Quarantine: A Novel

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The story of Jesus's 40 days in the wilderness is surely among the most celebrated and widely diffused narratives in Western culture. Why, then, would Jim Crace choose to retell it in strictly naturalistic, non-miraculous terms? The obvious answer would be that the godless novelist is trying to debunk divinity--to take the entire New Testament down a notch. And at first, this does seem to be the case. Crace's Jesus first got religion as an adolescent, and "was transformed by god like other boys his age were changed by girls." His peers view his spiritual fervor as a youthful eccentricity. Even now, as the thirtysomething Jesus heads out to the Judean desert for his 40-day retreat, he's perceived by his fellow anchorites as a flighty and impractical Galilean. They even call him "Gally" for short--and what sort of deity answers to a nickname?

Yet Crace is hardly the jeering materialist we might expect. As Jesus takes to his cliff-top cave, the author renders his religious transports without a hint of irony, and with a linguistic elegance that can hardly be called disrespectful: "The prayers were in command of him. He shouted out across the valley, happy with the noise he made. The common words lost hold of sound. The consonants collapsed. He called on god to join him in the cave with all the noises that his lips could make. He called with all the voices in his throat." And while most of the temptations of Christ are visited upon him by humans--by the motley crew of his cave-dwelling neighbors--he resists them with what we can only call superhuman will. Quarantine does, of course, operate on a fairly realistic plane. Jesus dies of starvation long before his 40-day fast is complete, and his fellow retreatants, who take center stage throughout much of the novel, are much too confused and brutal ever to figure in any Sunday school pageant. Still, Crace leaves at least the possibility of resurrection intact at the end, which should ensure that his brilliant book will rattle both believers and non-believers alike.

Book Description

Winner of the Whitbread Novel of the Year and a Booker finalist: a controversial novel of faith and mystery about a group of desert travellers and their encounter with Jesus

Quarantine is Jim Crace's imaginative and powerful retelling of Christ's fabled 40-day fast in the desert. In Crace's account, Jesus travels to a cluster of arid caves where he crosses paths with a small group of exiles who are on a pilgrimage to find redemption. One wealthy and manipulative quarantiner recognizes characteristics in Christ that he believes are divine. Evoking the strangeness and beauty of the desert landscape, Crace provocatively interprets one of our most important stories.

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An extraoridnary re-imagining of the forty days Christ spent in the wilderness being tempted by the devil." - John Walsh,The Independent

Customer Reviews:

it's not really a story about Jesus.......2006-08-24

What happened during Christ's 40 days out in the desert when he was tempted by Satan? What exactly compelled him to fast in the desert? Jim Crace's Quarantine answers these questions as well as tells a very different story of those forty days than one might expect. The idea of Jim Crace (Arcadia, Being Dead) writing a novel about Christ's forty days in the desert was an appealing one to me. Crace is a talented, creative writer. His perspective would be worth reading. It is. He does something with Quarantine that I didn't expect: Jesus is not the point of the story. Instead we have a woman named Miri out in the barren wilderness waiting for her husband Musa to die. Musa is a merchant and he has beaten her and mistreated her for years and now he is on death's doorstep. She is six months pregnant and she will soon be free. She sees five people walking towards the series of caves which she has taken shelter. One woman and four men. The fourth man is a gaunt young man: Jesus from Nazareth. He is young and pious and thoughtful. He feels called to take his quarantine in the desert, the others do it for personal reasons. But he takes quarantine one step farther: no food or water at all, not just after darkness. With Miri hiding Jesus stops at her cave looking for a dab of water before he begins the forty day quarantine. He blesses Musa and tells him to "be well", a common phrase. The next day it is clear that Musa will live and Miri will not be free.

Most of Quarantine deals with Musa and Miri's encounters with the other four pilgrims (as this is something of a pilgrimage) and Musa's mercantile behavior. There are periodic chapters told from the viewpoint of Jesus, but Jesus is only in a third of the novel. The treatment of Jesus is interesting in that it becomes clear that he isn't just a man (as evidenced by his unforeseen healing of Musa) and what the form of his temptations and belief is. He dreams of being a Messiah, a healer. He thinks he is just a man. When the quarantine is over everyone is changed, the pilgrims and Miri no less than Jesus.

Readers looking for a focused novel form treatment of Jesus's forty days of temptation and exile in the desert should probably look elsewhere because Christ is not the point of this book. Jesus seems to be more a framing device than anything else. Jim Crace has an impressive imagination and this is a fine story about how the quarantine might change a man and about humane nature in extreme situations, and the time spent on the pre-Messianic Christ is worth the price of admission.

