The Day of the Jackal

Book Description

The Jackal. A tall, blond Englishman with opaque, gray eyes. A killer at the top of his profession. A man unknown to any secret service in the world. An assassin with a contract to kill the world's most heavily guarded man.

One man with a rifle who can change the course of history. One man whose mission is so secretive not even his employers know his name. And as the minutes count down to the final act of execution, it seems that there is no power on earth that can stop the Jackal.

Customer Reviews:

A killer ending........2007-08-06

I usually don't describe books as something "I couldn't put down" but this is an exception. "The Day of The Jackal" is a page-turning thriller from start to finish.
Frederick Forsyth puts his keen newsman's eye and pen to describing the intracacies and frustrations of police work. The author builds the French assassination plot/worldwide manhunt into a crescendo before making one final U-turn that leaves you knowing there was more to the story.
I could write a book about the ending itself but I'll resist doing that here so as not to spoil things for those who haven't read the book.
I'm tempted to look for answers in "The Odessa File" (Forsyth's other famous novel) since Odessa (a post-World War II Nazi SS diaspora society) is mentioned in "Jackal." Yet the Detective Lebel in me suspects that most of the answers are tucked inside the taut sentences of "The Day of the Jackal."

Forsyth at full force.......2007-08-02

After many failed attempts to assassinate Charles de Gaulle by the local French militant organization, an outside professional (the Jackal) is hired. The way in which Forsyth puts together a story, it has us even rooting for the assassins.

Forsyth's observant mind is at full force: with detailed detective work and the assassin's planning stages. Wonderful visualization and knowledge of the French culture and architecture. My only gripe is the French dialect slows down the reading pace. This is a complete and well thought out novel.

Wish you well
Scott

Quite simply, the best thriller ever written.......2007-01-28

This was unfortunate for Freddie Forsyth, because he was never able to match it. But then, neither was anyone else. Set in the aftermath of the Algerian crisis in the early 1960s in which an entire Foreign Legion paratroop regiment mutinied and formed the OAS (Secret Army Organisation), there was an attempt on the life of French President Charles de Gaulle and France trembled on the edge of civil war, the story is meticulously put together and excitingly told, with a bit of repetition of language (Mr. Forsyth seems to like trains; several times he described the demolition of someone's expectations or his person as if hit by a train). The Jackal, hired by the OAS to assassinate De Gaulle, is a cold-blooded killer who's in it purely for the money, yet curiously you find yourself rooting just a little for him. And you KNOW that Charles de Gaulle died in his bed in Colombey Les Deux Églises in 1969, so the Jackal can't possibly succeed, yet the book keeps you reading right to the end - and the O. Henry-type twist that has become somewhat of a Forsyth trademark. By the way, most of the French politicians mentioned were real people in De Gaulle's government.

All in all, a brilliantly-conceived and -presented thriller. I have yet to find a better one. (For what it's worth, Fred Zinneman's film of the novel, with Edward Fox as the Jackal, is also excellent. Avoid like the plague the appalling US remake starring Bruce Willis).

The International Man of Mystery.......2007-01-23

The Day of the Jackal, by Frederic Forsyth

This fast-paced 1971 novel is based in part on the actual events that occurred in 1960s France. The revolt in 1954 Algeria created troubles that brought Charles De Gaulle to power in 1958. The French army put an end to the revolt in Algeria, but the expenses resulted in a peace settlement and an independent Algeria. France lost one of its oldest and closest colonies. Elements in France and Algeria blamed De Gaulle for this political decision. They formed the Secret Army Organization (OAS), and decided to remove De Gaulle from power. Chapter One tells about the 1962 assassination attempt. The French Secret Services soon put an end to the OAS. This book imagines another plot by the OAS to assassinate De Gaulle, and story develops this idea to its logical conclusion.

