Book Description
In his widely acclaimed new collection of stories, Julian Barnes addresses what is perhaps the most poignant aspect of the human condition: growing old.
The characters in
The Lemon Table are facing the ends of their lives–some with bitter regret, others with resignation, and others still with defiant rage. Their circumstances are just as varied as their responses. In 19th-century Sweden, three brief conversations provide the basis for a lifetime of longing. In today’s England, a retired army major heads into the city for his regimental dinner–and his annual appointment with a professional lady named Babs. Somewhere nearby, a devoted wife calms (or perhaps torments) her ailing husband by reading him recipes.
In stories brimming with life and our desire to hang on to it one way or another, Barnes proves himself by turns wise, funny, clever, and profound–a writer of astonishing powers of empathy and invention.
Customer Reviews:
Minutely detailed, beautifully paced, and often wryly fun........2007-08-06
Julian Barnes has made an art form of pulling together short stories that add up to a collective meaning greater than the sum of its parts. In his seminal work, A History of the World in 10½ Chapters, the book of short stories which Barnes insists is actually a novel, the stories work together, themes repeat, ideas get strengthened as the book progresses, and by the time you've finished, a single overriding theme around life and love comes into focus. A similar tension occurs in Cross Channel, where the individual pieces move around a central core of things French, but ultimately adds up to a whole that once again illuminates what it means to be a human being. Barnes has stated that the origin of each book's he's done was in the previous one. Since he is so prolific, and since his writing takes on a wide variety of genres, from farce to drama to literary criticism to food writing to very literary fiction indeed, one could probably find the origins for this one in his last book of grouped stories, Cross Channel, in his character "The Elderly Englishman" of "Tunnel" who returns home to create "the stories you have just read." As with History and Cross Channel, the stories in The Lemon Table, while able to function separately, add up to a single picture, a totality of expression which has more meaning than any of the stories on their own. You need to stand back to get the full density of the work.
The key theme of The Lemon Table is old age, and some critics have stated that it seems odd that Barnes would write such an epitaph type of work so early in his life, but Barnes has always stated that his work, and all novels, start with life. There is no better way to illuminate life than to take the reader to the end of it. There are eleven stories, each with a different structure. The first, "A Short History of Hairdressing" tells the story of a character through his haircut appointments. You could probably do this kind of perspective taking any recurring event in a person's life, but it is the combination of mundane and regimented - of meditative and vanity ridden - the image in the mirror a tangible reminder of the aging process accelerated at each visit - which makes a haircutting session so appropriate. We watch Gregory, from his first terrified trip to the barber on his own: "Boys didn't tip. Perhaps that was why barbers hated boys. They paid less and they didn't tip. They also didn't keep still. Or at least, their mothers told them to keep still, they kept still, but this didn't stop the barber bashing their heads with a palm as solid as the flat of a hatchet and muttering, `Keep still.' to his twilight victory over the mirror - a tiny revolt in old age. Another story which revisits a meeting point is "The Things You Know" which follows two friends as they have breakfast together at different times and reminisce over their dead husbands . The reader is made aware of the irony through the perspective of time, but the characters don't have that vantage, even when they should.
The stories follow a wide variety of different settings and structures. Love lost, missed, idealised and regretted form the basis of the 18th century Swedish tale "The Story of Mats Isrealson" where the main character mis-tells a story to his neighbour's wife, a woman with whom he has fallen in love, and the two resist the temptation and go their separate ways, living a life of regret and longing. The story culminates in Isrealson`s one chance to make amends before dying. In "The Revival", an aged Turgenev falls in love with the actress who played Verochka in one of his plays, but is it really love, or just another way of avoiding love? "This is safe. The fantasy is manageable, his gift a false memory." (98). There is Major Jacko Jackson of "Hygiene," who travels regularly to visit his mistress, a retired prostitute in London - his two days of furlough from his wife, "as per," until he finds that aging has caught up with his mistress, as it has caught him. In "The Fruit Cage," we learn about a couple through the narration of their son, a boy who discovers a third party in his parent's marriage. All of these stories have a strong undercurrent of irony - of the human and fairly unattractive needs which are hidden under what we call love in our youth. There is always a twist in the tale - the politics of the ego, the idealisation of beauty, and the vanity of our romantic illusions.
