The Hamilton Case: A Novel

Book Description

A flamboyant beauty who once partied with the Prince of Wales and who now, in her seventh decade, has "gone native" in a Ceylonese jungle. A proud and ambitious lawyer who unwittingly seals his own fate when he dares to solve the sensational Hamilton murder case that has rocked the upper echelons of local society. A young woman who retreats from her family and the world after her infant son is found suffocated in his crib. These are among the linked lives compellingly revealed in a novel everywhere praised for its dazzling grace and savage wit -- a spellbinding tale of family and duty, of legacy and identity, a novel that brilliantly probes the ultimate mystery of what makes us who we are.

Customer Reviews:

A slow moving story that keeps you reading.......2006-05-26

This novel meanders along with long descriptive passages and relatively little action. It is well written, the language carefully setting the stage physically and emotionally. However, it still is a book to keep you up late or forget dinner. The reader is drawn into the book and cares where it leads.

The story itself develops almost as a character study - characters shaped by family, education, history, personal bent. The author has an excellent sense of what events will shape the character in the readers mind and what events will ultimately explain that character. She portrays characters and history as messy multi-value things that always slip away from rational explanation, i.e. she captures the world more as we experience it.

Definately a good read.

Family secrets, murder in the jungle and Ceylonese tea.......2006-04-22

The Hamilton Case is set in gorgeous, seductive landscape, Sri Lanka, and tells a captivating story of pompous Sam Obey, his family and its secrets. Sam is an Edwardian scholar who returns to his native Ceylon after studies. His native country is going through a complex period politically and socially, and different people make different decisions how to cope with the changes and chose to believe in different things. Through Sam's interaction with the other characters draws, we are unveiled a tragic portrait of Sam. Sam later takes on the Hamilton Case, which turns out to be a story within the story, and proves that there can be more than one way of seeing the world, more than one way to understand reality. The novel is cleverly written, and told through four different narratives. Author's language is lush and enchanting, and hauntingly draws the readers into the heart of Ceylonese jungle.

A rich text told in two different parts.......2005-10-07

When I picked up this book, I was presented with a series of charming but not seemingly connected anecdotes about life in the island nation of Ceylon. They were interesting stories, but not a connected narrative, and I kept wondering when the mystery of the "Hamilton Case" was going to come up.

It turns out that there is a lot of introductory anecdotal text before the reader is treated to the "Hamilton Case." I've read that some reviewers didn't get through the book, and I encourage everyone to stick around until they get to the mystery. The book takes off from there. This is an excellent piece of historical fiction and a rich literary tale.

must be read in its entirety !.......2005-09-10

Its interesting that whenever a review makes a negative review it is so often followed by the comment that they 'didnt finish it'. This is one of those books that has one of those wonderful 'usual suspects' endings and if you dont perservere then dont expect the reward. I think this is one of the few books I've finished where I immmediately started it all over again. Deeply layered, rich, lyrical writing, wonderful imagery - afghan dogs with diamante collars at the polo ! I could have eaten this book up.Delicious.

Exotic setting, deep secrets and a troubled family .......2005-08-05

The author, now living is Australia, is native to Sir Lanka, the setting for this rather complex 2003 novel. The country was called Ceylon before independence in 1948 and most of the action of the story takes place then, under the yoke of an English colonialism which penetrated into every aspect of life. The first few chapters introduce our main character, Sam Obeysekere, born in the early part of the 20th century to a privileged dark skinned Ceylonese family. There are troubles though and deep secrets which are only hinted at in the beginning. But as we get to know Sam better, there are some things that start us wondering. Sam grows up, is educated at Oxford, and comes back to Sri Lanka to become a prosecuting attorney. That's when he encounters the Hamilton Case. A wealthy tea grower had been murdered. At first it was blamed on the coolies who worked on his plantation. But after a little investigation, that an Englishman was put on trial, something unthinkable at the time because this was a Ceylonese court. Even after the case ended, there were loose ends that were never tied up, but that was only halfway through the book.