Since all the supporters of the OAS were known to the French Secret Services they decided to find a foreigner who was unknown and could travel freely in France to do the job. The only way to keep this plan secret is to let only a few know of the plans. This hired assassin will not be cheap. The Englishman explains why a professional is superior to an amateur. June and July 1963 saw a huge amount of armed robberies in France. Any Belgian can buy a pistol or rifle at any sports or gun shop. Brussels had a long tradition of forging official documents. The Jackal sought a sniper's location on the sixth floor near the plaza where De Gaulle would visit on August 25, the anniversary of the Liberation of Paris in 1944. A fire escape would allow an escape. Preparations for his disguises continued. We learn that industrialists and bankers would put up the cash to pay for the assassination. The book tells what a mercury-filled bullet would do: explode on contact.

The French Secret Service captured and questioned a guard for the OAS; Victor talked. Colonel Rolland figured out the plot and warned his superiors. De Gaulle orders no publicity; the search for the Jackal would be kept secret. They will use the best detective in Paris, Charles Lebel. Lebel knows that slow, precise, methodical investigation solves crimes. The OAS has planted a spy close to a high-level Minister who learns about the plans and sends a warning to her contact. But the OAS high-command cannot recall the operation. The Jackal receives this warning but decided to continue the operation. The police continues the search but the Jackal seems to be forewarned and escapes their traps. The French police appear to be closing in on their target. The Jackal knows all the tricks to disappear in a Paris where the police searched high and low. Organized crime was also looking for this individual, but neither had success. Lebel figures out that August 25 is a major holiday. President De Gaulle will appear in public places during the day. That is when the Jackal will strike and then make his getaway. Detective Lebel goes around questioning the gendarmes on crowd control. One tells of letting an old one-legged man pass. Level know this is his man, and they race to the top floor. Lebel gets to personally say goodbye to the Jackal. [Would this detective be on the job unarmed?]

This is an interesting story in itself. It has eerie parallels to the events of November 22, 1963 in Dallas. A hired assassin will always use a rifle to he can escape while the police are trying to figure out where the shot came from. This story glides over the implausibilities. What if the gendarme on crowd control refused to let the old one-legged veteran pass?

Still a classic.......2006-11-10

...but I do not remember it being as slow the last time I read it as it was for me this time. Maybe it has more to do with my difficulties pronouncing all of the incredibly long french names and words.

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The Day of the Jackal

Manufacturer: Hutchinson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Similar Items:

The Dogs of War
The Negotiator
The Fourth Protocol
The Devil's Alternative
The Odessa File

ASIN: B000CNLKTU

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The Day of the Jackal

Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Speak
The Day of the Jackal

ASIN: B000GSQF1Y

Lewis & Clark: Explorers of Far West, Tattercoats, Singh Rahah & Cunning Lil Jackals, Middle Bear, Chips, Picnic Basket, Windy Wash Day & Other Poems, Go Fly a Kite, Salt Water Zoo, Cornelia's Jewels, Three Seeds, Let's Go to Iceland & Greenland

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Lewis & Clark: Explorers of Far West, Tattercoats, Singh Rahah & Cunning Lil Jackals, Middle Bear, Chips, Picnic Basket, Windy Wash Day & Other Poems, Go Fly a Kite, Salt Water Zoo, Cornelia's Jewels, Three Seeds, Let's Go to Iceland & Greenland

Manufacturer: Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000EIKFR6

Product Description

An anthology containing: "Lewis and Clark: Explorers of the Far West"; "Tattercoats"; "Singh, Rajah and the Cunning Little Jackals"; "The Middle Bear"; "Chips, The Story of a Cocker Spaniel"; "The Picnic Basket"; "Windy Wash Day and Other Poems"; "Go Fly a Kite"; "Salt Water "Zoos"; "Cornelia's Jewels"; "Three Seeds" and "Let's Go to Iceland and Greenland".

