Book Description
A literary cause célèbre when first published more than fifty years ago, Gore Vidal’s now-classic
The City and the Pillar stands as a landmark novel of the gay experience.
Jim, a handsome, all-American athlete, has always been shy around girls. But when he and his best friend, Bob, partake in “awful kid stuff,” the experience forms Jim’s ideal of spiritual completion. Defying his parents’ expectations, Jim strikes out on his own, hoping to find Bob and rekindle their amorous friendship. Along the way he struggles with what he feels is his unique bond with Bob and with his persistent attraction to other men. Upon finally encountering Bob years later, the force of his hopes for a life together leads to a devastating climax. The first novel of its kind to appear on the American literary landscape,
The City and the Pillar remains a forthright and uncompromising portrayal of sexual relationships between men.
Customer Reviews:
The Beginning.......2007-04-24
Vidal, Gore. "The City and the Pillar". Vintage, 1948, re-released 1965, 1995.
The Beginning
Amos Lassen and Literary Pride
Looking back at my gay life I must say that there were three books that influenced me deeply, "Dancer from the Dance" by Andrew Holleran, "Faggots" by Larry Kramer and "The City and the Pillar" by Gore Vidal. Having finally met Andrew, I only have two more to go now and hopefully that will happen soon. "The City and the Pillar" written in 1945 was the first mainstream novel to look at homosexuality in a way that did not make us look like we did not belong. Vidal has long been a man of letters and his name alone gives credence to what he writes and what he says. He is the author of twenty-four novels, seven plays and screenplays, over two hundred essays and two memoirs as well as winning several major awards. He has been a voice that America has listened to and has succeeded despite his sexuality. We are proud to have him among us.
When "The City and the Pillar" was first published, it shocked the literary establishment as well as Vidal's family and friends. Looking back at it now, it seems so tame but we can examine the reaction of sixty years ago. If you just stop to think how far we have come in the last few years, you can imagine how scandalous the homosexual novel was in 1945. Yet even today the words that were written six decades ago are relevant, meaningful, important and sexy even by standards of the twenty-first century. Vidal has never been one to compromise and this book was definitely a harbinger of that fact. What are so astounding about "The City and the Pillar" are the realism and the intelligence. Once you read it, you will definitely not see things in the same way. The book is so realistically familiar that one who "comes-out" as gay today in a society that is far less repressive than the one in the book will be able to identify with it. It is not an epic story but it is large and is in the tradition of Forester and Wilde. The conception is artistic and the prose is in a class all its own.
The book can be read in two ways--either as a look back at the way things were as a look at the way things are. Remembering that gay life before the late 80's was clandestine; it is amazing that Vidal wrote about it all. He is even quoted as saying that his gay friends would not only be shocked but would abandon him for what he did was to put the actions of gay men out in the open. The book was way ahead of its time as it explores the relations between men--both gay and straight. It was not only the age of "don't ask, don't tell" but it was the age of "don't even consider it".
As serious as it is in subject matter, the book still entertains. Dealing with an extremely serious subject, it still manages to amuse.
Even at its age, it is still one of the best novels dealing with the subject. Even if it were not still important, it is a compelling read. It is restrained and highly effective. Some think that this is the book that heralded the modern sexual revolution and that America was never the same after its publication. "The City" shocks and penetrates and it moves the reader to his very being. The writing is crystalline and lyrical and the detail is profound. It is outrageous and unsentimental and a very brave expose of the way we lived. I think every gay person and every straight person owes it to himself to read this brilliantly beautiful book.
