The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana

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The premise of Umberto Eco's The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana, may strike some readers as laughably unpromising, and others as breathtakingly rich. A sixty-ish Milanese antiquarian bookseller nicknamed Yambo suffers a stroke and loses his memory of everything but the words he has read: poems, scenes from novels, miscellaneous quotations. His wife Paola fills in the bare essentials of his family history, but in order to trigger original memories, Yambo retreats alone to his ancestral home at Solara, a large country house with an improbably intact collection of family papers, books, gramophone records, and photographs. The house is a museum of Yambo's childhood, conventiently empty of people, except of course for one old family servant with a long memory--an apt metaphor for the mind. Yambo submerges himself in these artifacts, rereading almost everything he read as a school boy, blazing a meandering, sometimes misguided, often enchanting trail of words. Flares of recognition do come, like "mysterious flames," but these only signal that Yambo remembers something; they do not return that memory to him. It is like being handed a wrapped package, the contents of which he can only guess.

Within the limitations of Yambo's handicap and quest, Eco creates wondrous variety, wringing surprise and delight from such shamelessly hackneyed plot twists as the discovery of a hidden room. Illustrated with the cartoons, sheet music covers, and book jackets that Yambo uncovers in his search, The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana can be read as a love letter to literature, a layered excavation of an Italian boyhood of the 1940s, and a sly meditation on human consciousness. Both playful and reverent, it stands with The Name of the Rose and The Island of the Day Before as among Eco's most successful novels. --Regina Marler

Book Description

Yambo, a sixtyish rare-book dealer who lives in Milan, has suffered a loss of memory-he can remember the plot of every book he has ever read, every line of poetry, but he no longer knows his own name, doesn't recognize his wife or his daughters, and remembers nothing about his parents or his childhood. In an effort to retrieve his past, he withdraws to the family home somewhere in the hills between Milan and Turin.There, in the sprawling attic, he searches through boxes of old newspapers, comics, records, photo albums, and adolescent diaries. And so Yambo relives the story of his generation: Mussolini, Catholic education and guilt, Josephine Baker, Flash Gordon, Fred Astaire. His memories run wild, and the life racing before his eyes takes the form of a graphic novel. Yambo struggles through the frames to capture one simple, innocent image: that of his first love.

A fascinating, abundant new novel-wide-ranging, nostalgic, funny, full of heart-from the incomparable Eco.

Customer Reviews:

Great but not easy.......2007-09-29

Umberto Eco's writing is great but not easy. This will stimulate your imagination and thinking, but an easy romp it is not. If you want to stimulate your imagination and thinking this is for you. If you just want a mystery this may be too much for you. This is probably not the best book to introduce you to Umberto Eco's writing, but If you already like his other books you will like this.

Didn't finish the book..........2007-09-25

I made it to page 150 before I decided to give up on "The Mysterious Flame." I thought the book had a lot of potential as a mystery novel without all the cliche and overwrought plot. Instead what I got was a mumbling main character who never remembers anything of importance and asks himself the same questions over and over: Was this from my childhood? Did I make this memory up? Am I imagining a past for myself?

Interspersed between the redundant self-doubt were descriptions of various toys, books, and pieces of art, most of which have pictures in the novel. Nothing much interesting about the descriptions; I could have just looked up the art on the internet if I were interested.

Nothing wrong with the prose--Eco knows his words. Just a boring, boring story.

Rather disapointing.......2007-08-19

Although it wasn't 100% uninteresting, I found it, on the whole, very boring. Picture this: a 60 year old intellectual wakes up from a coma with no memories of his past. In order to retrieve this memories, he goes into an excruciatingly detailed account of every book, magazine and comic strip he ever read in his life.
Compensated by one moving episode from his childhood, I found the setting, the subject and the personality of the main character irrelevant and definetly lacking in the excitement and the depth of the other Umberto Eco's books I have read.
--Written By Mary Camarena

Five Stars for the Journey, One for the Destination .......2007-08-12

For me, the best part of the book was the view of everyday Italian life during World War II. This is a perspective that I hven't encountered often, and Eco does a brilliant job painting a small town that has gone "schizophrenic" in the eyes of the young Yambo.