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The Day of the Jackal
Frederick Forsyth
Manufacturer: The Franklin Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GGTZ9A

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the day of the Jackal
Frederick Forsyth
Manufacturer: The Viking Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NU2I8E

The Novels of Frederick Forsyth: The Day of the Jackal. The Odessa File. The Dogs of War

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The Novels of Frederick Forsyth: The Day of the Jackal. The Odessa File. The Dogs of War
Frederick Forsyth
Manufacturer: Arrow (A Division of Random House Group)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0091341108

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Day of the Jackal
Frederick Forsyth
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000E5ELW4

4 Titles By Frederick Forsyth : The Day of the Jackal The Odessa File The Dogs of War The Devil's Alternative

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4 Titles By Frederick Forsyth : The Day of the Jackal The Odessa File The Dogs of War The Devil's Alternative
Frederick Forsyth
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000MN4ILW

Product Description

4 Titles By Frederick Forsyth : The Day of the Jackal The Odessa File The Dogs of War The Devil's Alternative. four mmpb books.

Best Sellers From Reader's Digest Condensed Books (3 stories- Wild Goose, Brother Goose, The Day of the Jackal & A Day No Pigs Would Die)

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Best Sellers From Reader's Digest Condensed Books (3 stories- Wild Goose, Brother Goose, The Day of the Jackal & A Day No Pigs Would Die)
The Reader's Digest Association
Manufacturer: Reader's Digest Asso.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000QABM9W

Customer Reviews:

smut!!!.......2007-05-03

Very easy to read, a bit to predictable. A lot of repitition of daily activities. I love Vamp novels and also the historical era. so this suited me just fine i really prefer Christine Feehan whome i can never get enough of. I am currently on my second Ashley novel and find it a bit boring. she is however a newer writer so i hope to see more progress with time. Just wish writers would stop looking at the $$$ and start putting a little more imagination in this type of romance. it seems as if Ms. Ashley hasn't really reserched the topics surrounding her stories in depth. however, for a light thoughtless read it was pretty good. I couldn't put it down from sheer curiousity for what would happen to the characters.

Amanda Ashley.......2007-01-04

I've always loved vampire tales and romance. Put them together and it is dynamite

Oh My Never Again!.......2004-10-05

My Goodness! This was the worst book I have ever read!!

I am a huge vampire book reader and this book, sadly read right after Ann Rice's Interview With The Vampire came to me as a shock of terror. First, repetition occurs in this book like no other I've read in my life.

The words repeat and so do sentences. Then, the plot is stupid. It is so plain, wow a good guy, a good girl, and a bad guy. WOW.

and FINALLY, the vocabulary usage is non-existant. It is the simplest elementary school book ever. I could not stand it. It was absolutely horrid.

Vampire Light but not less filling..........2004-06-17

An enjoyable light read if you like a change from the hardcore blood and guts vamp stories. For the most part predictable, it was still interesting enough to keep me turning the pages to find a couple twists I hadn't necessarily expected (that in itself says alot, as a bookseller and avid reader, I have no problem putting a book down if I don't like it). The supporting characters were not fleshed out as well as they could've been, but enough that they served their purpose for the story. As it was, the main characters were likable (or not as the case may be) and had enough strength and depth to make this book exactly what it was; an enjoyable light vampire romance story.

Light Vampire Romance.......2004-03-11

I collect vampire/lycanthorpe books and have quite a collection. Because of this, I have quite a few Amanda Ashley novels. All of her novels are very light reads. The characters usually do not have that much depth, and it is a good quick read if you are looking for a light vampire romance. Analisa is in a hospital dying when an "angel" comes and helps her to live. Analisa's family is very poor and when she leaves the hospital, she has nowhere to go. For some unknown reason she finds out she has a benefactor and is welcomed into the home of the mysterious Lord Alesandro. Lord Alesandro is a mystery to Analisa. He has money and has provided her a home, and she has no idea why. Also, she never sees her mysterious benefactor. Lord Alesandro is a vampire who is fighting a growing attraction to Analisa. This was a very predictable vampire romance. Still, I would recommend.

