Book Description
When the narrator of White's poised yet scalding autobiographical novel first embarks on his sexual odyssey, it is the 1950s, and America is "a big gray country of families on drowsy holiday." That country has no room for a scholarly teenager with guilty but insatiable stirrings toward other men. Moving from a Midwestern college to the Stonewall Tavern on the night of the first gay uprising--and populated by eloquent queens, butch poseurs, and a fearfully incompetent shrink--
The Beautiful Room is Empty conflates the acts of coming out and coming of age.
"With intelligence, candor, humor--and anger--White explores the most insidious aspects of oppression.... An impressive novel."--Washington Post book World
Customer Reviews:
Construction of gay identity.......2007-09-21
Edmund White writes beautifully and this narrative is flowing, interesting, and compelling. White writes as if he is developing a 1980 memoire about the 1960s. But at the core of this novel is a dilemma that is never fully answered in the novel and is probably never really answered in the lives of gay men and women. Other reviews and reviewers do an excellent job of telling the narrative details of this novel, but underneath this narrative is a question regarding identify and identity development.
The basic question is whether gay men are born gay and thus they come out through a process of ever more intense and meaningful gay experiences and friendships and relationships with a broad cast of characters or whether gay men learn to be gay and take on a gay identity through emersion into various relationships with significant persons who teach the youth how to be gay. The brilliance of The Beautiful Room is Empty is that White is able to weave both of these concepts together into a whole cloth of experience, never fully answering whether the power of the instinctual sexual identity is paramount and is revealed in a series of vignetts and character studies with friends and lovers or whether the passion and identity are more diffuse and coagulate around core external experiences where gay identity is learned and reinforced. Both are deterministic models, whether it be a biological determinism or a social structural determinism. Internal reality is always checked against external reality in White's narrative. The drive to sexual expression is the impetus toward self discovery in much of the book, rather than a less sophisticated approach wereby sexual expression is taken as just one component of a series of relationships.
Overall the book is a very good read, shocking in some parts as public bathroom sex is described, but always about an unfolding reality that is heavily influenced by events and relationships.
Eloquent Coming-Out Experience.......2005-10-01
White is clearly one of the finest prosaists in the last half of the 20th C. America. His mellifluous writing and lucid exposition have earned him the wide respect that he deserves.
"The Beautiful Room is Empty" is a sequel to his earlier "A Boy's Own Story," the evolving process of coming-out gay in the Sixties. The first novel scouts the adolescent years; this novel covers early adulthood. Much has changed in the way that people come-out today, versus the time when being gay was stigmatized by everybody. Curing homosexuality was seen as viable by both the queer himself and by the anti-queer establishment. Fortunately, while coming-out may still be a demanding process, it is far less traumatic than a few score ago, because of these earlier pioneers.
In an almost plotless chronicle of coming-out, the focus is on the author's first-person's introspection of dealing with himself and the gay world as it was then. The ways in which people connected were far more convoluted, clandestine, and often illegal. It wasn't much of a life, until the Stonewall riots liberated gays from their false imprisonment. It not only opened new avenues by which to meet and socialize, but it also rejected the premise that gays should be neither heard nor seen. The toll these older restrictions had on men and women must have been truly appalling, causing much externalized homophobia to turn inward.
To see how far the GLBT community has come in the past 40 years is itself a witness to these earlier pioneers. We owe it to them to hear their story, especially when it's this well-told.
The Beautiful Room.......2002-08-04
Edmund White's 'Beautiful Room' is a moving, wonderful story, crafted around the late teens to late twenties of the narrator, known only as 'Bunny' to his friend Lou, one of the many lively, memorable characters encountered along the way, as well as Tex, a flaboyant bookstore owner, who gives 'Bunny' his earliest education in 'gay slang.'
'Bunny', at the beginning of the novel, is a prep-school student coming to terms with his homosexuality, by engaging in anonymous sexual encounter after encounter in the boy's bathrooms, where his lovers are seen only from waistline to knees. He dresses and plays the part of the dutiful prep school student by day, but once class is out, he drifts toward the bohemians, gracing the coffee shops of their 1950's and 60's lives, watching them paint, sharing their surrealist literature and poetry, and secretly lusting after the males. A child of divorced parents, his father determined to make a man out of him, his mother convinced that all he needs is a cure, the narrator carries us along on his ride, meeting many notable characters along the way, that shape and influence his gradual acceptance that he is gay.