Eco creates such a wealth of characters and builds such intensity around a rather simple idea -- remembering the face of a first love. Unfortunately, I felt the ending was rather weak. Without giving away too much, I'll just say that I felt let down. The resolution was hinted at throughout the book, especially if for readers familiar with other Eco books.

Still, I have to recommend this book because the journey through a person's memories, whether real or imagined, is so intriguing and well-executed. There is a lot to think about with this book. I only wish Eco had devised a more clever finale.

Boring and disapointing.......2007-07-01

Like many other Eco fans I keep looking for books of at least the same quality as the Name of the Rose.
The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana is rather disapointing, except the first third which is well written and promising.
Unless you are a fan of Ialian interbellic media you will find a lot of boring information and the rest is not so satisfying either.

La Misteriosa Llama De La Reina Loana / The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana

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La Misteriosa Llama De La Reina Loana / The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana
Umberto Eco
Manufacturer: Lumeneditorial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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The Mysterious Flame Of Queen Loana
Umberto; Brock, Geoffrey; Brock, Geoff Eco
Manufacturer: Harcourt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJOJAE

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Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana
Umberto Eco
Manufacturer: Harcourt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Italian | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0681141336

Product Description

What if you woke up tomorrow and remembered nothing of your life? The faces of your spouse and children are strange, and the outlines of your childhood are only a blur. This is the crisis that Yambo, an Italian bookseller, faces when he regains consciousness after suffering a stroke. He is shocked to find, however, that he can remember every book he has ever read, every line of poetry, and a wealth of literary quotations. Desperate to retrieve his past, he searches through boxes of old newspapers, comics, records, photo albums, and adolescent diaries. And so Yambo relives the story of his generation: Mussolini, Catholic education and guilt, Josephine Baker, Flash Gordon, Fred Astaire. His memories run wild, and life races before him in a series of images, as Yambo struggles to capture the most elusive onethat of his first love.

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The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana
Umberto Eco
Manufacturer: Harcourt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Italian | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000MVXQL2

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Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana
Umberto Eco
Manufacturer: HARCOURT INC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Italian | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000UDJKE4

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Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana
Umberto Eco; Translated From The Italian By Geoffrey Brock
Manufacturer: HARCOURT, INC.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OKF4DE

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Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana
Umberto Eco; Translated By Geoffrey Bock
Manufacturer: HARCOURT
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OK506K

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Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana Dumpbin
Umberto Eco
Manufacturer: Secker & Warburg
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Italian | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0436598493

Amazon.com

Gypsy curses and forbidden passion fill the air in Samantha James's tale of Olivia Sherwood--impoverished daughter of the local vicar, and her employer, Dominic St. Bride--the Earl of Ravenwood, bastard son of the old earl and his beautiful gypsy lover. St. Bride has lived on the fringes of respectability all his life and has grown accustomed to being greeted with hostility and suspicion, but his shadowy past fascinates and lures the innocent Olivia much against her will. Forced from her home after a rogue gypsy murders her father and causes her sister tragically to lose her eyesight, Olivia endeavors desperately just to provide a home for her sister and enough food on the table. When Dominic offers Olivia much-needed additional wages to act as his secretary, she finds herself sharing very close quarters with the man whose innate decency helps her forget the circumstances of her father's death and whose smoldering sensuality threatens to make Olivia forget herself. And Dominic, who has spent his life on the outside looking in, finds himself tempted to believe in the kind of love he thought nonexistent. He has Olivia to thank for this, with her impassioned defense of him to the citizens of Stonebridge and her fiery response to his caresses. Bestselling author Samantha James inspires empathy and intense emotion for these two souls desperately searching for something in which to believe. --Alison Trinkle

Book Description

New York Times bestselling author Samantha James has captured the hearts of readers everywhere with her dramatic love stories of fiery passion, intense emotion, and unforgettable sensuality. Now, Samantha has created a spellbinding romance between two people whose passion defies all logic--yet cannot be denied.

