Book Description
Drawing on the diaries of a midwife and healer in eighteenth-century Maine, this intimate history illuminates the medical practices, household economies, religious rivalries, and sexual mores of the New England frontier.
Customer Reviews:
Midwife's Tale.......2007-02-25
Interesting diary of a Maine midwife. Not the easiest read but enjoyable.
martha ballard midwife.......2007-02-11
I enjoyed this book. Though it doesnt read like a "story" It has alot of information about the way of life back then besides the midwife part.
The Tale of a Woman in Early American New England.......2007-01-11
Sometimes we get the idea that women really had it quite bad in Colonial and Early American Society. True, they had secondary status in the eyes of the law and the church. If one, however, reads the diary of Martha Ballard, as presented to us by Professor Ulrich, we catch a glimpse of the kind of empowerment some women could have in that time.
Martha Ballard illustrated just how vital a women was to the existence of the American household during her lifetime. Taking away, for a moment, that she had a very successful midwifing practice, women contributed to the general welfare of the family, and even the economy, by their industriousness. Women's household chores, which seem so mundane to everyone today, actually allowed families to sustain themselves quite well. What a woman produced in the home, hopefully in excess, could then be turned around and traded within their community for other items which would provide for the family. Men, on the other hand, typically worked for wage labor and then came home to do what little they could during the rest of the day. Or, men farmed all day and did not have the time nor energy to do what the women of the household did. So, if the women then did not do their portion of their work, the family would be in serious jeopardy of depravation. Also, you will see how instrumental the children of a home were in the survival of the family and also how children were raised and trained for adulthood.
However, when you couple into the mix Martha Ballard's mid-wifing practice, which as you will read was quite successful at its peak, Ballard was someone who could then exercise greater influence within the family because of her increased earning power.
So, this book can provide a great insight into family life in Early American New England. And maybe, you will understand how women were empowered in other ways.
Formidable Foremom.......2006-12-27
We've heard stories of how our great-great-great-grandmothers rose before dawn, plowed the lower forty, baked biscuits and then raised a barn, all before noon. A Midwife's Tale seems to confirm this. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich draws upon a remarkable document, the diary of a New England midwife, Martha Ballard of Hallowell, Maine, who recorded the details of her daily life between 1785 to 1812. Ulrich deconstructs Ballard's laconic entries to reveal the complex routine of a woman who kept a household for seven people, ran a cottage textile workshop, and served as midwife at the birth 816 infants during her 27 years of practice. (There were male physicians in the community, but they rarely intervened in this woman-dominated ritual unless there was a breech or still-birth to be dismembered.) Ballard's ministrations, in fact, went far beyond birthing to the practice of general medicine. She could apply poultices, lance abscesses, expel worms, induce vomiting, stop hemorrhages, bring down a fever, and - all else failing -- gently close the eyes of the dead. In this way, writes Ulrich, the midwife "mediated the mysteries of birth, procreation, illness, and death."
With the help of collateral documents, Ulrich fills out Ballard's entries to give a more complete view of society in a milling village of the early 1800's. She also tracks Ballard's personal fortunes from the height of her prestige into eventual decline. The author takes pains to point out how much of this misfortune was inevitable (the elderly of any era are of necessity pushed from the center to the circumference of society) and how much was due to the hand dealt by fate: Martha had her daughters before her sons; the girls married and moved out, leaving their mother the care of three rather loutish males. The episode underscores how necessary a reliable pool of labor was to the running of any rural household; southern families had their slaves; northern families had their daughters. Historian John Lewis Gaddis calls this book "an exercise in historical paleontology [that] succeeds brilliantly." Winner of the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for history.
Not Just a History Book.......2006-06-23
I have read "A Midwife's Tale" so many times that it has fallen apart. I went on Amazon to see if I could find a hard copy to replace the one I wore to pieces. When I saw the reviews, I decided to put my two cents in. I was also compelled to puchase the video based on this book. The video did an excellent job of translating the book to video and putting a voice to Martha. Although I was intrigued by the concept of a complete diary of a midwife, I was not prepared for the impact it would have on me. As an alternative health care provider, I often use herbs to help patients and have actually assisted in the delivery of 3 babies. I am an older woman that has raised my children and now have grandchildren. Martha's life parallelled mine in so many ways. She had a hard time finding help, her children were less then obedient, particularily her eldest son. Premarital sex was rampant. Her husband seemed to often ignore her. He was perfectly happy in jail while she froze at home while her children neglected her. Her faith in a God carried her so many times. I began to casually start reading chapters whenever I was having a particularily difficult day, thinking to myself, "I wonder what challenge Martha overcame this chapter?" She touched my life in such a tender, loving, healing way even though our lives were seperated by 100's of years. I wonder if she ever thought who would read her diary in the future and what an inspiration she would be? I offer this book as a gift of a wonderful woman's life.
Average customer rating:
- Wonderful
- I really disliked the main character
- Great Historical Novel!
