Book Description
"Tropical Fish" is a collection of linked short stories that explore the coming of age of three African sisters. Introspective and personal, the stories reveal the unexpected ambiguities of the young women's lives. The setting is the lush beauty of Uganda and the background is the aftermath of Idi Amin's dictatorship. But even in such trying circumstances, the stories show that people everywhere face the same basic human struggle to understand themselves, their world, and their place in it.
Each story develops the theme of exploration and discovery as the sisters mature and their interior and exterior lives expand. The youngest sister, Christine, becomes aware at an early age of the bittersweet dynamics of family love and later grapples with romantic and erotic, if problematic, love. Her explorations lead her across racial lines, when she has an affair with a British expatriate in the title story. What is initially an act of curiosity brings forth questions of racial and gender identity. Eager to stitch together a new pattern for her life, Christina ventures to another continent, North America, where she attempts to create a new home and a new self.
In another story, Christina's sister Patti writes in her diary about the vicissitudes of daily experience at a typical Ugandan girls' boarding school and the impact of class and religion on her relationships with fellow students. Other stories are written in the voice of the oldest sister, Rosa, who as a precocious teenager tries to decipher the mysteries of sex. Unfortunately, her promising future is harshly disrupted.
In the final story, Christine returns to Uganda and finds her perspective irrevocably altered. She is more acutely aware of her home's natural beauty, but its physical vibrancy is in stark contrast to the social and political conditions she encounters. Her journey of self-discovery comes full circle, but without any tidy resolutions. Ambiguities and uncertainties remain. What is clear, however, is that this book marks the arrival of a remarkably gifted writer.
Customer Reviews:
Review of Doreen Baingana's Tropical Fish.......2005-03-28
Tropical Fish is book of short stories about a girl growing into womanhood in a sometimes middle-class and well-educated household in Uganda. Baingana writes in a spare, evocative, and therefore readable style. Her tone is intimate, so the stories seem personal, even autobiographical. Yet she seems to reflect from a distance, with keen objectivity. It seems Baingana writes fiction to learn the truth about her characters.
Ultimately, this book is about another point of view on being human. It is a calm and clearly female point of view. This contrasts with other works on growing up in Africa. For example, the Ugandan writer Moses Ishigawa, in Abyssinian Nights, writes of his hyperactive and sometimes violent experiences growing up during the times of Amin and of the spread of AIDS.
Baingana's lead story, `Green Stones,' recounts a young girls' exploration of the mystery of her parents' marriage, the wounds left by her father's alcoholism, and her mother's enduring strength. With time the mystery dissipates, the sense of charm disappears, and what remains is a sense of loss and pain. `Hunger' and is a story about the loneliness of life a protestant girls' school, modeled on Uganda's Gayaza High School. `Passion' is about an adolescent's queasy awakening as a woman at Gayaza.
The title story `Tropical Fish' is about a young woman's affair with a `muzungu,' a white man. The characters are prisoners of their roles: the young woman's role is to break into a bigger world and the lonely and randy businessman's role is to find a shadow of companionship. Despite their sexual connection the couple never manage to exceed their roles and establish a deeper human connection.
Average customer rating:
- One of the best in the series so far!!!
- The best series ever!
- Purity In Death
- Purity in Death by J D Robb
- Not One of Her Best
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Purity in Death (In Death)
J.D. Robb
Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Portrait in Death (In Death)
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Seduction in Death (In Death)
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Reunion in Death
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Imitation in Death (In Death)
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Judgment in Death (In Death)
ASIN: 042518630X
Release Date: 2002-08-27 |
Book Description
Eve Dallas must face the impossible: someone has unleashed a computer virus that may be able to spread from machine to man.
Download Description
"From #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts, writing as J.D. Robb, comes a shocking new novel in the futuristic series... A frightening new computer virus is spreading and it knows no boundaries... Louie Cogburn had spent three days holed up in his apartment, staring at his computer screen. His pounding headache was unbearable... like spikes drilling into his brain. And it was getting worse. Finally, when someone knocked at his door, Louie picked up a baseball bat, opened the door, and started swinging... The first cop on the scene fired his stunner twice and Louie died instantly. Detective Eve Dallas has taken over the investigation, but there's nothing to explain the man's sudden rage or death. The only clue is a bizarre message left on his computer screen: Absolute Purity Achieved. And when a second man dies under nearly identical circumstances, Dallas starts racking her brain for answers and for courage to face the impossible... that this might be a computer virus able to spread from machine to man..."
Customer Reviews:
One of the best in the series so far!!!.......2007-03-22
"Absolute Purity Achieved..."
Those are some SPOOKY WORDS!!!
What Nora Roberts achieves in this book is Absolute SUSPENSE! I defy anyone to read this book and not be thrilled. It grabs hold of you and will not let go! I absolutely do not know what to say. I'm already two books past this one, and neither of them have risen to the mark that this one hits. The action is gripping. You will laugh, you WILL cringe.
Not the most frightning book I've ever read, but I did momentarily contemplate unplugging my computer.
