Cloudsplitter: A Novel

Amazon.com

The cover of Russell Banks's mountain-sized novel Cloudsplitter features an actual photo of Owen Brown, the son of John Brown--the hero of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" whose terrorist band murdered proponents of slavery in Kansas and attacked Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in 1859 on what he considered direct orders from God, helping spark the Civil War.

A deeply researched but fictionalized Owen narrates this remarkably realistic and ambitious novel by the already distinguished author of The Sweet Hereafter. Owen is an atheist, but he is as haunted and dominated by his father, John Brown, as John was haunted by an angry God who demanded human sacrifice to stop the abomination of slavery. Cloudsplitter takes you along on John Brown's journey--as period-perfect as that of the Civil War deserter in Cold Mountain--from Brown's cabin facing the great Adirondack mountain (called "the Cloudsplitter" by the Indians) amid an abolitionist settlement the blacks there call "Timbuctoo," to the various perilous stops of the Underground Railroad spiriting slaves out of the South, and finally to the killings in Bloody Kansas and the Harpers Ferry revolt. We meet some great names--Frederick Douglass, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and a (fictional) lover of Nathaniel Hawthorne--but the vast book keeps a tight focus on the aged Owen's obsessive recollections of his pa's crusade and the emotional shackles John clamped on his own family.

Banks, a white author, has tackled the topic of race as impressively as Toni Morrison in novels such as Continental Drift. What makes Cloudsplitter a departure for him is its style and scope. He is noted as an exceptionally thorough chronicler of America today in rigorously detailed realist fiction (he championed Snow Falling on Cedars). Banks spent half a decade researching Cloudsplitter, and he renounces the conventional magic of his poetical prose style for a voice steeped in the King James Bible and the stately cadences of 19th-century political rhetoric. The tone is closer to Ken Burns's tragic, elegiac The Civil War than to the recent crazy-quilt modernist novel about John Brown, Raising Holy Hell.

A fan of Banks's more cut-to-the-chase, Hollywood-hot modern style may get impatient, but such readers can turn to, say, Gore Vidal's recently reissued Lincoln, which peeks into the Great Emancipator's head with a modern's cynical wit. Banks's narrator is poetical and witty at times--Owen notes, "The outrage felt by whites [over slavery] was mostly spent on stoking their own righteousness and warming themselves before its fire." Yet in the main, Banks writes in the "elaborately plainspoken" manner of the Browns, restricting himself to a sober style dictated by the historical subject.

Besides, John Brown's head resembles the stone tablets of Moses. You do not penetrate him, and you can't declare him mad or sane, good or evil. You read, struggling to locate the words emanating from some strange place between history, heaven, and hell.

Book Description

A triumph of the imagination and a masterpiece of modern storytelling, Cloudsplitter is narrated by the enigmatic Owen Brown, last surviving son of America's most famous and still controversial political terrorist and martyr, John Brown. Deeply researched, brilliantlyplotted, and peopled with a cast of unforgettable characters both historical and wholly invented, Cloudsplitter is dazzling in its re-creation of the political and social landscape of our history during the years before the Civil War, when slavery was tearing the country apart. But within this broader scope, Russell Banks has given us a riveting, suspenseful, heartbreaking narrative filled with intimate scenes of domestic life, of violence and action in battle, of romance and familial life and death that make the reader feel in astonishing ways what it is like to be alive in that time.

Customer Reviews:

A parting of the clouds.......2007-07-26

I was led to this book after reading Geraldine Brook's "March," in which Civil War era abolitionist John Brown was a featured character. Cloudsplitter is a narrative story told from the point of view of one of Brown's many sons, Owen Brown. Owen often acts as an apologist for his father's ideas and actions, but being an ambivalent and tortured man himself, his narrative seems to vacillate between testimonial and confession.

There's a notable "twist" in the story, and I don't think I'm giving anything away by saying that Owen seems largely responsible for turning his father towards the violence for which he is remembered. The twist is all the more interesting because the young Owen mostly opposed and disapproved of his father's piety and abolitionist zealousness, then, apparently going through a kind of twisted emotional metamorphosis, comes to abet, even manipulate, his father. It's a provocative examination of how a father can influence a son, and the son in turn can influence the father, in the process amplifying the negative influences - in this case with destructive and tragic consequences. It's also a revealing examination of the fine line - so fine as to be cutting - between love and hate, ideals and depravity.

