Book Description
Not Me is a remarkable debut novel that tells the dramatic and surprising stories of two men–father and son–through sixty years of uncertain memory, distorted history, and assumed identity.
When Heshel Rosenheim, apparently suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, hands his son, Michael, a box of moldy old journals, an amazing adventure begins–one that takes the reader from the concentration camps of Poland to an improbable love story during the battle for Palestine, from a cancer ward in New Jersey to a hopeless marriage in San Francisco. The journals, which seem to tell the story of Heshel’s life, are so harrowing, so riveting, so passionate, and so perplexing that Michael becomes obsessed with discovering the truth about his father.
As Michael struggles to come to grips with his father’s elusive past, a world of complex and disturbing possibilities opens up to him–a world in which an accomplice to genocide may have turned into a virtuous Jew and a young man cannot recall murdering the person he loves most; a world in which truth is fiction and fiction is truth and one man’s terrible–or triumphant–transformation calls history itself into question. Michael must then solve the biggest riddle of all: Who am I?
Intense, vivid, funny, and entirely original,
Not Me is an unsparing and unforgettable examination of faith, history, identity, and love.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
A hard book to put down.......2007-08-09
This book is a tapestry of different themes on identity, alongside the age-old question of "when is one relieved of their sins?" I really enjoyed this completely different approach to the subject matter of WWII and the Concentration Camps, and became so engrossed in the novel that I just couldn't put it down. I thoroughly recommend it.
I couldn't put it down!.......2007-07-24
"Not Me" poses a horrifying concept, and is beautifully written. It raises so many moral questions, page by page, and is an exciting read that makes you think about the meaning of identity, purpose, redemption, family, truth, etc.
The Comic and the Nazi.......2007-04-30
This is a first novel. It suffers from cliche at times, and in the end gets terribly sentimental about being an American Jew in one's fifties without having understood what being Jewish means - having 'missed out' on the Holocaust and Zionism. But it reads fast. The first person narrator - a middle-aged son struggling to cope with his dying father - is a quirky, funny, sometimes maudlin soul trying to sort out his life. Separated from his wife and son in California, this middle-aged comic is alone in Florida and having a hard time. Failing at being a father himself, the narrator quickly learns that his ailing octogenarian Dad is not exactly who he says he is. But the ambiguity of Dad's identity is (too) quickly extinguished through the translation of the old man's German diaries. While not exactly a war criminal of high order, Dad, aka, SS officer Heinrich Muller, explains how he transformed himself from accountant to victim in a few short weeks before the Camps were overrun by Allied armies. Muller starves himself, adds the blue ink number tatoo to his arm, adopts the name of a corpse, and then gets swept up in the displaced persons program. Soon he is on his way to a kibbutz in Palestine. He ends up in the Palmach, fighting in Israel's war for independence. Romance and self-hatred take hold in equal measure. Perhaps he should simply run down to Gaza and tell the Egyptians who he really is and leave these Jews behind him?! These parts, set south of Jerusalem and along the northern end of the Negev (and his continuing dialogue regarding his self-hatred) are the best part of the book. In the end, however, the tension over Dad's identity doesn't bring resonance to the American son's personal issues so much as give us a look at the way in which people can get caught up in the crushing events of the 1940s, especially if they were European Jews, and German. The character of the 'Nazi' father is better imagined, I think, than that of the comic son, and the possiblity of "lying narrator" (the father's diaries and conversations with the son) might've been better exploited in order to leave the reader with greater puzzle and wonderment. It gets a bit sappy and repetitive - how many times will his mother's hat float across the pool as an expression of grief and deracination? The opportunity for a cross-generational discourse is sidelined for nebulous emotional effect. We do see, however, that one can make up a life; the fear of being tainted by our original sins can lead us to utterly transform the self. The searing experience of the camps and the death of a daughter reveals for the author an old testament God whose knowledge of our fundamental character is not forgiving.