The Vicar's Daughter

Forced to leave her home in the vicarage, proud and resolute Olivia Sherwood has hired on at Ravenwood Hall, where preparation for the new earl's arrival is underway. At first glance, Olivia stands transfixed by the dashing gallant with eyes dark and gleaming in the moonlight. Though his origins are shadowed in secrets, and Olivia knows better than to trust a man she's never met, she is intoxicated by him.

The Dark Earl

Crossing the threshold of his new home, Dominic St. Bride, the Earl of Ravenwood, sees suspicion in the faces of everyone surrounding him--for his staff knows of his illegitimate birth and dubious background. Yet, the radiant face of a beautiful servant intrigues him. Although the familiar wariness flares in her eyes, Dominic senses a smoldering desire there as well, and he determines to claim her. But can his passionate soul win the unlikely devotion of a defiant maid--thereby redeeming him with her unconditional love?

Customer Reviews:

Very romantic read - a tortured man can find true love!.......2005-11-13

Great premise - a 1/2 gypsy with a difficult past tries to come home to the estate his father never wanted him to have anything to do with. Him being a bastard with a gypsy Dominic faces being in the 1/2 world of not really being part of the aristocracy and not accepted anymore by the gypsies with the death of his mother. So he comes home to Ravenswood and tries to make it his home. Fear and contempt he is faces with in the village and by his staff. The very first nite of his return he meets Olivia in the moonlight with his fiercesome dog Lucifer and immediately the connection between the two is made. Olivia thinks she hates all gypsies because her vicar father was killed by one the year before - it also caused the blindness of her sister. However Olivia who is part of Dominic's staff soon realizes this man is nothing as the rumors appear. He seems kindly, he treats her with great respect, he offers to help her with her sisters blindness, he soon saves the life of 2 drownding boys. He takes her to meet the gypsies that have settled on nearby land all in the hopes of showing her that they are not evil as she thinks. It is beautiful to watch these two fall in love. There are a few challenges when Dominic thinks she is actually in love with another named Robert - but unlike other books where this would cause them to be kept apart Dominic always seems to challenge Olivia with his doubts and the air is cleared. At the same time unbeknownst to Olivia - her sister Emily is falling in love with her own gypsy Andre - but she does not know he is a gypsy because she is blind. Her blindness not permanent she finds her sight right after they have made love and then she is devistated to realize his deception by not telling her he was a gypsy. The ending is a beautiful way of these two couples finding their way back to each other while evil forces are trying to eliminate the dreadful gypsies from the area. A very moving love story for both Olivia & Dominic and Emily & Andre. The story encompasses both well!

A Truly Romantic Story.......2004-11-25

This is one of my favorite romance novels to date. This was the first Samantha James book that I have read and it will not be my last! Olivia and Dominic were well developed as indivduals and together they had fantastic chemistry. I dislike weak female heroines and really dislike overbearing male heros. Olivia had a quite strenght and it showed in her ability to live a hopeful life after suffering so much sorrow. Dominic being 1/2 gypsy and treated so cruelly by his father and society desperately wanted love even though he didn't know it until he met Olivia. Minor intrigues added to the story as well as Olivias sister Emily's romance with Andre didn't distract from the main story.
The love scenes between Dominic and Olivia had just the right amount of romance and sensuality. Sizzle without being crude.

This book is a keeper for my library.
Sensuality rating 4 out of 5

EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!.......2004-09-17

FIRST BOOK OF MS. JAMES THAT I'VE READ AND IT WAS VERY GOOD.
THE CHARACTERS WERE VERY REAL AND IT JUST REALLY KEEP MY INTEREST ALL THE WAY THROUGH....

One Moonlit Night.......2002-12-26

Outstanding.

I have read only 2 of Samantha James books and I found the first one by mistake. Since then, I have gone and purchased 3 more. It was only three that I could find. Outstanding writer. She kept me reading well into the night. To me, that is a good book, when you can't put it down.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!.......2002-03-03

I couldn't put it down and didn't want it to end. Dominic was a perfect hero and Olivia is just the match for him. Add the sweet love story of Emily and Andre. Dominic was half Gypsy, half English felt he didn't belong with either and was rejected by his peers. His strength helped overcome all the predjudism he had to face. There is still world wide predjudice against Gypsies. I loved seeing them as a child (in the 40's) in downtown Los Angeles, they have always fascinated me and I love reading about them. A wonderful book and I recommend it to all who love, love and a happy ending.