Other stories deal with self-justification and the vanities that become entrenched as we age, such as Vigilance", the story of a man who takes increasingly violent steps to pay back those who are cough or otherwise rude during the concerts he attends. The blackly humorous piece ends with an ironic nod to the rich and varied exploration through the pain, frustration, and vanities of aging, of what it means to be alive.
notion of `civilisation.' In another blackly humorous piece, "Bark," Jean-Etienne Delacour's becomes a member of a subscription loan scheme to build the municipal baths. The last man surviving acquires the capital amount. Delacour becomes increasingly neurotic about his food and lifestyle in an attempt to live the longest. Barnes' food writing skills are shown to great advantage as he describes Delacour's former gastronomic excesses.
"Knowing French" brings back the Elderly Englishman, Mr Barnes, as the subject of Sylvia Winstanley's letters. She is working her way through the alphabet at her local library: "Having done Barnes, I move onto Brookner, Anita, and blessed if she didn't appear on the Box that very day." (142) Although Winstanley is a character who is silly at times, the fictional Barnes is clearly affectionate towards her, and this grandparent-grandson relationship is moving. The final story, "The Silence" pulls the previous stories together, as a fictional Sibelius reflects on his life, his work, his silence, and impending death in a number of different ways, through overt discussion: "I join the lemon table at the Kamp. Here it is permissible - indeed, obligatory - to talk about death. It is most companionable." (206), and through sound and motion: "The day was heavy with clouds, but for once the cranes broke from the flock and flew directly towards me. I raised my arms in acclamation as it made a slow circle around me, trumpeting its cry, then headed back to rejoin its flock for the long journey south. I watched until my eyes blurred, I listened until my ears could hear nothing more, and silence resumed." (213)
Barnes' craftsmanship is second to none. Minutely detailed, beautifully paced, and often wryly fun, each of the stories in The Lemon Table can be read on its own. Together however, the book becomes a rich and varied exploration through the pain, frustration, and vanities of aging, of what it means to be alive.
Magdalena Ball is the author of Sleep Before Evening
"There is so much beautiful writing here, soaring passages." Ruhama Veltfort, author of The Promised Land
Julian Barnes ages.......2007-06-08
Somehow, I was never able to finish Flaubert's Parrot, though I loved Staring at the Sun, A History of the World, and England, England. Why mention that? Well, for anyone who is not uniformly blown away by everything JB writes, I think you'll have no problem enjoying this collection of short stories. Published in the year of his sixtieth birthday, these stories are Barnes's reflections on old age. And it's a bit sobering, but also touching and funny. "Knowing French" and "A short history of hairdressing" are wonderful, as are "The Story of Mats Israelson" and "Hygene". "Vigilance" is hilarious but with pathos lurking in the wings. "Appetite" and "The Things You Know" are a little on the painful side. Can't quite figure out why prostitution kept popping up and never knew JB was so knowledgable about classical music. I listened to this book on CDs and didn't realize that the main character of "Knowing French" had spelling problems until I read it in one of these reviews - a limitation of that medium, but still a good recording.
One Note Wonder.......2007-05-15
This collection brings together eleven stories written over a span of roughly ten years, six of which were originally published in The New Yorker, and the remainder in venues such as Granta and the TLS. Originally titled "Rage and Age" (per the Dylan Thomas poem), the collection is thematically focused on aging and death and Barnes has said that the stories were intended to counter the notion that life calms down or gets serene in old age. While the collection certainly counters that myth, the thematic concentration results in a certain repetitiveness when the stories are read back to back.
The fairly forgettable "A Short History of Hairdressing" tells the story of a man's life through the framework of three visits to the barber, one as a child, one as a adult, and one as an old man. Set in 19th-century Sweden, "The Story of Mats Israelson" ponders the unconsummated love between a sawmill manager and the wife of the town pharmacist. As is so many period pieces, the two are locked into their social roles unable to express their feelings to each other, leading the a lifetime of yearning for what might have been. Thankfully, this ennui is dispelled in "The Things You Know," in which two widows meet for breakfast. Each is determined to sugarcoat their memories of married life, but each also knows certain nasty truths to the other's marriage, making the entire story very spiky and harsh.