Restrained, but Powerful.......2007-03-11
Certainly, as other reviews have pointed out, 'The City and the Pillar' is notable because of its social significance; it was published in 1948 -- a time when homosexuality was still relegated to the fringes of society, so the last place you would expect to see it is in a novel. Gore Vidal put homosexual life out there for everyone to see, and if the picture that he paints isn't a pretty one consider that life for a gay man in that time period wasn't exactly peaches and cream. To start with, Vidal's portrayal of his protagonist, Jim Willard, is mightily restrained. There is a distance between Jim and the reader that at first seems cold, but is somewhat fitting when one considers that there is a distance between Jim's wants and needs that he is completely unable to reconcile. He's not warm and cuddly because he just doesn't understand who he is, and while he delves into the gay society of the time he can't help but mock it because he doesn't want to think of himself as part of it. Jim is constantly trying to rationalize his sexual behavior so that he won't have to believe that he is like the other gay men he meets. If he could bring himself to have a straight relationship he would -- as evinced by his continued friendship with Maria Verlaine. But Jim isn't straight, and putting on airs only makes him dislike himself even more. One could wish that Vidal had put a more humanized, relatable character at the forefront of his novel, but it just wouldn't have been so honest -- which Vidal undoubtedly understood, being a gay man living at the time.
Vidal, in addition to putting homosexuality into mainstream consciousness, acknowledged the stereotypes that have been attributed to gay men whilst taking a sledge-hammer to them at the same time. There was a pervading sense in Jim's time (and there still is today) that to be a gay man is to be feminine. Sure enough, there are feminine gay men populating Vidal's novel, but there are numerous masculine men that you wouldn't expect to be gay -- Jim included. Jim is an ace tennis player whose sculpted body and masculine features attract girls in droves, which for a long time helps feed Jim's denial of who he is. He didn't think he could possibly be gay because he wasn't 'girly', but by the end of the novel he has realized that, just like every other type of person, gay people come in all shapes and sizes. "Obviously the world was not what it seemed. Anything might be true of anybody," he notes at one point. This is also reflected in Jim's ventures into Hollywood and New York's high society. In Hollywood he has a relationship with Ronald Shaw, a mega-watt movie star who must hide his homosexual dalliances from the public in order to keep getting parts. At parties in New York Jim meets countless gay intellectuals who casually pretend not to know him when they run into each other in restaurants and such -- 'straight' locations where it would be too dangerous for them to reveal their link to each other. There is a lot of mask-wearing that goes into gay life in Jim's time, and he is no exception.
Through it all Jim is waiting to reconnect with his childhood friend, Bob Ford -- with whom Jim had his first homosexual experience in one surprising moment after Bob's graduation from high school. The moment has become hopelessly idealized in Jim's mind, and in his desperation to not see himself as part of gay society he continues to place what happened between them on higher, and more precarious, pedestals. He is convinced that when they meet up again (Bob went to sea after graduation, and the two lost touch) they will instantly resume their relationship; it never occurs to him that Bob might not feel the same way.
Which leads us to the ultimate tragedy in 'The City and the Pillar': that to be gay in society was to be doomed to a life on the margins, to be misunderstood, to have to hide who you really are from your family, to live a life of unhappiness because of your unfulfilled dreams, and to hate yourself for not conforming to the "normal" life you were assigned at birth. It may be bleak, but the triumph of Vidal's masterpiece is that he successfully humanizes this tragedy to the reader. No one who reads it can deny that Jim is a real, valuable human being who deserves a life of his own, and that is what makes 'The City and the Pillar' a classic along the lines of 'Uncle Tom's Cabin', and in my opinion just as culturally significant.
For another perspective on this subject, albeit an inferior one, I would recommend checking out Carson McCullers' violent 1941 novella Reflections in a Golden Eye.
Grade: A-
The City and the Brokeback Mountain.......2006-12-28
I just finished The City and the Pillar. I was up until the wee hours to finish it. Recently I've been making my way through the "gay" classics - City of Night, The Farewell Symphony - and now this little, concise Vidal treat.
I usually read the reviews of a book to see what the general story is about and to decide whether or not I might be interested. I had heard so much about this book that I was going to read it no matter what. A few reviews I read said The City and the Pillar wasn't "literary" enough, not full of blooming phrases, semi-colons and powerful metaphors. Others I read said that it was "simple", lacking in complex character development but still a reputable time-capsule from the old gay world.