The best series ever!.......2006-11-04
All J.D. Robb books are enjoyable - this one, with its not-that-farfetched anymore scenario, was well worth the read. I do think that J.D. Robb's combination of crime drama, sci-fi, and romance makes this series one of the most wonderful out there.
Purity In Death.......2006-08-10
This is a wonderfully compelling story, as are all in the In Death series.
Purity in Death by J D Robb.......2005-11-06
The continueing saga of Eve Dallas and her search for truth and justice. The back drop of the future and the changes that have taken place are realistic enough but not out there. Although Eve pulls no punches and tells it how it, she is there for the victim. Her heart is pure and this is why Purity has choosen her. The book takes you through the steps to find this group and solve the puzzle as to who is behind it. Eve is relenting in her catching the people involved. I enjoyed this book as much as all the others in the series. Eve is a hard nosed cop that I would want to stand up for me. Her continueing love affair with Rouke is a good combination with the mystery and intrigue of the crime.
Not One of Her Best.......2005-08-16
Because I am an avid "in death" fan, and I have read all but two of the books in the series, I feel that "Purity" was a bit disappointing. At a point in the story (the climax) when the action should peak and then fall into a settling conclusion, I felt there was way too much confusion as to the Mayor's guilt and his part in the puzzle. There were inconsistencies from previous chapters and character conversations. I found myself re-reading to see if I had missed something. The action I have come to anticipate lacked excitement and the characters seemed a bit weak while dealing with the crime-solving issues. I love Nora Roberts and am addicted to this series, so I will not give up on Eve and company.
Average customer rating:
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J.D. Robb Collection 5: Seduction in Death, Reunion in Death, and Purity in Death (In Death)
J.D. Robb
Manufacturer: Brilliance Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
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J.D. Robb Collection 6: Portrait in Death, Imitation in Death, and Divided in Death (In Death)
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J.D. Robb Collection 4: Witness in Death, Judgment in Death, and Betrayal in Death (In Death)
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J.D. Robb Collection 3: Holiday in Death, Conspiracy in Death, and Loyalty in Death (In Death)
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J.D. Robb Collection 2: Rapture in Death, Ceremony in Death, and Vengeance in Death (In Death)
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J.D. Robb Collection 1: Naked in Death, Glory in Death, Immortal in Death (In Death)
ASIN: 1597370460
Release Date: 2005-08-25 |
Book Description
Seduction in Death (Engineer: Melissa Coates): Dante had been courting his victim in cyberspace for weeks before meeting her in person. A few hours later, she was dead. Detective Eve Dallas is playing and replaying the clues in her mind. The candlelight, the music, the rose petals strewn across the bed - he hadn't intended to kill her. But now that he has, he is left with only two choices: to either hole up in fear and guilt or start hunting again...
Reunion in Death (Engineer: Jill Sovis): At exactly 7:30 p.m., Walter Pettibone arrived home to over a hundred friends and family shouting, “surprise!” At 8:45 p.m., a woman with emerald eyes and red hair handed him a glass of champagne. One sip of birthday bubbly, and he was dead. The woman's name is Julie Dockport. Detective Eve Dallas remembers her all too well. Eve was personally responsible for her incarceration. And now, let out on good behavior, she still has nothing but bad intentions.
Purity in Death (Engineer: Jill Sovis): Louie Cogburn had spent three days holed up in his apartment, staring at his computer screen. When someone knocked at his door, Louie picked up a baseball bat, opened the door, and started swinging... The first cop on the scene fired his stunner twice and Louie died instantly. When a second man dies under nearly identical circumstances, Detective Eve Dallas starts racking her brain for answers and for courage to face the impossible...that this might be a computer virus able to spread from machine to man...
Product Description
15th book in the popular 'In Death' series, featuring detective Eve Dallas and her husband Roark.
Book Description
"How Do You Know He's Real? God Unplugged," the second book in the successful "He's Real series," shares the profound real life journeys and dramatic encounters with the living God by young celebrities from the worlds of sports and music. The book addresses issues that young people deal with, like insecurity, anger, peer pressure, addiction and self-esteem. Always inspirational and often miraculous, "God Unplugged" is a must-read for those who desire to go deeper in their relationship with God.
Download Description
Between the covers of this book are testimonies from Christian role models from the worlds of film, sports, and music. The stories are real and powerful, and are presented in a way that believers and seekers alike will find compelling.
Customer Reviews:
People teens admire talk about God.......2007-04-13
Author Amy Hammond Hagberg wanted to help teens--her own and others--answer questions about God, including the big question: "How do you know he's real?"
Hagberg wrote to sports stars, recording artists and other celebrities, asking them to reflect on their life experiences and share how the reality of God was making a difference to them personally and professionally. The responses she received--from NBA players, Christian musicians, 'American Idol' contestants and others--are honest, revealing, and often compelling.
The resulting book is a collection of celebrity essays: mini-bios that focus on the reality of God in the midst of media attention, success and failure, and broken relationships. Contributors include Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic basketball team, quarterback David Carr of the Houston Texans, and popular Christian recording artist Clay Crosse.