In "Hygiene", a WWII veteran makes his way to London for the annual banquet of his old regiment. This affords him the chance for a yearly meeting with the same prostitute, a tryst which is his sole way of demonstrating his existence to himself. The Russian writer Ivan Turgenev is the protagonist of "The Revival", which reflects upon a brief period of happiness in his later years, spurred by his platonic love for an actress. "Vigilance" is easily the best story of the collection, dwelling on a middle-aged gay Londoner whose anger and frustration with his relationship is sublimated, only to emerge with venom at concert-goers who fail to be suitably quiet. It's both quite funny and sad at the same time. Much less successful is the French-set "Bark," which revolves around a scheme to finance the building of public baths by which twenty or so investors put up the initial funds, and the last living one inherits the proceeds.
"Knowing French" is built on a clever conceit, that an elderly woman reading her way through the library's fiction in alphabetical order, has come to Barnes' much lauded novel "Flaubert's Parrot." She then initiates a correspondence with him, of which we are only privy to her side. It's an effective evocation of the "problem" of elder homes, for which not all elderly people are suited. In "Appetite", a woman reads recipes to her Alzheimers-stricken husband, whose only responses are barks of indignation at vague recipe directions or lewd outbursts. "The Fruit Cage" tackles the confusion of a middle-aged man whose 80-year-old parents suddenly separate. The final story is, "The Silence", in which a fictional version of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius jots down fragmentary reflections on his life and career.
Ultimately, the stories are a clear warning to the reader that one's old age is not likely to be dominated by grandchildren and warm fires, but rather by nostalgia and brooding over mistakes of the past, words left unsaid, deeds left undone. In that sense, the stories are quiet affecting. However, they are perhaps best read one a month or so, as the same note tends to get struck -- albeit by very different characters in very different settings.
Brilliant but brace yourself.......2006-08-18
"The Lemon Table" is a strong -- no, very strong -- set of tales in which the theme is unified but the styles are varied. Barnes has succeeded in what is a virtuoso examination of the theme of aging and impending death through a variety of (stylistic) lenses. The prospective reader should be warned, though, that the stories are depressing, which is what one would expect given the subject matter. Old age is given only a few of its positive attributes; loss and futility dominate.
In particular, I want to single out "The Story of Mats Israelson" as particularly successful. It made me almost cry; very, very powerful and beautifully written. By itself, it makes the volume worth reading. The first story, about going to a barbershop, is a miniature version of Barnes' terrific first novel, "Metroland." As a big fan of Sibelius, I also want to praise Barnes for getting so many details right in the fragmentary final story, "The Silence", which is about the composer's long final 30+ years when he had abandoned composing.
If this book could get 6 stars, I'd probably give it that. Superb.
Virtuoso Performance by Barnes.......2006-02-03
I am usually put off by short stories. Having said that, I've found several of my recent favorite books include Helprin's Pacific, Tim Gautreaux's Same Place Same Things, and this lovely collection by Julian Barnes. As with Alice Munro's collections of connected stories, there is a unifying theme, and here the thread connecting these stories is the inevitability of facing the end of life. These are about anger, regret, misunderstood messages and misunderstandings, love, and resiliance. Each is different. Each shines with its own originality and purpose. And many contain laugh out loud situations. It would be hard to pick a favorite, but I think mine would have to be Vigilence. Only because I recall the time I attended a live performance by the San Francisco Orchestra under Michael TilsonThomas, who begged for absolute silence because it was being recorded, only to make it to the very end at which time some patron dropped a fistful of change on the floor. Readers of Vigilence will understand.
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Table games revenues: A global view
Nigel Kent-Lemon
Manufacturer: s.n
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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Roulette
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ASIN: B0006P3Y9I |
Average customer rating:
- High Quality photography.
- Excellent book
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Handsome Devils
Klaus Gerhart
Manufacturer: Pohlmann Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1890377015 |
Customer Reviews:
High Quality photography........2001-11-19
This book contains B&W images of extremely high technical quality. Both the photography and the print manipulation are excellent, showing rich deep black tones and brilliant whites.
The models range from buffed young men to older more muscular types, although the latter predominate. Most of the models have a 'rough boy' look to them which many will find erotic. The settings for the photos seem to be in dilapidated or run-down buildings or factories.
This is eye-candy of the highest order
Excellent book.......2000-08-10
If you're looking for nice photography of handsome guys this book is for you. I would say its excellent.
