The White Castle: A Novel

Book Description

From a Turkish writer who has been compared with Borges, Nabokov, and DeLillo comes a dazzling novel that is at once a captivating work of historical fiction and a sinuous treatise on the enigma of identity and the relations between East and West. In the 17th century, a young Italian scholar sailing from Venice to Naples is taken prisoner and delivered to Constantinople There he falls into the custody of a scholar known as Hoja--"master"--a man who is his exact double. In the years that follow, the slave instructs his master in Western science and technology, from medicine to pyrotechnics. But Hoja wants to know more: why he and his captive are the persons they are and whether, given knowledge of each other's most intimate secrets, they could actually exchange identities. Set in a world of magnificent scholarship and terrifying savagery, The White Castle is a colorful and intricately patterned triumph of the imagination. Translated from the Turkish by Victoria Holbrook.

Customer Reviews:

Boring with no story line, despite its deep symbolic implications.......2007-04-05

I do not quibble with those reviewers who see in Pamuk's work the deep and enigmatic thinking of a clever philosopher. However, for all his intellectual prowess, he cannot (at least in this book) write a pleasing story. The conceit of the man finding the ancient manuscript is the epitome of hackneyed--it's not even rendered in any new or inventive manner. The plot itself is excrutiatly boring--perhaps its only artful device is that it leaves the reader feeling just as trapped in its plot as the main character is in his captivity for much (way too much) of the book. Despite being recounted in painstaking, dreadfully repetitive detail, the relationship between the Italian and Hoja remains wholly clinical, unemotional and repulsive. The reader comes away with no deeper appreciation of why the Italian is so haunted by Hoja at the end than he had in the beginning (ends up seeming a case of mere Stockholm syndrome!). The storyline, if it can even claim to have one, is woefully slow, and, I felt, had no redeeming meaning in the end (the final chapter is a grave, predictable disappointment). I appreciate that it asks big philosophical questions about the meaning of identity, self-worth, east-west relations, etc., but a page-turner it is NOT. In my opinion, Pamuk is a philosopher and should have limited himself to treatises. He should leave the writing to AUTHORS--those who can weave their deep philosophical questions into inspiring storylines with beautiful imagery and real human emotion. This book is far too dry and dull to recommend to anyone other than a chain-smoking, black-wardrobe-wearing, self-hating philosophy grad. student! :)

A case of intellectual incest?.......2007-01-19

Nobel Prize Literature Laureate (2006), Orhan Pamuk, in his first work translated into English from the Turkish, gives us in The White Castle an obsessive tale of a bizarre relationship. He begins with an old framing device, that of finding a manuscript which he then publishes. (Actually, Pamuk is even further removed since he has a fictional character, one Faruk Darvinoglu, find the manuscript and dedicate the book to his deceased sister.) Nathaniel Hawthorne used a similar conceit in The Scarlet Letter (1850). This manuscript is a first-person narrative by an unnamed Italian author who was captured by the Turks and taken into slavery in 17th century. He eventually becomes the personal servant of a Turkish man of similar age--and most importantly--of similar appearance. In fact the two could pass as twins.

This similarity of appearance begins to haunt the Italian, partly because the similarity is inexplicable and partly because the two become so intertwined intellectually and emotionally. Their relationship deepens as Hoja, the Turk who is obsessed with learning, especially learning what he considers science, begins to pick apart the narrator's brain. As time passes they exchange ideas and memories, beliefs and every aspect of their knowledge with the sense that it is the Italian slave who is tutoring the Turkish intellectual. Eventually Hoja with the help of the narrator's learning becomes an advisor of sorts to the young sultan. He interprets his dreams, predicts the end of a plague, constructs mechanical devices and toys for the sultan's amusement, tells stories for entertainment and generally becomes one of the favored members at court. He gains in power and influence and is rewarded with grants of land by the sultan so that he has a secure income.

Meanwhile the narrator, whom Hoja often abuses physically and mentally, has learned Turkish and has made himself indispensable to Hoja. The sultan senses that much of Hoja's impressive learning comes from the Italian slave, and eventually the narrator also becomes a favorite at the sultan's palace. It could be said that what we are witnessing in this story in a symbolic sense is the encroaching influence of science and technology on the Islamic state.