-Joe Sherry

Intelligent........2006-04-03

An amazing explanation of Jesus's 40 days in the desert. Crace imaginatively and cleverly tells a most plausible tale of Christ's suffering. I was unable to really feel for any of the characters who were not as brilliantly molded as the plot of the book nonetheless, I was unable to put the book down to see when Jesus Christ would come back into the picture. This book is not about Jesus but merely, the interactions of other fasters with him.

Utterly pointless drivel!.......2005-11-20

Not quite an everyday story in the lives of ordinary first century AD Jewish folk - but, as we are led to believe that quarantine is not unusual for the times - not far off! With only slightly more characters than you can count on the fingers of one hand and 250 or so pages in which to do it you'd think that it would be reasonable to expect rounded portraits instead of the two-dimensional cardboard cut-outs presented before us. In the few pages devoted to Him, even Christ is personified as little more than a confused and, possibly, deluded youth with nothing more ambitious on his mind than impressing his parents and the village elders! The whole thing is just a soap opera in loincloths and sandals with a hint of Thelma and Louise - but with far less character development and much less interesting! The fact that this book was the Whitbread Novel of the Year says more about, either the scandalously narrow-minded judges or the shocking paucity of truly worthy writing than anything about the quality of this tawdry and mean-spirited little affair.

Desert Values.......2005-08-14

In the Judean desert, four people arrive to start 40 days of quarantine - to fast, to expiate their sins and move closer to God. Unfortunately the manipulative merchant Musa and his unhappy wife Miri have been abandoned there before the arrival of the four. Significantly, Jesus of Nazareth is also in the desert, also starting 40 days of isolation and fasting.

"Quarantine" is an interesting novel, examining the nature of penitence, religious faith and evil. The main plot hinges on how Musa tries to exploit the penitents, how their weaknesses are preyed upon by him. One could suppose that the nature of evil is most often manifested in human form - the devil is not a creature of evil incarnate, rather the devil is in all of us by dint of the bad side of our nature. Alternatively, there's lots to be said that Crace's novel is an allegory on the clash of certain value systems, Musa being the amoral merchant incarnate, caring about nothing but money and self-satisfaction whereas the others do strive in their own way for a more value-filled and rounded existence.

Either way, an interesting and absorbing novel.

G Rodgers

Being A Dead Christ.......2005-02-08

All through this book, I was rooting for Jesus to get up from his fast and heal again. Instead, he slips into a coma and dies, but not before he establishes himself as a pitiful, scared little do-gooder with a medieval penchant for masochism.

What a let-down.

I could have lived with this, I suppose. But to elevate the man whom he healed (a snake oil salesman) to the position of having started the whole Christian movement was a bit much, even for me.

This book is obviously an experiment, in the same vein of The Last Temptation of Christ (much more rewarding, and more blasphemous). I've read many such works, even Matthew Lewis' The Monk. Ironically, both Kazantzakis and Lewis wrote novels that passionately railed against the institution of organized religion.

Crace's work is different. He writes exclusively in the naturalist tradition, pure and true enough to make Isak Dinesen proud. There is a kind of scientific detachment to the narrative, almost clinical in its design. And the premise is shockingly simple: What better way to debunk the whole mystery of Christianity than by killing off Jesus before his career as a rabbi ever began?

The approach is certainly original, but there are limits to what one can endure. Crace weaves a fantastically mundane tale with thousands of different shades, from gray to black, but there is very little in the way of color. Charles Darwin put more humor and spontaniety into his Origin of Species.

After reading Quarantine, I felt as if I, myself, had been left for dead, out in the desert. Ironically, the book did have an afterlife, though. I think perhaps what gave it a haunting quality after I set it down, was the subtlety with which Crace undermines Jesus' legacy.

Normally, this kind of afterlife is a good thing. It means the novel is "alive," at least enough to linger in one's consciousness. However, in this case, it stuck around like a glass of curdled milk on the night table.

If Satan were real, he would certainly applaud Quarantine as a tour de force of human intellect that has the power to lead people away from the love and healing power of God and his most beloved messenger/rabbi.

In this sense, it is, perhaps, one of the greatest trimphs to come out of the anti-christ tradition. Its strength lies in its subtlety, forcing the reader to creep along through the hot sand, page by page.

True to form, the plot speaks with a forked tongue. I found myself not believing, but hoping in vain that Jesus the teenager would pass his test of quarantine and emerge into manhood, as the fullfillment of prophecy.

Instead, our relunctant hero dies in a mass of undignified blisters and puss, only to be dragged out of his cave and buried in some unmarked cairn, where no one will ever find him again.

And that's the way it was, at least according to Quarantine. Two thousand years of Christian faith . . . over before it even began . . . not with a bang but a whimper.