Following his school years, when he enters the work force and the real world, the words of a school-friend come back to haunt him, that 'some day he will have too much freedom,' freedom to choose where he goes, what he does, and who he is. He drifts along from job to job, from lover to lover, Lou, Fred, and the frequent pick-ups from Christoper Street, until he meets Sean, a closeted young man who leads 'Bunny' to question his own identity as they both enter group therapy to try and overcome their 'illness' and go straight, with very different results.
Culminating at the famous Stonewall site, Edmund White provides readers with a grand tour-de-force of growing up gay in the 50's and 60's in Chicago and New York.
Sometimes poignant, sometimes emotional, sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, 'Beautiful Room' is a beautiful book, with a beautiful story to tell. The narrator, presumably White himself, as the book is supposed to be autobiographical, slips from identity to identity as he tries to find his own. Young and unsure of himself, he tries to be what everyone else wants him to be until he finds himself.
Although this story centers on a gay man, the book speaks volumes to anyone struggling to find their own identity, and the choices and mistakes we all make along the way.
A Boy's Own Story, continued.......2002-06-03
A continuation of A Boy's Own Story, this book is no less well written and no less brilliant. It is no wonder that White is considered--by the worthy, literate critics, at least--the finest gay writer in America. I would modify that to say he is one of the finest writers (gay or otherwise) in the world today. This book cronicles the life of ABOS from shortly after that book leaves off through the Stonewall riots in New York in June of 1969. The narrator's growth is evident from the end of the last novel through the end of this one. This is one of the most important works by one of our most important writers; White is the nearest writer to Proust to write since, though minus the cork-lined apartment and with quite a few more social graces.
the best title ever.......2002-04-08
The Beautiful Room is Empty is extemely poetic, and it is deeply moving. i love this book, and cannot express how well i related to the character. granted, i would suggest that you read the first autobiographical book A Boy's Own Story first, because it will enable you to feel for the characters better.
Book Description
Unlike any other fashion designer at work today, Paul Smith has managed to combine a flair for eccentric, subversive detail, a dedication to the highest standards of craftmanship, and a business and marketing sense that has made him simply the most successful designer in British history. But this publication is not a fashion monograph; it is not a catalogue of suits. Rather, imagine Paul Smith's brain on a page: cleverly original and often humorous thoughts and ideas, perfectly executed, not just on the back of a man or a woman, but in shop windows, in advertising campaigns, in toys, photographs, and souvenirs brought back from travels throughout the world that became the inspiration for the look of a season. Words and images crash together in striking contrast to reveal the passions and amusements of a designer committed to both modesty in his pursuits and stunning innovation. Designed by Alan Aboud, Art Director for Paul Smith for more than a decade, and with a slipcase designed by Jonathan Ive (famed designer of the iMac), this publication will bring together observations, images, and, in its own unique design and production, all of the extraordinary qualities possessed by Paul Smith himself.
Book Description
Chia Tao (779-843), an erstwhile Zen monk who became a poet during China's T'ang Dynasty, recorded the lives of the sages, masters, immortals, and hermits who helped establish the great spiritual tradition of Zen Buddhism in China. Presented in both the original Chinese and Mike O'Connor's beautifully crafted English translation, When I Find You Again, It Will Be in Mountains brings to life this preeminent poet and his glorious religious tradition, offering the fullest translation of Chia Tao's poems to date.
Customer Reviews:
Mountain Meeting with a Melodious Ex-Monk.......2007-05-03
This is a long overdue book, focused as it is on the fine poetry of Chia Tao, one of the great poets of the T'ang Dynasty and yet one who has been relatively ignored in English up until now. And Mike O'Connor rights the imbalance in style. His introduction is clear and illuminating, familiarizing the reader with Chia Tao's life and times as well as with his poetics, his religiosity, and his poetic associates (including Han Yu and Meng Chiao). All of this serves well to contextualize the poems themselves, all translated with a brilliant mix of accuracy and artistry by O'Connor.