It is psychologically understandable and indeed perhaps inevitable that the narrator would form in his mind ambivalent feelings of love and hate for Hoja, whom he so resembles and with whom he is in nearly constant contact. As the years pass and their differences meld, and as each learns the heart and soul of the other, they become more and more alike until...

Is Hoja the doppelganger or is it the other way around? Is it possible that Hoja will leave Turkey and "return" to Italy after having so thoroughly gleaned the narrator's brain that he can pass as the narrator, even to his Italian family? After all these years, the suggestion that Pamuk makes--and this is really the brilliance of the novel--is that yes it could happen. And could the narrator stay on in Turkey, marry and have children while assuming the identity of Hoja without anyone really being able to tell the difference? Could time and acquaintance overcome the accident of one's birth, overcome even the accent with which one speaks so that one is the other and vice-versa? In a larger sense could such an intense, close relationship over several decades so confuse the minds of these two that they no longer know where the one begins and the other leaves off?

Pamuk's narrative is deliberate and slow-paced, as least by modern standards, intensely felt, and carefully wrought. You may find yourself putting it aside at first, so slowly does the story develop. It covers the span of several decades until the narrator is in his seventies. It is picturesque in the style of stories from centuries past which told of exotic places and strange adventures. There is a vivid sense of a world in transition from the feudal to the modern, of a world hungry for the renaissance, hungry for the knowledge of the West, and yet content within an Islamic society ruled by sultans and imams.

This is the first novel of Pamuk's I have read, and one of his earliest. It is obvious from this relatively modest work that he is a writer of vision and understanding. I am looking forward to reading his more recent work.

A Turkish Delight.......2007-01-10

One of the most engaging and imaginative novels I've read in the last 12 months. It contrasts two cultural worlds -- the 17th-century scientific and technological advancement of Christian Venice with the Muslim centre of Constantinople -- and the intellectual engagement of a scholar from each.

Quo vadis, Turkey?.......2006-11-29

I read this little novel because of the author's recent Nobel award. I had wanted to read Pamuk for some time. I had expected something different, more "realistic". One reviewer calls this book a historical novel. That's what I expected, but that is not what it really is.
White Castle rather is an elegant and fairly short parable on the Turkish mindset, torn between national and religious greatness on one side and longing for European modernity and belonging to it on the other. The book is technically reminiscent of Calvino and even some Kafka stories.
OP uses several themes to develop his tale:
This is a doppelgaenger story.
This is a story on the master/slave or servant relation and its dynamics over time.
This is superficially about the conflicts between Turkey and European rivals for power like Venice.
All this is fine and nothing to complain about. But I must admit that the book left me bored after about half way. Maybe the reviewer, who said here that one must be Turkish to appreciate the subtleties of the character's conflicts, was right after all. Or maybe the method is just dried up, overutilized?
I don't know. I will try another Pamuk book for sure.

Unimpressive.......2006-11-19

I read this book after hearing so much praise about this work. However enlightening this reading was, I didn't like the fiction. There is this intrigue of the magic reality, where the narrator meets his alter-ego, that the critics love so much, but this somehow didn't work in this Ottoman tapestry. In this respect and particularly the case for middle-age fiction in general, I liked Amin Malouf's fictions.

Casper #2 : Knightmare at Harvey Castle (Marvel Comic Book 1997)

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Casper #2 : Knightmare at Harvey Castle (Marvel Comic Book 1997)
Angelo Decesare
Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The White Castle : A Novel (Vintage International)

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The White Castle : A Novel (Vintage International)
Orhan Pamuk
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OXMCZY

Book Description

Trapped by duty -- and the demands of his cruel,unyielding father -- Lord Gabriel Sinclair, the dark and moody Earl of Wakefield, is being forced to find a bride. But Gabriel plans an exquisite revenge on his cold-hearted parent: wedding the sultry, low-born Yankee wench who tried to steal his watch. Ragged and beautiful Cassie McClellan is desperate to escape her life of poverty -- and, therefore, willingly accepts the handsome, arrogant aristocrat's offer of marriage in name only. But neither is prepared for the awakening passions that will bind their fragile, damaged hearts -- or the blistering, sensual need that comples them both to surrender body and soul.