Book Description
It is whispered that Nicholas Sinclair is rogue enough to put his notorious brothers to shame. But one spirited female will discover that a passionate heart lay hidden beneath the wicked charm of this handsome devil.
Sheridan Delaney has yet to live down her trouble-finding reputation when her old friend, Jules Thornton, invites her to London. Ready for adventure, Sheridan has no idea her friend has matchmaking in mind -- or that Nicholas Sinclair, Jules's devastatingly handsome cousin, will quickly decide that even his infamous hellraising pales in comparison to Sheridan's antics. Nicholas's suddenly saintly guidance through London society is far from comforting, however -- especially when Sheridan longs to assure him that the most satisfying indulgence . . . is love.
Customer Reviews:
Superb.......2007-01-17
Everyone knows how good a book is when you start reading and cannot put it down. Well, that was exactly what happened with this book. Sheridan Delaney is an Irish immigrant living with her parents, aunt and uncle, brother and three sisters in a tiny home in Boston in 1880. Sheridan, "Danny", always seems to get into trouble and her sisters are convinced she is keeping them from finding a husband. When she convinces her parents to let her go stay with her best friend from school, English aristocrat, Lady Jules, they finally relent and allow her to go if she takes her aunt and quite senile uncle along. Jules has just returned from her honeymoon and is pregnant. When Jules finds out her best friend from the US is coming for a visit she plots to fix her up with her cousin Nicholas and convinces him she wants to stay at his London home with her friend for the rest of the "season". Nicholas is reluctant not wanting to give up his bachelor quarters, and besides how will he be able to be his normal wild self when Jules' prim and proper friend will be visiting. For some reason,everytime Nicholas mentions Jules' prim and proper friend Sheridan,Jules starts laughing. A drunk Nicholas meets a young woman named Danny on the docks and attempts to rescue her from an unwanted advance, but ends up getting beat up. Danny helps him to an inn, where Nicholas preceeds to get very drunk and things heat up between the two, but Nicholas finds himself alone the next morning. His memory of the previous night is hazy. Danny, "Sheridan" is horrified at what she's done, she gave her virginity to a man she just met, but she knows he is the "one." When her senile uncle gets arrested she leaves to go rescue him but gets arrested herself. When Sheridan's aunt goes to Nicholas to bail her out of jail, he is stunned to find out Danny and Sheridan are one in the same. When he treats her like a tramp the fireworks start.
This book is never dull, quite often its hilarious, heartbreaking, sensual, romantic and just plain good.
Humerous Historical Romance based in 1880's .......2006-02-19
This was a quick fun read about Irish women who returns to England after living in the US. She returns to spend time with her school friend and have some adventure. She meets Nicholas her first night in England he stills her heart. They have lots of misunderstanding , fights and some great love scence. The secondary eccentric characters were wonderful!I found myself laughing out loud and also need to cool off. What a great find!
Just a hair under 5 stars.......2005-04-10
What's to like? A complex, sensitive, but scarred hero. A delightful, strong, lively heroine. A wacky cast of secondary characters. Just the right amount of humor. A bit of angst. Love scenes that generally seem to be there for plot and characterization reasons (unlike, for example, so many of Stephanie Laurens' books). And a wonderful, completely-sucks-you-in romance.
Negatives? Yes, the pairing is farfetched, but George writes it so well that you can suspend your disbelief. There are some too-modern-sounding words and phrases and some Americanisms used by the British, but again, a minor issue. George doesn't tell us what happens to Nicholas' odd and charming servants. And I wonder at our lovebirds living arrangements, so far from what Nicholas has known (or his horse breeding). I personally would have liked to see Sheridan NOT be so strong at a couple of the really painful moments. And some people may be put off by Nicholas' hurtful remarks to Sheridan when he's been hurt, even though the reader understands the lingering pain from the past and the misunderstanding that are at the foundation. Still, ALL of these things are minor, very minor.
This book was delightful from beginning to end and is a definite keeper.
I loved this book!.......2002-01-03
I loved this book. I liked DEVIL MAY CARE enough to want to read HANDSOME DEVIL, but I definitely didn't expect it to be as good as it was.
As a general rule I don't like when the plot of a book revolves around a misunderstanding at the beginning that is then the cause of all the conflict in the story until it is resolved at the very end. In this book there is a misunderstanding when Sheridan and Nicholas first meet. It's an understandable misunderstanding that plays into insecurities Nicholas already has as a result of his parent's marriage. The conflict doesn't lead to overt hostility between the characters, but it keeps Nicholas from thinking of Sheridan as someone he can marry and they agree to be friends.