Some of the interviews are especially helpful for Hagberg's original target readers: teens. Among these, Chrissy Conway of 'Zoe Girl' talks about her parents' divorce, the party scene, and the twists and turns along her personal career path in ways that connect with teens and with anyone who has ever considered attempting a career in music.
Hagberg is a gifted and skilled writer who keeps readers turning the pages as she unpacks celebrity affirmations of the presence of God in their lives. A great gift book for readers from teens through Gen X, but the stories here will interest readers of any age!
Note: Reviewer Dr. David Frisbie is an author and Executive Director of The Center for Marriage & Family Studies in Del Mar, California.
Armchair Interviews says: Anything that can help teens understand their role in living a good life is good.
Celebrities share their faith.......2007-03-11
This is an ideal book to give to people who have questions about becoming a Christian, and who love sports and music celebrities.
44 extreme sports and music celebrities tell their stories in this book, from Jonny Lang (recording artist), to Barlow Girl (rock group), Kimiko Soldati (Olympic diving), CJ Hobgood (surfer), Dwight Howard (NBA player, Orlando Magic), Mick Hannah (downhill mountain bike racer), Jimmie McGuire (professional motocross rider) and more.
They share hard times they faced, how they became Christians and how their paths are more joyful due to their faith. Being a Green Bay Packer fan I turned to Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila's story of growing up in South Central Los Angeles with a tough background, a Muslim dad and a Christian mom, and how his becoming a Christian led to his current happy family life and NFL career. Christian Hosoi, professional skateboarder, after serious drug problems, is now leading a skateboarding ministry.
The two page "God's Road Map" at the end of each celebrity's story contains perceptive questions and Scriptures. Sports and music lovers will enjoy this book, and it can even be a "past watchful dragons book" that will steer doubting people on a new clear path.
god unplugged.......2007-02-02
God Unplugged by Ammy Hagberg was very interesting. It is 403 pages long and was published in 2006 by Destiny Image. In the story top athletes, musicians, and also stars tell how god helped them get where they wanted to be and changed their lives.
In the story there were 44 celebrity reflections on true life experiences with god. Many of these celebrities have been extremely low in their lives and god has pulled them out of them. Also in some cases they have had no luck in there lives and finally achieved their goals after they gave there lives god. All of these people believe that god has either given them opportunities or even the strength to work through where they were to get to where they want to be.
I thought that this was a good book. I enjoyed reading it and seeing how god has changed all of these people's lives. The strengths of this book are that it has top named celebrities that people actually want to read about. The weakness of this book is that there is nothing to find out nest so you don't have a reason to keep reading. I did like how god actually gave them the strength to continue and succeed in life. The writing was very boring to me, but I liked the idea.
The book gave a lasting effect on me because I have a saint Christopher necklace that my grandma gave to me before she passed away and that keeps me safe when I race motorcross. So, I think that god has a great power on us. I would recommend this book, it will make you think.
After reading this, you certainly KNOW he is real!.......2007-01-25
Truly, this, and the book before this, are really awesome books!
** Why?
Because they give some very good insights into other peoples way to God. Not only that, if you don't know the Bible inside and out (and even if you do, actually!), there are quotations from the Bible explaining the why and hows, depending on the story of the person interviewed.
All this, with Amy Hagbergs very nice way of writing (down to earth serious mixed with a nice blend of humor) makes this book a pleasure to read!
Personally, I strongly recommend this book to everyone. It might be those who Seek, or those who have found, it doesn't matter, in my opinion! :)
Fantastic book!.......2007-01-24
What a great book! Amy Hagberg has gathered some of today's biggest sports and music celebs to talk about how they know God is real. This book is in stark contrast to so many of today's depressing, tragedy-focused headlines. And the list of celebrities is impressive! [...]
Book Description
Between the covers of this book are testimonies from Christian role models from the worlds of film, sports, and music. The stories are real and powerful, and are presented in a way that believers and seekers alike will find compelling.
Customer Reviews:
Review: How Do You Know He's Real?.......2007-06-14
In the book, How Do You Know He's Real, you'll get an inside look into the spiritual lives of 34 celebrities. Hagberg has compiled testimonies ranging from Kirk Cameron to Rudy Sarzo (former bass player for Ozzy Osbourne). Each story is remarkably different and it's amazing to read how God has worked in the lives of each of these well-known people.
Celebrities Share Their Christian Faith.......2007-05-31
The author has collected very readable stories telling how celebrities have become Christians, and they share their low points and their joys here. This is a welcome peek into the lives of well known people who typically are more secretive.
Ricky Skaggs, Kirk Cameron, Gloria Gaynor, Bethel Johnson (34 people in all) tell about their struggles and their early days as new Christians.
Billy Ray Cyrus tells of singing in his grandpa's Pentecostal church when he was 4, and includes the touching lyrics to the song he wrote "The other side."
Jackie (Jacklyn) Zeman, star of General Hospital, advises that when you are at a crossroads "cry out to God and ask for His guidance."