Customer Reviews:

Turbulent but Passionate.......2007-05-23

From the opening pages this book will boil your temper but that is part of its appeal. Gabriel, the second son of the second wife of an earl, has always known his father only loves his firstbon son and late first wife. He always criticized Gabriel and never brought gifts to him as he brought them for his brother Stuart. When his mother dies, an eighteen year old Gabriel leaves to make his fortune in shipping intending never to come home again. All that changes when his brother Stuart is killed in a battle and he is now the Earl's heir and is expected to come home and marry Lady Evelyn his brother's former fiance. Gabriel rebels against anything his father demands and when he meets a poor serving girl, Cassie, in an American barroom he plots to marry her to spite his father. When Cassie's boss threatens to turn her out if she doesn't sleep with Gabriel, she steals his watch in order to run away. When she is caught, Gabriel makes her a deal that if she marries him he will drop charges and let her live in comfort the rest of her life. She agrees but on the terms that it is in name only. They marry and travel to England where Cassie finds out that Gabriel is using her to hurt his father. She witnesses several accounts of the harmful relationship between father and son and prays for healing. Before long, Gabriel's desire for Cassie turns their marriage into a real one and they become lovers. Gabriel is a jealeous lover and is distrustful of even his best friend. Soon it becomes obvious that someone is out to kill Cassie after she has several near misses and Cassie suspects either Gabriel or his father may regret her presence. However, Cassie has wormed her way into both men's hearts and now they must uncover an evil plot against her and try to mend a relationship between themselves. Cassie now also carrier their heir.

Some readers may be turned off by Gabriel's treatment of Cassie which at times borders on abuse. But, in understanding the character and the mental abuse he suffered as a child, you can understand and forgive him if he can turn his behavior around and that is exactly what happens. The passion and real feeling emotions and actions of the pair make it intriguing and holds you till the end. Great.

Buy something else!.......2006-04-01

Normally, I like Samantha James' books. The "Perfect" series (Perfect Bride, Perfect Groom, Perfect Hero) was fun. This, however, is... well, let's just say that the "hero" of this book rapes his wife, repeatedly, yet she loooooves him and somehow convinces herself that he's really a good man, way down deep inside (way, way, WAY down), despite the fact that he treats her with contempt consistently and did I mention RAPES her? Ugh. The one thing I did enjoy about this book was confirming that my psyche isn't warped enough to enjoy it.

Makes You Want to Run From Marriage...........2005-12-31

This is the third novel by SJ I have read. I also read "A Perfect Bride" (very good) and "His Wicked Promise" (so-so). I like this author for the most part as she is very good at being detailed in her plot lines and descriptive in her characters. Unfortunately, this book did not work for me at all. It appears this is one of her earlier works - around 1994 - about the fourth book she did - and it was not one of her best.

The plot wasn't bad - poor American girl working as a bar maid as all her family is dead or abandoned her meets up with rich, wealthy and handsome Brit who needs to find a wife to take back home. Our hero Gabriel picks our heroine Cassie as she is all that his father would hate and since Gabriel and his father detest one another - he chooses the worst bride possible. A dream come true for Cassie as she needs food, a home and clothes - until she gets to England and not only does the father dislike her but, her new husband Gabriel embarrasses her, treats her poorly and reminds her constantly of her low birth origins. Thus....a dream turns into a nightmare.

It was frustrating that page after page Gabriel remains the same cold, aloof, self-fish and nasty man he was from day one. I kept waiting for him to slowly thaw and become the warm, kind and thoughtful man he could be but, alas...it wasn't until the last few pages of the book he finally redeemed himself. Once in a great while he would get a normal thought in his head to be kind or nice but, he even talked himself out of that. Regardless of his poor upbringing...he should have had the common sense not to treat everyone like dirt. Gabriel clearly finds Cassie attractive and she slowly wins over people like her neighbors, the local high ranking duchess in the city, Gabriel's friends, etc.. Even with all of her growth over time, it is still not enough for Gabriel to see her as anything but, an attractive wench he can bed since she is now his wife. A few times he even forced her into the sexual encounter - mind you - she always gave in - but, he began some passages with force and that wasn't appealing at all. One reader called it rape and as much as I don't want to agree - some scenes did come close to that. No hero of mine would go that far...hopefully not yours either.