An Excellent Read.......2007-04-11
I read a lot of "Holocaust fiction," but this book escaped my notice until the author was named a runner-up for the new Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature last month. Now that I've read the novel, I can see why it's earning such accolades. Hopefully, now that the book is available in paperback it will reach a wider readership. I agree with all the other readers who found it a "page-turner" or "couldn't put it down." That was my experience, as well. I won't soon forget it.
Not jealous. Well ...maybe slightly........2007-02-28
As an acquaintance of the author, I naturally harbored the faint hope that his first published novel would be horrid. However, I confess to having inhaled the whole book from cover to cover. Not Me is as funny and trenchant as Phillip Roth - if Roth could still write funny - with the added fillip of a whodunit element which, in my case, kept me up until 3AM. Note to S Spielberg: A great first movie role for Seinfeld.
Book Description
In more than a century since its appearance, José Rizal's Noli Me Tangere has become widely known as the great novel of the Philippines. A passionate love story set against the ugly political backdrop of repression, torture, and murder, “The Noli,” as it is called in the Philippines, was the first major artistic manifestation of Asian resistance to European colonialism, and Rizal became a guiding conscience—and martyr—for the revolution that would subsequently rise up in the Spanish province. BACKCOVER: A beautiful new translation... Rizal's rich, moving novel...[is] perhaps the most important novel in Philippine literature.
—Jessica Hagedorn
Customer Reviews:
NOT THE ORIGINAL TEXT.......2007-03-08
This review is for the Spanish edition ONLY which I recently purchased (ISBN:8498160162, publisher: Linkgua). Note, that this is an ABRIDGED EDITION (edición abreviada) and is not true to the original text, this is evident commencing with the first sentence of the book. The reader will get the general idea of the novel, but will not read the words as written be the author.
I submit here an example of the above-mentioned sentence:
ABRIDGED EDITION (ISBN 8498160162):
A fines de octubre, don Santiago de los Santos, conocido vulgarmente con el nombre de Capitán Tiago, daba una cena, que era el tema de todas las conversaciones en Binondo, en los demás arrabales y hasta dentro de la ciudad.
ORIGINAL TEXT:
A fines de octubre, don Santiago de los Santos, conocido popularmente bajo el nombre de Capitán Tiago, daba una cena, que, sin embargo de haberlo anunciado aquella tarde tan sólo, contra su costumbre, era ya el tema de todas las conversaciones en Binondo, en otros arrabales y hasta en Intramuros.
This editing is consistent throughout every paragraph in the book.
If you just want a good read, then this edition will suffice. It is an excellent novel. However, if you are an admirer of the Spanish language, please get your hands on the original version.
A new translation.......2006-07-14
Please note that this is a completely new translation of the Philippines' most important novel. The search inside the book section and the other customer reviews refer to an older translation.
Great Story and Great Glimpse into Filipino Society.......2004-11-06
Being one of the most highly regarded figures in the Philippines, Dr. Jose Rizal is admired as a symbol of Filipinos. His books are well-read in the Philippines, and have been very influential in the history of the Philippines. If nothing else, this book should be read for the historical impact is had and is having on the country. Here are some thoughts on the book.
(1) Though it was written over a century ago, I think the society and mindset of the individual has changed little. Having only lived in the Philippines for about a month, I still recognized many things in the book that seem to be true today. The love of the cockfight, the importance of the family, the corruption of the government, the friendliness of the people, the syncretism of religion, the superstition, and the importance of social status all still appear to be significant parts of the culture today.
(2) Being such a highly esteemed book in the Philippines, it surprised me that it was so anti-Catholic. I truly don't understand or know about the Catholic church today in the Philippines, but this novel expressed a deep resentment toward this religious institution that apparently abused and took advantage of the people of the Philippines. If this was really true, how has Catholicism survived in the Philippines?
(3) The story was great! The plot was interesting, the two heroes of the story (Iberra and Elias) were fun to root for, and the villains of the story were easy to hate (basically the Catholic church).