Al Kasha's story resonated with me; this Academy Award winning songwriter overcame agoraphobia, and talks about how Hollywood is a tough place for a Jew who came to Christ, and how he started a Hollywood Bible study group.
There are stories here for anyone to enjoy and find spirit lifting.
Celebrities talk about God in their life.......2007-04-27
(Hagberg has written a companion book with the same title, subtitled God Unplugged)
How Do You Know He's Real? is a collection of celebrity essays about God acting in their lives. The contributors include athletes, musicians, and actors. Their stories often follow a familiar pattern of fame leading to drugs and alcohol before hitting bottom and being turned around by an encounter with God. That's not to say the accounts are all stock and cliched, but rather that God meets each person in their need--and for celebrities that need will be similar. And many of the tales include growing up in stable Christian homes, but still needing to make personal decisions about God and Christ and how that decision impacted their careers.
The stories are collected alphabetically but Hagberg has provided a topic finder so a reader battling discouragement or frustration can find offerings from Billy Ray Cyrus, Nancy Stafford, Zorro, Gary Burghoff or John Schneider.
Each essay begins with a picture and short biography of the contributor, listing their accomplishments. Following the selection is God's Road Map, a few sentences about the issues raised by the author, with Bible verses for teaching and encouragement.
The essays themselves are as varied as the contributors. Some of them read as if they were written to be given as speeches. Several sound like the writer could be sitting at your kitchen table, chatting over the coffee pot. All of them are honest and share from their heart how God has acted in their life and how they know He's real.
Reading the accounts of God acting in both miraculous and mundane ways reminds us that no matter what a person does for a living, each of us are created beings who need a loving Savior and merciful God.
Armchair Interviews says: Up close and personal stories from celebrities.
COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN!!! Terrific Read!.......2006-05-18
I received this book as a gift and once I started, I couldn't put it down. Ms Hagberg has captured the beliefs of these well known and respected celebrities, sports figures, and musicians. I'm anxiously awaiting the next book in the series and can't wait to give copies of this one to all my friends. Order 2!
The book of a lifetime!.......2006-04-18
This is a book that you will no doubt want to share with everyone you know! (I certainly am!) It was so hard to put the book down - but worth it - just to extend the time and joy of reading it! GREAT content! GREAT author! I can't wait to read the next books in the series!
Product Description
multiple books ship as one item. save on shipping/handling charges.
Product Description
6 Mass Market Paperback Titles in Eve Dallas/in Death Series - Seduction in Death - Purity in Death - Portrait in Death - Imitation in Death - Survivor in Death - Memory in Death
Product Description
48pg Binding a bit loose, but pages intact. Cover has some fading and edge wear. Text pages clean and readable, some marks and tanning.
Average customer rating:
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Eve Dallas "In Death" Series: Naked, Glory, Immortal, Rapture, Ceremony, Vengeance, Holiday, Conspiracy, Loyalty, Witness, Judgment, Betrayal, Seduction, Reunion, Purity, Portrait, Imitation, Divided, Visions, Survivor, Origin, Memory In Death (Set of 24 Futuristic Romantic Suspense Novels)
J.D. Robb , and
Nora Roberts
Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000WB59EY |
Book Description
The mischievous creature who calls himself Q has subjected Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Starship Enterprise™ to many of their strangest experiences. But little had been known of Q's curious existence or that of the advanced dimension from which he comes. But now Picard knows more than he ever dreamed about an ancient conflict whose consequences might spell the doom of the entire galaxy.
The galactic barrier has fallen and Q's oldest enemy is free once more. Captain Picard and his crew find themselves in the middle of a cosmic war between vastly powerful entities. The future of the Federation may be at stake, but how can mere mortals turn the tide in such a superhuman battle? Picard has to find a way, or neither the Q Continuum nor the galaxy will survive.
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The unpredictable cosmic entity known only as Q has plagued Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Starship Enterprise since their very first voyage together. But little is known of Q's mysterious past or that of the unearthly realm from which he hails. Now Picard must learn Q's secrets -- or all of reality may perish! Ever since its discovery, the great galactic barrier has impeded humanity's exploration of the universe beyond the Milky Way. Now a brilliant Federation scientist may have found a way to breach the barrier, and the Enterprise is going to put it to the test. The last thing Picard needs is a return visit from an omnipotent troublemaker so, naturally, Q appears. But Q has more in mind than his usual pranks, and while the Enterprise struggles to defeat a powerful inhuman foe, Captain Picard must embark on a fantastic odyssey into the history of the Q Continuum itself, with the fate of the galaxy hanging in the balance.
Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Ecological Engineering, published by Elsevier in 2007. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Description:
Although much research has focused upon the negative impacts of invasive Spartina alterniflora upon salt marshes dominated by other Spartina spp., little is known about its impacts upon native Scirpus mariqueter marshes. In 1997, S. alterniflora was introduced to the Jiuduansha Shoals, Yangtze Estuary, China, to accelerate the formation of marsh habitat via accretionary processes, with the larger goal of drawing waterfowl away from wetlands near the Pudong International Airport, Shanghai, China. In 2000, a nature reserve was established on the Jiuduansha Shoals, making the impact upon the native S. mariqueter community a high priority for research. Our objective was to quantify the impacts of introduced S. alterniflora and Phragmites australis to the native S. mariqueter-dominated community at this site in four elevation zones, as compared with a nearby natural shoal. We found that species diversity was greater in the lower elevations with the engineering, through elimination of the natural dominance of S. mariqueter. We also found that diversity was lessened in the higher elevations, due to rapid growth and exclusion by the planted S. alterniflora in conjunction with the native P. australis. Moreover, we found that the growth of the native S. mariqueter was stimulated when S. alterniflora was planted nearby. It is quite likely that the net effect of these ecological processes will be to accelerate further accretion, leading to an eventual replacement of the S. mariqueter-dominated community in the long-term. Future management approaches should focus upon harvesting, grazing, and perimeter-ditching the S. alterniflora to avoid this situation.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Manitoba History, published by Thomson Gale on February 1, 2007. The length of the article is 876 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Jack Walker, Q.C., edited by Duncan Fraser, The Great Canadian Sedition Trials: The Courts and the Winnipeg General Strike, 1919-1920.(Book review)
Author: J.M. Bumsted
Publication:
Manitoba History (Magazine/Journal)
Date: February 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Issue: 54
Page: 63(2)
Article Type: Book review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Product Description
Jean Luc Picard and Q meet again
Customer Reviews:
A "must read" for the metaphysically-minded.......2007-07-23
With the volume of pro-atheist books coming to market, most of which suggest that there are only two choices - atheism or the Christian/Judaism/Islam God, it is a real blessing to encounter a book which creates context for spiritual belief and reveals the complexity of alternatives to Western belief concerning deities.
Harrison does a credible job explaining pantheism, what it is and is not, and where it fits on the broad continuum of belief. I particularly liked his forthright manner of confronting the soul-less and desolate landscape of atheism. Panthiesm is an ancient philosophy which can satisfy thinking humans who recognize that there is more to themselves than just their bodies in this one life.
Harrison falls short, in my opinion, in only one area, which is why I would not give the book "5 stars". His own orientation is toward "physicalist pantheism", which views the physical world as its own spiritual experience, as the only reality, and chooses to not address the issues of soul, afterlife, and the progession of humankind back to its divine origins. He acknowledges that there is a "dualist school of thought" in panthism, which does believe in a soul, and which does see a purpose to life beyond just this one life we are currently living. Unfortunately, he stops with this acknowledgement and really doesn't explain it thoroughly, and does not explore Eastern thought in any significant depth.
Since the book is short (and very readible), adding another 25 or 30 pages to explore Eastern Thought and the play of pantehism in those cultures, would have been a wonderful inclusion to Harrison's book. Nevertheless, I would highly recommend the book to any spiritual seekers - especuially those not up to reading Spinoza, but who still want to consider all the alternatives.
This is a great book!.......2007-02-11
I am a pagan and this book is one of my treasures. I read it over and over again. It covers all the pantheism basics on a very clearly stated form.
A fine book.......2005-06-29
I've written a long review, but here's the summary: This book's author, Paul Harrison, is the president of the World Pantheist Movement, which has a web site at www.pantheism.net. If you are unfamiliar with pantheism, check out the website; and if you want more, this book is for you. It covers about the same material as the webpage, but in a bit more depth.
Nevertheless, don't imagine that this is a scholar's book: with about 100 pages of text, it is just a simple introduction--but a good one, accessible to average readers.
In the first chapter, "What is Pantheism?" Harrison explains that pantheism is a religious reverence for nature or the universe, embracing science and affirming life. He contrasts it so several other "isms," such as atheism, panentheism, and so on.
He writes that "when Pantheists refer to the Universe as their god, what they really mean is that they feel the same profound sense of awe and reverence that other believers feel towards their gods. ... Although it does not tell us anything extra about the Universe itself, it expresses the powerful emotions that Pantheists towards the universe." This alludes to high scholarly discussion and criticism of pantheism, but Harrison makes the discussion no more complicated than that.
Chapters two and three sketch a history of pantheism from ancient times to the twentieth century. He finds pantheism in the Hindu Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita, in Mahayana Buddhism, especially the Hua-yen and Zen traditions, in Taoism (he quotes Chuang Tzu a few times in the book), in some pre-Soctratic philosophers, in the Stoics, Epicureans and Plotinus; he finds hints of it in the Hebrew Bible and Talmud, but especially in the Kabbalah; hints again in the Koran, but especially in the Sufis (he cites Al Hallaj and Ibn Arabi); hints in the New Testament and the Gospel of Thomas, and in a few heretics such as David of Dimant and Amalric of Bena, and also in Meister Eckhart. He regards Giordano Bruno as a post-Christian pantheist, and in this category he places John Toland, Spinoza, Goethe, Schelling, Hegel, the English Romantic poets (at least for parts of their lives), the American Transcendentalists, Richard Wagner, Gustav Mahler. He even admits that Ernst Haeckel was a pantheist. For twentieth century pantheists, he includes Frank Lloyd Wright, Robinson Jeffers, D. H. Lawrence, and Einstein.