In this light, I suppose you could say that Crace's novel is a kind of false prophet, itself, leading people away from the outstretched arms of a Divine Comforter into the frigid embrace of naturalism, where things are--ho-hum, yawn--exactly as they seem.

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Thought-provoking
Yes
As the world turns ...
A challenging novel that explores themes of conservation and survival, death and compromise
entire premise of book is made up science

Get a Life: A Novel
Nadine Gordimer
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0374161704
Release Date: 2005-11-29

Book Description

Paul Bannerman, an ecologist in South Africa, believes he understands the trajectory of his life, with the usual markers of vocation and marriage. But when he's diagnosed with thyroid cancer and, after surgery, prescribed treatment that will leave him radioactive, for a period a danger to others, he begins to question, as Auden wrote, "what Authority gives / existence its surprise."

In the garden of his childhood home, where his businessman father, Adrian, and prominent civil rights lawyer mother, Lyndsay, take him in to protect his wife and child from radiation, he enters an unthinkable existence and another kind of illumination: the contradiction between the values of his work and those of his wife, Benni, an ad agency executive. His mother is transformed by the strange state of her son's existence to face her own past. Meanwhile, projects to build a nuclear reactor and drain vital wetlands preoccupy Paul as if he were at work. By the time he is cured, both families have been changed. On his return to his home and career, his parents go to Mexico to fulfill the archaeological vocation Adrian sacrificed to support his family. The consequence of this trip is the final surprise in this extraordinary exploration of passionate individual existences.

Customer Reviews:

Thought-provoking.......2006-08-15

Gordimer is a very demanding writer and this book is no exception.
It's almost like a film that has to be viewed twice in order to understand it more fully and to appreciate its nuances. This book is about important topics facing individuals living in contemporary South Africa - illness, fidelity, career choices, the family, the environment. Gordimer ties these together in her inimitable way - the reader must pay attention and let the prose and the images resonate. Gordimer is one of world's great writers and I always feel richer after reading one of her works.

Yes.......2006-03-17

If you like Gordimer - and I do - you will love this book. It is timely, broad, thoughtful, and it humanizes some of the most important global issues of our times.

As the world turns ..........2006-03-03

As the world turns, so does Nadine Gordimer. If she had written novels like this one throughout her career she would not have been awarded the Nobel Prize. There is an apartheid, and a post-apartheid Nadine Gordimer. The former was the combative writer who, with her brilliant prose, greatly contributed to showcasing the horror of life under the old regime; the latter is still up for definition. One thing is for sure: she ended her activism when her party took power. The old problems, compounded by the new -corruption on the rise, crime, the health crisis, and the government's indifference or unwillingness to face them- apparently do not merit scrutiny or criticism from Mrs. Gordimer. And ... has she forgotten how to write sentences? Her boring characters and their boring lives make for cumbersome reading.

I'm sure Nadine Gordimer set out to write a good novel, in her usual vein; what she has published is a mediocrity.

A challenging novel that explores themes of conservation and survival, death and compromise.......2006-01-25

Don't let the slangy title of this Nobel Prize winner's 14th novel mislead you --- light is one thing GET A LIFE is not. But like many challenging works of art, this one is worthwhile.

Nadine Gordimer tackles large-scale themes of conservation and survival, death and compromise, through the vehicle of a privileged, white South African family navigating several crises. The first is the necessity of Paul Bannerman, a thirty-something ecologist, to be physically isolated due to radiation treatments for an aggressive form of thyroid cancer. His parents, Lyndsay and Adrian, take him in for several weeks, while his wife Benni and their son Nickie must settle for distant waves from outside the garden fence. During this unnatural time, Paul drifts back out to the garden of his childhood, and contemplates the tension between his own career as a conservationist and his wife's executive position at an advertising agency for firms that would pollute and degrade the very environments he fights to protect. Small wonder that when he returns home, old patterns fray and everyone treads lightly.

Although they do not fight, Paul bluntly rejects Benni's suggestion that they try to conceive another child, and the reader wonders whether or not the marriage can survive. But part two of the novel switches focus to the relationship of Paul's parents. It begins with 59-year-old Lyndsay's reminiscences of the affair she had while in her 40s. The affair lasted for four years, at the end of which she informed her husband Adrian that it had been, and that it was, over. At first jarring, this revelation gives meaning to later developments as Paul's retired father Adrian pursues his avocation of archeology in Mexico.