- Good Book
- Good read, but....!
|
The Midwife's Tale
Gretchen Moran Laskas
Manufacturer: The Dial Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| 18th Century
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
| African American
| Asian American
| Classics
| Collections & Readers
| Drama
| General
| Hispanic
| History & Criticism
| Humor
| Jewish American
| Letters & Correspondence
| Native American
| Poetry
| Short Stories
| Women Writers
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Literary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Domestic Life
| Women's Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Mothers & Children
| Women's Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Popular Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Book Clubs
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Miner's Daughter
-
A Midwife's Story
-
A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812
-
Salt: A Novel
-
Orlean Puckett: The Life of a Mountain Midwife, 1844-1939
ASIN: 0385335512
Release Date: 2003-04-01 |
Book Description
“I come from a long line of midwives,” narrates Elizabeth Whitely. “I was expected to follow Mama, follow Granny, follow Great-granny. In the end, I didn’t disappoint them.
Or perhaps I did. After all, there were no more midwives after me.”For generations, the women in Elizabeth’s family have brought life to Kettle Valley, West Virginia, heeding a destiny to tend its women with herbals, experience, and wisdom. But Elizabeth, who has comforted so many, has lost her heart to the one man who cannot reciprocate, even when she moves into his home to share his bed and raise his child.
Then Lauren Denniker, Elizabeth’s adopted daughter, begins to display a miraculous gift--just as Elizabeth learns that she herself is unable to have a child. How Elizabeth comes to free herself from a loveless relationship, grapple with Lauren’s astonishing abilities, and come to terms with her own emptiness is the compelling heart of this remarkable tale. Incorporating the spirited mountain mythology of prewar Appalachia, Gretchen Laskas has crafted a story as true to our time as its own, and a cast of characters as poignant as they are entirely original.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful.......2006-08-17
I picked up this book on a whim, needing something to read, and am glad I did. It is a wonderful book, well written, an achingly good story. Like many other reviewers, the book had me in tears by the end. I would love to read more from this author, as another reviewer suggested, perhaps Lauren's story? One reviewer didn't like the book because of the main character; but that was what made the book so good, the human-ness of it all, the faults and honesty of it.
In some ways this book is for those of us who grew up on Laura Ingalls Wilder; it is that sort of tale but for women who are mature and have grown up - this is why or how Elizabeth's character and voice resonated for me, she was real.
Another reviewer wrote how the book will be on her shelf next to other American classics. For me the book went straight next to Anita Diamant's The Red Tent, another wonderful book.
I really disliked the main character.......2006-07-31
The main character Elizabeth is not a sympathetic character.
I relly disliked her and it took away from teh rest of the story.
Some of the other characters were far more interesting.
Skip this book and look for another.
Great Historical Novel!.......2006-07-30
I love that this novel is in the first person because it makes you feel like you are right there along with Elizabeth, the lead character, throughout her whole story. Though this is mostly a story of unrequited love, it is also a story of the necessity of ties, the family ones which Elizabeth has with her granny, mom, and daughter Lauren, and her surprising friendship with Ivy. I was grateful to learn of life in this time period including treatment with medicinal herbs as well as the rituals and traditins one of which is serenading newly married couples with gunshots, fiddle playing and frying pans clanging! I can't wait to read Ms. Moran's new novel coming out in February!
Good Book.......2006-03-28
I am a midwife, so I love these types of stories. Its got some truth to it, but I really struggled with parts of it. IF you read it, remember its fiction!
Good read, but....!.......2005-10-05
"The Midwife's Tale" left me a little bit..."hmmm, well...!" I found myself getting kind of tired of Elizabeth Whitely's self-loathing, bad-love-seeking ways, and other characters, especially Lauren, seemed much more interesting. I would have loved to have seen her storyline and perspective developed more. Why did such a fascinating character end up playing such a small role in the storyline, while Elizabeth's almost infuriating devotion to Alvin was the main focal point?
On the other hand, I did enjoy a lot of things about this novel. There are some beautiful descriptions, striking analogies, and raw emotions, almost too human to bear. The author has a lot of potential, and I would be very interested to read more.
Book Description
Using archaeological materials recovered from a housesite in Mobile, Alabama, Laurie Wilkie explores how one extended African-American family engaged with competing and conflicting mothering ideologies in the post-Emancipation South. The female head of this household, Lucrecia Perryman, turned to midwifery to support her family and as a midwife, became a vehicle for transmitting cultural, social, and political knowledge regarding mothering performance and practice to the broader African-American community.
Average customer rating:
|
The Midwife's Tale and Other Christmas Stories
W. Edward Harris
Manufacturer: Stonework Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| 18th Century
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
| African American
| Asian American
| Classics
| Collections & Readers
| Drama
| General
| Hispanic
| History & Criticism
| Humor
| Jewish American
| Letters & Correspondence
| Native American
| Poetry
| Short Stories
| Women Writers
ASIN: 0963886428 |
Book Description
Christmas stories with a difference. The midwife of the title tells of her work in delivering the Christ child. Other stories of the Christmas event are told in the voice of Mary's little brother. Other family members get their say here too. There is one contemporary story "First Christmas After the War" set in 1945 in the rural South hat deals with the tension between getting and giving.