(4) There were too many characters. I was constantly confusing the different residents of San Diego, and these characters were not well developed. In the first part of the book, I could not keep the different Fathers strait. And in the last part of the book I could not keep the majors and the old women strait.
The book was great and I would recommend it to anyone interested in the Philippines. I think it paints a picture of the culture that can only be painted in narrative. A culture book, or an anthropology book cannot express what Jose Rizal expressed in this novel. I can't wait to read El Filebustermo!
Best History Novel.......2003-11-13
This book is made with patriotism and Rizal's unconditional love to his country and its people. The scenes and stories in this novel describes the life of the filipino people during the Spanish regime in the Philippines. With Rizal's brilliant mind he opened the minds and urges the Filipino people to stand for their own country and how to cure the incurable cancer of our society.
A Melodrama of betrayal for a Life Betrayed.......2003-02-21
The story of "Noli Me Tangere" is one of bitter ironies. It is the first major Filipino novel and one of the first novels in Asia written outside China and Japan. Yet it is written in a European language (Spanish). It is one of the first novels of anti-colonial rebellion, written by a man who was executed by the Spanish just as the country began its fight for independence. In many ways the Philippines more resembles Latin America than its Asian neighbors. Both colonial Philippines and colonial Latin America were dominated by a corrupt, bigoted and dogmatic Catholicism. Both were colonized (more or less) by Spain and both regions had the same tensions between Spaniards, Spaniards born in the colonies, "mixed blood" and the indigenous majority. Both had to suffer the cruelties of a foreign country who looked down at the colonies with contempt. But Spanish never became the vernacular of the Philippines and after the United States' brutal conquest, only a tiny portion of Filipinos can read the founding novel of their own literature. To make things worse, the translation of the novel has been cursed with political malice. As Benedict Anderson pointed out in "The Spectre of Comparisons" the main translation by Leon Guerrero was compromised in a variety of ways. For a start Guerrero, like most of the Filipino ruling class collaborated with the brutal Japanese invaders. Afterwards he was a player in the corrupt, clientele ridden dependent pseudo democracy of the post war years. Rather hostile to the United States, Guerrero's translation subtly and not so subtly bowdlerizes the novel, blunting not only its fierce anti-clericalism and contempt, but also mangling Rizal's unique, cutting tone.
This translation is an improvement, though as Anderson points out, it is by no means perfect. As such one cannot be sure one appreciates Rizal's cunning, knowing, almost proto-modernist attitude towards the reader. As a result what we have may look a lot like a melodrama, as Juan Crisostomo Ibarra confronts grotesque injustices while he is falsely accused and cheated out of his love. Certainly we do not have an exemplar of realism like Rizal's contemporary, Benito Perez Galdos. One might think that the critique of Catholicism is very, very broad. The priests and laity are fanatical about Purgatory, and exploit the inhabitants for money for indulgences that reminds me of the endless loyalty oath campaigns in "Catch-22." They denounce modern education and hamper the building of a necessary school, they are so cruel to Ibarra's father that his corpse ends up dumped in a river, they chortle smugly over the damnation of their enemies. But there is a more cutting satire. Learning of a pogrom against the Chinese population, one character notes that they gave such good gifts for Christmas. If only they could have been killed after New Years. There are elaborate discussions of the many festivals and rituals of the Church that show a real talent for description. There are some fine scenes about being hampered and cursed by a callous bureaucracy and police. This is a novel that deserves a bigger audience and a better translation.
Average customer rating:
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Rogue: Forget-Me-Not TPB (X-Men)
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ASIN: 0785117342 |
Book Description
A bold new direction for the Southern Belle! Rogue may be a hero now, but once upon a time she wasn't so sweet... and that criminal past may just come back to haunt her! A traumatic encounter will leave her drastically changed... permanently! Collects Rogue #7-12.
Average customer rating:
- Me Me Me Me Me- Lorin H.
- From the publisher's description
- it's one of 'me' favorites...