ECHOES OF TERROR: A Madman's Manuscript; Three in a Bed; Masque of the Red Death; Dracula; The Furnished Room; The Forsaken of God; The Werewolf; The Midnight Embrace; The Devil's Wager; The Monkey's Paw; The Seventh Pullet

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Classics!

ECHOES OF TERROR: A Madman's Manuscript; Three in a Bed; Masque of the Red Death; Dracula; The Furnished Room; The Forsaken of God; The Werewolf; The Midnight Embrace; The Devil's Wager; The Monkey's Paw; The Seventh Pullet
Mike; Spencer, John (editors) (Charles Dickens; Lord Halifax; Edgar Allan Poe; Bram Stoker; O. Henry; William Mudford; Frederick Marryat; Matthew Lewis; William Makepeace Thackeray; W. W. Jacobs; Saki) Jarvis
Manufacturer: Chartwell Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Product Description

Eleven classic tales of terror by Saki, Charles Dickens, Edgar Allen Poe, Lord Halifax, O. Henry, W.W. Jacobs, and others, with vivid illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

Classics!.......2007-01-28

I remember finding this book in my mom's collection back when I was about 7 or 8 yrs old, and it's probably the reason I became a horror reader. The stories are all well-known classics (The Monkey's Paw being my favorite of the bunch), but it's the artwork that makes this a must-have. Each story is beautifully/grossly illustrated, and if they wouldnt scare guests, I'd frame the pages themselves! (Ya I'm sick!) If you can find it, get it!

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Midnight Embrace
Barbara Doyle
Manufacturer: Dell Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0440151325

This Dark Embrace: A Midnight Original Mystery

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This Dark Embrace: A Midnight Original Mystery
Paul Stuewe
Manufacturer: Mercury Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 155128037X

Book Description

In This Dark Embrace, Paul Stuewe takes Walter McDumont back to the Depression when he was a young man, fresh off the hobo rails and feeling lucky to be driving a taxi in Los Angeles. Then Raymond Chandler steps into McDumont's cab and into his life, and the action takes off. A wealthy family with a dark and mysterious past, corrupt cops working out of sleazy downtown clubs, and a troubled young boy who is the object of several kidnapping attempts quickly enmire McDumont in a spiral of violence, lust, and confrontation.

This Dark Embrace is a classic detective fiction-adventure novel, featuring Walter McDumont, the Toronto cop originated in the popular hard-boiled novels of Hugh Garner.

Albert of Werdendorff; or, The midnight embrace,: From the German
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Albert of Werdendorff; or, The midnight embrace,: From the German
Sarah Scudgell Wilkinson
Manufacturer: Printed by M. Angus & Son
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0008CFRG2

Book Description

The bestselling author of the classic Mars trilogy and The Years of Rice and Salt returns with a riveting new trilogy of cutting-edge science, international politics, and the real-life ramifications of global warming as they are played out in our nation’s capital—and in the daily lives of those at the center of the action. Hauntingly realistic, here is a novel of the near future that is inspired by scientific facts already making headlines.

When the Arctic ice pack was first measured in the 1950s, it averaged thirty feet thick in midwinter. By the end of the century it was down to fifteen. One August the ice broke. The next year the breakup started in July. The third year it began in May. That was last year.

It’s an increasingly steamy summer in the nation’s capital as Senate environmental staffer Charlie Quibler cares for his young son and deals with the frustrating politics of global warming. Charlie must find a way to get a skeptical administration to act before it’s too late—and his progeny find themselves living in Swamp World. But the political climate poses almost as great a challenge as the environmental crisis when it comes to putting the public good ahead of private gain.

While Charlie struggles to play politics, his wife, Anna, takes a more rational approach to the looming crisis in her work at the National Science Foundation. There a proposal has come in for a revolutionary process that could solve the problem of global warming—if it can be recognized in time. But when a race to control the budding technology begins, the stakes only get higher. As these everyday heroes fight to align the awesome forces of nature with the extraordinary march of modern science, they are unaware that fate is about to put an unusual twist on their work—one that will place them at the heart of an unavoidable storm.