As usual with Gordimer, her symbols sparkle, functioning on many levels. A trip to a wildlife preserve to view a breeding pair of Black Eagles becomes a meditation on both beauty and the cruel realities of survival. "The first egg laid hatches and is followed about a week later by a second. The two chicks, known as Cain and Abel. The first-born, Cain has already grown when Abel comes out of his shell. Cain and Abel fight and generally Abel is killed by Cain and thrown from the nest." Later Paul thinks of this in relation to the dams he opposes, recognizing that the dams could end poverty for thousands of people. "And if Abel has to be thrown from the nest by Cain; isn't that for a greater survival. The eagle allows this to happen, its all-powerful wings cannot prevail against it."

Gordimer eschews quotation marks entirely, and question marks mostly, using dashes to set off dialogue. Careful reading is required at times to distinguish between the characters' internal thoughts and their spoken dialogue. She also is not hampered by conventional grammar. Sentences with no predicate clause abound, and reading this book is often like trying to listen to four conversations at once, about four different topics. This is how we think, and the technique serves to pull us closer in to the character's point of view, if we take the time to follow the threads.

The Kirkus review of this book refers to the "exfoliation" of the plot, and after I rolled my eyes, I looked up the word and found it an apt description. The plot really does come off in layers, and the reader must simply sign on for the ride and let the multiple meanings come through.

--- Reviewed by Eileen Zimmerman Nicol

entire premise of book is made up science.......2006-01-10

I was very disappointed in a much-celebrated, Nobel prize winning author who didn't do her homework. First of all, the main character, Paul, has 'papillary carcinoma, the worst kind of thyroid cancer.' Except that papillary thyroid cancer is actually the LEAST deadly kind of cancer, of all the cancers out there. It has a nearly 100% cure rate is people under age 60. I had this type of cancer 13 years ago, and have never even required a hospital stay after one of my radiation treatments. So to build the entire premise of the novel around his needed isolation is based on made up science. And if he's such a danger to his family, why is he out of the hospital and living with his parents and the housekeeper? I couldn't get past the first chapter of this book because the complete lack of accuracy was too infurriating to me.

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A matter of life and death
Jane Horatio
Manufacturer: Tandem Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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Magnificent journey into a land between life and death
Magnificent journey into a land between life and death

Quarantine: A Novel
Juan Goytisolo
Manufacturer: Dalkey Archive Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Spanish | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1564780449

Book Description

Quarantine, a novel by one of Spain's most provocative writers, recounts the forty days in which, according to Islamic tradition, the soul wanders between death and eternity, still in possession of a tenuous, dreamlike body. After the unexpected death of a friend, the narratora writer like Goytisolofollows her in his imagination into this otherworld where all kinds of implausible (or are they?) things occur.

Meanwhile, television and radio report the 40-day war in the Persian Gulf, and images of war's destruction mingle with the narrator's vivid imagination of the torments of the underworld. Simultaneously, the narrator is writing the novel we are reading, for writing itself is a kind of quarantine where the writer withdraws from the world to wander in the otherworld of the imagination.

Quarantine is thus both an exploration of the human condition and an investigation of the writing process. It celebrates friendship and denounces war with equal force, and despite the grim themes is filled with humor, shocking surprises, playful language, and love.

Customer Reviews:

Magnificent journey into a land between life and death.......1999-07-18

Goytisolo continues one of the boldest adventures in modern literature with this eloquent journey into the world between life and death where, according to Muslim belief, the soul lingers on its way to final judgment. Written in Goytisolo's hallmark style of dark lyricism, in an intense, almost oratorical, diction, the novel transcends the possibility of its own genre - it quarantines you the reader in a dark and fierce joy before releasing you into the questionable light.

Magnificent journey into a land between life and death.......1999-07-18

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Quarantine: A novel
Nicholas P Hasluck
Manufacturer: Holt, Rinehart and Winston
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 003044201X

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Neel's Wonderful Waterloo

A Wonderful Neels Story...

Fall off a bike and into love
Caroline's Waterloo (Best of Betty Neels)
Betty Neels
Manufacturer: Harlequin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Romance | Subjects | Books
Neels, Betty | ( N ) | Authors, A-Z | Romance | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0373811179

Customer Reviews:

Neel's Wonderful Waterloo.......2006-12-28

Book description: There would be no romance! Caroline had never imagined that anyone would want to marry her--she wasn't pretty or clever in any way. But the imposing Professor Radinck Thoe van Erckelens did propose to her--and having speedily fallen in love with him, she accepted. Radinck was clear about what he wanted in a wife--a convenient hostess! Caroline had to decide whether to settle for that, or set about changing Radinck's feeling for her.

"I don't want my life disturbed." Baron Radinck Thoe van Erckelens was very clear about his reasons for wanting to marry Caroline Tripp - love was not one of them. She was to be his "sheet-anchor," no demands, no curiosity, just someone to talk to when he felt inclined. But at times she saw glimpses of the real Radinck. Could she win this battle - her own personal Waterloo? Caroline mounted her campaign determined to win her husband's love. Had she lost already - did he love the owner of the handkerchief she found in his pocked? In the end, would she be Caroline to him, or his Caro? A wonderful Good Looking Dutch Doctor / Plain English Nurse - as only Neels can do it.

