on the Gospel of Mary is being published by an academic press in October '03.
Customer Reviews:
The Gospels of Mary.......2007-08-09
A rivetting read. Confirms what I have always believed - women do have a role to play in the church other than arranging flowers, or providing morning tea.
Scholarship imitates (bad) art. .......2006-06-16
The idea of putting together all the texts for the Mary Magdalene tradition is an interesting one; if you're really interested in that subject, you might find this book worth your time and money.
I am, however, losing patience with the misdirection and disingenuity of the growing "Gnostic Gospel" racket. Dan Brown is rightly criticized, as a novelist, for playng fast and loose with history; as a scholar, Meyer ought to care primarily about historical fact, which is more remarkable in this case than the fantasies. But he shows a soft spot for the merely sensational.
Meyer introduces his texts as follows: "This book presents English translations of the earliest and most reliable texts that shed light on this remarkable woman and the literary traditions about her." In fact, only the canonical Gospels (some would add parts of Thomas) have any claim to telling us about the woman; the rest are about the tradition - as Meyer and every serious scholar knows. (Like Karen King, whose parallel book on Mary plays similar, but less blatant linguistic games.) But unlike King, Meyer allows his readers to glide through the entire text of his book without once honestly marking the line between history and legend.
Meyer does draw a line between canonical and extra-canonical works: "Within these texts Mary Magdelene plays a leading role, but often, particularly in the New Testament, the centrality of her role may be obscured by the interests of the authors of the Gospels, who advance the cause of the male disciples (especially the Twelve) and the place of Peter." So it seems the NT texts "obscure" the truth about Mary for political gain, while the latter are more willing to give her a fair shake.
What could it possibly mean to say the Gospels "obscure" a "fact" that would not be invented for decades, or centuries, after they were written? Did they have time machines with which they went forward a century, read the Gnostic texts, and returned to the 1st Century to deconstruct them?
Meyer repeatedly commits such gross anachronism (first among deadly sins for historians). His eye for detecting "spin" is selective: he finds it in the canonical Gospels, but not in the "Gospel" of Mary. But in the Gospels, the followers of Jesus are shown in all their flaws, none more fully than Peter. In Mary, by sharp contrast, the favored disciple is presented (as King put it) as a "model disciple," while Peter, her orthodox foil, is intentionally undermined. So Meyer detects manipulation in texts that describe the "pillars of the church" in all their perversity, pigheadedness, and lack of understanding. But he sees none in later texts that present heroes and villains in bright, shiny white and black hats, nary a flaw in the one, hardly a virtue in the other!
I have no reason to doubt Meyer's competence as a translator, and the texts themselves can be interesting. (Though most are readily available elsewhere.) The "Manichean Psalms of Heracleides" was most interesting to me, partly because I had never read it before, but also because it is a nice poem about Mary at the resurrection of Jesus. Philip, Thomas, Mary, the Dialogue of the Savior and Pistis Sophia are full of metaphysics, but fortunately in small doses. The final essay by De Boer is a lot better than I expected; actually a rather balanced discussion of how both Gnostic and orthodox texts treat women, sometimes with some misogeny, but better than the norm for the times. The reason I expected worse is because earlier, Meyer repeats the ludicrous argument De Boer made elsewhere that the "beloved disciple" was Mary M. John obscured the fact, and then, after 2000 years of misunderstanding, De Boer finally figured out the truth. I am always amazed when a scholar calls the author of a Gospel a liar, then feigns to "read between the lines" of his work and tell us "what really happened." This seems particularly unfair in the case of John, accused by Elaine Pagels of undermining Thomas in a similar way, since in fact John treated male disciples much more roughly than the ladies, and gave us a picture of everyone far more rounded and realistic than any of the Gnostic texts.
All in all, this has the feel of a book Harper & Row hopes for a healthy return on a small investment of capital, time, character, or cottonwood fiber.
author, Why the Jesus Seminar can't find Jesus, and Grandma Marshall Could
Will the real Mary please stand up?.......2005-09-22
Anyone who has heard of the Da Vinci Code (which is, by now, much of the world) will likely also know that the central idea is that Mary Magdalene was a rather different person in actual life than the person portrayed in church tradition and the gospel extrapolations.