Average customer rating:
- Midwives as Key to Understanding early American Life
|
The Midwife's Tale: An Oral History from Handywoman to Professional Midwife
Nicky Leap
Manufacturer: Scarlet Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Pregnancy & Childbirth
| Women's Health
| Personal Health
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
History
| Special Topics
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Nursing
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
Obstetrics & Gynecology
| Specialties
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
Midwifery
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| England
| Europe
| History
| Subjects
| Books
20th Century
| England
| Europe
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Social History
| Historical Study
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Accessories:
-
philosophy hope in a jar daily moisturizer
ASIN: 1857270363 |
Customer Reviews:
Midwives as Key to Understanding early American Life.......2001-08-23
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's incredible book, A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard Based on Her Diary 1785-1812 is an amazingly comprehensive collection of facts and details that give life to the seemingly mundane diary entries of an 18th century American midwife. A Midwife's Tale is not only what the title implies...the story of a midwife. Rather, it is equally a history lesson on New England medicine, religion, politics, accounting, gender roles and social structure. In the midst of all this, however, it's not easy to escape the fact that the author of this history is a 20th Century female, and thus she bestows upon Martha Ballard a kind of feminist heroicism that, in 18th Century Hallowell would simply be a solid wife's duty. Through A Midwife's Tale one is given a glimpse of how aspects of daily life in 18th Century New England were created and what brought about their changes. We see Martha Ballard as a relatively traditional midwife during the advent of many new medical practices. Through her midwife practice, we also begin to understand the distinct roles of men and women in medicine, as well as in daily life. Men were doctors, women midwives. Men traveled and conducted business, women remained at home. Gender roles also help us understand further the role community played in 18th Century New England. Without the help of her varied female neighbors, Martha Ballard's practice would be even more exhausting than it seems it already was. Even more importantly, without the complex network of the extended family and at-home weaving, Martha Ballard would not have been able to go out to perform her duties as a midwife. All of these aspects of life intertwined and paid off, as is seen in Martha Ballard's accounting notes. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich sums it up on page 80: "By expanding textile production, Martha provided household help for herself and an occupation for her girls." Martha Ballard's diary is also a reflection of changing religious attitudes, as is seen in the case of the wife of minister Isaac Foster who charged rape against Judge Joseph North. Isaac Foster seemed too progressive for some of the more conservative parishioners of Hallowell. As closely as religion and politics were tied back then, the case against Joseph North is also a window into New England law. From here, Martha Ballard also takes us into the politics of illegitimacy and marriage laws with the accusation brought against her own son that he was the father of an illegitimate child. While A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard Based on Her Diary 1785-1812 is an excellent, if not the foremost resource for 18th Century New England medical, social, cultural, religious, and political historians, it is also obviously a product of Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's contemporary values. While I was reading A Midwife's Tale, I couldn't help but feel Ulrich was really trying to drive home the point that Martha Ballard was an exceptional woman, even though Ulrich herself says Ballard was just an example of what average women were like at the time. But in describing Martha Ballard's work, Ulrich employs a kind of "presentism" in making Ballard into a feminist so obviously in control of her own business, social circle and religious beliefs. When writing about Martha Ballard, Ulrich uses language like "she was bound to serve anyone who needed her," (97) adjectives such as "benevolent," "charitable," and, in the introduction, describes a journey of Martha's as "She dragged herself out, mounted a neighbor's horse, and rode dripping to the delivery." (4) Phrases such as these are obviously meant to elevate Martha Ballard to a level that, if asked herself, Ballard would have said was merely expected of her. It seems to me that at the time Martha Ballard was an example of what a midwife to the middle to elite classes of 18th Century was like, and nothing more. With the advent of social historians in the 20th Century and with the greater freedoms women have today it is easy to marvel at how hard women in the past worked. There is no doubt that Martha Ballard was hard-working, and in the sense that it is used to teach us about the work of 18th Century American midwives, A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard Based on Her Diary 1785-1812 is priceless. However, it is also important to stress the fact that other than performing hard work, Martha Ballard's options were limited.
Customer Reviews:
Red Hot Revenge!.......2005-10-04
Our Hero thinks the heroine is his sister's husband's mistress, so at his sister's request, he sets out to seduce her & take her away from his brother-in-law to save his marriage. After he has taken her to bed and made her fall in love with him, he discovers that she is his brother-in-laws daughter from a fling before he got married. Needless to say, the sh*t hits the fan, and a marriage between the two is arranged to restore family honor. This is a great romantic read for those who favor strong, devious, alpha male types (like stories by Lynne Graham and Michelle Reid).
Typical Greek passion of revenge ............2005-09-26
Greek tycoon Nikos Kyriades is hell-bent on revenge - and he's planned it down to the very last detail . . .
His Aim: to tempt Janine Fareham into his bed. It will be a spectacular seduction and he has two weeks on a sunny Greek island to do it . . .
His Revenge: Nikos wants Janine to become his mistress - and he's determined she'll never share another man's bed!
His Risk: If Janine ever discovers she's a pawn in Nikos's game he knows she'll leave. But to have her in his bed, at his command, is a risk worth taking!
Average customer rating:
- brilliant plausible future realities, written over 50 years ago...