The reader need not be intimidated: his discussion of these figures takes only 21 pages! Unfortunately, you will not taste the flavor of those spiritualities, but you will at least realize that pantheism is a "perennial heresy," as Harrison cleverly put it.
He could have included many more examples. For instance the recommended reading, in the appendix, mentioned Jakob Boehme as well. I'd love to see a book that explored these figures and movements further, from a pantheist point of view.
Chapters four and five outline the "core beliefs" of pantheists: reverence of the universe and sacred nature. He writes, "All pantheists feel that the Universe is in some sense worthy of the deepest reverence." Also, "And they accept that the Universe is in important senses a unified whole of which all individual things are interdependent parts."
I have a small objection in these chapters. One reason he considers the universe to be unified is because it is causally interconnected. But that's wrong. The horizons of our own universe (from our perspective) haven't been causally connected for billions of years. And distant galaxies are falling off the apparent edge of the universe because the space between them and us is increasing faster than the speed of light. Events that happen in our galaxy today will never effect them.
But does it matter? I doubt it. The universe (multiverse?) is yet wonderful to behold. But we need to drop references to the interrelatedness of the cosmos: it is not an ecosystem.
He makes a few interesting points in these chapters. For instance, he quotes the pantheist Spinoza, "He who loves God cannot endeavor that God should love him in return," juxtaposed with Richard Dawkins saying that nature is "nothing but blind, pitiless indifference." It's simple enough to say that those statements mean the same thing, but Harrison explores it: Dawkins' terms "seem as little justified as blaming a rock for not feeling compassion."
I imagine Dawkins agrees; he was describing, not blaming. But Harrison knows that this will be a sensitive point for traditional theists and fluffy New Agers; so he explains, "Do you expect the forest to love you back? ... Does it make you love the forest any the less?" I, the choir, was impressed and persuaded, but Harrison went further, getting aggressive with theism: "The question why God would allow pain and evil to exist is one of the most difficult of all for theists to answer. Pantheists do not have to answer it."
His discussion of human significance could be a little better, I think. "And although our lives have no external purpose, we can give them the noble purpose of observing and understanding and loving the universe [strangely switching to a lower-case U here] and nature, and of preserving nature on our planet, and of creating societies where all humans can have dignity and the opportunity for fulfilment."
If I anticipated a cricital audience I would try harder than that. Instead, Harrison moves on to criticize traditional monotheism's account of our significance. I think his criticism is right. But there are spiritualities and philosophies besides pantheism and monotheism. So what he really needs to do is explore pantheist accounts of human significance in greater depth, and more compellingly.
His discussion of sacred nature also has a fatal flaw: it's too glossy. I agree that nature is beautiful to behold, but we have to admit with Tennyson that she is "red in tooth and claw."
Dawkins deserves to be quoted again: "The total amount of suffering per year in the natural world is beyond all decent contemplation. During the minute it takes me to compose this sentence, thousands [thousands? he's underestimating! millions!] of animals are being eaten alive; others are running for their lives, whimpering with fear; others are being slowly devoured from within by rasping parasites; thousands of all kinds are dying of starvation, thirst and disease. It must be so. If there is ever a time of plenty, this very fact will automatically lead to an increase in population until the natural state of starvation and misery is restored." ("River of Life" 132-3.)
Nature may not love us; but indeed she loves none of her creatures.
Dening the violence of nature often includes denying the violence of human nature. But as ever, "Know thyself" means in part, "Face the awful truth." We are cut from the same cloth as the rest of nature.
A mature pantheist spirituality must acknowledge this explicitly, even if we choose to resist it. Whatever the results, we have to confront the beast within: its cage has a back door. A pantheism of denial is New Age kitsch, and it bites us when we're not looking.
Naive environmentalism is an example of the danger. He quotes a "1990 gathering of pscyhologists at Harvard" declaring, "If the self is expanded to include the natural world, behavior leading to the destruction of this world will be experienced as self-destruction."
At best, that is wishful thinking. The Bush and Saud families might approve, but the rest of us need more realism. I'm sure those pscyhologists strengthened their self-esteem, but they will never do anything for the Black Rhino or the Mountain Gorilla until they take a more realistic view of human motivation.
Until pantheism considers the dark side of human nature, and responds, it remains in this respect immature compared to traditional religions. This is important to me, but evidently not to Harrison.
The sixth chapter is on ethics; with conclusions basically similar to Secular Humanism. An in-depth exploration of morality is beyond the scope of an introduction to pantheism; and it would surely divide rather than unite its audience. I'd like to see it anyway, but Harrison is too wise to put it here.
The seventh chapter covered "celebration, meditation and mysticism." It wasn't bad; but again I wanted more.
Chapter Eight is on pantheist "controversies" such as whether some immaterial "spirit" exists, whether there is life after death, and so on. Clearly Harrison's sympathies (and mine) lie with the materialist skeptics, but he makes room for dualists and idealists.
The ninth chapter is about organized pantheism, and Harrison's optimism for its future.