Indeed, as has become better known in the past generation, there were many more gospels floating around the early Christian world than the canonical four (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), most of which were lost to the world through various processes. Among the stronger early traditions that later got branded as heretical was the Gnostic tradition, and in this community, Mary Magdalene had a place of honour.
Drawing from the four canonical gospels, as well as writings such as the Gospel of Peter (in fragmentary form), the Gospel of Thomas (a collection of sayings), the Gospel of Philip, the Pistis Sophia and other texts including the Gospel of Mary, Marvin Meyer presents a new look at the importance of Mary Magdalene as being one of the most important figures in early Christianity. The Eastern church has preserved her memory of prominence, often referring to her as the Apostle to the Apostles, the first to announce the resurrection and the first to witness the risen Christ. These recollections are preserved in the canonical witness.
The Gospel of Mary exists in a fragmentary form among the Nag Hammadi documents, discovered in 1947. Many pages are missing, including the beginning, middle and ending. However, the character of Mary is highlighted in many gospels; Meyer selects texts throughout the various gospels to show an extensive interaction between Jesus and Mary, the other disciples and Mary, and Mary's own prominence as a witness to the outside world.
This text presents a more realistic way of viewing the character of Mary Magdalene than sources such as Da Vinci Code/Holy Blood, Holy Grail/Woman with the Alabaster Jar present. According to Meyer, 'the sources about Mary Magdalene published here may not be as flamboyant as some of these later legends, but they are more trustworthy as witnesses to the figure of Mary and literary traditions about Mary.' Indeed, Meyer speculates that Mary might not have been only 'a' beloved disciple, but perhaps 'the' beloved disciple referred to not by name but by relationship in the canonical gospels.
This is a short text, consisting mostly of Meyer's own translations of the primary documents; Meyer's commentary is kept to a minimum, useful in its way, but he permits the texts to speak for themselves. He gives a useful index and helpful scholarly notes.
This book will be of special interest for those who want to dig deeper into the realities underpinning modern novels and explorations about the subject, and of general interest to those who want to see the diversity in Christian belief, practice and writing in the earlies centuries.
The Beloved Disciple........2004-05-05
Since the discovery of The Gospel of Mary in the late nineteenth century in Egypt and the Nag Hammadi texts in 1947, the figure of Mary Magdalene has gained prominence in religious scholarly circles as well as popular culture.
The first to bring Mary Magdalene to a wider audience was Elaine Pagels' groundbreaking text, The Gnostic Gospels. Though, interestingly, it was the popular thriller by Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code, that really caught the imagination of a wide readership, sparking many texts, both scholarly and otherwise, to be published.
Marvin Meyer, editor of the Gospel of Thomas, has written and compiled in this text a selection of extracanonical literature, including the New Testament Gospels, revealing the central role of Mary Magdalene in the formation and history of Christianity. However, Meyer points out, that, The New Testament obscured the importance of Magdalene's role through the interest of the author's who..."advanced the cause of the male disciples (especially the Twelve) and the place of Peter." (iiv) There is no doubt that Mary Magdalene, after reading this brief though informative selection of texts, was the beloved disciple to Jesus, and for many reasons, culturally, politically or otherwise, her importance was suppressed, and only now, over two thousand years after the birth of Christianity, has her central role as apostle and teacher, is gaining prominence once again.
Meyer's has compiled a selection of Christian literature, including segments of the New Testament, Mark, Matthew, Luke and John, The Gospel of Mary, Thomas, Phillip, The Dialogue of the Savoir, excerpts from the Gnostic text, Pistis Sophia and segments from The Manichaean Psalms of Heracleides, that all mention Mary Magdalene in one context or another, emphasising her close relationship with Jesus and her pivotal role in Christs crucifixion and resurrection.
Close examination of the numerous non-canonical texts along with the New Testament, to my mind, will only strengthen one's belief and spiritual insights into the divine. There are many reasons why the figure of Mary Magdalene has been marginalized from the "official" church, however, her emergence as the beloved companion to Jesus in our modern times from the "shadows of history", can only nurture our spiritual natures, guiding us on our personal journeys.
This book is a short though quality addition to Christian literary scholarship.
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