- Four early works from the master
- From Ape to Superman
- Neither Science Fiction Nor Fantasy
- Buy it for "Gulf"
|
Assignment In Eternity
Robert A. Heinlein
Manufacturer: Baen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
General
| Short Stories
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Adventure
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Short Stories
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Heinlein, Robert A.
| ( H )
| Authors, A-Z
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Paperback
| Heinlein, Robert A.
| ( H )
| Authors, A-Z
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Short Stories
| Literature & Fiction
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
( H )
| Authors, A-Z
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Adventure
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
General
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Short Stories
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
All 4-for-3 Deals
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Rocket Ship Galileo
-
The Green Hills Of Earth
-
The Man Who Sold The Moon
-
Beyond This Horizon
-
Orphans of the Sky
ASIN: 0671578650 |
Book Description
Robert A. Heinlein is widely and justly regarded as the greatest practitioner of the art of science fiction who has ever lived. Here are two of his greatest short novels:
GULF: In which the greatest superspy of them all is revealed as the leader of a league of supermen and women who can't quite decide what to do with the rest of us....
LOST LEGACY: In which it is proved that we are all members of that league -- or would be, if we but had eyes to see....
PLUS TWO GREAT STORIES: Two of the Master's finest: one on the nature of Being, the other on what it means to be a Man.
Customer Reviews:
brilliant plausible future realities, written over 50 years ago..........2007-05-27
For anyone who fantasizes about how the future is going to be better than today, you have to check these stories out. They were written in the forties which makes them a bit of a sociological study - they're still way before their time in many ways.
They're not, by any means, his best work, but they are imaginative and philosophical and I ate them up with fervour.
Four early works from the master.......2006-04-09
This volume is a collection of four of Robert A. Heinlein's (RAH's) early shorter works that all origninally appeared in various 'pulp' magazines in the 1940's.
The first, "Gulf" (1949) begins as an action filled spy thriller. The hero is a secret agent/courier being pursued for microfilmed plans for a secret weapon. Familiar material for fiction but very well thought out and written. What makes this story science fiction rather than spy thriller is not just the futuristic society but the second half of the story when the hero is made aware of, and joins a group of supermen who are acting to preserve and advance the human race. RAH fans will note the beginnings of FRIDAY.
ELSEWHEN is a much shorter work that first appeared in 1941. The plot revolves around a college professor who has managed to time travel, not only to the past and future, but to also access alternate realities. These ideas will reappear in other RAH works including, THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST and THE DOOR INTO SUMMER.
LOST LEGACY again picks up the 'further evolved human' theme from "Gulf". Three college friends discover a secret group of advanced humans who have accessed ancient knowledge and skills. When they attempt to enlighten the rest of humanity they find that there is an opposing force working to stop them. This premise will also appear in later RAH works, THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST, STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND and others.
The final work, "Jerry Was a Man", concerns the true nature of humanity. Mankind, with the help of Martians, has learned to genetically modify animals to the extent of making unicorns or six legged dogs. Monkeys and apes have been modified to perform rote tasks, freeing humanity of 'better' things. The question arises though as to just what point does a lower being with enhanced intelligence become a human being. This question will be revisited in many other RAH works, STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND, THE STAR BEAST and many others.
These are very early works of RAH and show his (then) inexperience. The themes will be revisited many times through out his career and handled much more skillfully. For fans it is particularly interesting to see how these ideas first appeared and connect them to their later incarnations. Also it is interesting to see how RAH's attitude toward women evolved over his career/life. In these early works women are depicted as cute little playthings that are not very bright and exist solely to make men happy. His later works show women as much more equal to men, in some instances even superior, radical ideas for the time they were written.
These stories can be enjoyed by anyone intested in speculative or science fiction. As with all of RAH's work they will make the reader re-examine what he knows to be true.
From Ape to Superman.......2005-07-21
This is a collection of various stories that did not fit into Heinlein's Future History series (at least not at the time they were first published). Like most collections, the quality varies considerably from one story to the next.
"Gulf" first appeared in the Nov-Dec 1949 issues of Astounding magazine, and is the best fleshed out story here. A novella, the first portion of this reads like a James Bond thriller (perhaps better), the action is fast paced and our hero's actions make sense. But it quickly becomes apparent that he is far more than an average man, in fact he is something of a superman in terms of intelligence, reaction time, and decision making, items which are not lost on an entire society of such individuals, who recruit and train him. Some of the science presented here about how such a group of people came to be and the methods used for training them will seem a little dubious to today's readers, and the moral points raised (is a superior being justified in eliminating, without recourse to the law, those he feel are a threat to his society?) might raise a few hackles, but this is still a fun, fast read that will make you do a little thinking. Kettle Bailey is introduced in this story, and it might be considered a prequel to his much later novel Friday, which dealt with some of the same moral issues. Like almost everything else he wrote, this story was tied into his Future History in his last books.
"Elsewhen" is very minor Heinlein, with almost no characterization and very little plot. It originally appeared in Sept 1941 issue of Astounding (as by 'Caleb Saunders'), and clearly showed that Heinlein was still learning the craft of writing at that time. But it introduces the idea of time having multiple dimensions: the normal time flow, the 'parallel universe' branching time flow, and the 'time' dimension associated with author created universes. This was an idea Heinlein would return to in much greater depth (and much better written) in The Number of the Beast, the first of the 'World-as-Myth' books.