Chia Tao's poetry is not as ornate and elaborate as much of the poetry of his time, actually. It is sparse and lean, heartfelt and yet detached in a strangely Buddhist way. And I do mean "strangely Buddhist"--Chia Tao was a Zen Buddhist monk for years, and then for reasons somewhat unclear he ditched the monastery and became a layman and poet. That being so, Buddhist attitudes and themes suffuse most if not all of his poetry, but in a very individualized and aestheticized manner that is, as Americans are fond of saying nowadays, "spiritual but not religious." Or as Chia Tao himself says in one of his poems, "I have no special names of Buddha to intone; my remaining practice is this verse" ("Farewell to a T'ien-T'ai Monk" page 95). In any case, the results are deeply moving in seeming disproportion to the poet's stylistic restraint and profoundly inspiring despite (because of?) his strict avoidance of overt devotionalism.
And so whether you're interested in Chinese literature, studying Buddhism and its place in Chinese culture, or just looking for some excellent poetry, this is an indispensable and very rewarding book. Highly recommended.
Recommended for students of Buddhist history.......2001-08-16
Chia Tao (779-843 AD) was a Zen monk who became a poet during China's T'ang Dynasty. His poetry recorded the lives of the sages, masters, immortals, and hermits who were responsible for establishing the great spiritual tradition of Zen Buddhism in China. Poet and translator Mike O'Connor does a superb job of presenting the poetry of Chia Tao in a bilingual format to a western readership. When I Find You Again, It Will Be In Mountains!: Selected Poems Of Chia Tao is enthusiastically recommended for students of Buddhist history, philosophy, and literature. Ferrying Across The Dry Mulberry River: A newcomer to P'ing-chou,/he stayed there ten years;/day and night/missing his old home, Ch'ang-an.//Then, inexplicably,/he went farther, across the Dry Mulberry;/only to look back on P'ing-chou/as home.
A Difinitive Work.......2001-03-09
Mike O'Connor's translation of Chia Tao's works will satisfy the poet, translator and scholar alike as he weaves poetry, scholorship and translation into a tapestry of sublime beauty. The elegant poetry is filled with naturalistic imagery and delicate emotions... a journey in time and mind. O'Connor's instructive introduction sheds light not only on Chia Tao but a panalopy of Poet's and Hermits of the T'ang dynasty; unveiling the spiritual fabric of the mountain society.
A Quiet Voice from the T'ang.......2001-01-09
This is a luminous book. Mike O'Connor's translations of the T'ang Dynasty poet Chia Tao bring his poems fully into the best English. I read the three sections of this as they originally appeared from the Tangram press, and didn't think they could be improved, but they have been---and O'Connor has given just enough scholarly "apparatus" to help the reader without overwhelming. The Chinese texts are given unobtrusively along with the English. The poems speak quietly of visits with mountain hermits, meetings and partings, travel before dawn, the slow turn of seasons. I keep giving this book away to friends who should know Chia Tao---and O'Connor's fine work.
A Quiet Voice from the T'ang.......2001-01-09
This is a luminous book. Mike O'Connor's translations of the T'ang Dynasty poet Chia Tao bring his poems fully into the best English. I read the three sections of this as they originally appeared from the Tangram press, and didn't think they could be improved, but they have been---and O'Connor has given just enough scholarly "apparatus" to help the reader without overwhelming. The Chinese texts are given unobtrusively along with the English. The poems speak quietly of visits with mountain hermits, meetings and partings, travel before dawn, the slow turn of seasons. I keep giving this book away to friends who should know Chia Tao---and O'Connor's fine work.