Cassie certainly had spunk and grit but, she often caved when it came to Gabriel. She stood up for herself, kept herself in high regard most of the book but...sometimes, she lost her confidence and seemed weak willed. Like when she needed to tell him she was pregnant and they were both shocked---ya, that happens with dozens of sex scenes!!!

It was more than irritating that he constantly called her "Yank" - even in heated love scenes. This was not sexy, romantic or appealing for a hero. One passage he made it sound like he didn't like her name thus...he rarely used it.

Cassie in turn would yell at him, tell him she hated and detested him and even when he showed her little tenderness or kindness, she still found a way to fall in love with him. Why? Who knows? Guess since he gave her a house, clothes and a new life - he looked more appealing to her even when he wasn't very nice. His friend Christopher was much more appealing but, alas...she never fell for him.

The story line of someone trying to kill Cassie so, Gabriel could wed another was not all that creative or interesting either - seemed tossed in there to keep things moving. The mystery of the possible killer was a weak point for me.

As expected, the end of the book cleaned everything up and everyone suddenly saw the light of their bad ways and all worked out neat and tidy. Too tidy if you ask me. I could not root on these characters as they just didn't work for me - I never felt they were meant to be soul mates. They met and married for all the wrong reasons. I just didn't buy that this love story would bloom and last forever. I simply wished the story would be done halfway through the book.

This author is good and I'll look to her later works to find more enjoyment from her writing. This one was a bomb.

G is for "Grow up," "Get over yourself," and "Gabriel.".......2005-07-11

Two questions:

1. Did Rake School drop the requirement for a basic class in where babies come from, or is there some other reason why a grown man who's been sharing his wife's bed would throw a hissy fit when she becomes pregnant by him?

2. Is it just me, or is it not that romantic to watch someone devote himself full-time to self-pity and petty vindictiveness, directed against the helpless?

I usually find Samantha James enjoyable, but this was excruciating. If there's anything romantic about relentless verbal abuse and humiliation punctuated by tumbles in the hay , this is the book that proves the rule.

Gabriel's Bride.......2005-05-19

I couldn't put this book down. First and foremost do not expect Gabriel to sweep Cassie off her feet. This is a romance when somehow Cassie learns to fall in love with Gabriel. He is a stubborn yet fiesty man.Sometimes he can be the rudest most crude man and then other times (mostly when he is thinking in his head) he is the sweetest man ever.

Cassie on the other hand is a fiery yet humble character mix together. With all the rude things that come out of Gabriel's mouth she really loaths him. But mostly she yearns for his attention and mainly just wants him to love her. Physically and mentally.

The way Gabriel's father treats his son is probably the reason why Gabriel is such a arrogant yet handsome man. I have mix feelings when Gabriel and Cassie are together. One minute she wants him the next she hates him.But just like any other romance they too finally learn they can't live without eachother.This was my first Samantha James books and it won't be my last I read it in two days..

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To Wed a Highland Bride
Sarah Gabriel
Manufacturer: Avon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0061234966

Lucky Bride (Sequel To Gabriel'S Lady) (Harlequin Historical)

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Storyline ....

Lucky Bride (Sequel To Gabriel'S Lady) (Harlequin Historical)
Seymour
Manufacturer: Harlequin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Romance | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0373289502

Customer Reviews:

Storyline ...........2002-05-31

From the back of the book: "Parker Prescott had no intention of ever settling down, but Molly Hanks was the kind of woman who could stop a man in his tracks -- with or without her buffalo gun! Molly knew a smooth-talking drifter when she saw one. A man with charm like that was dangerous. And she had better things to do than keep an eye on some silly cowboy." A nice western historical romance with a lot of charm.

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Curse of the Coral Bride
Brian Stableford
Manufacturer: Immanion Press/Magalithica Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1904853137

DEATH ORCHIDS - And Other Bizarre Tales: The Monster Wants More than a Mate; Betrothal of the Thing; Bride for the Half Dead; Doomsday Fate; Mesa of Madness - Pulp Classics (13) Thirteen

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DEATH ORCHIDS - And Other Bizarre Tales: The Monster Wants More than a Mate; Betrothal of the Thing; Bride for the Half Dead; Doomsday Fate; Mesa of Madness - Pulp Classics (13) Thirteen
Robert (editor) (Brent North; Gabriel Wilson; Charles Marquis Warren; Jeffry Strictland; William B. Rainey; Robert Leslie Bellem; Ellery Watson Calder) Weinberg
Manufacturer: Robert Weinberg - Pulp Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GVYMPC