I can't say whether Owen had as much influence on his father as this well-researched story indicates. John Brown's actions, if not his ideals, are almost as controversial today as they were before the Civil War. Some credit him with setting off the Civil War (for better or worse), some see him as the inspiration for the Civil Rights Movement, some see him, especially in light of today's terror-conscious world, as a misguided and fanatical terrorist. But after reading this book, I now want to find a story about Frederick Douglass, the one character in this story who shines and inspires.

Thoroughly Engaging Novel.......2007-04-21

This is a long book. The author hammers on the minute details of every thought in every character's mind, repeatedly. So, it sounds like a boring book, right? Wrong! I don't know how Banks does it but you can't put this down. He grabs you with crab claws and won't let go! Up front, Banks puts the reader on notice that this is a work of fiction but, his detail of actual history simply will not keep the reader from thinking this is a word-for-word account of the events surrounding John Brown's rise to martyrdom at Harper's Ferry. You will be reading this one for a while and you will be all the better for it!

Worthwhile.......2007-01-11

The word "worthwhile" carries a little more meaning with this book as it is no one-day-read. "Cloudsplitter" was very enjoyable to read and I actually had the immense pleasure of reading it while traveling to Harpers Ferry last summer (which was simply awesome). Russell Banks does an excellent job keeping the reader engrossed in the monumental autobiographical tale of Owen Brown, the only son of John Brown to survive the raid on the Ferry. While many of the historical facts have been embellished and fictitious characters added, the story is fairly accurately told, not to mention beautifully written. This is what I would describe as "modern literature", although I'm sure there's some tidy text book definition somewhere.

Being a Southerner, it was definitely good to read another perspective of The Civil War. It gave me a new respect for the very complex issues surrounding the War and a greater appreciation for our United States. There are some very powerful images of very real human beings and Banks does a wonderful job of illustrating life during the 19th century. At the moment, "Cloudsplitter" ranks in the top five favorite books of all time with me. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Don't let the page count intimidate you; the story is very engaging and you will find yourself quickly immersed in the beautifully written story of a family and a life that's "real", even though many of the events are fictitious. I cared about these people deeply and was eager to find out how they overcame the seemingly endless list of adversity they experienced from extreme poverty, to social and religious and political fanaticism, to the deaths of numerous children in the Brown family (John Brown fathered 20 children, seven with his first wife Dianthe and a staggering thirteen with his second wife Mary.)

"Cloudsplitter" is a mountain of a story. Consider the time spent reading it an investment. It will leave you changed.

A Great American Novel.......2006-12-28

Cloudsplitter is a novel with a historical context. Whether or not the specific history is accurate is meaningless, although it has been well researched. The book is about topics far more important than whether John Brown was sane or insane or, specifically, what actions he and his family took in their fight against slavery. It is a deeply moving and disturbing examination of the relationship between fathers and sons, about relations among races and cultures and about the motivations of terorists.

While the book is not a short novel, Bank's prose is so captivating and the story so egrossing that I had no sense of the book being "too long" as some other reviewers have described.

Finishing the book left me stunned. I suspect I will literally be changed forever. I'm left to contemplate family dynamics as well as the strengths and failures of liberalism and radicalism in America.

"'Action, action, action,' was father's call.".......2006-06-14

An Adirondack mountain known as the Cloudsplitter stretches toward the heavens above North Elba, New York, dominating the landscape. In its shadow lives John Brown, a fiery abolitionist who also reaches toward God--a man who will eventually dominate the political landscape. Telling John Brown's story is Owen Brown, the only son of John Brown to survive the calamitous raid at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, in 1859, a prelude to the Civil War. As Owen Brown, now an old man, looks back on the events leading to this attack, he reveals his deep commitment to his father and to abolition, though he always lacked his father's religious fervor and longed instead to have a life of his own.

In North Elba in 1841, the Browns, aided by a small community of freedmen, are a stop on the Underground Railroad, facing daily threats to their lives and those of their "cargo." John Brown, believing that God has anointed him to eliminate slavery by whatever means are necessary, views himself as the Old Testament incarnations of both Abraham and Job. Eventually, John Brown's religious fervor and view of his mission lead to violence and murder, and Brown, called a "terrorist" by his opponents, gradually becomes isolated, even from the black community.