- Excellent young adult literature that even adults can enjoy
- really good
|
Me Me Me Me Me: Not a Novel
M. E. Kerr
Manufacturer: Trophy Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Kerr, M. E.
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ASIN: 0064461637 |
Customer Reviews:
Me Me Me Me Me- Lorin H........2006-12-13
Many times kids and young adults will make up code names just to be secretive and fun, but for M.E. Kerr, her pseudonyms were all about chasing her dreams. Through the book Me Me Me Me Me, M.E. Kerr portrays her life as a truly inspiring one. She showed through her writing that there was a particular goal that was really significant to her, and all the small steps it took to get there. She wanted to become a published writer, using pen names to sign off her work. This biography tells about the endeavors Ms. Kerr had to go through to achieve this dream. All the way from reading about her agonizing experiences with her family, to the rough times she had in college, Me Me Me Me Me was a very enjoyable book. She wrote about good, funny, rough and bad times in her life, and though at some parts in the book it was a little unclear about what she was talking about, M.E. Kerr did a wonderful job of capturing her experiences on paper in a very humorous and exciting way.
Part of why this book was so interesting and fun to read was the way it was written, which was in a humorous manner. The way M.E. Kerr described her life
experiences was so enjoyable. I felt like what was important to her was pleasing her audience, not as much publishing her life stories. To accommodate what she thought would appeal to her readers, she updated all of her real life experiences, and made them into something that would happen today, something that kids today would want to read about. To me that showed real passion, and you can see it through her writing.
What was really neat about Me Me Me Me Me by M.E. Kerr was how she connected these stories to other published books of hers. In almost every chapter, after thoroughly telling an experience of hers, she will connect it to a book that she has written. She talks about a strange girl, Millicent, in her class who just moved into the small town and who seems to be deprived of a father. Ms. Kerr then figures out that her dad was sent to the county jail, a huge embarrassment. After this encounter with Millicent, the author goes on to say, "I mention the prison in my book Little Little, set in the fictitious Cayuta, New York, and describe some of the feelings kids had about the prisoners as they'd come and go." M.E. Kerr then goes further into the matter by saying, "I've never forgotten Millicent, and while I never wrote about her directly, there was a lot of her in the character Opal Ringer, the have-not who thought she'd have made a real good have, in What I Really Think of You." I think it's amazing how almost everything she writes in her books has meaning, and is there because of someone she knew or something. How M.E. Kerr reflects on why she put certain things into her stories gives this book an edge, an originality that I haven't seen in any other book.
Aside from being just a really fun book to read, I found Me Me Me Me Me quite inspirational. Reading about what M.E. Kerr and to go through to achieve something important to her motivated me to do the same. As well as having a strong storyline behind it, this book was incredibly written, with great descriptions and hilarious phrases. With great content, motivating experiences, and exciting twists in M.E. Kerr's life, Me Me Me Me Me is definitely a worthwhile book.
From the publisher's description.......2003-02-06
"The author recounts escapades from her own teenage years and reveals how many of those real-life people and events served as springboards for the fictional characters and plots in her nine young adult novels."
it's one of 'me' favorites..........2001-07-19
When I first picked up the book, I wasn't too interested. I hadn't really liked other titles by this author too much. But I thought maybe her auto would be different, so I gave it a shot. What a great find! How interesting can her life get?? You can really relate to it, as well as laugh at it, and learn from it. It's true what she says about "fact is stranger than fiction". It's got to be one of my favorites, and a great and unusual read for anyone in preteens and up.
Excellent young adult literature that even adults can enjoy.......1999-03-15
I read this book (not a novel) years ago for a young adult literature class. After reading it, I attended a writer's workshop feature Miss Kerr (or Mary Ellen Meeker). Our entire class found it humorous and easy to read. Many people ordered it as a mother's day gift. During the workshop discussion of Me, Me, Me, Me,Me, Me, Me we realized the everyday hidden humor in our life and how it can spark wonderful writings. For teens it would be an excellent book; for adults it's an easy read that will bring back some memories.
really good.......1997-12-02
i though it was really good, i had to read this book for freshmen english, and i loved it! i really recomend this book for high school or middle school girls.