"Lost Legacy" is the other long piece here, first appearing in the Oct 1941 issue of Super Science Stories (as by 'Lyle Monroe'). Here again the idea of 'supermen' is tackled, this time positing that in the 'unused' areas of the brain lie the capabilities for the paranormal - telepathy, telekinesis, levitation, etc; talents which have been 'lost' after the fall of Mu and Antlantis. This one is only fair - characterization is somewhat lacking (and the shown expectation level for women is definitely grounded in the '40s stereotype - something that showed up in a lot of Heinlein's work from this period), and the 'bad guys' motivations don't seem totally believable (though perhaps that's just me - I've never understood people whose main drive is power over others). The solution to the problem of training people to remember these hidden talents, though, is a good one. This story may have been a re-working of some ideas that first appeared in "Beyond Doubt", his only known fictional collaboration (with Elma Wentz), which appeared in April of 1941 (and which he referred to as one of his 'stinkeroos' - it is pretty bad).
"Jerry was a Man" is perhaps the story of most relevance to today's world. First appearing in the Oct 1947 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories, it is a world of genetic engineering marvels, from six-legged dogs and pint-sized flying horses to 'enhanced' monkeys - enhanced to the point that they have become a major factor in providing the labor for the 'dirty' jobs of society. The story is an investigation into just where the line can (or should) be drawn between 'animal' and 'man', couched in Heinlein's typical acid humor of court-room shenanigans, shysters, and money-hungry corporations.
These stories are certainly not the best things Heinlein ever wrote, but there is surprisingly little dating to them other than the cultural attitudes of the day, and they still entertaining and in some cases very thought provoking. Recommended for any Heinlein fan looking to see what he was capable of during his 'early' period outside of the Future History, and good for anyone who enjoys science fiction.
--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
Neither Science Fiction Nor Fantasy.......2005-06-20
Because of his reputation as a science fiction writer, many readers assume that everything Heinlein wrote was science fiction...including Stranger In A Strange Land! It's understandable; the millieu (the future) is familiar to SciFi readers, and there are elements (space travel, etc.) that are also frequently used in SciFi.
However, this book, like Stranger, is about metaphysics, presented in the familiar SciFi trappings. Consequently, it makes those who prefer their Science Fiction to cover the familiar and comfortable, uncomfortable.
Lost Legacy, in particular, presents information that will be familiar to readers of Zecharia Sitchin (who hadn't yet written The Twelfth Planet when this story was penned) in an entertaining fashion, and makes one wonder just where Heinlein got his information, since no one else had published any of this (publicly, anyway) at the time.
Buy it for "Gulf".......2002-10-13
"Gulf" is a short novel gem, and a slightly sideways-in-time prequel to "Friday." Witten during the period when Heinlein was writing books like "The Puppet Masters" (which it has similarities to), and "The Door Into Summer", it's a good story, well told.
"Jerry Was a Man" is a lesser work, but interesting in that it argues that humanity will constantly have to revisit the slavery thing as our abilities to create non-human servants will outstrip our wisdom in their use. Maybe old hat now, but it wasn't in the 1940's. I'd be willing to be large sums that whoever wrote the Star Trek:TNG story about Data being, leagally, a Man, had read this once apon a time. Very similar viewpoints.
The other two stories are among Heinlein's poorest and keep this from being a 5.
Book Description
Captain Kirk first encountered Gary Seven on twentieth-century Earth. Now Seven, a time-traveling operative for unknown alien forces, makes a surprise visit to the U.S.S. Enterprise. Kirk is on an urgent mission to bering relief to a disaster ravaged planet, but Seven has an agenda of his own -- and he's not above hijacking the Starship Enterprise and sending it on a perilous journey deep into the heart of the Romulan Empire.
Kirk must date to trust Gary Seven once again, as he confronts the possibility that the enigmatic stranger may bring death and destruction to Kirk's own era.
Customer Reviews:
Fairly good if you like Gary Seven.......2007-08-25
Unlike most others it would seem, I was rather disappointed with the conclusion of STAR TREK - ASSIGNMENT: ETERNITY after it got off to a great start. For about the first two-thirds of the book I thought Cox set up a very good mystery of what Gary Seven was up to, and he handled the writing and characterizations well too. The "classic" Star Trek episode that was the inspiration for this book, "Assignment: Earth," is one of my favorites of the series, so I was very glad to be in the company again of Gary Seven and his sidekicks Roberta Lincoln and the cat Isis. All the 1960s and Trek references were fun too (though he got Neil Armstrong's "one small step" speech wrong!!).
But the last third or so of this novel didn't work as well as the beginning. For me, the main letdown was that the big mystery turned out to be a rather mundane variation on other Trek stories. It remained a decent story, just not as interesting as I had thought it would be. And Cox's writing style declined in this ending section too, with the shootouts and cliffhangers becoming quite tedious, and all of it less believeable than the first part of the book. For instance, the Romulan character Dellas would have been more believeable if she had been fleshed out more, and not so much a stock villain. However, I did find the novel enjoyable overall, especially if you're a fan of the Trek episode it's based on. But for other people I would say it's not that urgent a read.
One of the best Star Trek books I've read........2007-08-13
And I've read a lot. This book is much better than the later books by Cox featuring Gary Seven, "The Eugenics Wars", because it is a premise not constrained by the extremely difficult concept of trying to fit Star Trek "future history" into what is now real history, and trying to make it fit. Those books were very well-written, and managed an almost impossible task better than could reasonably be expected, but it still was a handicap to be working under, one which does not apply here.