Owen, committed to his father's vision of a free society, is drawn into the maelstrom, and when Brown and five sons go to Kansas to fight pro-slavery vigilantes in 1855, it is Owen who (literally) takes up the sword and initiates the cold-blooded murder of five settlers. The raid on the arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, in 1859, in which Brown had hoped to be aided by Frederick Douglass, proves a failure, though it ultimately galvanizes the country on the issue of slavery.

Exhaustively researched by author Russell Banks, the novel is filled with fascinating historical detail that sheds light on Brown and his actions. The major black characters with whom the Browns work, are fully drawn and sympathetic, and the book is vibrantly descriptive--with images from nature vying with gruesome, savage scenes. Symbolism abounds, from the Cloudsplitter to the characters from the Old Testament with whom John Brown identifies. The novel, nearly eight hundred pages long, is challenging to read, however. The reader develops little empathy for John Brown because he is too single-minded to be "round," and while Owen's adolescent confusions regarding sexuality make him seem more human, his evolution into a murderous butcher is not effectively developed. The almost total absence of women in the novel and its lack of warmth limit its appeal. A terrific historical achievement, the book is less effective as a novel. n Mary Whipple

Amazon.com

Once again Mary Balogh has written a poignant romance that will be long remembered for its originality and great beauty. In this unusual story, Lady Emily has been deaf and mute since early childhood. She has been cared for and is well loved by a family who nurtures her independence and doesn't make her feel inadequate because of her disability. Because Emmy's sister and brother-in-law want her to experience life to its fullest, they assist her in finding a good marriage partner. But Emmy wants to marry for love; she doesn't want to be a beautiful silent partner to a man who doesn't care to know who she really is. Unfortunately, the man Emmy loves married another woman long ago. When Ashley arrives from India after eight years as a widow, Emmy finds she loves him too much to accept his proposal. She wants him to marry her for love--not because he feels a sense of responsibility for her.

Customer Reviews:

Jena.......2007-04-08

One big detail that I could not get past in order to enjoy this book: how does someone who has been deaf for almost all her life learn to read lips? How would she know what words meant? The author even states that Emily has "no conscious memory of sound," since she went deaf when she was three years old. A hearing three- or four-year-old can learn words, slang, contractions, nicknames, euphemisms, and abstract ideas as she grows. But someone who can't hear muffled sounds, inflectios, sarcasm, etc., would find it impossible to know what random mouth movements mean. I couldn't get past that to believe that Emily was able to read lips flawlessly (as another reviewer noted) in almost every situation.

A beautiful love story between a deaf-mute girl and a man with secrets.......2007-02-17

"Silent Melody" is the follow-up to the book "Heartless" by Mary Balogh and has the same cast of characters, although this time the hero is Lord Ashley Kendrick and the heroine is Lady Emily Marlowe.

Set in 1763 (i.e. before the Regency period) the story begins with Lady Emily on the verge of becoming engaged to one of her suitors. She is 22 years old and feels it is time to leave the safe and protective arms of her family - her sister Anna the Duchess of Harndon and her husband Luke, the main characters in "Heartless". It was nice to revisit these characters who have been rather prolific in procreating - at the beginning of the story they have just had their fourth child.

Anyway, Emily has given up on Lord Ashley, although she still loves him. Not only has he been away in India for seven years but he's also married with a son. And then as she is on the verge of being proposed to by a suitor, Lord Ashley appears in the ballroom, back from India unexpectedly.

But Lord Ashley has secrets. No longer is his life the relatively uncomplicated life of a younger son in the East India Company - his marriage is not what it seemed and he is riven with feelings of guilt and shame. And then he adds to his problems - and to Emily's - one evening and yet he can't seem to make amends. Emily has her own forcefulness, her own ideas of behaviour and she doesn't necessarily do what is expected of ladies of her station.

Of course Emily is unusual - she is a deaf mute and therefore can't communicate particularly clearly and isn't always sure what is going on around her. Mary Balogh has written this character in an amazing way, showing although she has apparent disabilities she is able to live her life and to see value and wonder that others miss. I very much enjoyed her conversations with Ashley, the only person who really understands what she means a lot of the time and who can truly have a meeting of minds.