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One Moonlit Night
T. Llew Jones
Manufacturer: Hyperion Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Short Story Collections | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Folklore & Mythology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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One Moonlit Night
Ronda Armitage , and David Armitage
Manufacturer: Dutton Childrens Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baby-3 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0233975403

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Better than Dylan Thomas
Insanity in a Welsh village

One Moonlit Night
Caradog Prichard
Manufacturer: Canongate Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Eastern European | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0862415306

Amazon.com

In a small Welsh village during the dark days of World War I, a nameless narrator chronicles a year of loss, grief, and madness in Caradog Prichard's One Moonlit Night. Originally published in 1961, this Welsh-language novel has been eloquently translated into English by Philip Mitchell, perhaps garnering Prichard the wide recognition his novels have long enjoyed in his native land. Less a novel than a loosely connected series of tales, Prichard peoples his fictional world with characters such as Grace Ellen Shoe Shop, Will Starch Collar, and Johnny Beer Barrel. Though One Moonlit Night has its lighter moments, its story is primarily a sad one: the narrator's mother is sent to an insane asylum; one close friend dies of tuberculosis while another moves away; village men die in the faraway killing fields of the war as the loved ones they leave behind live in unrelenting poverty. Eventually, something terrible happens.

In One Moonlit Night, perfection is in the details--the loving evocations of the townspeople and the physical and emotional landscapes they inhabit. Dark as it is at times, Prichard's tragic tale is leavened by humor and illuminated by prose that is lyrical and deeply stirring.

Customer Reviews:

Better than Dylan Thomas.......2003-05-29

First of all I would just like to point out that I have only read the original Welsh version of this novel. Briefly this novel follows a madman and his memories as he wanders around his childhood home. The man finds it difficult to tell the difference between past and present and he presents a distorted picture of the village life, a village where suicide, transvestism and insanity are a constant presence. These scenes become more poignant since they are presented by the voice of a child.

The greatest strength of the novel is that it shows rather than tells. Thus we are presented by the insanity of a crowd after a football match, the insanity of a mother after a lifetime of poverty and hardship as a single mother, the fevour of organised passionate religion and the eccentricities of different characters within the novel. It is left to the reader to decide how much of these, and all the suffering and death the child witnesses throughout the novel affect his future state of mind.

In addition to insanity the novel deals with the empty hypocripsy of organised religion, the intolerance of a small community, poverty, the loss of innocence, guilt, the Oedipus complex, the psychology of a child.

The main character is particularly well drawn and the supporting cast are all interesting. Since the novel draws heavily on Caradog Prichard's own life the events themselves feel alive, especially the scene where the child's mother is sent to an assylum.

If you dislike ambiguous novels however this may not be the best novel for you. For example an ever present destructive earth pagan goddess seems to dominate the present of the main character. She may be an embodiment of the main character's guilt, a mother figure he yearns for or a lost love. It is difficult to be sure. Otherwise I would highly recomend that you read this book.

Insanity in a Welsh village.......2003-05-28

Well rounded characters. Very readable

One moonlit night is a first person narrative which follows a man through a north Wales village on a moonlit night having been away for many years. On passing through different memories come to his mind. So far so conventional.

The man is insane, he speaks with the voice of a child. Stuck in a never never land inside his head he finds it difficult to tell the difference between happier times as a youth and his current more troubled state. The narrative does not follow a conventional timeline but jumps to and fro between different times in his life as they come to mind ever leading towards the climatic downfall.
The village like the character and the novel itself is shrouded by a dark atmosphere. In the first chapter alone we are introduced to insanity, illness, suicide and sexual immorality made all the more poignant since they are seen through the eyes of a child.

The main theme of the novel is insanity. The novel deals with insanity in it's entirety whether the insanity of a crowd engulphed by football passion in a game or engulphed by intense religious passion; or an individual's insanity as he confronts death, sexual passion or following a lifetime of suffering. The mother in the novel breaks under the strain of illness, poverty and being single parent.