Definitely a must-read for any fan of Star Trek, or any fan of time-travel stories.
Gary 007--Yeah, Baby.......2007-04-30
This is the book for those of us who were, well . . . confused by ST:TOS episode "Assignment: Earth." Of course, it was quite an odd episode, the reason being that it was an intended pilot for a new Gene Roddenberry series. Writing pilots, by the way, was Roddenberry's hobby and second job. Hew was not quite successful, but when he was successful.
This story fleshes out Gary Seven, Roberta Lincoln, Isis, and knots TOS with TNG and the films. Love when novelist unified the several series (Q-Squared is a good example of this). Being an anthology, come up with good ideas that were not really explored--the Organinans' relation to Trelaine and the Metrons, not to mention the Continuum. And who actually did build the Doomsday Machine? The Zentraedi?
Roberta Lincoln is the point of view character, assuming a role similar to Holmes's Watson. But seems to have shifted from a smart and fashionably dresses secretary, to no-brainer hippy. (What is this auto-genuflective obsession with Woodstock?). Then the mind-meld thickens the plot. . . .
The easetr-eggs were a blast: The Monkees - Greatest Hits, The Beatles 1, The Prisoner - Complete Series Megaset (40th Anniversary Edition), James Bond Ultimate Edition Boxed Sets Bundle, etc., are all mentioned in passing. A lot of fun for people who saw these shows, even if on reruns.
*
Gary & Roberta also appears in the Eugenics Wars novels, with a heavy suggestion that he is involved with ST:ENT's Temporal Cold War, but the question is how the Guardian of Forever fits into this is not explained.
Overall, you get a good story well told. There are some flaws, such as Sulu and Checkov's odd disappearance, the story arc being a sharp drop-off, and the shopworn "Grandfather Paradox" as the plot. But laying this aside, I think it was well worth the read, an above average expanded universe tale.
Grokkin' Spock!.......2002-12-29
This book is more 1960s than anything written or aired in the '60s. It's a pop-culture mavin's dream. Cox livens his story up with so many '60s touches, it'll really tickle your fancy if you grew up then - and probably if you didn't. Its numerous references include events from contemporaneous T.V. and movie fare such as James Bond, The Avengers, The Prisoner and Stanley Kubrick's 2001. There's even a backstory incident dropped in from another failed Gene Roddenberry pilot of the early 1970s, The Questar Tapes.
Picking up the ball T.V. dropped in 1968, Cox takes the characters from the original series' "Assignment: Earth" and gives them a whole new story to play in. That episode was intended as a pilot for a series all its own, and of course that pilot never took off. With any luck, Cox will continue more adventures with extraterrestrial secret agent Gary Seven and his Greenwich Village hippy-chick assistant, Roberta Lincoln - and Seven's other "female" sidekick, Isis the cat - and spin them off into the series they should have been on T.V. If so, he couldn't have gotten off to a better start than this entry in the Star Trek book series.
This time around, Seven's future colleague, Septos, sends a cry for help from his base deep undercover in Romulan space, where an especially vicious Romulan secret policewoman commander named Dellas has appropriated much of his superior alien technology for an attempt on the life of Mr. Spock that will destroy the future reunification of the Romulans and the Vulcans. In order to prevent this catastrophe, Seven, Roberta and Isis teleport into the Enterprise's time, taking Captain Kirk and his crew to Romulan space - where, if they're not careful, they'll end up causing an interplanetary war even without Dellas' clandestine machinations.
The characters are all brilliantly written, Seven and Roberta especially, without a false note to be found in the bunch. In addition to Cox's many pop-culture references are as many from not only the original Star Trek episodes, but several from the '80s and '90s movies and even The Next Generation.
Unbelievably, this gem is out of print. Hunt it down. Especially since Cox is taking the characters further now, with his Eugenics War series - tying Seven into the origin of Khan Noonien Singh.
A real feast for Trekkies and '60s kids, and even non-series fans will probably enjoy it.
A fantastic Star Trek novel.......2002-06-14
I was drawn to this book by the author, having read his earlier books and really enjoyed them. For myself the character from the TOS show really didn't have a lot offer. Greg Cox turned, for me, an uninteresting character into an extremely well thought out and compelling story. If you're a fan of the Star Trek books and haven't read this, you really need to. Greg Cox is a true fan that knows what's been done and how to write a new trek novel. I'm looking forward to getting to the Eugenics Wars. Thank you Greg Cox for, in my opinion, one of the top five Trek books ever!
Average customer rating:
|
Assignment In Eternity
Heinlen
Manufacturer: New American Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000JD4DHE |
Customer Reviews:
A good example of early Heinlein.......2006-10-02
There are two major Heinlein camps and a few crossovers. This may account for the wide variation in what people think of this book. Artists in any field paint what is real, and then what is real to them. Realists like the early works that they can relate to on their daily lives and see the later works as off the deep end. Others see the early works as silly or something that they could do better and the later works as profound and insightful. They see two people instead of one in the process of transition.
The reason I bought this book is for a story that deals with transition. "Lost Legacy" (1941) I do not want to go into too much detail as it is fun to have the story unfold in its time. However the story speculates as to what the so-called unused portion of our brain is for. Heinlein is not the first to speculate, but he does put together a great story combining many previous speculations.