As usual in a Mary Balogh novel there's a baddie who initially seems like a goodie and it seems that things that appear to be random events are evidence of a darker hand at work. But the real triumph of this book is the way in which Emily is able to grow up and take responsibility for herself and how she is able to help Ashley to heal from the difficulties in his past. They are a very likeable couple and it makes this book a joy to read.

A sweet, well written story....(3 1/2).......2003-06-01

Silent Melody was a sweet heartfelt read...I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Mary Balogh, however it wasnt for me. I did enjoy it, but I have found that in having read a few of her other books in the past, that while they are good, they just arent for me...I would definitely not dissuade anyone from reading this book..I just personally prefer other authors.

When two tortured hearts find healing in each other.......2003-04-30

This sequel to the already outstanding Heartless tells us the story of Lord Ashley Kendrick and Lady Emily Marlowe. The premise of their relationship was already hinted at in Heartless, but this book takes off seven years later and explores it in earnest.

As a tortured hero, Ashley truly takes after his brother Luke. The seven years he spent away from home didn't bring him the happiness he was looking for, and it's alone and heartbroken that he arrives at Bowden Abbey. His family has changed drastically: his brother, still happily married to Anna Marlowe, is now the father of four children; his sister has settled and gained a lot of maturity. And Emily, the child he used to call his "little fawn", has grown into a woman. A very beautiful and desirable woman, in fact. And the realisation of his blooming feelings for Emily mingles with his jealousy when he sees her being courted by several gentlemen thinking of her as a potential bride.

Emily has continued to observe the world from her own silent world. Heartless already gave us a few glimpses of her life as a deaf mute and the inner world she had built for herself, but Silent Melody explores it much more thoroughly, and the atmosphere enveloping the entire story is rendered more fascinating by the frequent introspection from Emily's point of view. She opens her world to Ashley - and to the reader - even though she knows that whatever happened to him in India to make him so sombre will always keep them apart. They can be friends but nothing more, since Ashley never saw in her what she sees in him. He thinks of her as a child still, not as a lover, doesn't he?

Silent Melody takes us in a very original and captivating world, where both heroes feel frightened by their feelings. More than in any other romance novel, the misunderstandings never look artificial, thanks to the absence of wordy communication between Ashley and Emily. Mary Balogh does a masterful job of describing each of their private thoughts. The characters' emotions are thrust onto the reader without artifice, and the resulting story is both powerful and heartwrenching. One of the very best!

More silence would have been appreciated.......2002-10-14

I've read some of Mary Balogh's other books and enjoyed them a great deal. Unfortunately, as previous reviewers have mentioned, the "action" parts of this book felt like a formula Balogh had pasted into place. Evil villain? Check. Incomprehensible motivation for said villain? Check. An assortment of characters with seemingly no role but to keep hero and heroine apart for five precious minutes during the book who are given disproportionate "screen time"? Check.

More bothersome, from my point of view, was Emily's deafness. Emily is able to lip-read easily, even in ball situations, where the lighting was not so good and people were probably not looking straight at her every time she spoke. And her lip-reading was pretty much flawless, which is something that doesn't happen, even now, even under ideal situations (good lighting, speaker facing listener and enunciating clearly). As my ASL teacher put it, look into a mirror and say, "Pleased to meet you." Then say, "Elephant juice." Can you tell the difference simply by sight? Emily's lip-reading ability was taken beyond the realm of plausibility, and the same is true for most of her communications with others. It's as though the deafness became a plot hindrance most of the time, so what the hell, we're just going to pretend that it isn't really that much of a problem. I just had difficulty suspending my disbelief there-- or my annoyance, since Balogh did choose to write a deaf heroine. It's a shame, because I'd been hoping to find a really interesting element of what it was like to be deaf in regency England... but I came away with the sense that not much research had been done, either on what it was like to be deaf then OR what it's like to be deaf now. This sort of sloppiness irritates me.

I did read the first book in this "grouping," and enjoyed it, and understand how "Silent Melody" grew from that. Still, Emily was a deaf heroine, and the way Balogh dealt with her deafness struck me as sloppy. She's written better books. The hook for this one was a hindrance rather than a help to the book's quality. Read something else she's written first.