Book Description
For seven harvests, Emma Hartwell was the adopted daughter of the Elk tribe. It was to them that she entrusted her dearest treasure, a secret she can hardly bear. Now, Emma sets out to search for the piece of herself she left behind--and unexpectedly finds the love of a man who makes her whole.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderfully written western romance.......2006-09-14
Great historical romance read. I agree with the other reviewers that the chemistry between Ridge and Emma is superb. Their love story is an evolving one, which in my opinion is the best kind. Through out the novel I did have one problem though. Emma was captured at the age of 15. Obviously she was already a full grown teenager, there is no indication of her trying to escape and return to her family. I would think that at that age you would at least try and contact you kin. Nevertheless, the story is wonderfully written, Maureen McKade is one of my favorite authors and this one is definitely a keeper.
Ms. McKade Is Back With A WINNER!!!.......2004-09-17
I have been a long time fan of Ms. McKade and I'm so thrilled that she is finally back writing another of her great western historical romances.
Emma Hartwell had been captured by a tribe of the Lakota Sioux. She lives with the People for seven years and becomes a member of their society. But soon she is rescued by the U.S. Cavalry and taken back to her old family. This is not something that she wants and she soon finds it hard to live among the shallow minded members of the town she had grown up with and lived with for fifteen years. Even her parents treat her differently and without any thought to her feelings they plan on sending her to her Aunt's house. As if this is not problem enough she has been having nightmares that she knows are really visions telling her that her that she has unfinished business with her adopted family. Emma has a secret. She married and had a child with her Lakota husband who died in a raid. She regrets that she was unable to find out if her son had been killed in the raid that led to her rescue. She knows that she must go back to the tribe and find her son. Her heart aches for her lose and so she sets off to find him.
Ridge Madoc is a former army scout who is looking to settle down and find a wife have children with her a raise a few head of cattle. Problem with this dream is he has to earn money in order to begin his adventure as a cattle baron. He is offered a job by Emma's dad to track her down and bring her back alive. What he doesn't count on is respecting Emma's courage and, at the same time finding a growing attraction for her that he can't ignore.
Emma knows that Ridge is determined to take her back to her father and she is willing to go back if only Ridge will help her find her adopted family. She knows that if she is going to find them he is her best hope. Together they find her people and at the same time find healing with their desire. Now can they both have the happy ending they each want, or will society dictates keep them from having what they each want?
This was an incredibly emotional read. Ms. McKade manages to take her readers into the historical west and at the same time engages their emotions as well. The chemistry between Ridge and Emma is wonderful and very sensual. This is a read that I highly recommend that you add to your "must read" list.
Official Reviewer for www.romancedesigns.com
Splendid and Exciting Page Turner - Intense Sensuality.......2004-07-19
At the age of 15, Emma Hartwell had been adopted into the Lakota Sioux by a kindly warrior and his wife who had lost their own daughter months before. Initially terrified, she soon adjusted to their way of life and for seven years had lived the life of the People. During a devastating massacre of her adopted tribe by the army she was recognized as a white woman. Severely wounded and hovering between life and death she had been returned to her parents and sister, but the homecoming was not as welcoming from the surrounding community who now considered her a `squaw woman' who had been ruined by the `red savages'. Telling some but not all of her experiences with 'the People', she harbored a secret that was tearing her apart every day and knew she had to return to find out who had survived the massacre.
Ridge Madoc, once an army scout, had come home after years away at war to find that the ranch and land he had inherited had bit by bit been sold off to little than a hundred acres left. After coming to her assistance Emma thought he might be able to help her find the tribe but he turned her down. After learning that her parents would be sending her back East to avoid the gossip in town, Emma seized the moment and set out on her own to find that part of her heart that had been left behind. Ridge, hired by her father to track down and bring her back, would find her but Emma succeeded in convincing him to continue on to help her find what remained of the tribe. It wasn't until they located them that Ridge discovered her secret - her half-breed son, Chayton. Along the way, Ridge and Emma had given in to the physical passion each recognized in one another, although neither would admit to the real feelings that had developed. Soon Emma would be forced to make the choice no mother should ever have to make and would the shelter she'd found in Ridges' arms help to give her the strength to heal the heartache in her soul.