Other themes discussed are the loss of innocence of youth, the pressures of poverty on a rural community, suicide, religion and the empty hypocrisy of organised religion, the destructive power of sexual desire, the relationship between men and women, the Oedipus complex and guilt.

Caradog Prichaard used a great deal from his own life in writing this novel therefore the characters are rounded and interesting and there is a real sense of gritty realism to the events. However this novel is not for those who intensely dislike ambiguous novels. There is some ambiguity about what happened to the boys father for example. Otherwise buy this book.

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One Moonlit Night.: An article from: World Literature Today
David T. Lloyd
Manufacturer: University of Oklahoma
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | e-Docs | Formats | Books
ASIN: B000989KE0
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from World Literature Today, published by University of Oklahoma on March 22, 1998. The length of the article is 834 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: One Moonlit Night.
Author: David T. Lloyd
Publication: World Literature Today (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 1998
Publisher: University of Oklahoma
Volume: v72 Issue: n2 Page: p431(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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ONE MOONLIT NIGHT
Prichard Caradog
Manufacturer: Penguin Books Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJDFMW

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One Moonlit Night
Ronda & David Armitage
Manufacturer: Dutton Childrens Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OPFQC8

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One Moonlit Night
Samantha James
Manufacturer: Avon Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000K6KEY6

Book Description

This enormous volume is the first comprehensive encyclopedia of fantastic literature of the nineteenth century. From detective fiction to historical novels, from well-known authors like Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, to Russian newspaper serials and Chinese martial arts novels, THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FANTASTIC VICTORIANA is a truly exhaustive look at every aspect of fantastic literature in the days of Queen Victoria. Readers of science fiction and fantasy will be surprised to find here the roots of genres thought to be strictly contemporary, and students of literature will be amazed at the breadth and scope of writings produced in the Victoriana era. This is an invaluable reference, and truly one-of-a-kind.

Customer Reviews:

Lots of great info, but not very well organized........2007-02-17

This thing is a brick. Hardbound, weighing in at just over a thousand pages, this book could stop a bullet or cause serious damage if dropped on the toes. And all those pages are crammed full of entries describing Victorian era novels. All of my favorites are here, plus hundreds of books I've never heard of. All nations and genres are represented, not just
Sci Fi and the Brits. Better still, Nevins is not afraid to editorialize. It's shocking, but not altogether untrue, when he claims that The Wizard of Oz "can easily be interpreted as a horror novel" or that Ivanhoe is superior to Sir Walter Scott's other works in that it "is readable." If you like Victorian fiction, but find its offerings uneven, Nevins can be an invaluable guide. My only complaint about this amusing and informative tome is that it's all but useless as an actual reference work. Entries are organized alphabetically by the names of central characters or settings, rather than by title or by author. To find the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, you would have to look under Sherlock Holmes or Sir Nigel. There are decent see-also references, but no index. Still, I am mostly content to browse its oddly organized pages, in search of the good stuff. This book represents a serious investment in both money and shelf space, but if you enjoy Victorian era fiction, you can't really afford to be without it.

The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana.......2007-01-29

This was given as a gift. The person who received the book enjoyed it very much. It is a good reference resource for writers and artists.

Fantastic book.......2006-09-25

I love this book. It is very comprehensive and I cannot wait for the release of Mr. Nevins next book on Pulp Heroes. We need more books like this.

Awesome!.......2006-07-19

Though no encyclopedia can claim to be truly exhaustive, this fantastic work by Jess Nevins is incredible in its breadth as well as in terms of incisiveness. Despite Nevins'somewhat apologetic note regarding being subjective, it is my opinion that that is the only way by which the Victorian literature can be made vivid enough to oversome the fog and gaslight. This work is magnificient in all aspects. Enjoy it.

A Reading List That's Worth Reading Itself.......2006-03-25

This is a page turner for the web generation.

Nevins' prose has the flavor of reading one
of the better blogs: it is clear, opinionated,
and peppered with the print equivalent of links
(in this case, bold-face references to other
entries in the Encyclopedia).