There are some appendices as well: dates of the solstices and major meteor showers and so on; that information is also available on the website.
In all, the book is a fine introduction to pantheism, and I hope that this spirituality continues to flourish. I also hope that books with similar content but more depth appear in the coming years.
Average customer rating:
- fine introduction
- Great Book
- An Atheistic version of Pantheism claimed to be Spiritual
- An Atheistic version of Pantheism claimed to be Spiritual
- An Atheistic version of Pantheism claimed to be Spiritual
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The Elements of Pantheism: Understanding the Divinity in Nature and the Universe (Elements of)
Paul A. Harrison
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Customer Reviews:
fine introduction.......2005-07-03
I've written a long review, but here's the summary: This book's author, Paul Harrison, is the president of the World Pantheist Movement, which has a web site at www.pantheism.net. If you are unfamiliar with pantheism, check out the website; and if you want more, this book is for you. It covers about the same material as the webpage, but in a bit more depth.
Nevertheless, don't imagine that this is a scholar's book: with about 100 pages of text, it is just a simple introduction--but a good one, accessible to average readers.
In the first chapter, "What is Pantheism?" Harrison explains that pantheism is a religious reverence for nature or the universe, embracing science and affirming life. He contrasts it so several other "isms," such as atheism, panentheism, and so on.
He writes that "when Pantheists refer to the Universe as their god, what they really mean is that they feel the same profound sense of awe and reverence that other believers feel towards their gods. ... Although it does not tell us anything extra about the Universe itself, it expresses the powerful emotions that Pantheists towards the universe." This alludes to high scholarly discussion and criticism of atheism, but Harrison makes the discussion no more complicated than that.
Chapters two and three sketch a history of pantheism from ancient times to the twentieth century. He finds pantheism in the Hindu Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita, in Mahayana Buddhism, especially the Hua-yen and Zen traditions, in Taoism (he quotes Chuang Tzu a few times in the book), in some pre-Soctratic philosophers, in the Stoics, Epicureans and Plotinus; he finds hints of it in the Hebrew Bible and Talmud, but especially in the Kabbalah; hints again in the Koran, but especially in the Sufis (he cites Al Hallaj and Ibn Arabi); hints in the New Testament and the Gospel of Thomas, and in a few heretics such as David of Dimant and Amalric of Bena, and also in Meister Eckhart. He regards Giordano Bruno as a post-Christian pantheist, and in this category he places John Toland, Spinoza, Goethe, Schelling, Hegel, the English Romantic poets (at least for parts of their lives), the American Transcendentalists, Richard Wagner, Gustav Mahler. He even admits that Ernst Haeckel was a pantheist. For twentieth century pantheists, he includes Frank Lloyd Wright, Robinson Jeffers, D. H. Lawrence, and Einstein.
The reader need not be intimidated: his discussion of these figures takes only 21 pages! Unfortunately, you will not taste the flavor of those spiritualities, but you will at least realize that pantheism is a "perennial heresy," as Harrison cleverly put it.
He could have included many more examples. For instance the recommended reading, in the appendix, mentioned Jakob Boehme as well. I'd love to see a book that explored these figures and movements further, from a pantheist point of view.
Chapters four and five outline the "core beliefs" of pantheists: reverence of the universe and sacred nature. He writes, "All pantheists feel that the Universe is in some sense worthy of the deepest reverence." Also, "And they accept that the Universe is in important senses a unified whole of which all individual things are interdependent parts."
I have a small objection in these chapters. One reason he considers the universe to be unified is because it is causally interconnected. But that's wrong. The horizons of our own universe (from our perspective) haven't been causally connected for billions of years. And distant galaxies are falling off the apparent edge of the universe because the space between them and us is increasing faster than the speed of light. Events that happen in our galaxy today will never effect them.
But does it matter? I doubt it. The universe (multiverse?) is yet wonderful to behold. But we need to drop references to the interrelatedness of the cosmos: it is not an ecosystem.
He makes a few interesting points in these chapters. For instance, he quotes the pantheist Spinoza, "He who loves God cannot endeavor that God should love him in return," juxtaposed with Richard Dawkins saying that nature is "nothing but blind, pitiless indifference." It's simple enough to say that those statements mean the same thing, but Harrison explores it: Dawkins' terms "seem as little justified as blaming a rock for not feeling compassion."
I imagine Dawkins agrees; he was describing, not blaming. But Harrison knows that this will be a sensitive point for traditional theists and fluffy New Agers; so he explains, "Do you expect the forest to love you back? ... Does it make you love the forest any the less?" I, the choir, was impressed and persuaded, but Harrison went further, getting aggressive with theism: "The question why God would allow pain and evil to exist is one of the most difficult of all for theists to answer. Pantheists do not have to answer it."
His discussion of human significance could be a little better, I think. "And although our lives have no external purpose, we can give them the noble purpose of observing and understanding and loving the universe [strangely switching to a lower-case U here] and nature, and of preserving nature on our planet, and of creating societies where all humans can have dignity and the opportunity for fulfilment."