This was an extremely good, fast paced and exciting western romance from an author who really knows how to make the west come alive. While the sexual attraction in this romance was passionate in intensity and extremely well written it evolved slowly enough for the two protagonists to really get to know and respect the other's strengths. It will certainly engage your emotions over the unfair attitudes that prevailed between the whites and American Indians during this shameful part of American history, especially over the heart breaking decisions that should never have had to be made because of race bigotry. All in all, this is a splendid and exciting page turning romance with intense sensuality. --- Marilyn Rondeau, Official Reviewer for www.historicromancewriters.com ---
entertaining historical romance.......2004-07-06
When the military attacked the Lakota village, they rescued captured white woman Emma Hartwell, a prisoner for seven years. However, her return is not filled with joy as everyone including her family except her sister treats her like a pariah. She concludes that her only sin was choosing to live even if it was amongst the Sioux.
Her parents decide to send Emma to live with widowed aunt in St. Paul, but instead she leaves at night by herself seeking to learn if her son Chayton survived the massacre. Her father John hires former scout Ridge Madoc to bring his daughter home. Ridge realizes that Emma is more a "Squaw Woman" than she is a white as she makes the trail hard to follow. As they begin to travel together, they fall in love; however, she refuses to believe that he does not care one iota about her Indian experience. All he wants besides her is to help her raise Chayton .
This entertaining historical romance highlights the problems faced by a white woman coming home after years living with an Indian tribe. The story line is character driven as Emma makes the plot work with her resolve to find her son although that will paint her as even more of an exile amongst family and friends. Ridge is a terrific person whose resignation as a scout due to military atrocities is a value that the military including the Commander-in-Chief should encourage as much as loyalty. Though John's turn around seems to quick and fast, fans of Americana romances will appreciate this wonderful tale.
Harriet Klausner
Average customer rating:
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To Find You Again
Manufacturer: Berkley Sensation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0739444417 |
Product Description
A romantic historical set in the west. A desperate woman and a weary ex-soldier come together on a journey of the heart.
Average customer rating:
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You can find love again
Arthur Acy Rouner
Manufacturer: Baker Book House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
 Love & Romance | Relationships | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Theology | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0801076595 |
Book Description
A freak shuttlecraft accident -- and suddenly Captain Kirk and most of his senior officers find themselves adrift in space, with no hope of rescue, no hope of repairing their craft, or restoring communications -- with nothing, in short but time on their hands.
Time enough for each to tell the story of the Kobayashi Maru -- the Starfleet Academy test given to command cadets. Nominally a tactical exercise, the Kobayashi Maru is in fact a test of character revealed in the choices each man makes -- and does not make.
Discover now how Starfleet Cadets Kirk, Chekov, Scotty, and Sulu each faced the Kobayashi Maru...and became in turn Starfleet officers.
Download Description
As portrayed in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, all Starfleet Command cadets must take the "no-win" Kobayashi Maru rescue simulation. Trapped aboard a doomed shuttlecraft, the Enterprise officers reminisce about their individual performances on the Kobayashi Maru test . . . reminiscences that spark a last, desperate attempt at survival.
Customer Reviews:
Mixed grill of Trek.......2005-06-29
Several starfleet officers, enroute by shuttlecraft, find themselves trapped when their ship is crippled by a gravitic mine. With no way to repair their ship, and nothing on hand but time, Captain Kirk, Mr. Scott & Pavel Chekhov begin swapping stories. The fatal mine is not only a relic of an older war, it's also a painful reminder of a notorious test administered to Starfleet cadets (and made famous in "Wrath of Khan") called "Kobayshi Maru". (Cadets who take the test are given simulated command of a starship; in the test itself, they are called on to rescue a stricken cargo ship crippled by a gravitic mine, and marooned in hostile space. In flying to the rescue, cadets find themselves ambushed by Klingon battlecruisers. At the heart of the simulation is an algorithm that automatically stacks the odds towards the cadet's obliteration.) Their chances of survival looking slim, Kirk, Scott & Chekhov begin to wonder if they are experiencing a very real-life version of the "Kobayashi Maru". While the test itself is only a simulation, the bitter failure is not.