The City and the Pillar is a quick read, but hardly lacking in beautiful phrasing and character development. This was one of the best books I read this year. Just like Brokeback Mountain (both book and movie), it deals with what it's like to realize you are gay, "normal" and just looking for love. Jim, the antihero, doesn't want to fall in with the "queens" and instead continues to dream about a childhood friend that for one night became more than a friend. This is his ideal and he can't find it in the gay world, partly because it doesn't exist in the gay world or any other - it exists solely in his adolecent mind from long ago, a mind that has churned one night with his best friend into something completely unattainable - at least with that same childhood friend.
This is a beautiful book, full of hope.
The unrealistic pursuit of an unattainable ideal.......2006-10-29
When it was published in 1948 (it would be eight years until Baldwin's "Giovanni's Room" appeared), "The City and the Pillar" was far ahead of its time in its unapologetic portrayal of its "straight-acting," exclusively homosexual protagonist. Yet it's not simply a gay novel; at its core, the novel describes the obsessive pursuit of one's first love. An intense relationship between two youths, Jim Willard and his best friend Bob Ford, turns from emotional to physical for one fleeting night, and the experience leaves Jim in the thrall of an infatuation.
When Bob leaves the Southern town of his childhood for a career at sea, Jim's remembrance of their affair transforms it into a far more romantic ideal than its actuality would allow. Jim travels the ports of America hoping to find Bob and rekindle their love; his adventures take him through the various gay urban oases of America, from Hollywood to New Orleans to New York. With an understanding of others that often prevents him from understanding himself, Jim describes the desperate plight he shares with his friends and lovers: "I don't think he knows what he wants, like the rest of us."
The novel's prose is intentionally sparse, even "flat" (the word used by Vidal), and it lacks the satirical bite and dry wit of the author's other work. Because it was written sixty years ago, it is of significant historical interest, but (alas) the version in print is the edition revised by Vidal in 1965, when he "altered the last chapter considerably [and] rewrote the entire book."
I agree with Vidal that the new ending is a better one (although it too closely echoes "Myra Breckinridge"); nevertheless, we have in our hands not a post-War novel far ahead of its time but a gay bildungsroman hardly exceptional for the 1960s. Fortunately, what Vidal left intact in his revision was the character of Jim himself--surely one of the most tragic antiheroes in modern American literature, a man whose outward simplicity belies a profound understanding of the world around him. What ultimately dooms Jim is not his sexual awakening but his unrealistic pursuit of an unattainable ideal.
A Quick and Interesting Read.......2006-10-17
Gore Vidal's novel, The City and the Pillar, is a light and airy tale. Its narrator seems as purposefully constrained in his depth and expressiveness as the protagonist, Jim, is restrained in his contemplation of the truth staring him in the face.
I do want everyone to keep in mind Gore Vidal was a very young man when he wrote this novel. He was barely twenty years old. No writer is even near the height of his skill at that age.
It is an interesting story, especially for a young, gay man such as myself. However, it ends up being rather predictable and full of cliches. I wish Jim had probed himself in deeper self-examination. He would have spared himself much heartache, but it speaks to the necessary restraint of the age in which he lived. Vidal's prose seems consciously spare, and I can appreciate the effect he was trying to create, but it made the novel rather dry and lacking in vitality. Vidal wrote he wanted to model himself on Thomas Mann, which accounts for the style he sought to achieve.
I enjoyed very much the time young Jim lives in Hollywood. It was the most interesting part of the book.
I was sort of lulling along by the end of the novel and was pretty shocked by the climax. It caused the book to make a much deeper impression than it would have otherwise.
I would recommend this book for young gay men interested in what our lifestyle was like decades ago.