While enjoying his story, look at the rudiments that will be used in later Heinlein writing, [Stranger in a Strange Land] ISBN: 0808520873 (see my review May 22, 2000). Even some of the names are the same.
Average customer rating:
|
Assignment in Eternity
Robert A. Heinlein
Manufacturer: NEL Books, London
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
General
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Heinlein, Robert A.
| ( H )
| Authors, A-Z
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Paperback
| Heinlein, Robert A.
| ( H )
| Authors, A-Z
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: B000PS0JSA |
Product Description
UK edition. Four classic 40's tales, including Gulf.
Average customer rating:
|
Assignment in Eternity
Manufacturer: Signet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000CRFU6K |
Book Description
Mark Gauvreau Judge, one of the most talented writers to emerge from GenX, takes us through a hilarious, edgy, take no prisoners look at his experience in three of the most prestigious Catholic schools in U.S. history.
Customer Reviews:
A Great Read.......2006-11-24
This is a Great read and I would recommend it to anyone.
Terrible Book.......2006-07-08
Judge is an idiot. The Jesuits at Prep at the time he was there were shining exemplars for the students who went there. Judge's problem is that he, like most neocons, likes "easy Christianity" - the kind served up by the Pat Robertsons and James Dobsons of the world who willfully forget that Jesus preached a lot of tough talk about the rich and everyone's duty to the poor and the requirement to turn the other cheek.
The neocons love their taxcuts for the rich and budget cuts for the poor and their wars of choice. Idiots like Judge didn't like the Jesuits at Prep because they preached the actual teachings of Jesus and not the watered down pap that neocons like Judge would rather hear.
Why was a review taken off here?.......2006-05-13
I'm the author of this book, and don't want this posted. Just wondering why there were seven reviews of this book up, and one, a 5-star review, was taken down yesterday.
One in a million.......2006-05-09
Mark Gauvreau Judge's "God and Man at Georgetown Prep" has a lot going for it. Judge is a very unique voice in his generation. He is a talented and articulate writer and paints a memorable and often laugh out loud picture of life at an exclusive prep school around 1980. It is a fascinating read of one person's quest of looking for God in all the wrong places. With help from a supporting cast of dozens of powerful and articulate traditional Catholic thinkers, "God and Man at Georgetown Prep" elaborates on the power of Christianity and conservative Catholicism at length and in wonderful detail. Judge's book makes a case for a very personal and profound vision of the author's faith.
"God and Man at Georgetown Prep" is a compelling read. It is also sometimes a haphazard and contradictory mix of the intellectual and the glandular; of the cogent argument and the primal scream; of the open minded discourse and the conservative rant.
And when it degenerates into rant mode, it unfortunately brings along much of the baggage associated with such a paradigm. That baggage includes looking at the world in stark black and white and pigeonholing people as heroes or villains based on little more than stereotypes. It lives in a world that is less populated by characters than by cartoons.
Coming to terms with one's own belief is challenging enough for an individual, and Judge makes a great case for his own spiritual renewal. His storytelling talent is so good that it comes dangerously close to seducing the reader into missing the underlying thrust of the book. In essence, "God and Man at Georgetown Prep" falls in line behind a long line of philosophers and theologians who attempt to make the case that their version of God and religion are the right-and perhaps only-one.
Trying to take that personal belief and argue its universal merits (or at least convince anyone who picks up this book) is a task of, if you'll excuse the pun, Biblical proportions. Over two centuries ago, the philosopher Voltaire summed up the hazards of the task when he quipped, "If God created us in his own image, we have more than reciprocated."
One could almost even argue that the Bible itself isn't up to such a task, given that its text is the basis for dozens of religious sects and even cults to empower themselves and trumpet their own mutually exclusive version of the "truth."
At their best, such attempts made in good faith spur thoughtful dialog. At their worst, they deteriorate into self-indulgent arrogance and gratuitous vilification of opposing views. Where "God and Man at Georgetown Prep" most needs to have an underlying tone of sincere theological discourse, it feels more like a theological smackdown.
"God and Man at Georgetown Prep" paints a picture of an almost fascist "liberal"education the author endured during his high school years (not everyone there at that time walked away with that conclusion, nor 25 years later, do they see it that way-see below). Given that we all experienced life through the myopic vision of adolescence, and that there could be at least a little truth in that assertion, this writer will gladly concede him that point. (Let it also be noted that there are many reasons for alternate viewpoints to be included in education-especially from a school that makes public expectations that its graduates be "open to growth", but the merits of that argument are beyond the purpose and space limitations of this review.)
However, there is a common and tragic misconception that the opposite of a flaming liberal viewpoint (if that indeed was the case) is an equally conservative polemic. This writer would like to make a rather bold observation: The liberal extremist has convinced himself beyond a shadow of a doubt of his self-guilt and is obsessed with imposing it on everyone else around him. The conservative extremist, however, is equally obsessed with his own self-righteousness/salvation and equally driven to impose that on everyone else around him.