The stories our heroes swap inform much about them - Kirk who doesn't like to lose, Chekhov who can't bear that he did lose, and Scotty who thinks that there's an engineering solution for everything. Still, it's a bit shallow - we get three short stories rather than a single deeper (and more satisfying) one. If this were an episode of one of the shows, it would fall into the "ship in a bottle" variety. Meant to be a character-driven story, KM offers little about the characters that we didn't already know (Kirk will break the rules to win; Chekhov is serious; Scotty is very can-do about things.) Still, it's a solid TOS-era story that won't leave you hungry. It's never slow or dull and once you've started, you can't quite put it down.
love this one.......2004-12-26
this is another one of my faves, gives you more depth of Kirk, Scotty, Sulu and Chekov and why they are the way they are. I especially love Sulu's story, mainly the assignment they have before the Big Test. Kirk's is interesting is you get a look into what drives him and his competitive nature and just how he was able to pull off the ultimate hacking job. Chekov's is interesting in that in a way he is compeating with himself and his view of his future captain. Scotty's is funny and shows the budding of the miracle worker he would become. This is definitly one to check out
Outstanding.......2003-12-21
This is one of my all-time favorite books. I received it as a gift ten years ago, and I still reread it from time to time. I enjoy it thoroughly each time. The Kobayashi Maru is a simulator exercise all command students at Starfleet Academy must go through to test how well they respond to losing. Decades after they took the test, several officers of the starship Enterprise leave the ship in a small shuttlecraft on what is supposed to be a routine mission. When the shuttlecraft is disabled, cutting off the craft's communications and other vital functions, they are left with nothing but time, and they end up telling each other about their experiences with the Kobayashi Maru exercise. My favorite of the four stories is that of Scotty, who is in command school at Starfleet Academy to please his mother but feels that he is "meant more for commanding machines than commanding people." My second favorite is the story of Sulu, who in his first year in command school learns painful lessons about life, death, and meaning from his great-grandfather. This story makes me cry every time. I also like the story of Chekov, whose passions, resentments, and blind spots will remind the mature of what it was like to be an adolescent pickling in emotional turmoil. I felt that the story of Kirk was the weakest of the four; Kirk can't accept the concept of losing and will do anything to avoid coming face to face with defeat. For a man who is supposed to be intelligent and skilled, this is an asinine attitude. Life is about losing, and the sooner one comes to terms with that, the sooner one starts to grow. On the whole, however, this book is outstanding.
An interesting frame story........2003-05-07
The external, "frame" part of this story is obviously simply an excuse to set the stage for the four internal stories; as such, it actually wound up being better than expected, if somewhat predictable. The internal stories are the stories of how each of Kirk, Scotty, Sulu, and Chekov reacted to the "Kobayashi Maru" scenerio in their academy days, ostensibly told by each to the others to pass the time.
The biggest problem here is that the author goes to all that trouble to establish that the characters are telling their own stories, and then tells the stories in third person/omniscient narrator format. Granted, given that no one has ever claimed that any of the above characters are accomplished storytellers, if would have been difficult to keep the stories in their own voices, but it would have been much better if it could have been managed.
As a more minor problem, there are bits and pieces of each story that don't quite ring true, but that's a subjective assessment. They weren't bad, and certainly were worth reading. But none of them were quite what I would have liked to see.
As a whole, this book is worth reading, but not one of the best.
Good readý.......2003-04-19
Kirk, McCoy, Scott, Sulu, and Chekov are stranded around the campfire as it were and so they decide to past the time by relating their experiences on the famed Kobyashi Maru test for the benefit of all - especially Dr. McCoy who as a medical officer never took the command school scenario-test. Each story provides further insight into each of the characters even if it is a little predictable at times. The reader is treated to a better understanding of Kirk's famous solution, a "Die-Hard-like" Chekov episode, a touching Sulu offering, and a very humorous Scott contribution. It's worth the time it takes to read it even though I have a hard time believing that Captain Sulu would have reacted to the test in the manner that he did.