Book Description
If you like your cowboys sexy, your heroines forgetful and your marriages convenient, this gentle parody of cowboy romances will leave you with a smile on your face and a sigh on your lips. Discover romantic comedy at its best in this captivating tale of a woman who finds her one true love and the cowboy hero afraid to give his heart. Romance author Michelle Garrison is on a mission to learn more about the American West. Her books are no longer selling and her editor has given her an ultimatum--learn what cowboys are really like, then write the next bestseller. Tag Martin is desperate for a bride. If he doesn't marry before his 40th birthday, his grandmother will sign away the deed to the ranch he's worked and managed for his entire adult life. Coop Jones has been Tag's sidekick since Tag was barely kicking. Almost 80, he's been pining for the love of Tag's grandmother since she was only 17. An avid romance fan, he's concocted a fantastic plan to stage an MOC--a marriage of convenience for the uninitiated--in order to save the ranch for Tag. Lenore Martin at 78 is a widow with a mission. Get that grandson married and his hard-headed cowboy sidekick to realize she's not too old to romance. There's sizzle left in the old gal yet. Add a little amnesia, a few white lies, a flop-eared dog, the requisite white stallion and a love too hot to handle, and you've got a rowdy romp on the wild side with COWBOY IN MY POCKET.
Download Description
Romance, Contemporary: If you like your cowboys sexy, your heroines forgetful and your marriages convenient, this gentle parody of cowboy romances will leave you with a smile on your face and a sigh on your lips. Discover romantic comedy at its best in this captivating tale of a woman who finds her one true love and the cowboy hero afraid to give his heart.
Customer Reviews:
Parody or Not? Your Choice.......2001-11-30
Either way you'll be delighted with this romantic comedy from Kate Douglas. This book traipses lightly through all the romance novel cliches, from amnesiac-bride to cowboy-hero-desperate-to-save-the-family-ranch, yet manages to satisfy both the hard core romance reader and pundits alike. Sexy, bouncy and maybe even a little rowdy, COWBOY is an entertaining, quick read you won't want to miss. If there is a sequel in the works, I'll be the first to buy it.
Book Description
If you like your cowboys sexy, your heroines forgetful and your marriages convenient, this gentle parody of cowboy romances will leave you with a smile on your face and a sigh on your lips. Discover romantic comedy at its best in this captivating tale of a woman who finds her one true love and the cowboy hero afraid to give his heart.
Romance author Michelle Garrison is on a mission to learn more about the American West. Her books are no longer selling and her editor has given her an ultimatum--learn what cowboys are really like, then write the next bestseller.
Tag Martin is desperate for a bride. If he doesn't marry before his 40th birthday, his grandmother will sign away the deed to the ranch he's worked and managed for his entire adult life.
Coop Jones has been Tag's sidekick since Tag was barely kicking. Almost 80, he's been pining for the love of Tag's grandmother since she was only 17. An avid romance fan, he's concocted a fantastic plan to stage an MOC--a marriage of convenience for the uninitiated--in order to save the ranch for Tag.
Lenore Martin at 78 is a widow with a mission. Get that grandson married and his hard-headed cowboy sidekick to realize she's not too old to romance. There's sizzle left in the old gal yet.
Add a little amnesia, a few white lies, a flop-eared dog, the requisite white stallion and a love too hot to handle, and you've got a rowdy romp on the wild side with COWBOY IN MY POCKET.
Customer Reviews:
A romance writer and a dude--just the right stuff........2001-07-16
Michelle Garrison is a romance writer facing her greatest challenge, an editor who thinks her work is stale. Grudgingly, Michelle leaves New York for a western dude ranch sojourn straight out of the worst western romance. Tag Martin is a rancher being forced by his grandmother to marry in order to keep his ranch. At the last minute, the friend he planned to marry in a fake ceremony elopes and arranges for him to marry a complete stranger. When his friend and ranch hand finds a woman wandering along the road, he assumes the woman is the bride-to-be. The woman, however, has no clue as to her identity but agrees to marry Tag to help him. As the newlyweds work the ranch together, feelings begin to grow and flourish despite the lies and misconceptions threatening to tear them apart. The developing relationship between Tag and Michelle is the saving grace of this book. They are likeable despite the trials and tribulations they must suffer.