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Make mine Maclain: The silent whistle, Melody in death, The murderer who wanted more ("A Duncan Maclain mystery.")
Baynard Kendrick
Manufacturer: W. Morrow & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007E8Y8E

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Silence, Music, Silent Music
Nicky Losseff
Manufacturer: Ashgate Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Theory | Theory, Composition & Performance | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0754655598

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Silent Angel: The Joys and Challenges in Raising an Autistic Child
Melody Ravert , and Tim Ravert
Manufacturer: Airleaf Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Parenting | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
Disabilities | Special Needs | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
General | Special Needs | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
General | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
Inspirational | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Special Needs Children | Children's Health | Personal Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1600022243
Release Date: 2006-09-29

Product Description

"It is conservatively estimated that nearly 400,000 people in the United States have some form of autism - the third most common developmental disability. But the majority of the public, including many professionals in the medical, educational, and vocational fields, remain unaware of how autism affects people." - Families for Early Autism Treatment The book, Silent Angel: The Joys and Challenges in Raising an Autistic Child, answers that question and others as it is a true account of the authors raising a daughter with special needs. This book also includes testimonies of people from various walks of life about this child and how they see her as she relates to them on a daily basis. Finally, this book offers practical suggestions how someone can interact with an individual or a family with special needs and make a positive impact in our society.

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Silent night (A Golden melody book)
Ann Schweninger
Manufacturer: Golden Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OSYL58

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Silent night (A Golden melody book)
Ann Schweninger
Manufacturer: Golden Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Silent Tunes: Where Silence Turns to Melody

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Silent Tunes: Where Silence Turns to Melody
Xunay Abbas
Manufacturer: BookSurge Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1419622633
Release Date: 2006-04-18

Book Description

Enigma of dreams, a mystery of visions and a conundrum of reality is 'Silent Tunes'. A musical box set to mute is its truth and cords that play but make no sound its veracity. For when I write each verse I know not what it contains for you but it holds a whole new world of trial and audition for me. I gift 'Silent Tunes' to you all who believe in fate and take destiny as a promising reality and I hope without chaffing against the raw abrasions of life I bring back to you some of those cherished moments from the past you left far behind.

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Silent Melody
Mary Balogh
Manufacturer: Dell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O6IQOM

Book Description

When those aliens entities called "humans" sent their first exploration ship into Compact space, the traditional power alliances of the seven Compact races were catastrophically disrupted. And, giving shelter to Tully, the only surviving human, Pyanfar Chanur and her feline hani crew were pitched into the center of a galactic maelstrom, becoming key players in a power game which could cause an intersteller war, or bring the last hope for peace between eight barely compatible alien races.

Customer Reviews:

Awesome!.......2007-03-09

I think these books are AWESOME! If you like to read books with fights, advanced technology, where girls are the offworlders, then these are the books. I currently own all of the Chanur series, and they sit on the shelf with my other favorite books, redwall, ga'hoole, etc. I rate them ten out of ten!

A tour de force -- and not her first, either!.......2007-01-24

This is the fourth volume of the Chanur saga and an impressive conclusion it is, too. Again, you cannot -- repeat CANNOT -- read the four volumes out of order. It's not just a series of stories set in the same universe, it's a single huge novel sliced into four chunks for the publisher's convenience. This one opens immediately following the pause at the end of _The Kif Strike Back_, with Pyanfar Chanur and her Hani crew having been coopted by one side in the struggle between two kiffish factions, which also has swept up the Mahendo-sat (who, in their traditional and methodical way, are supporting both sides) and the newly-discovered humans (who appear to control a volume of space vaster than the entire Compact in which the Hani, the Kif, the Mahendo-sat, the Stsho (extremely wealthy but extremely xenophobic and physiologically incapable of violence), and a couple of usually incomprehensible methane-breathing species co-exist more or less successfully. Only now it appears the entire Hani home world may be devastated in a war that the "groundling" majority of Hani couldn't begun to understand. The half-dozen members of the crew (all of them cousins) come across very much as individuals, as do the other non-human characters. There are no stereotyped BEMs here. In fact, since you're seeing everything through Pyanfar's eyes, the least-clear character is that of Tully, the adopted derelict human, simply because he's extremely alien to all the others and his psychology and motivations are never really clear. Cherryh does a remarkable job with the complex plot, the almost archaeological detail in the back-story, the multidimensional characters, and the themes of progress and change.

chanur's homecoming/gift for son.......2006-11-10

My son loves it.I received it very quickly. son says it's a 5 and then some. I'll probly will read it some day. he has the series, so if he is happy withit I am happy.