Product Description
This Audiofy audiobook chip packs James Doohan's two hour reading of "The Kobayashi Maru" on a tiny memory card. A single Audiofy audiobook chip, hardly larger than a stamp, holds a complete digital audiobook, and saves the last listening position automatically, unlike CDs. With an SD memory card slot or low-cost adapter - like those for digital cameras - this Audiofy audiobook chip can be played on Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh desktop computers or laptops (Microsoft Windows XP/2000/Me/98, or Apple Mac OS X 10.3.9 and above) or transferred to Apple iPod media players. Audiobook chips also move seamlessly to most Palm OS and Pocket PC handheld PDAs with SD expansion slots, as well as Treo and Windows Mobile "smartphones" (Palm OS 5.2 or Windows Mobile 2002 and above)... A freak shuttlecraft accident - and suddenly Captain Kirk and most of his senior officers find themselves adrift in space, with no hope of rescue, no hope of repairing their craft, or restoring communications - with nothing, in short, but time on their hands. Time enough for each to tell the story of the Kobayashi Maru - the Starfleet Academy test given to command cadets. Nominally a tactical exercise, the Kobayashi Maru is in fact a test of character revealed in the choices each man makes - and does not make. Discover now how Starfleet Cadets Kirk, Chekov, Scotty and Sulu each faced the Kobayashi Maru... and became in turn Starfleet officers.
Product Description
Spiral bound in hardcover. Includes 5 1/4" diskette for use with the Commodore 64. Original text based computer game from early 1980's based on Star Trek Original Series Kobayashi Maru.
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Star Trek: The Kobayashi Maru
Julia Ecklar
Manufacturer: Pocket Star Trek #47
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
General
| Star Trek
| Media
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: B000KOXYRC |
Product Description
10 massmarket paperback Titles in Star Trek Series - 40 Thru 49 - Time Trap - Three-minute Universe - Memory Prime - Final Nexus - Vulcan's Glory - Double Double - Cry of the Onlies - Kobayashi Maru - Rules of Engagement - Pandora Principle
Product Description
8 massmarket paperback Titles in Star Trek Series - 40 Thru 47 - Time Trap - Three-minute Universe - Memory Prime - Final Nexus - Vulcan's Glory - Double Double - Cry of the Onlies - Kobayashi Maru
Average customer rating:
- Okay, so what would YOU do about the "Kobayashi Maru"?
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Star Trek - The Original Series: The Kobayashi Maru (Star Trek)
Julia Ecklar , and
James Doohan
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster (Trade Division)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
General
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Star Trek
| Media
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Books on Cassette
| Audiobooks
| Formats
| Books
General
| Books on Cassette
| Audiobooks
| Formats
| Books
ASIN: 0671038176 |
Customer Reviews:
Okay, so what would YOU do about the "Kobayashi Maru"?.......2004-09-22
Julia Ecklar does two things with the Kobayashi Maru simulation that was one of the most interesting sub-plots in "Star Trek II: the Wrath of Khan." The first is that she goes back and tells the story of how Jim Kirk became the only cadet at Starfleet Academy ever to beat the "no-win scenario." All we learned from the film was that the young Kirk "changed the conditions of the test" and "received a commendation for original thinking." The second is that she also tells the stories of the cadet encounters of Chekov, Sulu and Scotty with that same scenario: a fuel-carrier strikes a mine in the Organian Neutral Zone and the cadet commanding a Starfleet vessel has to decided whether or not to attempt a rescue and risk destruction and a war with the Klingon Empire to rescue the stranded crew. The framing story used by Ecklar is a freak shuttlecraft accident, which gives the four officers and Dr. McCoy nothing to do but to each tell their stories in turn.
The four stories are quite different. Kirk's story, "The No-Win Scenario," is devoid of dramatic punch since we all know the outcome, but it does establish that the Kobayashi Maru test is less about tactical decisions and more about an individual's character. Obviously young Jim Kirk is going to have all the attributes that would make him "The Captain Kirk." Chekov's chapter, "How You Play the Game," spends little time on the Kobayashi Maru test focusing more on a survival exercise on the Moon base and Pavel's desire to be just like the great James T. Kirk. In "Crane Dance," Sulu tells the rather poignant story of how he came to make the decisions he did during his taking of the test. The shortest and funniest tale is Scotty's "In Theory," which shows the engineer was not suited for command, even though he exhibited an unprecedented talent for destruction, when he could be bothered to pay attention to all those attacking Klingon war dragons.