A Funny and Sensual Read!.......2001-06-03
Cowboy in My Pocket by Kate Douglas may be a spoof, a take-off on all the clichés of contemporary romance novels but it is a darned good read. In fact, it may be the most enjoyable romance I've read in months. I bought the book intending to have a good snicker at the unrealistic themes that are currently mandatory in contemporary romance. I did have a number of laughs at the extremes to which Kate pushed her hero and heroine. However, even knowing that it was a satire, I got involved with Lee (Michelle) and Tag. They are thoroughly believable and appealing characters. Tag is (without being larger than life) the ultimately appealing loner Cowboy hero and Lee is his emotional match. Kate Douglas is immensely talented. Not only is she funny but she can write a sex scene that'll knock your socks off. (If that's what you want it to do.) Cowboy in Your Pocket is a novel which will delight and surprise you. As a bonus, its characters will live in your memory long after the laughs are gone.
Book Description
They are the self-appointed protectors of the Federation. Amoral, shrouded in secrecy, answerable to no one, Section 31 is the mysterious covert operations division of Starfleet, a rogue shadow group committed to safeguarding the Federation at any cost.
Six months before their ultimate battle against the Borg for the fate of Earth, Captain Jean-Luc Piccard and the crew of the USS Enterprise™ face a very different kind of crisis. A world in turmoil becomes the focal point of conspiracies and betrayal as an unexpected reunion brings with it startling revelations. Old friends become bitter enemies and one young officer reaches a crossroad when he's forced to choose between the greater good of the Federation and the ideals for which it stands.
NO LAW. NO CONSCIENCE. NO STOPPING THEM.
Download Description
Six months before the events depicted in the film "Star Trek: First Contact", Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the "Enterprise" crew face a world in turmoil as an unexpected reunion brings with it startling revelations. One young officer reaches a crossroad when he's forced to choose between the greater good of the Federation and the ideals for which it stands.
Customer Reviews:
Complex storyline, fully engaging.......2007-07-13
I found this to be one of the best Star Trek books I have read. The storyline was fairly complex, with several plots running simultaneously. I found that I cared about the characters.
The parts about diplomacy were well developed, and the relationships between the characters became important. Hawk's relationship with his husband was tastefully done, it was nowhere near the most important aspect of the book. The bulk of his involvement with his husband was a long conversation with him about what to do with a dilemma his job presented him-- not exactly racy material.
That said, if you're really uncomfortable with the concept of two men being married, I guess this book isn't for you. But if you're cool with that, this is a great book.
Old Friends Paint the Tapestry Again.......2006-11-05
Rogue
Review By Roger D. Noriega
No Law. No Conscience. No Stopping Them.
This story takes place in the Next Generation time frame, a few days after the events of Star Trek: First Contact. Captain Jean Luc Picard is aboard the Enterprise, supervising her repair, taking stock and going over the post-action report with his first officer William T. Riker. While reviewing the crew list, they come to a name that stands out among the dead: Lt. Sean Liam Hawk. "Such a loss. So enthusiastic and passionate" are Picard's thoughts on this one particular Lieutenant. Everyone reaches a crossroads, if he lives long enough. Six months ago, Lt. Hawk reached his.
The Chiaros system: found deep in the Gemenis Gulf. The only habitable star system in this desolate sector of space. Three empty sectors of space and the Romulans are interested in wresting this star system from the hands of the Federation. Chiaros IV has applied for membership into the Federation and the U.S.S. Slayton is there to be on hand while the historic vote of this proud race takes place. While a shuttle is dispatched with several senior members aboard, Captain Burdick suddenly discovers a massive sub-space wave distortion wave front headed in all directions, 8 astronomical units in diameter. She orders the Slayton to investigate and in nearing the anomaly, the Slayton is crippled. Before repairs can be made, the Slayton is destroyed with all hands aboard. The Federation starship veered too close to someone and something . . . the mystery begins.
Captain Picard and the Enterprise are ordered to the Chiaros System with Ambassador Tabor and Picard's old academy friend: (now an Admiral) Marta Batanides. Turns out that (now a Commander) Cortin Zweller was aboard the Slayton and Admiral Batanides wants to mount a rescue operation to find her missing ship and classmate. During the journey, Ambassador Tabor finds a possible candidate to Section 31 - Lt. Hawk.