With style, wit, and rare insight into our past, present, and possible future, this captivating novel propels us into a world on the verge of unprecedented change—in a time quite like our own. Here is Kim Stanley Robinson at his visionary best, offering a gripping cautionary tale of progress—and its price—as only he can tell it.

From the Hardcover edition.

Download Description

When the Arctic ice pack was first measured in the 1950s, it averaged thirty feet thick in midwinter. By the end of the century it was down to fifteen. One August the ice broke. The next year the breakup started in July. The third year it began in May. That was last year.

It's an increasingly steamy summer in the nation's capital as Senate environmental staffer Charlie Quibler cares for his young son and deals with the frustrating politics of global warming. Charlie must find a way to get a skeptical administration to act before it's too late—and his progeny find themselves living in Swamp World. But the political climate poses almost as great a challenge as the environmental crisis when it comes to putting the public good ahead of private gain.

While Charlie struggles to play politics, his wife, Anna, takes a more rational approach to the looming crisis in her work at the National Science Foundation. There a proposal has come in for a revolutionary process that could solve the problem of global warming—if it can be recognized in time. But when a race to control the budding technology begins, the stakes only get higher. As these everyday heroes fight to align the awesome forces of nature with the extraordinary march of modern science, they are unaware that fate is about to put an unusual twist on their work—one that will place them at the heart of an unavoidable storm.

With style, wit, and rare insight into our past, present, and possible future, this captivating novel propels us into a world on the verge of unprecedented change—in a time quite like our own. Here is Kim Stanley Robinson at his visionary best, offering a gripping cautionary tale of progress—and its price—as only he can tell it.

Customer Reviews:

Four hundred pages of character development?.......2007-10-02

I bought this book after hearing about the trilogy on NPR. In the context of a trilogy, perhaps this book makes sense. It seems clearly intended to set up the characters and events that will occupy the latter two books.

However, unlike the first books in many great trilogies, this book is literally almost *entirely* character development. I kept reading and reading, waiting for something to happen. What I got was page upon page of seemingly pointless prose. Finally, towards the end, "something" happens, but even that event is rather (pardon the pun) uneventful, and then the book ends abruptly.

I really think that if the author had wanted to spend 400 pages on character development, he should have written an 800-page book. As it is, I feel a bit ripped off.

I gave the book two stars rather than one mainly because the characters actually are interesting. I suppose I will attempt to read the second book in the trilogy to see whether it proves any more interesting. However, I think I'll get it from the library. Even the price of a paperback seems a risk after this volume.

Dull, dull and then more dull.......2007-09-29

'Forty Signs of Rain' seems like it would be a good book. Competent author, pertinent subject, and people love political thrillers. Unfortunately, there's not enough tension in the book to ever make it overly interesting, so the story never quite feels like it gets off the ground.

Reading it is somewhat like watching a disaster miniseries on television - you know the disaster is coming, you know it won't happen until the beginning of act two (sadly at the very end of this first novel in a set of three), and so you have wade through endless character development and minor plot points to get to the good part. And in this case, the character development and minor plot points are about as interesting as government memos on policy reform. Now that I think about it, the whole first half of the book IS about government memos on policy reform. The rest is a character walking around with his toddler noticing the inane little things the kid does, and those sections of the book are very reminiscent of coworkers launching into long, boring stories about their kids that are neither engaging nor interesting. In this book, we're treated to information on what the kid eats, how often, what his stroller is like, what he does at afternoons in the park, and on and on. The whole first 200 pages should have been condensed into three.

So, sadly, the book, although written well enough, is dull and boring, and that's probably the worst thing you can say about a 'political thriller'.

Forty Signs of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson.......2007-09-19

This is a series about global warming and what it might do to our planet, except it isn't set in the distant future, like The Day After Tomorrow; this series is set a decade in the future at the most. While no date is given, the world is much like ours with its citizens enjoying the frivolities of life, the administration cares nothing about the planet, the Arctic is breaking up and melting while pieces of Antarctica are falling off into the ocean. Our main characters are Charlie Quibler, a Senate environmental staffer, and his wife Anna who works for the National Science Foundation.