Average customer rating:
- Loved it
- A haunting psychological mystery
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Forget Me Not (Beeler)
Susan Bowden
Manufacturer: Thomas T. Beeler Publisher
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1574902679 |
Book Description
What terrible secrets are hidden in Lisa Cooper's torrent of dreams? For years, Lisa has been haunted by the same inexplicable fears. Fears that have stolen her nights since she was a little girl. Fears that have intensified since her mother's death. Fears that won't go away... Now she's ready to explore the past...surrender to passion... and face the nightmare once and for all.... Lisa is coming home.
Praise for Susan Bowden:
"Bowden is flawless."-- Bell, Book, and Candle
"Bowden peers deep into the hearts and souls of her all-too-human characters."-- Romantic Times
"Intrigue at its most action-packed best."-- Midwest Book Review
Customer Reviews:
Loved it.......1999-12-31
I really enjoyed this book. It rates highly as a romantic thriller
A haunting psychological mystery.......1999-12-13
Thirty-one-year-old Winnipeg artist Lisa Cooper suffers from a deep- rooted trauma involving a fear of running water. When her phobia really hits home, she paints the night away in a terrorized trance. The city's Red River is rising and nearing flood levels, which sends Lisa into a deeper panic than her usual fears of even crossing a bridge.
When Lisa's adopted mother Meg dies, her psychiatrist encourages her to seek the truth by questioning her adopted father Jim about her childhood, especially her trauma. Her business partner also urges her to unravel the mystery that is destroying her. Jim gives his beloved Lisa the letter that Meg left for her. Lisa learns that she comes from Charnwood, England where her biological family is the aristocratic Kingsleys. Lisa flies to England to finally put to rest the nightmare that has haunted her since childhood. However, at least one person will not provide the Canadian with a warm homecoming, as that individual prefers family secrets to remain buried.
FORGET ME NOT is an intimate psychological mystery that will haunt readers due to the depth of the characters. Though the solution to the story line is obvious early on, the entertaining plot works because the readers can see the many-layered souls of much of the cast. Thus, the audience will empathize with many of the players especially Lisa as motivations ring genuine and all too human. Best selling author Susan Bowden has written another character-driven hit that will immensely please her fans.
Harriet Klausner
Customer Reviews:
"THIS IS ALEPH, AND YOU'RE ON THE GLOBAL FREQUENCY!".......2007-01-23
I'VE BEEN A BIG FAN OF ELLIS' OTHER WORK AND STUMBLED UPON THIS TITLE. I FEEL THIS IS SOME OF HIS FINEST WORK! WHAT A GREAT STORY.
I LOVED IT!
My favorite comic series........2006-06-25
Global frequency is easily my favorite comic/graphic novel series of all time. I've read all 12 issues and they are pretty amazing. I'm not saying this lightly. I've read most of Alan Moore's stuff, most of Frank Miller's stuff, most things by Bendis, Kirkman and Waid.
This is the only series where I have forced myself to stop reading in mid story because the effect was so powerful.
I guess this stuff isn't for everyone. If you're into series dealing with the "mythology" of superheroes then this might not be for you. However, if you enjoy powerful stories that don't require previous knowledge of existing universes, then this series is for you. Warren Ellis is at the top of his game here. Any fans of William Gibson or Neal Stephenson should love this series as well.
It's really top notch and well worth buying the entire series.
The return of great single issue stories.......2006-05-24
In case you haven't read the plot synopsis or the other reviews, here's the deal. The Global Frequency is a worldwide network of experts, geniouses, military and police officers brought together by Miranda Zero to save the world from itself. This is a science fiction comic with wormhole singularities and cyborgs, but there are no superheroes. These people are as ordinary as they can get given the world they live in.