"I will let you in on a little secret, Sean. Starfleet knows that mistakes can be made. Are made. They've known it since the beginning. It's why the founders of Starfleet created a secret bureau, an elite group whose job is to provide for the organization's best interests."
"You mean Starfleet Intelligence? They are hardly a secret."
"No, not S.I. The group I'm talking about is known as Section 31."
"I've never heard of it."
"Most people haven't. I doubt even your Captain Picard, as wise and knowledgeable as he is, is aware of the group, even though it was part of Starfleet's original charter two hundred years ago. Section 31 exists to identify anything that might threaten the Federation-and then deals with it, efficiently and quietly."
Upon arrival to Chiaros IV, wreckage of the Slayton is found, but the shuttle dispatched from the aforementioned ship isn't located. Picard and crew make contact with both sides of a brewing conflict, one that is the legitimate ruling government, the other, a rebel band of insurgents fighting with Federation phasers! An ambush ensues and many important people die and or taken prisoner. Public sentiment is not good and the upcoming election may turn against the Federation.
The Romulans are the logical choice for the populace since the chosen side (The Federation) is supplying weapons to the rebels. Evens are further complicated by the presence of a space anomaly that is protected by a Romulan Cloaking Device of staggering size. Hawk believes it could be a Dyson Sphere, but a probe sent in provides no answers. Captain Picard is unwilling to risk his ship without definite answers. None are forthcoming and a traitor to the Federation sells-out his countrymen while the traitor to the planet turns out to be the key to the secret hidden behind the cloaking device.
This book wins praise across the board. Too bad this book wasn't turned into Star Trek X. Section 31 defends the Federation from harm but who or what protects Section 31? We learn serious lessons about knowledge, faith and making deals with the devil. Who makes the decisions to sacrifice something for the greater good? I cannot, in good conscious give up anymore in this story, but let me tell you, this one should not be missed. The story is just short of being epic, but it is clearly one that should have been told on the big screen.
Excellent story, excellent writing........2006-09-03
This book gives us an very insightful look into Secton 31, their motivations, their methods, and their rationalizations for what they do. It also gives us a fine frame story in which to place their actions, one that would have been worthy of a fine TV episode. The characterizations are handled superbly, the pacing and dialogue are all that could be hoped for, the other nuts and bolts of the writing are all without blemish. This book is highly recommended.
Good.......2006-08-06
I'm glad this Star Trek novel has a gay character, and some of the web-based fan films have gays. Too bad the movies and TV shows aren't as enlightened as Star Trek strives to be, or they would go beyond just the occasonal gay undertone. This is a good novel and has a lot of action for Star Trek fans.
Good Book.......2006-04-24
If I don't know who Riker is sleeping with, why do I need to know who Hawk is with? I agree that the gay parts were not necessary. If the author wanted to make Hawk gay, he should have left it at "they have their own quarters" part.
That is the reason I gave the book 4/5. The book is very good as far as the plot is concerned and the writer is extremelly competant. He keeps you guessing what is going to happen next. The characters are well handled, especially Chairman Koval. The only bad thing is that you don't know what some of the characters look like as there are insufficient descriptions of some secondary characters.
It's worth the read.
Book Description
Want to be able to read meaningful verses from the Greek New Testament after just one hour of study? In this comprehensive and helpful guide, John Dobson uses a highly effective teaching method to introduce readers to New Testament Greek. The third edition includes accented Greek and updated information. The book is accompanied by an audio CD-ROM.
Customer Reviews:
great companion to Learn Old Testament Hebrew.......2007-04-11
As a Bible student, this has been a great help.
A great way to practice basic vocabulary.......2006-11-14
As a beginner who is studying on my own ,I've found this to be great for practicing vocabulary in short sentences , instead of just rote memorization , which I find very boring . Also he uses made up sentences in the practice exercises which is good because you can remember scriptures after getting just a couple of words in the sentence , with made up sentences you actually have to translate it all . The only real drawback is Dobson does'nt really cover grammar , so I recomend a grammar such as Mounces Basics Of Biblical Greek In addition to this , for someone who's really trying to learn the language well . I wholeheartedly reccomend this to anyone studying on their own .