That last story is what justifies James Doohan, who played Commander Montgomery Scott on the original "Star Trek," being the one to read this novel because when he gets to his character's story he gets to really have some fun. It is also nice to hear a familiar voice doing the reading this time around. These are an interesting set of stories, not particularly insightful but certainly true to the characters. I was surprised that the idea of the Kobayashi Maru as a standardized Star Trek Rorschach test was not repeated in the other series. After all, what Star Trek fan would not be interested in finding out what Spock, Picard, Worf, Data, Sisko, Chakotay and everybody else did when confronted with the no-win scenario? I would not be surprised if someone out there in fan fiction you can track down those stories.
Average customer rating:
- A caricature of cults
- Fabulous!
- Yeah right
- Inaccurate, biased
- Good Reference on Different Types of Religious Groups
|
Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions: Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormonism, Mind Sciences, Baha'I, Zen, Unitarianism (In Defense of the Faith Series, 2)
John Ankerberg , and
John Weldon
Manufacturer: Harvest House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0736900748 |
Customer Reviews:
A caricature of cults.......2006-10-25
You won't find much provocative information, here. By the author's own admission, whole chapters are practically copied and pasted from other books (page 277), and those books are clearly hostile.
Some good intellectual pornography, though. If you are a critical thinker, and do your homework, you will find that fully half of the facts in this encyclopedia are wrong or ripped from their context.
It was very much like reading the saturday morning cartoons.
Fabulous!.......2006-10-14
This is an excellent book for anyone who wishes to know the truth about cults and false religion. Well-researched and well-written, the authors let the founders of the various cults speak for themselves, carefully documenting each quote in copious end notes. Each group's view of the basic doctrines of Christianity are outlined, showing their astonishing similarity in rejecting the deity of Christ and pushing salvation by works. Best of all, the Doctrinal Appendix gives the biblical references for each Christian doctrine. Especially helpful is the table of proofs that Jesus is God with dozens of Old and New Testament references. Other reviews of this book should be read with care. When the light of Truth shines forth, darkness is made uncomfortable.
Yeah right.......2005-06-24
Out of ALL the religions, Unitarian Universalist,is the only religion/sect/denomination of reason and reality,while feeding your inner spirit-which is why anyone of any belief (or non-belief) can go to the church.They don't even tell you what/how to believe (unlike most religions/denominations).I can see why a fundamentalist wouldn't want anyone to be one though...visit famousuus.com to see all the intelligent people who were/are unitarians,including Paul Newman,Ray Bradbury,Sir Isaac Newton,Emily Dickinson,Susan B. Anthony,Charles Dickens,Ralph Waldo Emerson,etc..
Inaccurate, biased.......2005-04-08
I learn from another website, that there's a Libel Litigation on this book. I wonder if they're responsible for what they wrote. http://www.contendingforthefaith.org/index.html
Good Reference on Different Types of Religious Groups.......2004-06-25
In my humble opinion, Ankerberg and Weldon have written a good reference on many religious groups, from Armstrongism to Zen and several groups in between. Indeed, many groups I have never heard of are included.
For some groups, nothing more than a couple of sections entitled "Info At a Glance" (name, purpose, attitude toward Christianity, quotes from leaders) and Doctrinal Summary (view of God and Jesus, salvation, death, the Bible, Heaven and Hell).
Other groups such as the Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Baha'i, Masonic Lodge, Unitarianism, Unification Church, The Way International, and Zen, have more detailed information.
As an evangelical Christian, I do not have a problem with the book's approach (contrary to several previous reviewers) - after all, since Jesus made claims and performed feats that no other leader could make or back up, does it not make sense to measure what other religious groups believe compared to Biblical Christianity? Unfortunately, too many earlier reviewers trash the book without being honest about how their beliefs line up with Christianity.
I do wish the book had more information on various groups such as Christian Science, Silva Mind Control, UFO Cults, and Yoga as these groups have recently been making the news and have infiltrated some corporate training methods.
Complaint aside, I recommend the title as a good source for finding out what other religious groups really believe and how they compare to Biblical Christianity!
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