If I anticipated a cricital audience I would try harder than that. Instead, Harrison moves on to criticize traditional monotheism's account of our significance. I think his criticism is right. But there are spiritualities and philosophies besides pantheism and monotheism. So what he really needs to do is explore pantheist accounts of human significance in greater depth, and more compellingly.
His discussion of sacred nature also has a fatal flaw: it's too glossy. I agree that nature is beautiful to behold, but we have to admit with Tennyson that she is "red in tooth and claw."
Dawkins deserves to be quoted again: "The total amount of suffering per year in the natural world is beyond all decent contemplation. During the minute it takes me to compose this sentence, thousands [thousands? he's underestimating! millions!] of animals are being eaten alive; others are running for their lives, whimpering with fear; others are being slowly devoured from within by rasping parasites; thousands of all kinds are dying of starvation, thirst and disease. It must be so. If there is ever a time of plenty, this very fact will automatically lead to an increase in population until the natural state of starvation and misery is restored." ("River of Life" 132-3.)
Nature may not love us; but indeed she loves none of her creatures.
Dening the violence of nature often includes denying the violence of human nature. But as ever, "Know thyself" means in part, "Face the awful truth." We are cut from the same cloth as the rest of nature.
A mature pantheist spirituality must acknowledge this explicitly, even if we choose to resist it. Whatever the results, we have to confront the beast within: its cage has a back door. A pantheism of denial is New Age kitsch, and it bites us when we're not looking.
Naive environmentalism is an example of the danger. He quotes a "1990 gathering of pscyhologists at Harvard" declaring, "If the self is expanded to include the natural world, behavior leading to the destruction of this world will be experienced as self-destruction."
At best, that is wishful thinking. The Bush and Saud families might approve, but the rest of us need more realism. I'm sure those pscyhologists strengthened their self-esteem, but they will never do anything for the Black Rhino or the Mountain Gorilla until they take a more realistic view of human motivation.
Until pantheism considers the dark side of human nature, and responds, it remains in this respect immature compared to traditional religions. This is important to me, but evidently not to Harrison.
The sixth chapter is on ethics; with conclusions basically similar to Secular Humanism. An in-depth exploration of morality is beyond the scope of an introduction to pantheism; and it would surely divide rather than unite its audience. I'd like to see it anyway, but Harrison is too wise to put it here.
The seventh chapter covered "celebration, meditation and mysticism." It wasn't bad; but again I wanted more.
Chapter Eight is on pantheist "controversies" such as whether some immaterial "spirit" exists, whether there is life after death, and so on. Clearly Harrison's sympathies (and mine) lie with the materialist skeptics, but he makes room for dualists and idealists.
The ninth chapter is about organized pantheism, and Harrison's optimism for its future.
There are some appendices as well: dates of the solstices and major meteor showers and so on; that information is also available on the website.
In all, the book is a fine introduction to pantheism, and I hope that this spirituality continues to flourish. I also hope that books with similar content but more depth appear in the coming years.
Great Book.......2004-09-13
Great book. I just found out it's not acutally out of print. You can buy it directly from the publisher here:
http://www.pantheism.net/elements/elements.htm
An Atheistic version of Pantheism claimed to be Spiritual.......2000-04-05
This book is an excellent primer of the History of Pantheism, but, with an unfortunate, and a quite unnecessary, Atheistic bias by its' author, Paul Harrison. I am the only reviewer here, thus far, that is NOT a member of the authors' WPM or World Pantheist Movement, or its' members calling themselves, Scientific Pantheists, therefore, my review here is unbiased. The book is an excellent overview of Pantheism, in general, and I do recommend it highly. However, those that are actually looking for something even remotely " Spiritual " and/or even remotely " Purposeful ", in Life, and/or, in Cosmos, will only come away quite disappointed.
An Atheistic version of Pantheism claimed to be Spiritual.......2000-04-05
This book is an excellent primer of the History of Pantheism, but, with an unfortunate, and a quite unnecessary, Atheistic bias by its' author, Paul Harrison. I am the only reviewer here, thus far, that is NOT a member of the authors' WPM or World Pantheist Movement, or its' members calling themselves, Scientific Pantheists, therefore, my review here is unbiased. The book is an excellent overview of Pantheism, in general, and I do recommend it highly. However, those that are actually looking for something even remotely " Spiritual " and/or even remotely " Purposeful ", in Life, and/or, in Cosmos, will only come away quite disappointed.
An Atheistic version of Pantheism claimed to be Spiritual.......2000-04-05
This book is an excellent primer of the History of Pantheism, but, with an unfortunate, and a quite unnecessary, Atheistic bias by its' author, Paul Harrison. I am the only reviewer here, thus far, that is NOT a member of the authors' WPM or World Pantheist Movement, or its' members calling themselves, Scientific Pantheists, therefore, my review here is unbiased. The book is an excellent overview of Pantheism, in general, and I do recommend it highly. However, those that are actually looking for something even remotely " Spiritual " and/or even remotely " Purposeful ", in Life, and/or, in Cosmos, will only come away quite disappointed.
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