It used to be that stories in comic books were largely confined to a single issue and that multiple issue stories were big events. Now multiple issue stories are the norm, designed to fill out collections.
Instead of breaking new ground, Warren Ellis is taking us back to old ground and reminding us that a good story can be told concisely.
Each issue of Global Frequency is a different story by a different artist. When this is done right it can be excellent, as in the second story in this collection which is illustrated by Glenn Fabry. In it Ellis posits what it would actually take to build a cyborg. Human skin and bones and muscle can't support 2 tons of machinery, so Ellis comes up with a vaguely human looking mass of muscle and machine, and Fabry illustration is beautifully horrific. Unfortunately there's the downside of when an artist and story don't blend. The final story in the collection is illustrated by David Lloyd of V for Vendetta fame. In the story a woman runs across rooftops, leaping from building to building, gymnastically scaling scaling fire escapes and jumping across traffic. It should be thrilling, but only about half of the pictures really have the energy of the story. This was disappointing, especially from such a classic artist.
I felt like there was something lacking in Planetary, especially in the beginning. I didn't see why the main characters mattered. They were window dressing to the story. Any character could have been inserted and the story would have been exactly the same. But here, in Global Frequency, it's quite clear why each operative is selected. Sometimes they're a specialist in the problem, sometimes they just happen to be the person physically closest to the crisis, but whatever the reason the characters in each story is always the right person for the job.
This is a great collection of short stories. The stories are smart and concise, and overall the art is good and right for each story.
Back to Planetary (7/10).......2006-04-14
Another worldwide secret organization that specializes in obscure events. Why doesn't he just go back to planetary and give the series the attention it deserves.......
I always get so excited everytime I see a new Warren Ellis novel, but I have to say, few and far between are worth it in my opinion. Not consistent.
Re-readability: 7/10
*I always put re-readability in my reviews for people who like to keep their TPB to re-read. Something can be awesome, but not something I am going to frequenty re-read (Maus), or it can be horrible, but I might still re-read it (Global Frequency).*
Good series start.......2005-02-13
This is an enjoyable action comic with a premise that will keep it from getting stale. 'Global Frequency' is a shadowy, wordwide group of trouble-shooters. When some problem comes up too fast, in too sensitive a way, or in some manner that the normal forces can't handle, GF activates one or more of its 1001 agents. No superheroes in tights here, but good action based on unusual premises and people.
This book collects the first few issues of the comic. Each of the original comics seemed to be a self-contained story with separate characters and situations. Although the writing is consistent, the artists also changed book by book. The artwork is always good, but won't have collectors stampedin any time soon.
This is the start of a readable, interesting action comic series. It's off to a very good start. I'll read more in the future, but this hasn't turned me into an instant fan. There are lots of other good ones to read, too.
//wiredweird
Book Description
In this classic work, Wayne A. Meeks analyzes the earliest extant documents of Christianity—the letters of Paul—to describe the tensions and the texture of life of the first urban Christians. In a new introduction, he describes the evolution of the field of New Testament scholarship over the past twenty years, including new developments in fields such as archaeology and social history.
Customer Reviews:
Information Galore.......2006-03-18
Very up-to-date information, thoroughly discussed and analyzed. The book is laid out by subject, so it's easy to go back and find information. It is basically a complete description of the Roman World of Paul's time, right down to the tiniest detail that we have available. The only downside is the sheer density of it. But if you can muck your way through it, this book is simply groundbreaking in its analysis of the world that Christianity was born into.
Excellent!.......2005-10-16
I wouldn't write a sermon without it! Great insight to the world and social condition of the early Church. I find that it helps bring the then and there to the hear and now.
An Excellent Introduction to New Testament Sociology.......2004-07-18
Biblical scholar Wayne Meeks wrote the first edition of THE FIRST URBAN CHRISTIANS in the mid 1980's. He collected not only scriptural information, but also historical and sociological information to reconstruct the world of the earliest Christians. At the time it was considered to be groundbreaking research. Today this work is considered by many to the standard bearer of sociological studies concerning first century Christians.