Best of the lot.......2005-12-05

Of course, saying that this is the best out of the entire series really means nothing to you because this isn't a series where you can just pick and choose which books you want to read. If you don't read the two books before it (actually three, if you want to get picky, although the prelude novel is basically standalone) you are not going to have a clue about anything that's going on here. Sure, astute readers will pick it up as they go along, but it won't have the same impact without having experienced the prior novels and the events in them. But, to recap: everything is falling apart. Pyanfar and her crew are running for their lives, alliances are being formed and broken and reformed all over the place, pitting species against species, the Compact is close to breaking and above it all rests the spectre of human beings, who might appear at any moment and totally disrupt all the balances. Cherryh must have intended the three novels to stand as one because there really is no break between them, especially in the first time. The last page of one leads you right into the first page of another, but with the first two books it's breakneck and breathless. Here, at least, we finally take a moment to get a breather and get a look at what's going on. For some reason, there's a greater emotional heft in this novel, I found myself connecting to events a little better, whether that was because I was familiar enough with the characters to actually care or because things had slowed down enough that I had a chance to care. Sometimes when the action was so dense you tended to get caught up in it and forget that these were real characters you were dealing with. Here, it's hard to forget, the tone of the novel is beaten and weary, the crew of the Pride has been running around like lunatics for two books straight now and they're tired and hungry and that attitude just seeps into every page of the novel. They want to nap for a week, but they can't, because only they know what's going on and it's up to them to rescue everything. Cherryh gets a lot of credit for creating credible alien politics here, it's so smooth that you don't realize how much genius went into the creation of the various races and their mindsets, and how each one plays into their own racial traits without falling into stereotypes. Sometimes things are a little too opaque for my liking, there were a number of scenes where alliances were switching or people were debating things where it was hard to follow just what the stakes were or who had switched sides and who was with who, especially since species were betraying each other and so on. But what the story loses in coherency (and the climax is a little vague, although the epilog does pretty much redeem everything) it gains in emotional content, whether from the constant struggle of the wounded Chur to stay alive, Pyanfar and her husband finally acting like they are married (Cherryh also sprinkles in some nice flashbacks), Jik and his cool confidence being shattered, the kif finally being nice, everyone being scared out of their wits by the methane breathers, by the time you get to the end of all of this, you do feel that the truimph was earned. You may not understand exactly how it resolved but you don't get the feeling that you wasted your time either. I've commented before that I think Cherryh is vastly underrated in the annals of SF and this series only proves that if she doesn't belong on the same level as the grand masters, she's within striking distance at the very least. Also, no one else I've ever read has come as close to depicting the precise bustle of a spaceship bridge, with its clipped sentences and instantly executed orders and rapid sequences of events, as closely as she has to how it would seem in my head. The pages seem to turn themselves, the action moves so swiftly. Definitely a worthwhile series to get into if you're at all interested in SF, but please start with the Chanur Saga before coming here. You'll thank me when everything makes a lot more sense.

Fourth Book in Series & End of Middle Trilogy.......2003-09-21

This is the fourth book in the (currently) five book Chanur series. It's also the end of the trilogy that's left incomplete in the supposed "omnibus edition" "The Chanur Saga." As usual for Cherryh, this is an excellently written book that reaches down into your gut and shakes you around. As I'm re-reading these books in quick order, I found this book to be a better read than the previous two in the trilogy. Essentially, it's written at a more sustainable emotional pitch. The first two books in the trilogy just never let up. From the minute you pick them up to the minute they (don't) end, everything goes wrong and everyone's either evil, an enemy, or a fool (or some combination of the three). This book gives you a bit of a break. There are actually other people in it besides the protagonists who are good, competent, and/or an ally. The pacing is also more reasonable. You're not on the edge of your seat on every page. The pitch actually increases fairly smoothly throughout the book. An excellent end to the middle trilogy of the Chanur series.