I can't imagine anyone reading this book sequentially.
Almost every entry refers to another entry, making
the reader eager to "follow the link", either forward
or backward, rather than simply turn the page. An
entry for Ayesha can thus lead the reader to Alan
Quartermain, or a discussion of the "New Woman"
literay type, or to a fuller discussion of the
Lost Race and Yellow Peril genres.

The current edition is handsomely bound, but
since it reminds the reader of a blog or web
site frozen on the page, it cries out for a
second edition peppered with period illustrations
to complement each and every entry.

Book Description

One of the founders of the Centering Prayer movement, Thomas Keating offers a reflection on contemplative prayer, the human search for happiness and our need to explore the inner world. The spiritual search for God, he says, is also the search for ourselves. Drawing from Christian mystical tradition, Eastern and Orthodox religions, contemporary psychology, and the recovery model, Keating shows how the practice of contemplation can become a process of psychological and spiritual transformation. And as we move into a global culture, this process is of greater importance than ever.

He begins with the great questions of self-knowledge: "Who are you? Where are you hiding?" The seemingly fruitless search for human happiness hinges on the answers to these: "Where am I in relation to God, myself and others?" and "Whoever I think I am, I am not." The contemplative journey is "divine therapy" for the illness of the human condition, a way to open up gradually to our own wounded unconscious. It is an excuse in letting go of the false self, which is the only self we know, and in realizing that God is the only true security. Divine love is the full affirmation of who we are.

Writing with simplicity and depth, Keating brings common sense, extraordinary enlightenment, and fifty years of experience to the topic and the practice of discovering the presence of God.

Customer Reviews:

True self versus false self.......2007-03-25

This was my first introduction to Thomas Keating. The book was recommended by a friend. The book will be relished by those who see our culture as too focused on appearances and not enough on self. Those who are wanting to "look at the log in their own eye versus the speck in their neighbor's" will find this book helpful. Short and easy to read but much fruit for reflection.

Spirituality and Psychology.......2007-03-23

Very engaging and readable discussion of deepening one's awareness of and response to God that combines spiritual tradition with psychological insights. I've given several as gifts.

the human condition.......2007-01-09

the book came in great time and was in excellent condition. thanks

A Short, Worthwhile Read.......2002-09-30

Here are two lectures delivered by the author at Harvard in 1997 (The foreword by Pagels is as long as this review). The first lecture's theme is '_where_ are you?', whereas the second lecture's is '_who_ are you?' Keating sees these two questions as accurately dividing the contemplative life, specifically the Christian contemplative life. His writing reminds me of Anthony DeMello.

He defines the 'where' question by beginning with the garden story as a revelation of where _we_ are. "At every moment of our lives, God is asking 'Where are you? Why are you hiding?' All the questions that are fundamental to human happiness arise when we ask ourselves this excruciating question: _Where_ am I? Where am I in relation to God, to myself, and to others? These are the basic questions of human life."

Then he goes on further, "happiness is intimacy with God, the experience of Gods' loving presence. Without that experience, nothing else quite works; with it, almost anything works."

"This is the human condition - to be without the true source of happiness, which is the experience of the presence of God, and to have lost the key to happiness, which is the contemplative dimension to life, the path to the increasing assimilation and enjoyment of God's presence." I think that summarizes in Keating's own words what he set out to accomplish in this book.

From a spiritual perspective, Keating's ideas of 'the divine therapy', our poor emotional programs for happiness, and the false self are quite good, and his descriptions are excellent. My experience with the Divine Hours confirms a good amount of what he says. With the exception of a stray comment here or there that seem to be unwarranted imports from eastern thinking at odds with Hebraic thought, much of this is solid. But the theological framework that he's housed them in is shaky at best and needs to be rethought, in my humble and transitory opinion. For a fairly good, simple correction to that problem, read 'Mysteries of Faith' by Mark McIntosh. I think both 'liberal' and 'conservative' will appreciate that work, as well as the main thrust of this one.

Very helpful to ready with his other books.......2001-02-27

Fr. Keating explains clearly his underlying principles in this small book. I found this book very helpful while studying his other books. This book is also a mind-opener for people regardless of their religion/denomination.

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