Tiele & Becky Raukema van den Eck from "The Promise of Happiness" appear in this story. Tiele is Radinck's best man.

A Wonderful Neels Story..........2006-11-30

Back Cover description: There would be no romance! Caroline had never imagined that anyone would want to marry her--she wasn't pretty or clever in any way. But the imposing Professor Radinck Thoe van Erckelens did propose to her--and having speedily fallen in love with him, she accepted. Radinck was clear about what he wanted in a wife--a convenient hostess! Caroline had to decide whether to settle for that, or set about changing Radinck's feeling for her.

A wonderful Good Looking Dutch Doctor / Plain English Nurse; this time however, she's out to win her husband.

Tiele & Becky Raukema van den Eck from "The Promise of Happiness" appear in this story.

Fall off a bike and into love.......2002-11-06

Another good Betty Neels story. This plot is slightly different in that there is really no beautiful girlfriend to cause friction. The friction comes from Caroline trying to get Radinck to notice, care and love her. Nice pacing and the plot moves. My only complaint is that the ending seems rushed.

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CAROLINE'S WATERLOO
Betty Neels
Manufacturer: Mills & Boon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OR7598

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Caroline's Waterloo
Betty Neels
Manufacturer: Mills & Boon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0733508383

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Caroline's Waterloo (#2393)
Betty Neels
Manufacturer: Harlequin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000TZ9EX0

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Caroline's Waterloo (Harlequin Romance #2393)
Betty Neels
Manufacturer: Harlequin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OWL5QW

Average customer rating:
Caroline's Waterloo (Harlequin Romance, #2393)

Manufacturer: Harlequin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0373023936

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Two Weeks to Remember, Caroline's Waterloo, Stars Through the Mist, a Gentle Awakening, Esmerelda
Betty Neels
Manufacturer: Harlequin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Neels, Betty | ( N ) | Authors, A-Z | Romance | Subjects | Books
General | Contemporary | Romance | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000TRSKT2

Product Description

Esmerelda: Esmerelda Jones had always assumed that men were not interested in her because she was partly crippled; so it seemed llike a miracle when a brilliant Dutch surgeon made her foot like new again. Perhaps now Leslie Chapman would look her way. But it didn't turn out like that at all.A Gentle Awakening: Florina's father was furious when, after a lifetime of drudgery, she finally develped the courage to rebel. But there was no danger of her returning home. Florina loved her new job as cook in the household of eminient consultant William Sedley. And it wasn't long before she realized that she loved her employer, too. But she had no chance of attracting his attention because he was engaged to the glamorous Wanda.Stars Through The Mist: When distinguished surgeon Gerard van Doorninck asked staff nurse Deborah Culpeper to marry him, his reasons were practical, not romantic, As she had been secretly in love with Gerard for some time, Deborah accepted his terms and hoped for the best. It might have worked out very happily had Gerard's friend Claude van Trapp not done his best to try to spoil things.

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Caroline's Waterloo
Betty Neels
Manufacturer: Harlequin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OO695W

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Caroline's Waterloo
Betty Neels
Manufacturer: Harlequin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O8A1CA

Caroline's Waterloo (Best of Betty Neels)

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Caroline's Waterloo (Best of Betty Neels)
Betty Neels
Manufacturer: harlequin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OWQQ48

Average customer rating:

Little suspense or action andorian plot non starter

Angst here, angst there...I'm really feeling bad about that.

The series turns lighter

read it for the sake of keeping up with the series

Fine Literary Debut For A Star Trek Novel

This Gray Spirit (Star Trek Deep Space Nine: Mission Gamma, Book 2)
Heather Jarman
Manufacturer: Star Trek
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Adventure | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0743445627

Book Description

UNSAILED SEAS

The political intrigue aboard Deep Space 9 ™ escalates when Gul Macet's warship arrives at the station with an unexpected passenger. Cardassian Ambassador Natima Lang has returned to the station on a mission of hope, but it's one that will bring back old wounds and old ghosts. As tensions rise on all sides, Colonel Kira Nerys discovers that the line between friend and foe is narrower than she ever imagined.

Elsewhere, the crew of the damaged Starship Defiant forges an uneasy alliance with an unusual alien species -- one whose unique biological makeup is the key to the balance of power in that region of the Gamma Quadrant. As the crew becomes ensnared in a web of deceit, Lieutenant Ezri Dax and Ensign Thirishar ch'Thane struggle to stave off a genocidal civil war.