I think what set this book apart from most other books which start with a misunderstanding is that the focus of the book is on Sheridan and Nicholas's evolving relationship and their feelings for each other. The misunderstanding is not focused on, we are reminded of it only through Nicholas's conflicting feelings toward Sheridan.
This was a great book to read. When it ended I was disappointed because I wanted to keep reading. That doesn't happen too often. DEVIL MAY CARE comes before this book. It may give you a better sense of Nicholas's mother and why he has his specific insecurities. It's very well explained in this book though, so it's not really necessary. If you've already read DEVIL MAY CARE, this book is even better!
A good time read.......2001-10-10
In a word this book was FUN. Poor Nicholas! He didn't know what he was up for when he opened his doors to Sheridan Delaney and her family.
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The Devil Was Handsome
Maurice Procter
Manufacturer: Ulverscroft Large Print Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0708902596 |
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The Devil Was Handsome
Manufacturer: Harper
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000BNJH7I |
Book Description
At last -- the untold chapter in the history of Star Trek's most notorious villain, KHAN. Searing and powerful, To Reign in Hell masterfully bridges the time period between Khan Noonien Singh's twenty-third-century revival in the Original Series classic episode "Space Seed" and his unforgettable return in the acclaimed feature film Star Trek II:The Wrath of Khan.
What truly transpired during Khan's long years of exile on the forbidding world of Ceti Alpha V, before the tyrant escaped to embark on a murderous campaign of vengeance against Admiral James T. Kirk? What horrific trials spawned Khan's insane lust for revenge?
Haunted by the memory of Khan's bitter accusations, Kirk now revisits Ceti Alpha V to discover for himself what ultimately drove Khan to madness. There, buried beneath the desolate surface of a dying planet, Kirk and his allies find the untold story of their greatest foe -- and of the woman who loved him: Lieutenant Marla McIvers of Starfleet¿.
Along with Khan's genetically engineered followers from the twentieth century, Khan and Marla are left on Ceti Alpha V with the hopes of building a new life together. Although the planet is savage and untamed, full of deadly predators and unexpected hazards, Khan dreams of carving out an empire even greater than the one he once ruled on Earth.
But when catastrophe strikes, laying waste to the entire world, Khan and the others find themselves trapped in a desperate struggle for survival. Now Khan must use every ounce of his superhuman strength and intellect to wage a fearsome battle against the planet, his people...and the growing darkness in his own soul.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent story........2007-03-24
This third book filling in the missing years of the life of Khan Noonien Singh is by far the best of the three, in spite of the fact that the first two were themselves pretty good. It is a telling of the events between the original series "Space Seed" episode and the "Wrath of Khan" movie, and in addition to filling in a lot of blanks, it does a fair to middling job of rationalizing some slight plot-holes in the movie. Not perfect, mind you; in spite of Cox's extremely good best efforts, I still can't entirely accept that Chekov was as oblivious as he was in the movie: Here you are, in the same solar system with the planet where Khan was marooned around two decades ago; you are investigating what seems to be the very next planet over from his, which is supposed to be virtually uninhabited, and your instruments find only traces of possible lower life forms. (Cox's efforts have convinced me that, to this point, it is reasonable to say nothing.) You go down to the planet, and find a Starfleet-Issue cargo container like the ones left with Khan; there is absolutely NO other viable explanation of where it came from. Yet you enter the structure, and only realize what's happened when you see the "Botany Bay" nameplate? You'd have to be mostly brain-dead. Chekov wasn't always the cleverest character on the show, but he wasn't THAT dense. Still, the explanations given were always the best we've gotten so far, and in most cases were actually quite plausible. For Star Trek fans who enjoyed the episode and movie that this book is based on, it's a must-read. For others, it still might be worth a look. It's smoothly written, with excellent characterization and pacing and a quite plausible plot.
great read.......2007-03-10
This takes the story of Khan up to just before Space Seed from the original Star Trek.
Good story, but flawed..........2006-11-06
A nicely done finale, but I felt that while the plot was good, it had a few weak points.
The dialogue. Usually not bad, but... "No! Not that! Anything but that!" Twice. Once was too many. Granted, it didn't start with "I was a dark and stormy night..." but still....