Four fifths of the book are spent with the characters and their ordinary lives with their children. Charlie is a stay at home dad, working with a phone and an Internet connection, looking after young Joe who needs constant supervision, while Anna works hard every day in her office, using a breast pump to provide milk for Joe. As the book progresses the reader learns of our current reality: melting of the ice caps, rising sea levels, and increase in weather activity. In the last part of the book, the storms come to Washington DC with severe rainfall, there is flooding, the Potomac overflowing and soon the streets become flooded rivers and boats become the only form of transportation. The book ends with Charlie traveling home by boat with a great finishing line: "Are you going to do something about global warming now?" he says to his Senator.

What makes Forty Signs of Rain, especially for a science fiction novel, more enjoyable and realistic than most books I've read is the author make his characters constantly doing ordinary things like meeting new people, interacting with them, cleaning the house, shopping, the father looking after the children. The details of ordinary life that you and I go through every day are in this book and presumably the others in the series; it makes it very human. Robinson was mostly setting the stage in the book, making it seem much like ordinary life, and then with the onslaught of global warming, things are kicked into high gear and I can't help but think when this big change or catastrophe is going to happen to us. With the Fall of constant hurricanes hitting the southeastern United States most notable with Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and with the severely cold winter we've had here in California, as well as record breaking warm temperatures on the east coast for this time of year, I can't help but wonder if we are not already in high gear. Perhaps these books will serve as a guide for when things really start to go bad with global warming. Next in the series if Fifty Degrees Below.

For more book reviews, and other writings, go to www.alexctelander.com

Very Disappointing.......2007-09-15

Forty Signs of Rain reads like a polemic against such anti-science works as State of Fear. This is a much needed rebuttle, an engaging and prescient topic, and an idea begging for pathos and adventure. The only problem with Forty Signs of Rain? It reads like a polemic against anti-science works.

I kept on waiting for something to happen. I got so tired of waiting I had to start skimming large sections of the book. Believe me. Nothing happens. Not really till the last couple chapters. In the meantime Robinson engages in a highly preachy style on the dangers of Global Warming, the benefits of science and a scientific outlook on the world, and everything humans have done wrong. Don't get me wrong- all of what he says is true. It just doesn't make that good of fiction. I learned a fair bit about the inner workings of the NSF. But that didn't make me excited about the storyline.

It's rather the storyline that's lacking here. Robinson has some initial good and drawing descriptions of characters and scenery. And then it's daily life- the kind of description the reader's come to expect right before the big catastrophe. But no. No catastrophe, for page after page. And by the time there is one, you just don't care about the people.

Even the science here is questionable. I mean that literally. Since Robinson doesn't include a Works Cited or Endnotes, I can't tell which parts of the presented facts about Global Warming are made up, and which are real- or which are science fiction for the near future, and which are current. His near future is so near, and so unclear, I don't know how bad things are now, or will be.

We need to fight the climate of fear of science created by State of Fear, and we need more books to do that. Just better to do that with nonfiction, or well-written fiction that informs as well as entertains.

Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03

An interesting book, and one that politics geeks may well enjoy. Robinson has decided to have a look at climate change, via a couple of
political insiders, including an evironmental advisor, and a scientist.

An embassy from a small island nation literally about to disappear comes to Washington D.C. and the aforementioned characters become
involved with them.

Oh, and Washington gets really, really wet.

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FORTY SIGNS OF RAIN
KIM STANLEY ROBINSON
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000JLVYO6

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Forty Signs Of Rain
Kim Stanley Robinson
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O8SGYK

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FORTY SIGNS OF RAIN
Kim Stanley Robinson
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O8QM1O

The Illustrated World's Religions: Guide to Our Wisdom Traditions, A
Average customer rating:

A Beautiful Book!