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"Within every federation and every empire, behind every hero and every villain, there are the worlds that define them. In the aftermath of Unity and in the daring tradition of Spock's World, The Final Reflection, and A Stitch in Time, the civilizations most closely tied to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine can now be experienced as never before...in tales both sweeping and intimate, reflective and prophetic, eerily familiar and utterly alien. CARDASSIA: The last world ravaged by the Dominion War is also the last on which Miles O'Brien ever imagined building a life. As he joins in the reconstruction of Cardassia's infrastructure, his wife Keiko spearheads the planet's difficult agricultural renewal. But Cardassia's struggle to remake itself -- from the fledgling democracy backed by Elim Garak to the people's rediscovery of their own spiritual past -- is not without opposition, as the outside efforts to help rebuild its civilization come under attack by those who reject any alien influence. ANDOR: On the eve of a great celebration of their ancient past, the unusual and mysterious Andorians, a species with four sexes, must decide just how much they are willing to sacrifice in order to ensure their survival. Biological necessity clashes with personal ethics; cultural obligation vies with love -- and Ensign Thirishar ch'Thane returns home to the planet he forswore, to face not only the consequences of his choices, but a clandestine plan to alter the very nature of his kind. "

Customer Reviews:

Little suspense or action andorian plot non starter.......2004-09-21

I am amazed that the second of this series is so inferior to the first book. There is very little action or suspense. If you read this book skip all of the sections dealing with the 3 andorians left behind on the station. You won't miss a thing and you'll save a lot of boring irrational whinning. Since the 1st installment was so good I will assume that this was an anomally and try # 3 anyway. The entire Andiorian reproductive system (4 people have to get together during a 5 year window of fertility to produce just one offspring) is unbelievable.

Angst here, angst there...I'm really feeling bad about that........2004-08-24

This Gray Spirit is the first book written by Heather Jarman, which I think is unusual for a Star Trek book. It has the difficult job of continuing the Defiant's exploration of the Gamma Quadrant and the political machinations that are resulting from Bajor's application to join the Federation. As such, there's a lot of story to juggle. While not as big as Twilight, it's still almost 400 packed pages. For a first effort, it's very good, but there are some real problems with it that I hope she rectifies in her subsequent books.

I said in my review of Twilight that the book was full of Vaughn's angst. Unfortunately, the trend continues in This Gray Spirit, though this time it's Dax's turn. Dax is a Trill, a species with a humanoid host containing a slug that's been alive for a long time, and Dax has been alive for three hundred years. Ezri was joined against her will as the only Trill on board when her ship was attacked by the Dominion. Thus, she's had to assimilate a lot of abilities and memories, and she's still working toward that. She's forced into an extremely diplomatic situation on the planet and she has to try and use her various Dax personalities to come up with a way out of the current problem. While it's interesting to see Dax's dilemma, I do have to say that the angst factor was turned up to a high level and got a bit tiring to read about. It helps that Dax is an interesting character, though.

Unfortunately, Dax angst isn't the only angst to deal with. Ensign ch'Thane's Andorian reproductive problems also take center stage in this book. Ch'Thane isn't the problem, however. It's his bondmates back on the station who really started to grate on my nerves. One of his three bondmates, Thriss, is extremely fragile and very hurt that he went off to the Gamma Quadrant rather than go home to Andor with them. In fact, occasionally she turns violent, and there is one vivid scene with the security chief, Lieutenant Ro, trying to break up a fight between Thriss and another of her bondmates. Scenes like this really bring home the dilemma, but there are just too many of them. They start to become repetitious and boring. We get the idea that Thriss is despondent over what's going on. Let's get on with it! These scenes do introduce us to the new station counselor, Phillipa Matthias. She is an intriguing character who Ro immediately begins to like (and knowing Ro's feelings about counselors, that's a good thing). I also really liked her, though it will be nice to get to know her a little better than we get in this book.

In addition to the angst, there is the problem of characters. The regulars are fine. No, the characters I'm talking about are the Yrythny, the people who Vaughn and his crew are dealing with. We see the caste system that they have set up, we get an interesting world where these amphibious aliens go back in the water to spawn, with a class of other Yrythny who have no home waters to go to and are thus "lesser" people. The problems on this world are fascinating and I loved how the crew of the Defiant interacted with them. However, there are no real characters for the crew to interact with. The closest we get to a character is Keran, the Delegate who befriends ch'Thane and is trying to get more rights for her fellow Wanderers. Other than Keran, we get a bunch of faceless aliens who I couldn't really distinguish between. When the conspiracy is revealed and the story hits its climax, I didn't really care. I didn't have anything invested in anybody other than whether or not Dax and ch'Thane succeeded in what they were trying to do. If you can't get us to care about any of the characters you introduce, then you've lost half the battle of making an enjoyable book.