And, here's the dirty little secret: both are cut from the same cloth: there is a common thread and it is extremism. The true antithesis of extremism is not the corresponding point on the other end of the bell curve: it is balance found in the center. Balance makes for convincing and airtight arguments; balance can handle characters in their complexity without having to beatify or demonize them; balance is also a pretty nifty rhetorical tool for a writer trying to convince the reader of his absolute moral authority when he attempts nothing less than the Herculean task "God and Man at Georgetown Prep" tries to accomplish.
The basic argument of "God and Man at Georgetown Prep" would have been helped by a more objective and sociologically driven approach with the observation that the early 1980s were part of the reverberation of the 1960s plummeting out of control, that the pendulum is constantly swinging, sometimes from one excess to the other. Mistakes-and course corrections-are constantly necessary for a living breathing entity, whether it is a fully formed human being or an educational institution 200+ years old. There is a term for this-the magis, the continual search for the greater, something Georgetown Prep articulates in its goals and expectations. As Mr. Judge chronicles his own growth out of the intellectual primeval mud, he fails to acknowledge that others-even the radical teachers he disdains, not to mention those dreaded hippies-may also have been on similar journeys. And, those journeys may also legitimately have taken them to different places, including different spiritual directions.
As with other arguments of this type, some of the charges "God and Man at Georgetown Prep" levels against the enemies it creates can be leveled back at itself. For example: it's more than a little disconcerting to see him relate his own discovery of the love of God beginning during a beach week liberally marinated with chasing girls and lubricated with large amounts of alcohol. This sounds alarmingly like the free love and mind altering substances of those awful people he quickly backhands and dismisses. This writer can appreciate his conclusion that perhaps in that environment came the "discovery of new modes of love". This writer also observes that the Jesuitical concept of "finding God in all things" is apparently not afforded seekers whose personal visions take them down other paths.
In the interest of full disclosure, this writer personally knew most of the characters mentioned from Georgetown Prep and happened to be a part of campus around the same time as the author. He has to make the observation that to try to capture wonderful priests and complex human beings such as "Fr. Moon SJ", "Fr. Hart SJ" and "Fr. Boxer SJ" in the almost trashy anecdotes and quotes cited does them-and Judge's larger target Georgetown Prep-a gross disservice. It's quite possible that some of the most outrageous moments Judge narrates happened just as he described. However, they are tiny snapshots in a much larger, richer picture. Georgetown Prep is almost as old as the United States. Common sense dictates that an institution that old with as little to offer as intimated in Judge's world would have died a natural death long ago.
Judge makes a valiant attempt to argue his vision and this reviewer has little doubt about the sincerity of the author or the power of his experience. He makes a wonderful case for himself. He is stepping into a particularly hazardous minefield when he attempts to impose those constraints outside of his own scope.
I would be glad to wager that there are many Buddhists, Muslims, non-Catholic Christians, Hindus, (not to mention other Catholics who don't take his sharp turn to the right), etc. who would be more than happy to sit him down and elaborate on the power of their own spiritual journey and argue that their experiences are just as powerful in a different way and that--horror of horrors--their pathway to God is just as valid. There is an entire universe of philosophers and theologians who are just as eloquent and powerful in their own-and alternate-views of God and Catholicism as those Judge quotes.
It is quite telling-and also a shame-that one of the first things Judge does in the introduction of this book is immediately dismiss Buddhism--which has a core principle that there are "a million pathways to God." That raises the stakes by immediately turning his argument into "all or nothing". That would be an awesome task under the best of circumstances. The underlying thesis suffers too many self-inflicted wounds to be one of them.
"God and Man at Georgetown Prep" is an entertaining read of a compelling spiritual journey. But, it is only one of them. The reader should keep in mind that there are at least 999,999 other ones.
Great book for those thinking of returning to Catholicism.......2006-02-28
Many of the author's experiences mirrored my own. If you are well-versed in Catholicism, the extensive quotes from it's great writers may irritate you. For me, they were like water in the desert. Like Judge, I have only recently become aware of the richness of the writing of Catholics throughout the ages. His book served as a valuable resource to other authors who do not spend all their time bashing Catholicism, but actually examine its doctrine within a greater spiritual context. In other words, it is a relief to find authors who examine the spiritual rationale for church doctrines, instead of advocating a change to universal truths simply because they are incovenient to modern life.
Books:
- A River Sutra
- A Slipping-Down Life
- Adios Hemingway
- Alternatives to Sex: A Novel
- An Invisible Sign of My Own: A Novel
- Anthills of the Savannah
- Ape and Essence
- Baudolino
- Best Short Stories of Jack London
- Best Short Stories of the Modern Age
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Billy the Kid: The Endless Ride
- The Problem of Pain
- The facts behind the Helsinki Roccamatios and other stories
- Parents Who Care Too Much: Breaking the Cycle of Codependence When a Child's Dysfunctional Behavior
- Queen Bee Moms & Kingpin Dads: Dealing with the Parents, Teachers, Coaches, and Counselors Who C
- Special Functions
- The Birds of Pennsylvania
- Princess Diana : Her Life Story 1961-1997
- State Policy Formation and the Origins of the Poll Tax
- CliffsNotes Investing in Your RRSP
Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in Northern New England, 1650-1750
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Dover Thrift Editions)
The Return of Martin Guerre
The Radicalism of the American Revolution
The Unredeemed Captive: A Family Story from Early America