This book prepares you to read the NT on your own.......2006-04-01
This is the best language learning book I have ever used in my entire life, and I was a language major in College and I teach EFL for a living. This book is simply amazing, every single thing that can possibly be done right, is done right.
Because it's much easier to understand a language (passively or receptively) than to produce it (in conversational situations, for instance), learning Koine to the level of being able to read the NT is actually not as difficult as you might think.
After following Dobson's course of study, will you know Koine as well as a seminary student? No, but you will be able to read the NT on your own, provided you use an online concordance or a dictionary, plus a grammar book for the trickier parts.
The best part of this book are the insights that Dobson succinctly makes on the biblical texts that are being used. Since Dobson knows both Koine and Hebrew, he is able to show exactly what the authors were doing when writing the NT. Not only is this spiritually empowering, it also provides a background context for remembering the information being given.
In the new edition being sold on Amazon, there are accents. Also, there is an audio CD which complements the lessons nicely. This is the best value I seen in any product in quite a long time.
This Course is Great.......2006-03-18
'Learn New Testament Greek' is a great and easy way to learn to read the Greek New Testament, and it allows you to go at your own pace. The lessons are easy to handle, and the audio CD helps with pronounciation. I highly recommend this book; it is well-worth it. I cannot say enough how great this book is.
One of The Best New Testament Greek Books I've Bought.......2006-03-01
Simply one of the best. Put in a steady 20-30 minutes a day, and watch how quickly your NT Greek starts to improve. No use buying the book and just sitting it down. Repetition is the key, with this or any other book on a foreign language.
Contains good explanations, good, clear, examples, and helpful exercises, giving enough repetition to instill the basic principles. A good start for anyone who wants to get a solid foundation in Koine Greek.
Customer Reviews:
Totally Excellent.......2005-10-25
This book is Excellent as an aid in learning NT Greek. Coupled with an excellent prophessor, one will be reading and writing NT Greek in no time!!
good.......2005-10-04
It is a good source with which to learn Greek, but the author makes up his own sentences to give examples of the material being learned...it might be better to find a source that uses examples straight from the Biblical text instead
Fast shipping....Nice Book...No Problems........2005-09-17
Fast shipping....Nice Book...No Problems.
Would gladly shop here again!
Very well done!.......2005-08-23
This book is wonderful. Much easier to learn from than some of the others. The only drawback is that the index could be much better -- for example, in the lexicon entry for a verb, it should include the page # on which the verb is introduced.
There are also some Greek words introduced in the text that are not included in the lexicon.
A Model of Clarity.......2005-03-17
David Alan Black has provided us with an introductory grammar that is a model of clarity.
This NT Greek grammar is reasonably concise and yet always provides sufficient information for the student to grasp the matter at hand. Compared to "The Basics of Biblical Greek", this grammar does a better job of introducing the student to the syntax (on an elementary level)of the New Testament with clearer explanations of grammatical terminology.
This is an excellent text for a professor to adopt, but it is also highly recommended as a supplement to those who are using Mounce's work. If the student is having difficulty grasping the grammatical point that Mounce is discussing, it is very likely that turning to Black's grammar will clear up the matter. Additionally, Black has an excellent selection of exercises with a complete answer key to the first seventeen chapters as an appendix to the book.
Additional illustrations are judiciously placed throughout the grammar. For example, on the crucial issue of mastering Participles, Black offers 34 sentences with translation in the body of the text.
This is a "must have" resource for first year Koine Greek students - and is well worth a second look by instructors who have chosen other texts.
Book Description
This book is intended primarily for readers who are beginning the study of the Greek Testament either without any previous acquaintance with the Greek language or with an acquaintance so imperfect that a renewed course of elementary instruction is needed.