Gabriel'S Bride (Harlequin Desire, No 1041)

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Gabriel'S Bride (Harlequin Desire, No 1041)
Nancy Davis
Manufacturer: Silhouette
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0373760418

PRESCOTT SERIES: Book (1) One: Gabriel's Lady 337; Book (2) Two: Lucky Bride 350

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PRESCOTT SERIES: Book (1) One: Gabriel's Lady 337; Book (2) Two: Lucky Bride 350
Ana (pen name of Mary Bracho) Seymour
Manufacturer: Harlequin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OWH1W4

Book Description

Living with wolves as a child gave tracker Ukiah Oregon a heightened sense of smell and taste. Or so he thought-until he crossed paths with a criminal gang known as the Pack. Now, Ukiah is about to discover just how much he has in common with the Pack: a bond of blood, brotherhood...and destiny.

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Customer Reviews:

Addictive - had to buy the remaining books in the series.......2007-06-17

Once I started reading I couldn't put it down. This is a series that pulls you in and engages you with the characters and plot. Very well thought out. I hope Spencer continues with this character, I'm impatient for more of Ukiah's adventures.

Worth rereading.......2007-06-12

I've just finished the series of four Ukiah Oregon novels - twice! READ THEM IN ORDER!!! Detective stories aren't usually a reread for me, especially right away, but I've reread these before they are due back at the library, and I think I'll buy my own copies sometime in the near future. I've loved her other works, and now I think I'll make her an autobuy. Wen Spencer is a good author who doesn't find one successful universe and stick there, rewriting the same type of story over and over (see Tinker), but I'll definitely read more about Ukiah!

I don't "do" literary analysis, but I didn't find the writing style bad, as some have. It must be a matter of taste. I also won't review the plot, as has already been done.

The mystery of discovering who he is drew me in despite the gruesomeness of some of the scenes. The relationships were good. I like characters who I can respect and who are, at the same time, not perfect. I like the slow character maturation.

Warning, the third novel in the series has some "off-camera" violence against very young children.

This is definitely worth a try, and I think you'll be sucked in as I have been by this excellent and inventive writer.

I was wrong.......2007-01-22

When I first saw this book, I thought, "Wow, this looks really cheezy, but I'll buy it anyway as a quick read."

Then I got into the premise. "Wow!", I thought, "I was wrong, "This could be really cool." The idea of a tracker who can do what he can do because of a feral upbringing by wolves seemed to be working out well, and some of the plot twists were great.

But as I got into it, character development for all but the main guy seemed to stop dead. Further in, I found the actions of the characters less and less believable. It started with the tough FBI agent who considers Ukiah, the lead, a suspect one day, and is madly in love with him the next. The casual acceptance of Ukiah's real story by all concerned in the book at their first hearing seems even harder to accept.

Having said that, the plot is good, although there are some leaps that seem a bit sudden and poorly contrived. The concept is good, and it would have been a better book if it had been covered in more space so the characterizations and plot twists didn't seem so forced or wodden.

A good read.......2006-11-30

This is one of the better escapist fiction novels I've read in awhile. The characters have good development. The plot is complicated but moves well. The X-file elements are well done and different enough to provide continued interest. I've read all of the books in the series and would say that they were well worth the time to read. I doubt I'd ever reread these books but I would pick up a new novel with the same characters.

I started this series because I discovered the author through his Tinker series. I prefer the Tinker series because the universe there isn't quite as dark as that portrayed in this series.

I loved this book!.......2006-03-29

One of the most inventive, refreshing books I have read in a long time. I highly recommend the whole series!

Alien Plots: Female Subjectivity and the Divine in the Light of James Tiptree's `A Momentary Taste of Being' (Liverpool University Press - Liverpool Science Fiction Texts & Studies)

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Alien Plots: Female Subjectivity and the Divine in the Light of James Tiptree's `A Momentary Taste of Being' (Liverpool University Press - Liverpool Science Fiction Texts & Studies)
Inez van der Spek
Manufacturer: Liverpool University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0853238243

Book Description

At the heart of this stimulating and provocative study is a science fiction story by James Tiptree, Jr. (Alice Sheldon-Bradley, 1916–1987) about a brother and a sister (and 58 other human beings) who encounter an alien while on a starship traveling to discover a habitable planet. The book includes an outline of Tiptree’s work and of her remarkable life as the only child of jungle explorers, as a painter, an American agent during and after World War II, an experimental psychologist, and a female science fiction writer in male disguise.