The bits with Kirk & co were mainly there to explain away most of the larger plot questions.
Even wild stretches of science couldn't provide a plausible explanation for how Khan's movie crew ended up all blonde when the original crew was from all over, so the best was a vague "for some strange reason..." - which I have to admit is probably the best you could hope for.
It was interesting, but I felt the first two books were much better. In some ways, the third book feels kind of like Boston's third album. Like he would have been happy with the first two, but just couldn't get out of doing a third.
Best of the series!.......2006-10-06
This is a great adventure chronicling the events of Khan's exile on Ceti Alpha V. The writing is superb and imaginative. For those who want to know what really happened in the years after Kirk's first encounter with Khan, this story by Greg Cox fills in all the gaps. From the establishment of the first settlement on the planet, to the destruction of Ceti Alpha VI that led to the demise of Ceti Alpha V, to the discovery of the nature of the dreaded "Ceti eels," to the death of Khan's ex-starfleet wife, Cox paints a complete and vivid picture of this great tragedy in the history of Star Trek. The first two books in Cox's Khan series do a great injustice to this superb ending novel, but this one more than makes up for the loss. If you haven't read any books in the series (The Eugenics Wars) by Cox, you might skip to this one so that you won't be disappointed.
Khan deserves a better story.......2006-08-23
I've read the author's Gary Seven novel and found it very enjoyable, unlike this book. This book disappoints on many points.
First, science fiction writers should have no problem with the metric system. His descriptions of wildlife are ridiculous. A one meter (approx. 3 ft.) long sabertooth tiger that weighs 200 hundred kilograms (440 lbs) is no predator; it is an exceedingly fat cat. A supercroc with jaws nearly two meters long and weighs nearly 80 kilograms (176 lbs) is a large suitcase with an overbite.
Second, the author seems overly fascinated with words like "wrath", "superhuman", etc. I got the point in the movie "Star Trek: Wrath of Khan", lets not over do it here.
Also, superhumans with superintellect that walk in dry riverbeds or gullys during monsoons should have their enhanced genetics removed from the gene pool. It's polluted enough as is. Superhumans shouldn't be improbably stupid or so transparently readable. Being an egotist doesn't mean you're so stupidly transparent, either.
And, if you don't think things can get worse for Khan then wait for the lava bombs. This book contains way too much melodrama for one book. The book should have started out with "It was a dark and stormy night, ...".
I also wonder how much time the author has spent outdoors. Why put Khan in "The Land that Time Forgot". Where are the cavemen, dinosaurs, Noah and the ark?
I love the Khan character but this book is just wrong.
Book Description
Karen McCarthy Brown's classic book shatters stereotypes of Vodou by offering an intimate portrait of African-based religion in everyday life. She explores the importance of women's religious practices along with related themes of family and of social change. Weaving several of her own voices--analytic, descriptive, and personal--with the voices of her subjects in alternate chapters of traditional ethnography and ethnographic fiction, Brown presents herself as a character in Mama Lola's world and allows the reader to evaluate her interactions there. Startlingly original, Brown's work endures as an important experiment in ethnography as a social art form rooted in human relationships. A new preface, epilogue, bibliography, and a collection of family photographs tell the story of the effect of the book's publication on Mama Lola's life.
Customer Reviews:
A brilliant and compelling account of "walkers between the worlds".......2007-07-30
Walking between the worlds
Karen McCarthy Brown has penned a masterpiece! Mama Lola, known to family and friends as Alourdes, is a Mambo, an initiated priestess of Voudou who earns a modest living by serving her immigrant countrymen in America as a traditional healer and by conducting Haitian Voudou rites in her Brooklyn home. In 1978, Brown, then a professor of religion at New Jersey's Drew University first encountered Mama Lola while doing an ethnographic survey of the local Haitian population. Intrigued by the priestess and her misunderstood and maligned tradition, Brown became at first a friend, then a member of Mama Lola's extended family and finally an enthusiastic participant in many of the rites that comprise the corpus of Voudoun devotional life.
Mama Lola, her daughter Maggie, their children and their ancestors, and the 'Lwa' (spirits) who frequently 'possess' them are an engaging, wonderfully diverse crowd: deeply spiritual, profoundly thoughtful and often humorous characters marvelously skilled in surviving conditions of extreme deprivation and oppression and in adapting to the conditions of life (or, afterlife) in the strange world of urban America.