KEY TOPICS: Provides information on the first declension, the second declension, masculine nouns of the first declension, third declension, imperfect middle and passive indicative, the imperative mood, the perfect tense, conjugations of I Give, I Place, I Let Go, I Show, I Destroy, I Cause To Stand and I Know.
Customer Reviews:
I love learning Greek with Machen.......2007-09-13
I am pleased with the book. Machen provides excercises which are incredibly helpful in learning Greek. Each lesson is broken up effectively making it easy to follow. However, I found it necessary to receive instruction from a teacher along with each lesson.
This is the one. Get it........2007-06-22
I started Greek with this book and went on to major in Greek. Machen's systematic presentation of grammar is as clear and approachable as you'd want it to be. I've been away from Greek for decades and after spending my career teaching Latin, I've returned to this little book and found it invigorating as I relearn what I once knew so well. I own other Greek grammars, but Machen's is really all I need. If you buy this--and I highly recommend it--get Thompson's workbook too. As a combination they can't be beat. Thompson, by the way, provides excellent additional review and practice material that makes a difficult language more accessible.
New Testament made Easy.......2006-08-31
This is a great textbook for anyone who has never studied Greek and needs to have an understanding of the languages for New Testament studies. The chapters are short and easy to understand and the exercises are well paced.
a true classic.......2006-08-02
I am partial to Machen because I first learned Greek with his book, but the more I use this text to teach Greek to others, the more impressed I become. The genius is the organization and the exercises. No grammar does a better job of systematically leading one through Greek and the exercises are wonderful at reenforcing the vocabulary and paradigms. This book is great for reviewing or refreshing Greek and is perfect for teaching children, again because of the exercises.
Machen's writing style is succinct if not eliptical, and this is the polar opposite to Mounce's user-friendly, wordy text, but its nice that it is small and you don't need a separate workbook. I would recommend that you buy both Machen and Mounce. The only reason I give it four stars is that no grammar is perfect and you really need to work through several. Machen is also to be honored for defending the faith against liberalism and he belongs in every Greco-phile's library.
Agreement!.......2006-03-04
I have to voice agreement with those who praise this as the best introduction but I wonder how much of our love for the book is because it has sat on our desks for so many years and along with our Liddell and Scott is the first place we go to check something!
Customer Reviews:
An Out of Print Book that should be Reprinted........1998-01-03
A koine greek text book that is a must have.One of the few text that respects the subtle differences between classical,koine and modern Greek.Even the distinction between eis,pros and apo, that many text overlook.Now out of print but once my offical required grammatical text for my students.
Book Description
Let the one you've trusted for word studies for years teach you to read the New Testament in Greek! Created by W.E. Vine, the trusted author of the world's most-used expository dictionary, this book is an easy "teach yourself" course for those who have no previous knowledge of Greek. Designed especially for the layperson, you'll start by learning the Greek alphabet and by the third lesson you'll be reading directly from the Greek New Testament!
Complete with charts, tables, and diagrams, it is ideal for self-study. Vine's Learn New Testament Greek is an all-in-one Greek grammar and lesson book.
Customer Reviews:
A Quick Read and a Great Help.......2001-04-21
This book is a big aid to those who are not students of Greek and need an elementary level companion to the Greek New Testament. Very inexpensive--lots of info for the cost--a great value!
Product Description
Learn Greek from the world-famous, best-selling author of Vine's Exposition Dictionary. He wrote the expository dictionary you've trusted for years ... now let him teach you Greek! This book was created by New Testament Scholar W.E. Vine, the author of the world's most-used expository dictionary, to be a self-study course. Here is an effective "teach yourself" guide for those who have no previous knowledge of Greek.
Average customer rating:
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Learn Greek through the New Testament
C. Wilfred Griggs
Manufacturer: Interlinguistica Series in Foreign Languages
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
 Greek
| Instruction
| Foreign Languages
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: B00072NFLC |
Average customer rating:
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Learn New Testament Greek
Manufacturer: Bible Society (The British and Foreign Bible Socie
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Foreign Languages
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0564078727 |
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