Excellent

Anyone wishing to be enlightened spiritually or culturally is in for a treat.

An interesting introduction to the living mainstream religions of the World

Great reference book

The Illustrated World's Religions: Guide to Our Wisdom Traditions, A
Huston Smith
Manufacturer: HarperOne
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Comparative Religion | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
General | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Smith, Huston | ( S ) | Authors, A-Z | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The World's Wisdom: Sacred Texts of the World's Religions

The World's Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions

World Religions: The Great Faiths Explored & Explained

The Soul of Christianity: Restoring the Great Tradition (Plus)

Why Religion Matters: The Fate of the Human Spirit in an Age of Disbelief

ASIN: 0060674407

Book Description

Retaining all the beloved qualities of Huston Smith's classic The Religions of Man and the current fully revised and updated The World's Religions, this stunning pictorial presentation refines the text to its wonderful essentials. In detailed, absorbing, richly illustrated, and highly readable chapters on Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity and primal religions, we find refreshing and fascinating presentations of both the differences and the similarities among the worldwide religious traditions. The approach is at once classic and contemporary, retaining all the empathy, eloquence and erudition that millions of readers love about the earlier editions, while being edited and designed for a contemporary general readership. This delightful marriage of winsome text and remarkable pictures vividly brings to life the scope and vision of Huston Smith's expertise and insight.

Customer Reviews:

A Beautiful Book!.......2007-10-06

This is an excellent overview of the world's major religions, well researched and clearly written so that even a novice can understand. Lush photographs, color and black & white, appear on almost every page, illustrating interesting and unique specifics of each religion - i.e., gods, body decorations, services, icons, etc. Very satisfied with this purchase!

Excellent.......2007-09-11

This book was exactly what we ordered and came in a timely manner. It was also in excellent condition.

Anyone wishing to be enlightened spiritually or culturally is in for a treat........2007-08-01

This book is a must have! Smith beautifully illustrates religions from around the globe in a respectable manner that is easily understandable to all. Anyone wishing to be enlightened spiritually or culturally is in for a treat.

An interesting introduction to the living mainstream religions of the World.......2007-07-25

I've had this book since my confirmation, but finally I had the time to read it. I've seen the highly approving quote from Smith about Guenon, so this certainly raised my interest enough to pull it out of my shelf and put it in my "to-read"-pile of books. The book is more or less evenly divided between images, art and text. My edition of the book uses very little annotations, but it didn't really bother me, since there is very little you feel the need to check out in such an introductory book.

The content of the book is quickly summarized; it's a very quick introduction to the various living religions of man, dealing quite objectively with them all, apart from the obvious holy cow of the "West"; Judaism. He appears to my biased eyes to be quite the philosemite; there is just no thing our desert friends haven't contributed to the West. He states somewhere in the book something of the nature that without them we wouldn't have any culture, religion or world-view at all, so I guess we would have to be satisfied with the tiny contributions of Mozart, Wagner, Shakespeare, Hamsun and all the other gentiles of the West.

The book was very interesting, and apart from the minor criticism I've voiced, and the fact that it is of course very shallow and bring relatively little depth (that is though, of course, the point of the book) I highly recommend it as an adequate completely basic introduction to this highly important field. As an additional bonus is all the mentioned religious art and images strewn throughout this short but effective study.

(I read a different edition)

Great reference book.......2006-11-04

This book is used as a reference for an Episcopal Church Christian Formation class. It is well written
and includes wonderful photos.

The Illustrated World's Religions - A Guide To Our Wisdom Traditions

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The Illustrated World's Religions - A Guide To Our Wisdom Traditions
Huston Smith
Manufacturer: Harper-san Francisco
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Average customer rating:

The Illustrated World's Religions : A Guide to Our Wisdom Traditions
Huston Smith
Manufacturer: HarperSanFrancisco
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Illustrated World's Religions: A Guide to Our Wisdom Traditions
Huston Smith
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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