By the time I had completed this delightful book, I felt myself deeply involved in Mama Lola's life and that of her extended family. Brown's writing is textured and a pleasure to read. The author goes far out on a limb, leaving her observer role and social scientist expertise and becomes an initiate into the religion, wedding the 'etic' of academia to the 'emic' of an ecstatic, profoundly sensual, Earth-centered religiosity.
The arrangement of the text adds to its readability, with odd chapters offering stories about Mama Lola's family and heritage and even chapters devoted to the pantheon of lwa (spirits) of the Voudou tradition. A glossary of Voudou terms has been added, which is indispensible to readers new to the subject.
Students and scholars of Haiti, the African Diaspora and African religious traditions will enjoy and benefit from this work immensely. I recommend it as well to the general public for a most worthwhile reading adventure.
Praise for Mama Lola.......2006-09-13
What a journey! This is one of those rare books that not only tells a great story, but actualy envelops the reader and takes them on an incredible spiritual journey. The author writes in a style which is both familiar and confortable. When she describes places, rituals, or people, the reader feels like they are there, seeing these things with the author. As for Mama Lola herself, what a woman! Mama Lola, Alourdes, is presented as a kind, strong, knowledgeble, and powerful priestess. When the author writes Mama Lola's words, you can feel as if you are actually hearing her speak to you. The words along with several photographs give this book more than the reader could ever imagine. I will cherish this book as long as I live.
Vodou as psychodrama.......2005-06-18
One of the best books ever. This book strikes a perfect balance between a dry, scholarly approach and a colorful, sensationalist approach. It is written by a scholar who was initiated into and participated in vodou rituals, thus avoiding the kind of spiritual blindness that often afflicts scholars studying alien religions.
What is really fascinating about the practice of vodou as depicted in this book is how it functions as a kind of psychodrama for maintaining personal and social balance and mental health. Fascinating.
Human.......2005-02-23
This is an engrossing and moving read that compares with such books as "Woman Who Glows In The Dark" and "Macumba." It is about a very wonderful, gifted woman who is a Mambo, a Haitian Vudou healer and spiritualist. The story is about her life, her ancestors, her spirits and her relationships. The book is rich with insights.
You can't help but love this family!.......2004-10-05
Not really a book on Hatian Vodou. Mama Lola is more a family history and a description of what serving the spirits means to them.
Dr. Brown makes this amazing woman and her family come alive on the page.
Alourdes is all at once a devout woman, devoted mother, petulent and powerful woman. Her family is at once inspiring and beverage out your nose funny.
By the end of this edition, I found myself not only falling in love with Alourdes family, but with the spirits they so loyally serve.
A terrfic book if you want to understand what Vodou means to it's followers, what life is like for immigrant women and the pride and strength that comes from growing up in the poorest country in the Western hemisphere.
Books:
- The Money-Whipped Steer-Job Three-Jack Give-Up Artist: A Novel
- The Night In Question: Stories
- The Plague, The Fall, Exile and the Kingdom, and Selected Essays (Everyman's Library)
- The Poor Mouth: A Bad Story About the Hard Life
- The Ramage Touch (The Lord Ramage Novels)
- The Red Notebook: True Stories
- The Snow Garden: A Novel
- The Spring of the Ram: The Second Book of The House of Niccolo
- The Story of Lucy Gault
- The Town That Forgot How to Breathe: A Novel
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill: A Love Story . . . with Wings
- Reverberations of Faith: A Theological Handbook of Old Testament Themes
- Late and Soon: a Novel
- I Have Lived A Thousand Years: Growing Up In The Holocaust
- How We Compete: What Companies Around the World Are Doing to Make it in Today's Global Economy
- Mathematics for Finance: An Introduction to Financial Engineering
- North Carolina Birds
- JOURNEY INTO DARKNESS: Follow the FBI's Premier Investigative Profiler as He Penetrates the Minds an
- Jerry Wiesner, Scientist, Statesman, Humanist: Memories and Memoirs
- Trade Secrets: Get the Most for Your Money - All the Time- on Goods and Services Ranging from Alarms
Flaubert's Parrot
Arthur and George
Love, etc.
Talking It Over
A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters
