Book Description
Unforgettably astounding and a joy to read, Memento Mori is considered by many to be the greatest novel by the wizardly Dame Muriel Spark. In late 1950s London, something uncanny besets a group of elderly friends: an insinuating voice on the telephone informs each, "Remember you must die." Their geriatric feathers are soon thoroughly ruffled by these seemingly supernatural phone calls, and in the resulting flurry many old secrets are dusted off. Beneath the once decorous surface of their lives, unsavories like blackmail and adultery are now to be glimpsed. As spooky as it is witty, poignant and wickedly hilarious, Memento Mori may ostensibly concern death, but it is a book which leaves one relishing life all the more.
Customer Reviews:
Hasn't Aged Well.......2007-07-01
This well-regarded meditation on life and death is one of those books I would have been unlikely to ever get around to had it not been selected by my book group. Our group tends to pick (and generally enjoy) classics or works by various well-regarded international writers (recent examples include Saramago, Eco, Calvino, Greene, Pamuk, etc.), so this book seemed like it would fit well within the group's standard range. So it was somewhat surprising to discover that, not only was I not the only one who showed up for our discussion with a rather tepid reaction to the book, but none of the six other well-read members found it in any way remarkable or edifying. Even the person who picked the book (a self-professed fan of Spark's other work) found it a disappointment.
Set in mid-1950s London, the story revolves around an interconnected group of elderly people. In what might be considered a parody of an Agatha Christie book, one, and then another of the old folks start getting mysterious phone calls informing them that "Remember, you must die." However, this is not a detective story or a thriller, except perhaps in the metaphysical sense. Despite recreating the classic scene of gathering all the characters in a drawing room in a debriefing conducted by a retired police detective, Spark is purely concerned with their reaction to the idea of mortality, rather than revealing the true nature of the phone calls. Indeed, two of the calmer characters reflect that the calls may be from "Death" (with a capital D), reflecting Sparks own stated belief that the line between the tangible world and the supernatural is a very thin and blurry one.
However, many of the characters take the statement as a direct threat and grow increasingly agitated, while others take it as a mere statement of fact, and at least one is in total denial, and another finds it an interesting scientific problem. What may be ultimately frustrating, however, is that none of the characters change in any way as a result of the calls -- if anything, their often negative characteristics are only amplified. One pessimistic lesson may well be that you can't teach an old dog new tricks, however it seems more likely that Spark is attempting to highlight the notion that those who contemplate mortality on a daily basis lead more fulfilled lives as a result.
In any event, those who like the book repeatedly cite the venal, immoral, and foolish behavior of the elderly protagonists as a major source of humor. Our group felt that while the various indiscretions, blackmail, and outbursts of jealousy and vitriol may well have been sly and subversive in the '50s, they aren't likely to strike any but the most naive of modern readers as such. Ultimately, I would be inclined to second-guess my reaction to such a critically well-regarded book, except that six other people more or less had the same experience.
A Master Novelist Perceives The Skull Beneath The Skin .......2007-02-13
The late Muriel Spark's crisply-written third novel and first genuine masterpiece, Memento Mori (1959), would be followed by nineteen more, including additional bona fide classics The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961), The Girls of Slender Means (1963), The Driver's Seat (1970), and Loitering With Intent (1981) before her death in April of 2006.
Compared to these and other Spark fictions, however, Memento Mori is remarkable for its essentially straightforward plot (a number of elderly lifelong friends and enemies are harassed by a mysterious telephone caller who states "remember you must die"), its relatively stable mid-Fifties London setting, and the depiction of its cast.
Unlike both earlier and later Spark novels, the characters presented are fairly unambiguous in terms of their natures: they're either essentially humane, decent, and humble, ethically and morally confused, or patently amoral. Thus, in terms of both characterization and the behavior that arises from it, Memento Mori can be interpreted as a highly polished but basic blueprint for all of Spark's future fiction, in which cultured blackmailers, undetected maniacs, manipulative appropriators, and aggressive human parasites abound. In fact, the endlessly conniving, money-obsessed Mabel Pettigrew remains the quintessential Spark villain.
Like the best Spark's novels, Memento Mori also seamlessly knits pronounced metaphysical questions into its text, and addresses the question of human perception and objective control: who or what ultimately manipulates and guides human existence?
As a meditation on human decency, morality, ethics, aging, and mortality, Memento Mori doesn't overtly concern itself with the literal mystery presented by its plot. Like the question of which student betrayed the Scottish school teacher in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, the mystery of the phantom caller is disarmed fairly early in the text, and thus subtly revealed as a mere plot device upon which the author effortlessly hangs her weightier themes.
Sophisticated, sharply insightful ("If I had my life over again I should form the habit of nightly composing myself to thoughts of death. I would practise, as it were, the remembrance of death. There is no other practise which so intensifies life. Death, when it approaches, ought not to take one by surprise. It should be part of the full expectancy of life. Without an ever-present sense of death life is insipid. You might as well live on the whites of eggs," retired Police Chief Inspector Henry Mortimer advises the assembled cast), and hilariously comic whenever it chooses to be, Memento Mori remains essential Western reading in the new millennium.
Carpe diem.......2006-10-17
This mystery novel is one of the most important works of Muriel Spark, a leading Scottish novelist as well as Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, who received many prestigious awards such as the US Ingersoll Foundation TS Eliot Award in 1922 and the British Literature Prize in 1997.
The title, Memento Mori, is a Latin phrase that is commonly translated as "Remember you must die," and this has been widely used as a motif for artistic creations to remind people of their own mortality since classical antiquity. The original thrust of Memento Mori was "Carpe Diem", "seize the day" in Latin, which entails the advice to "Eat, drink, for tomorrow we die!" quoting from Isaiah 22:13. Spark's message, however, seems to differ from the idea of carpe diem in this novel, although the meaning is not literary mentioned anywhere in this book by the author. That means how Memento Mori should be interpreted is all up to the readers, and that is the key to solve the mystery in this novel.
The eccentric yet very interesting idea of this book is the most of the main characters are the elderly people who are septuagenarians and over. They are total of 22 men and women in a variety of living environment---some people are rich and famous, some are ill and dying. In spite of their differences in age, sex, place to live, health and living conditions, they had only one thing in common; all of them received anonymous phone calls in different voice tones whispering a single baffling message, "Memento Mori." Spark depicts tactfully how each character tries to ferret out the culprit.
The beauty of this novel is the fine way Spark describes the lives of the elderly victims. Although she delineates the scene from mental agony of dying woman to excretion in the hospital bed, there is no sadness or melancholy in her description. In Spark's world, everything seems to be able to be subjects of funny story. Mercy may exist somewhere much deeper from the point of view of a Catholic writer.
Another thing I like to point out about the characteristic of this book is that Spark's writings are concise and easy to read. She even reiterates the same phrases and passages several times. As for a reader whose mother tongue is Japanese, since this novel doesn't require much referring to a dictionary, I am satisfied with Spark's novels as foreign reader-friendly books. Some of you may feel that Spark uses the same descriptions too many times. Nevertheless, I'm sure her writings are so pithy and to the point that repetitions are bearable. I'm convinced that you can receive fresh different sounds and meanings of words from the context each time even reading the same passages.
Memento Mori is a mystery novel which has a basic structure of the connection of very modern, ordinary, yet scientific instrument and unrealistic mystique. Spark digs up something we usually forget, or even we never want to remember because of the unpleasant truth. Namely, this is not only a mystery book but also a literature work written in a little lofty style according to the scene. Therefore, if you're just looking for a so-called ordinary, heart-beating thriller, this book is not for you. However, I would like to recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery and wants to look back over your own life seriously and sincerely a little bit for a change.
Superb novel, ahead of its time.......2006-04-07
A wonderful novel about a subject taboo in the 1950's in London... growing old. One of the very few books of its time to talk about those in their 70's and 80's without being patronizing or treating them as stereotypes. BBC Television produced a wonderful version filled with stars who had not held starring roles in decades (except Maggie Smith). Wonderful character studies and a clever premise. Vintage Muriel Spark, for me her finest novel.
Remember you must die.......2006-02-05
All the characters in Muriel Spark's novel are old people. There is Dame Lettie Colson who is pestered - but perhaps it is an illusion - by anonymous telephone calls with a voice saying only "Remember you must die", her brother Godfrey and his wife Charmian who live in a sort of ménage à trois. Their life doesn't get easier as they advance in age: senility and physical decrepitude are handicaps they try to live with, sometimes conscious of them but not always.
Then there are the twelve female occupants of the Maud Long Medical Ward, a nursing home, who spend their time gossiping about petty scandals, mostly about wills being rewritten in the favour of another person for some trivial behavioural reason.
The plot is both funny and macabre because all the characters are mean, jealous, curious, witty or confused, probably as they used to be all their life. It seems that old age does not transform our character much, for better or for worse.
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The Color of Emptiness (Memento Mori Mysteries)
Cynthia Webb
Manufacturer: Avocet Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0972507825 |
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A second mystery by the Lambda Literary Award-nominated author, in which a Bronx Family Court attorney becomes involved in a serial killer investigation.
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Memento Mori
Muriel Spark
Manufacturer: The Hearth Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000JUZTTI |
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- Guilty Pleasures
- Another great Viv Powers mystery
- "Bad Luck Woman" is a Great Read
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Bad Luck Woman (Memento Mori Mysteries)
Letha Albright
Manufacturer: Avocet Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Tulsa Time
ASIN: 097250785X
Release Date: 2005-05-01 |
Book Description
Critically acclaimed mystery author Letha Albright hits the ground running with a harrowing thriller that places reporter Viv Powers in the midst of a struggle between Native American activists and corporate greed. Propelled by worry for her sister's safety, Viv traces the path of a ruthless killer and comes face to face with an enemy who will stop at nothing to silence her.
Customer Reviews:
Guilty Pleasures.......2006-01-28
I bought this book more than six months ago. Ms Albright doesn't turn out a book a year, so I hoarded this treasure for awhile knowing that I would then have to wait until the next installment. Well, it was worth every minute of waiting.
I live in middle America and appreciate the magic that this author gives to her subject. I appreciate her local color. She is a master at writing dialogue and pacing her story. Her characters are flesh and blood real.
I have read all three novels of Ms Albright and sincerely feel you won't read a more realistic or well written work in the mystery genre.
I am a sucker for Sue Grafton novels about Kinsey Milhone. I know it is largely because of her personality and humor. I suspect that is also true of Viv Powers. This character just resonates with me. The setting of the stories are authentic and well described. This writer has a great gift. I feel a sadness because I am afraid that not enough people are reading this talented woman's work.
Another great Viv Powers mystery.......2005-07-28
Letha Albright has done it again, guiding her spare and stylish reporter through another fast-paced mystery. With realistic dialogue, ripping plots, and dead-on settings, "Bad Luck Woman" is another great read by one of America's finest mystery writers.
"Bad Luck Woman" is a Great Read.......2005-06-07
Letha Albright is one of those writers that make other writers grit their teeth in envy. She often says more in a sentence than others do in a page. Her books are not cluttered with cardboard characters, but alive with real people you quickly get to know and think you understand - good, bad, or (apparently) irrelevant.
The central character, Viv Powers, is a quick-witted but very human reporter for a local newspaper, who frequently finds herself caught between the interests of apparently respectable bad guys, and everyday people who are trying to keep things on the up and up. This story takes place in and around Tahlequah, OK, the county seat of Cherokee County, which is also the Capital of the Cherokee Nation (and Ms. Albright's stomping grounds for eight years). The location alone opens up unusual possibilities at every turn.
Bad Luck Woman pits a group of Native American activists against the powerful owners of a nuclear power plant - with stories they don't want told, particularly to the NRC. Death to those who talk is clearly an option to protect their plans and fortunes. But Viv is only doing her job, while trying to protect her sister, her friends, and the town.
This book is a page-turner, so clear some time from your calendar so you can enjoy it to the max.
Average customer rating:
- Soph Slump? Not Here.
- A satisfying follow-up to "Tulsa Time."
- Letha has her readers hooked on a very high-powered plot
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Daredevil's Apprentice (Memento Mori Mystery.)
Letha Albright
Manufacturer: Avocet Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Tulsa Time
ASIN: 0970504942 |
Book Description
Friends help you move. Real friends help you move the body.
In the fast-moving, action-filled Daredevil's Apprentice, small-town reporter Viv Powers learns that horrible lesson when her best friend and fellow adventurer, Cherokee storyteller Lucie Dreadfulwater, calls for Viv's help after she kills a man. Viv renders assistance, and then is plagued by doubts: Was it self-defense or homicide? Would her best friend have involved her in a cold-blooded murder? She sets out to find the truth in spite of the danger she encounters from human predators and the rumors that echo in the hills around her--of a man-eating witch of Cherokee legend.
In the Ozarks of northeast Oklahoma, gamblers, musicians, journalists, land developers, and artists live together in the shadow of the tragic Cherokee past. Old and deadly secrets collide with present-day greed and vengeance to shatter small-town calm as Viv insists on prying into the deaths set in motion by her friend Lucie's violent act. Viv is as strong and steady as the hills where she makes her home, and as courageous as her daredevil friend. But can she face the truth about Lucie, and about the never-quite-forgotten past?
Viv Powers is a strong female protagonist who will appeal to readers of Nevada Barr, and everyone who enjoys a well-written, suspenseful mystery.
Customer Reviews:
Soph Slump? Not Here........2003-07-14
With the second "Viv Powers" mystery out and a third due in 2004, author Letha Albright has a bona fide SERIES on her hands. And what's the most important thing in a series? The lead character, of course.
And heroine Viv Powers has character in spades. She's passionate, intelligent, wry... and very good at being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her day job is writing for a regional magazine, but she picks up a new night job -- sleuthing -- when a land dispute leaves two people dead. Who's to blame? The men who want to open a racetrack in Talequah? Any one of several townspeople, all of whom seem to have motive? Or even Utlunta, a Cherokee legend that might actually exist? Albright keeps the reader guessing until the very end.
The book starts off a tad slow, but the second half runs at a full gallop until the conclusion. There also seems to be a love-triangle-in-the-making: Viv is going to have to choose between her current boyfriend (Charley, a musician) and an ex-lover (Hutch, a detective). Too many peripheral characters clutter the pace at times, but it's otherwise a twisting, turning gem of a mystery. The plotline dealing with Utlunta, a Cherokee witch with a deadly stone finger, makes for truly chilling moments.
Pick up Albright's debut, "Tulsa Time," then read "Daredevil's Apprentice," then wait in line like the rest of us for more Viv Powers books. If you live in Tulsa or Talequa, Oklahoma, there's extra incentive to read these books, as Albright does an excellent job describing these locales.
A satisfying follow-up to "Tulsa Time.".......2002-08-20
After reading Albright's first Viv Powers mystery, "Tulsa Time," I was committed to keeping an eye on this intriguing new series. "Daredevil's Apprentice" doesn't disappoint, thoughtfully melding mystery with Cherokee lore, interesting characters, and even humor.
Letha has her readers hooked on a very high-powered plot.......2002-07-06
Letha Albright has a wide range of experience as a journalist, wilderness guide, a sawmill worker, and lately as editor of School & Community, a magazine for Missouri teachers. She earned her master's degree in journalism at the University of Missouri and lives in Columbia, Missouri with her husband, two children, and a cat. This is the second Viv Powers mystery.
Set in Cherokee County, Oklahoma, Daredevil's Apprentice finds Viv Powers bored stiff working at the "Green County Journal." When Lisabeth Ellis enters as the new managing editor, Viv starts seeing trouble brewing. Her musician boyfriend, Charley, stays in the background doing gigs with his band "Powers That Be." But when David Menckle assigns Viv to dig up a story about the disappearance of John Dreadfulwater, forebear of Viv's best friend, Lucie Dreadfulwater, the action opens with a bang:
"Lucie stood in the doorway of the barn, her hands gripping the doorjamb. As a storyteller, drama was her job, but I had never seen her like this. Her face was a changing tapestry of emotions: surprise, fear, indecision, anger. 'What is it?' Some extra sense drew me to the dark interior of the barn. She grabbed my arm. 'Don't go in there.'"
From the very first chapter, Letha has her readers hooked on a very high-powered plot that tangles up our attention from the first chapter. Not only is her writing absolutely exquisite, from her vivid character description to the action which builds to a smashing denouement. Viv is a typically scattered character with a strong heart and some good basic training in self defense from her wise father. She is young, impetuous, and thoroughly likable.
Daredevil's Apprentice is a good, solid Oklahoma story with strong American Indian lore, old grudges, and death that implicates those who are closest to Viv. Viv's sister Maggie provides Shakespearian comic relief, but their relationship is a strong one of caring and playful banter. The legends of the Cherokees and the musical twist shape the story into magic.
Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer
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Memento Mori
Muriel Spark
Manufacturer: Macmillan & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0333015800 |
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Memento Mori
Bohdan Chlibec ,
Mojmir Hornya ,
Vaclav Jirasek ,
Robert Novak , and
Ivan Pinkava
Manufacturer: Torst
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Architectural
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ASIN: 8072150561
Release Date: 2001-10-02 |
Book Description
The ossuary at the church of All Saints in Sedlec, near the Bohemian town of Kutna Hora, is one of the most remarkable Baroque monuments in the Czech Republic and is on the UNESCO list of protected architectural sites. The photographs in this book capture the monument shortly before its restoration in the 1990s.
Customer Reviews:
amazing photography.......2004-07-01
this book is amazing and not so easy to find. anyone who likes skulls and morbid stuff this is the book for you. its also written in four languages.
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Memento Mori
Muriel Spark
Manufacturer: AVON BOOK COMPANY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000UDM0YG |
Book Description
Men who risk their lives . . . and their hearts.
THE BAD GUY
Regina Foxworth has no clue why an unknown assailant is out to get a small-town reporter like her. Or why the police won't take her concerns seriously. So Regina gets a guard dog -- make that a four-pound "guard" Chihuahua! -- and signs up for self-defense classes. But defending herself is not on her mind when sexy instructor Riley Moore has her pinned to the mat.
THE GOOD GUY
With Regina vulnerable beneath him on his gym floor, Riley breaks out in a possessive sweat. He wants her, but first he has to protect her. She needs more than her "don't-muss-myhair" style of defense and that ridiculous so called dog. Riley is ex-SWAT -- and his new life as an evidence tech hasn't softened his lethal training one bit. But Regina isn't quite the princess she seems, and she's about to catch him off guard!
Customer Reviews:
Take a step back women's liberation!.......2005-06-18
Let me start out by saying that I do not particularly consider myself to be an advocate of women's lib. However, this novel seemed to throw the concept that a woman does, in fact, have a brain in her head back to the Stone Age. I did not like how Riley treated Red. And I like even less how Red didn't stand up for herself. This is the stereotypical romance novel with the tall, dark and handsome man making the full, round and in this case red-headed woman wonder how she ever lived without him. Rubbage!
Great read........2004-09-11
After reading men of courage (Ethan's story) I couldn't wait to read about Riley & Regina. Regina is a reporter who is writing a story about Ethan. She goes to Riley to learn self defence after some disturbing incidents. No one believes her, except Riley. To keep her safe Riley moves her into his home with her little dog. The dog is hillarious. He has appointed himself Regina's personal bodyguard, a part Riley wants to be & a whole lot more. I read this book in a few hours, it was brilliant.
I like this writer!.......2004-03-14
This is the third book I have read by Lori Foster and all I can tell you is I like her stories very much!
Have to agree with the reader from Michigan.......2004-03-10
I don't get this story. I don't understand the raves. This is a throwback to all things the romance genre has tried to rise above. Neandrethal hero. Clueless heroine. Please, could we have characters who belong in the current decade? Who have some sort of redeeming and admirable qualities? I had to double check the copyright date to see if this was maybe an older reissue - like from the 1980s or something. Yikes. Run away!
Lori Foster always Wows!.......2003-07-07
Regina Foxworth is being stalked. She's taking self-defense from Riley Moore, who's not very impressed by her progress. So he moves her in with him. Moves her and her guard-dog, a Chihuahua named Butch. Together they don't just find who's stalking her, they also find something else. Something special. Something like...love?
Lori Foster always Wows, and Riley is no exception...but it is exceptional!
Product Description
Men of Courage: Trapped by Lori Foster; Buried by Donna Kauffman and Stranded by Jill Shalvis; Men of Courage II: An Honorable Man by Lori Foster; Blown Away by Donna Kauffman and Perilous Waters by Jill Shalvis; American Heroes: Riley by Lori Foster.
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Deathstalker Destiny (Owen Deathstalker)
Simon R. Green
Manufacturer: Roc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Green, Simon R.
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Deathstalker War (Deathstalker)
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Deathstalker Legacy (Owen Deathstalker)
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Deathstalker Coda
ASIN: 0451457560 |
Book Description
Owen Deathstalker's greatest love--Hazel d'Ark--has been abducted by a cult dedicated to the excesses of scientific experimentation. Stranded on Lachrymae Christi, Owen struggles to help a leper colony survive, waiting for his chance to rescue Hazel. But Humanity is once again in the throes of intergalactic war...
Will Owen surrender to the battle cry? Or forsake his own destiny...for the woman he loves?
"Green blends derring-do, space battles, and wry banter aplenty to form an eminently satisfying space opera." --Booklist
* Simon R. Green is the New York Times bestselling author of Blue Moon, Shadows Fall, and thirteen other novels
* Deathstalker Destiny is the fifth novel in a big intergalactic adventure in the tradition of Star Wars
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Unabridged
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Unabridged
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Unabridged
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Unabridged
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Unabridged
Product Description
Set of 5 Novels. Deathstalker Series: Volumes 1-5 By Simon R. Green - Deathstalker, Deathstalker Rebellion, Deathstalker War, Deathstalker Honor, Deathstalker Destiny.
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Deathstalker Destiny
Manufacturer: GOLLANCZ (ORIO)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GUR5CU |
Book Description
Description coming soon.
Book Description
Breathing Space is the story of Heidi Neumark and the Hispanic and African-American Lutheran church-Transfiguration-that took a chance calling on a pastor from a starkly different background. Despite living and working in a milieu of overwhelming poverty and violence, Neumark and the congregation encounter even more powerful forces of hope and renewal. This story of a community creating space for new life and breath is also the story of a young woman-working, raising her children, and struggling for spiritual breathing space. Through poignant, intimate stories, Neumark charts her journey alongside her parishioners as pastor, church, and community grow in wisdom and together experience transformation.
Customer Reviews:
Inspirational -- pun intended........2004-10-17
This book was absolutely wonderful. I recieved it from a friend of mine who was an intern under Pastor Heidi -- and am very glad that he sent it to me. It is a bold book and a much needed to hear story. She writes in a compelling manner and has rich experiences to share with the reader. I thank her and the congregation at Transfiguration for sharing this blessing.
Remarkable book, by an even more remarkable person.......2004-08-21
I don't know where to begin in describing my admiration. The book is remarkable, blending bible studies and religion with politics, etymology, and common sense in telling compelling, well written stories. But even more than that is what the book shows about Heidi Neumark- her courage, feeling, and remarkable commitment to justice and humanity. Some people are committed to humanity as a nameless, theoretical mass. Her commitment is far more difficult and meaningful since it is to real people, one person at a time. The world is lucky to have someone like her. I wish that the rich and powerful could all be required to read this book.
The Publishers' Weekly review says that the book will "appeal to people of faith across the political spectrum." In fact, as someone at the other end of the faith spectrum, it appealed to me, in both senses of the word "appeal."
Sacred space.......2004-02-18
Heidi Neumark was pastor for many years at the Transfiguration Lutheran Church, in the south Bronx area of New York City. Her congregation was fairly typical of what any lower-income inner-city parish might be -- Hispanic, African-American, people in need, people experienced in poverty and violence. The title comes physically from the idea that, in the midst of one of the wealthier cities on earth, the children have the highest incidence of asthma in the nation. However, beyond this physical description, the daily stress and strain of inner-city living, with gunshots, drugs, crime, poverty and oppression continually surrounding, makes breathing easy a difficult task.
Neumark recalls some of her difficulties with her own spiritual practices. Drawing on the advice of spiritual masters of the past to incorporate distractions rather than attempting to block them out, she would try to add the stress to her prayer life as a working component -- however, when weapons fire seemed to ricochet every time she went to pray, it became difficult if not impossible.
In the face of all the difficulties, there was hope and renewal at Transfiguration. Neumark shares the stories of many parishioners, as well as her own internal struggles and personal experiences, that show the way the spirit of God is alive and active even in the worst of conditions. Neumark highlights the irony of the situation at times -- in the South Bronx, there is plenty of money for state-of-the-art prisons, and keeping juveniles in the system is big business, but the money for education and real plans for improvement is non-existent. This kind of societal choice in the face of residents can be demoralising, to say the least. And yet, at Transfiguration, there are elements of hope, determination for outreach and care to address the issues that the governmental powers neglect.
Quite often, those helped by the church were not church members themsevles. Transfiguration being an urban church, Neumark was frequently approached by those in need, looking for any available help. Milly, a young woman who suffered from the asthma so many bear in the area, was one such person, whose connections with Neumark and the congregation provided a much-needed space for Milly to turn her life in a positive direction. Like many things in the urban church, change was slow and often painful, but Milly (and many others) relied on the church.
The stories are difficult to read, difficult to understand in a human sense. But the spirit that pervades Neumark's work is a joy to behold. Read with care, and read with prayer.
Every page worth reading.......2003-11-29
What an incredible piece of work. This is a book written by someone who has learned it by living it. Although I have never met Heidi Neumark, nor even heard of her before stumbling across this book, if she isn't a pastor in the finest sense of the word, then I don't know one. As you read this book, she will take you on a journey, indeed; and you will be the better for it.
Unflinchingly honest, heartbreaking in the best possible way.......2003-11-05
The 3rd World thrives in the backyard of America's glittering city. I'd already fought back tears before finishing the preface-if this book's mix of tragedy, triumph and faith doesn't break your heart open I will refund your money myself. I live maybe 10 miles away from the South Bronx in Manhattan and in every way they are different universes, a gap that spans a century of racism and cruelty. This book speaks about the inhumanity of poverty, bureaucracy and of people to each other without ever giving up hope or romanticizing the struggle. If you want to be touched by the extraordinary courage of ordinary people I highly reccomend this book, no matter your spiritual orientation.
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Citation Details
Title: Breathing Space: a Spiritual Journey in the South Bronx.(Book Review)
Author: Melody King
Publication:
The Other Side (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2004
Publisher: The Other Side
Volume: 40
Issue: 1
Page: 39(3)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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