That being said, I loved bits and pieces of the book. The climax is full of tension and since it involved the entire Defiant crew in different places, the fact that I didn't care about any of the Yrythny didn't bother me. Plus the events on the station were really intriguing too. Unfortunately, I've been spoiled about what's happening there, so instead of trying to figure out what was going on, I was trying to figure out how what I knew fit in with what was going on, but it was still satisfying. So far I'm finding the political problems on Bajor to be much more interesting than the exploration of the Gamma Quadrant, and I'm not sure that's a good thing. I hope that improves.

Jarman is a pretty good writer, and the fact that I ultimately enjoyed This Gray Spirit despite not really caring about the Andorians or the aliens that she created didn't really take away from that. She did create an intriguing society, and if she ever decides to populate that society with characters I actually want to read about, I'm looking forward to reading that book. The fact that she does such a great job with the regulars also saves this one. Give it a try, even if it is just to get to the next book in the series. It's definitely worth a read. At least once.

David Roy

The series turns lighter.......2004-08-04

This book turns to the lighter side of character development. To begin with, there is a lot of wit and humour and amusingly dry observations. The author manages that fine blend of presenting a story that is quite serious for those involved but amusing for us. The Defiant side of the story is entirely in this vein, letting us get to know the new major and many minor characters. It concludes with a neatly done action finale. The pacing of the book is very good in the first and last thirds, but the middle third could have advanced the story in a lot less words. On the station side, the last third of the book is much more serious and hard-hitting. When Cardassian-Bajoran negotiations finally start, they go against what the reader might expect, and establish a mystery for later books. The style of the negotiations is not a pleasant one for the characters, and to a certain extent that extends to reading about them. However there is only one part of the book I did not like, the Andorian subplot. The Andorians on the station are disdainfully manipulative and irritatingly neurotic. It is basically impossible to like or sympathize with them. Also, they contribute nothing to the book except to show off the station's new counselor. Shar and his quest, a major feature of the Defiant's story, seems strong enough to me to stand on its own. With everything else happening on the station, and involving more familiar and far more likeable characters, dropping the Andorian story would have improved the book. All in all, this is a good and entertaining story that needed some tightening up and a few less displays of Andorian temper.

read it for the sake of keeping up with the series.......2004-07-07

I didn't like this installment nearly as much as I liked part one. This book continues the stories on DS9 as well as what's going on with the crew of the defiant exploring the gamma quadrant. I wasn't particularly fond of this one partly because of the writer's style and partly because I think there was too much politics involved. All of what takes place with the defiant crew has to do with the crew trying to act as an intermediary between two alien races. I found it for the most part boring. I felt as if the author could have made the aliens more interesting and the story line less dry. There is some action, but it just doesn't pack too much of a punch.

The DS9 drama I think is the best part of the book. Some interesting things take place on different fronts. Shar's bondmates struggle to deal with problems which largely has to do with him not being there. A delegation of Cardassian and Bajorans push to normalize relations, but things get more complicated before they get better.

Fine Literary Debut For A Star Trek Novel.......2003-12-27

Although Heather Jarman isn't nearly as skillful a writer as either Diane Duane or Peter David, her first novel, "Star Trek Depp Space Nine Mission Gamma: This Gray Spirit" bodes well for her future literary career as well as diehard Star Trek fans. This was an intriguing, occasionally engrossing look, at Deep Space Nine in the aftermath of Captain Sisko's disappearance. Now in command of the Federation starbase, Bajoran Militia Colonel Kira Nerys must contend with a disastrous peace conference between Cardassian and Bajoran diplomats and an unexpected personal tragedy affecting the station's Andorian science officer Ensign Thirishar ch'Thane. Meanwhile Ensign ch'Thane, Lieutenant Ezri Dax, Doctor Julian Bashir and Lieutenant Nog continue in their ongoing exploratory mission to the Gamma Quadrant, aboard USS Defiant, now in command of a Starfleet veteran, Commander Elias Vaughn. Soon they become involved in a tense political conflict between the underclass and rulers of a civilization that holds the balance of power in its corner of the Gamma Quadrant, threatening to become an all out genocidal war.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Mission Gamma Volume 1-4 (Twilight, This Gray Spirit, Cathedral, Lesser Evil Volumes 1-4 respectively)

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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Mission Gamma Volume 1-4 (Twilight, This Gray Spirit, Cathedral, Lesser Evil Volumes 1-4 respectively)

Manufacturer: Pocket Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Book Description

The Insights for a New Way of Living series aims to shine light on beliefs and attitudes that prevent individuals from being their true selves. With an artful mix of compassion and humor, Osho encourages his audience to confront what they would most like to avoid, which in turns provides the key to true insight and power. In Joy: The Happiness That Comes From Within, the seventh book in this series, Osho posits that to be joyful is the basic nature of life. Joy is the spiritual dimension of happiness, in which one begins to understand one's intrinsic value and place in the universe. Accepting joy is a decision to 'go with the flow': to be grateful to be alive and for all the challenges and opportunities in life, rather than setting conditions or demands for happiness. Joy is a wondrous investigation into the source and importance of joyfulness in our lives.