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Alien Taste
Wen Spencer
Manufacturer: Roc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000K3MQPO

Book Description

Chosen for their universal spiritual appeal, literary merit, and recognized wisdom, these selections are perfect subjects for meditation and daily inspirational reading. Drawing from Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, and Native American sacred literature, this expanded third edition serves as a useful reference and guide to world mysticism. Included are Easwaran's criteria for choosing personally transformative passages, tips on memorization, and suggestions for further reading.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent.......2007-05-30

This book provides quotation and poems for people of all religions. Would recommend to all who are interested in being more spiritually aware.

Support on the path of life..........2007-04-07

I cannot praise this book enough... it has helped and sustained me so much in my life. Even in times of emotional turmoil, when I picked the book up and opened it at random - it gave me words I needed to hear. It offers a meaningful selection from all the religions. The book is intended as an aid to meditation, but truly it offers more than this. I hope others will benefit from the loving intention upon which the book has been created. (Makes a wonderful gift too, for a young person just starting out in life who may have need of its sustainance.)

A great compilation of inspirational spiritual poetry.......2007-02-17

All the enties in this book contain a wonderful, uplifting message to impart healing in hard times and also a daily source of inspitation.

God Makes the Rivers To Flow.......2005-07-10

This is a delightful book and very relaxing to just pick up and read an excerpt at a time.
I would recommend this book.

Deeply inspirational and a highly recommended.......2003-12-08

Compiled and edited by Eknath Easwaran, God Makes The Rivers To Flow: Sacred Literature Of The World collects meditation passages, poetry, prose, and more of life-affirming writings drawn from the diverse religious traditions of the East and West. An eclectic collection of religious literature spanning continents, centuries, and divergent faiths, God Makes The Rivers To Flow is deeply inspirational and a highly recommended addition to Interfaith Religious Studies collections and Personal Spirituality reading lists.

God Makes the Rivers to Flow: Selections from the Sacred Literature of the World Chosen for Daily Meditation

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A wonderful book for spiritual uplifting
life affirmation
The key to meditation

God Makes the Rivers to Flow: Selections from the Sacred Literature of the World Chosen for Daily Meditation
Eknath Easwaran
Manufacturer: Nilgiri Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0915132680

Book Description

Inspirational selections from the sacred literature of the world Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Native American.

Customer Reviews:

A wonderful book for spiritual uplifting.......2001-05-22

Since I believe in the existance of one God, I like this book a lot, because Sri. Eswaran does not focus on meditating on a particular belief or religion. This book shows that no matter which spiritual journey (path) you take, you end up in one place. The passages in this book are very uplifting.

life affirmation.......2001-05-18

eknath easwaran's books are all great .this one is particularly usefull for meditative purposes .in a world where flashy egotism seems so often to be rewarded-we can swim upstream.for a half hour every day we can repeat the beatitudes instead of lusting false boobs . after all we all know right from wrong .we are all that we see according to the gita . we have choices to make . as saint francis says in this book -it is in giving that we receive . let's let easwaran show us how to evolve by putting others first . let all the great sages in this book show us how to quit "selfing".

The key to meditation.......1999-01-25

Many forms of meditation exist. I chose Easwaran's because it's the most pragmatic. His thesis is that what one thinks upon, that he or she shall become. By meditating on a sacred passage from literature, then, the meditator transforms him- or herself into a person of high ideals. There are many other benefits to this kind of meditation--the mind slows down, and doesn't get angry or depressed as often; better concentration. God Makes The Rivers To Flow provides many passages, chosen by Sri. Easwaran, to memorize and use in meditation. It also provides a brief yet thorough explanation of Eknath's meditation style. (For a more detailed description, his book Meditation is highly recommended.) But don't take my (or anyone else's) word for it--if you want to aspire toward a more spiritual life, or if you just want to gain better control over your choices and circumstances, try this book and watch positive changes begin occurring almost immediately.

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