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Chanur's Homecoming
C.J. Cherryh
Manufacturer: DAW Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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C J Cherryh
Manufacturer: PENGUIN PUTNAM * TRADE
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4 Chanur Titles - Pride of Chanur - Chanur's Venture - The Kif Strike Back - Chanur's Homecoming

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4 Chanur Titles - Pride of Chanur - Chanur's Venture - The Kif Strike Back - Chanur's Homecoming
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THE CHANUR SERIES: The Pride of Chanur; Chanur's Venture; The Kif Strike Back; Chanur's Homecoming; Chanur's Legacy

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THE CHANUR SERIES: The Pride of Chanur; Chanur's Venture; The Kif Strike Back; Chanur's Homecoming; Chanur's Legacy
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Cherryh C J
Manufacturer: Daw Books
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Book Description

The mystical practice of Huna evolved in isolation on Hawaii, and its ideas are profound yet elegantly simple. The ancient Hawaiians valued words, prayer, their gods, the sacred, the breath, a loving spirit, family ties, the elements of nature, and mana - the vital life force. This book presents Huna as both a venerated, ancient philosophy and a magnificently modern guide to spiritual living.

Customer Reviews:

fundamentals of hawaiian mysticism.......2006-08-23

this book is a must for developing your healing powers a truely enlighing read and voyage of discovery

Highly Recommended.......2006-05-06

"Two Bears" recommended this book to me after I told him how much I liked "Huna Self-Awareness" by Erika Nau. I didn't think I could find a book I Huna that I liked as much, but this one is it. I highly recommend it as an introduction to Huna.

everyday Huna for vibration of this time.......2005-11-18

This book is a pure diamond when it comes to Huna, and I wouldn't hesitate to call it the best beginner to intermediate book on practical everyday Huna currently in print.

Great especially for beginners in Huna or Hawaiian mysticism, whatever you name it. Touches basics of more aspects of Hawaiian mysticism than other Huna books. It doesn't suffer neither from historical speculations, nor from being mixed up with other shamanic or spiritual systems, both deficiencies found in most other books on topic.

Deals with positive speech; eliminating blocks, complexes and negativity; communication between Three Selves, mana gathering, Huna prayer, cutting aka cords, charging amulets, and much much more.

Someone said: "...do not go to the past for all the information and answers because the vibration has already changed." Charlotte Berney delivers the practical Huna for the vibration of today.

She builds upon good research, the practical drills come from traditions of Clark Wilkerson, Max Freedom Long and David Kaonohiokala Bray.

To previous reviewers:

L. Power: 7 rules of the Huna philosophy are only in Serge Kahili King's tradition of Huna. I personally haven't missed them at all (though nothing wrong with them ). Also I don't agree on Urban Shaman being better book, though it is a fine book for sure. But that's just a matter of opinion, different books suit better to different people with different personalities and goals.

Richard M. Wong: Not a single word in your "review" was about this book. In the spirit of Aloha, be blessed and let your Huna complex be resolved.

A Practical Handbook for Harnessing the Powers of Huna in Your Life.......2005-09-15

FUNDAMENTALS OF HAWAIIAN MYSTICISM is an outstanding book that describes practical ways for harnessing the powers of Huna in your life. Charlotte Berney details numerous interesting and useful exercises for manifesting and creating improved balance in your life by working with the basic principles of Huna, the spiritual and mystical teachings and traditions of Hawaii. Berney describes how you can find lost things by communicating with your basic self, and how you can arrange to meet your soul mate by working with your high self. She shares some essential tips for effective prayer that are bound to be helpful for everyone, and outlines an extraordinarily powerful Hawaiian technique for manifesting called the "Ha Rite". I love the sections of this book dedicated to releasing all manner of negative energies in order to better live the most fulfilling possible life, and appreciate the inclusion of so many clearly explained techniques and exercises.

Excellent Work of Alternative Philosophy!.......2004-09-11

I'm not from Hawaii, so I don't know anything about whether Huna has a Hawaiian origin or not and, as a practical matter, the origins of the concept don't really concern me. This book offers practical advice on expanding your spiritual life in a way that is not tied down by the strictures of the Christian Church (I'm not attacking the Church, but some people want the freedom to seek an alternative). In my opinion, the best part of the book is the extended, final chapter entitled "Huna for Everyday." This chapter contains 80 pages of practical advice on using Huna techniques to address everyday problems.

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