Customer Reviews:

something the therapists can't offer.......2007-06-15

He gives wisdom (not advice) to questions like "is this all there is? life seems meaningless" and "why do i feel so much pain in letting go of the things that are causing me misery?"

well! osho is the first to give me a peace of mind on these matters. if you just don't see the point to anything, maybe this book is for you.

Iman-Ibrahim.......2007-04-05

This is an outstanding guidance for people who want to liberate themselves from the complication of their daily living and make a change towards obtaining a real joy and happiness in life. This book opens new insight about life. It uncovers the illusions of the world that have been created by the society. Under the influence of the society, we consider materials as the value for reaching our joy or happiness goal. Because we used to look outside, we always feel that others create our misery - or the misery is from outside. Osho, in contrast, shows the fact that the misery, the joy and the happiness is not come from the materials or from others - but from within oneself. To eridicate misery and to gain joy and happiness, one needs to build one's conciousnesss, which can be obtained through the practice of meditation.

Beautiful, strong focus.......2006-06-20

I especially like "Joy" because of the thematic development of Buddha's notion of bliss or enlightenment and how it is contrasted with our normal notions of happiness. The entire Insight series are essential books to me. They are all equally good and can be soaked in page after page. Osho is like Krishnamurti in many ways, but one feels he lived more in the world, and has more of a practical understanding of it. His jokes and anecdotes always keep things interesting. He is my favorite spiritual writer.

Best book on Happiness/Joy I've ever read.......2005-06-09

This is the first Osho book I read. Before this I had avoided his books entirely, because the media had widely publicised that this Guru had 93 Rolls-Royces in his collection and portrayed him as nothing more than a charlatan in disguise. But a close friend had praised the insights gained from his books and I felt that I had to give his teachings a fair hearing.

As a Guru, he was far from being a cave-dweller; instead this former Professor of Philosophy (University of Jabalpur,1958-66) was more of a modern rebel, and this may understandably disappoint some folks on their expectations of what a Guru should be. But his answer on the 93 Rolls-Royces and other fineries he had, was that he simply used what was available. He was a practical man indeed!

In reading this book, I was amazed to find page after page of 'bang on-target' penetrating insights, peppered with sharp observations of human nature and ocassionally punctuated with entertaining parables told with wry humour. Read this book if you want to know the difference between pleasure, happiness, joy and bliss.

Some brief excerpts from the book:-

'..asking for more is what our mind is - a constant asking for more. It makes no difference how much you have, the mind will go on asking for more.'

'..mind is a daydreaming faculty. Unless you go beyond the mind, you will continue to daydream. The mind cannot exist in the present. To be in the present is to be without mind.'

'..mind is a mechanism to create unhappiness. If you drop the mind, suddenly you become happy - for no reason at all.'

'..madmen and mystics have something similar..both are out of the mind. The madman has fallen below it, the mystic has gone beyond it.'

'..unless you start living in the present, you will not be able to forget and forgive the past. Awareness cannot be in the past and cannot be in the future. Awareness knows only the present.'

'..as you feel the bliss of being in the present, you will stop doing this stupid thing that everybody goes on doing. You will stop going into the past. You will not have to forget and forgive, it will simply disappear of its own accord.'

This book is filled with similar gems of wisdom and I strongly recommend this book if you wish to comprehend the elusive nature of happiness/joy. Notwithstanding that he was a controversial Guru when he was alive (1931-1990), the contents of this book will still take your understanding way beyond what the current crop of pop psychology books can offer on this subject.

And then, when you are ready for the next level of mental/spiritual evolution, these 2 books are must-haves:-

'Talks With Ramana Maharshi' by Robert Powell (ISBN: 1878019007)

'I Am That' by Nisargadatta Maharaj (ISBN: 0893860220)

Rajneesh (Osho) Sufi???.......2004-03-08

These posthumous books published by Rajneesh's people are regularly described or categorized as "Sufi" or "Sufism." Was Rajnessh a Sufi? I don't know of any of his commune devotees at "Rajneesh puram" who would have called themselves Sufis.

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