Meeks studies the earliest Christian communities established by St. Paul. Meeks acknowledges that in the minds of most people, the first Christians were poorer peasant and agrarian people, but the reality is probably different. While the gospel may have been first preached in such settings, the faith started in urban areas and spread first from one city to another, then to the countryside. While Meeks does mention many of the early Christian leaders in his work, his primary focus is on the writings of St. Paul and the day to day life behind these writings, since historically these writings are the earliest Christian sources.
Topics in the book include the urban environment of Pauline Christianity, social life of the early Christian community, the formations of churches, conflicts, rituals, and how belief shaped the lives of the early Christians. The book also has an index to help with information on specific subjects and a scriptural reference index for people who need to use the book for a quick reference for study or preparation of preaching.
Meeks has a scholar's attention to detail and provides a great deal of information in this work. He also has the reader in mind. Knowing that the work will be read both by scholars, students, and those interested in a deeper knowledge of scripture, the work is informative and readable.
While the information in the book is no longer new, it is still current. Students and those wishing further study will find Meeks' copious notes as well as his bibliography helpful for further study.
A good early look..........2004-05-13
Wayne Meeks, professor of Biblical studies at Yale, looks at the world of the first century Christian church in this book, 'The First Urban Christians'. He has a follow-up volume, 'The Origin of Christian Morality', that progresses into the world of the second century Christian church. Together these volumes give a rare insight into the earliest development of the church -- as so many denominations take as their authority the actions, decisions, and conventions of this time (as they understand them), a look at the formative years of Christianity (and later Christendom) is valuable indeed.
This book looks at social description of early Christianity, bringing in history, politics, sociology and philosophy in various degrees. Meeks is looking for the 'ordinary Christian' in the early church, something he claims we do not often find in the scriptures or other writings of the time. This requires that we know as much as possible about the general cultural setting in which early Christians found themselves, as their writings and practices handed down to us constitute a response, if not directly then at least indirectly, to their times.
Despite the pastoral setting of many of the gospel stories and parables, Christianity was largely an urban phenomenon in its earliest days (as would be true of most any sect or cult that would grow in early times -- it would take root in and transfer by movement between cities; indeed, Antioch, one of the major cities of the time, was where the term Christian was first coined). Meeks looks at the issues of city growth, from village to city to empire (it is no mistake that the Roman Empire derived its name from a city). Urban Judaism had unique traits that are examined here as influential in early Christianity. Meeks also explores different issues such as the role of women in urban society, mobility issues and the kinds of interconnections people in cities would make, intra-urban and inter-urban.
After this examination, Meeks continues to look at specifically church-related issues in urban, Pauline Christianity. These include the various rituals such as baptism and eucharist, governance and hierarchy issues in the early church (very different from later, imperial Christianity), and patterns of belief -- remember, this is a time when there was not only no set canon of scripture, but no creeds formulated yet, either. Meeks also explores briefly the unknown and controverted rituals -- how did the early Christians marry (or remarry)? How did they bury and mourn their dead (for we know it was of concern to many early Christians that people were dying prior to the return of Christ)?
Meeks provides ample footnoting citations, a generous bibliography of secondary sources (35 pages of this!), and indexes of biblical references, modern authors, and subjects. This is an excellent text for study and reference, and gives good insights into a world we take for granted often that we understand (due to our familiarity with the New Testament scriptures), yet really is foreign in time and space.
A clear look at the society of the first century........1999-01-11
Meeks takes a look at the first Christians from a perspective rarely found in typical Christian Bible dictionaries, encyclopedias, and commentaries. The strength of this work lies in the fact that Meeks is specifically unveiling the social customs and mores of the first century. Especially helpful are his discussions on the living and working conditions of the first Christians.
Since we are nearly 2000 years removed from the social context on the early church, a book such as this helps us to see what we have been missing.
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