As the story goes along we meet some memorable characters, most notably Sam's mother Maud. She was once of the privileged set, the type of woman who raised eyebrows in the 1920s with her flamboyance. She drank and smoked and went to parties and usually was the subject of gossip. As she aged, however, and her husband died, she depended on Sam who was now a wealthy man, married and with a son of his own. By now my own feelings about him had changed as he treated both his wife and his mother badly. Basically, Maud was allowed to live in the home of her young womanhood where Sam was born. This home was at the edge of a jungle and she was virtually a prisoner there even though she had two servants, who are themselves interesting characters. It was in this portion of the book that I learned more than I ever imagined I wanted to know about insects, snakes, plants, humidity, monsoon storms, leaking roofs and deep loneliness. And I got to love Maud who somehow never lost her spirit and energy even though she started losing her mind.

The author uses words well, a flowery style that seems a bit too over-decorative in places, but yet is entirely appropriate to the characterizations of the people and the worship of the English language at the time. Through it all though, there is a rumble of discontent, and we're also introduced to the revolutionary who once was educated in the same English school as Sam. He was also privileged but chose be "of the people", insisting on wearing sarong at all times, even with an English jacket. Early on, he marries Sam's sister. But that is another part of this convoluted story that at first seems disjointed but yet all comes together in the final chapters.

One of the things I loved about this book is because it took me to a time and place I knew nothing about. It enriched my understanding of colonialism and its many effects which still resonate today. And it also introduced me to some very memorable characters, each of them flawed in different ways. This book was quite an undertaking for the author and I applaud her efforts even though there were parts that dragged a little. No doubt about it though, this is a fine book. No wonder it was chosen by The New York Times as one of their notable books of the year.

Book Description

Hannah Morgan Collins dreams of becoming the first woman doctor in Massachusetts. But must she give up her desires of home and family to do so? Enrolled at Harvard against her parents' wishes, she meets new friends who will impact her life forever. There's the preacher-to-be Joshua Quittner, the cynical journalist Jamison Pike, and the made-of-money Gage Davis. And what of Lucretia Mott, whose passion for women's rights causes Hannah to wonder how she herself could change the world? This beautiful coming-of-age novel takes Hannah on a lifelong search through pain and joy to a place of heartfelt peace.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful, Captivating Book.......2004-10-15

This is a wonderful book about Morgan Hannah Collins, a girl who comes from a refined, proper family whose goal is to become a medical doctor. She undergoes many obticles, and tribulations in her life. This story is both enjoyable and captivating. I highly reccommend it to anyone over the age of 12. I give it a 4 because of a abrupt ending and a dissappointing title, for there are many promises in the story.

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I Really Liked The Circle of a Promise
A Wonderful Time Travel!
powerful time travel romance

The Circle of a Promise
Helen A. Rosburg
Manufacturer: Love Spell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Romance | Subjects | Books

Time Travel | Romance | Subjects | Books

General | Historical | Romance | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0505525453

Customer Reviews:

I Really Liked The Circle of a Promise.......2006-02-15

I leave the reviews to others but as a reader of books, I must give this author a five star read. The way she told the story was very interesting and unlike any other time travel book I have read.
I shall look for more of her writings.

A Wonderful Time Travel!.......2004-05-25

I admit to being somewhat a snob when it comes to the sub-genre of time-travel romance. I have a few authors that I'll read but for the most part I normally overlook this particular genre due to the fact that seldom are they done well. This book blew me away. Not only did Ms. Rosburg pen a wonderful romance she was very creative in the way she introduced the time travel theme.

Steve Bellingham is being tormented by a dream that always end with the death of the woman in his arms. For years he has been suffering and no one seems to be able to help him in the medical community. His sister mentions Millie a person she thinks will be able to help him. Millie will help him regress back to his past life and hopefully this will end the dream. Steve doesn't believe in past lives but is willing to do anything at this point to end the depression and other sad feelings he has been experiencing since the onset of the dream. He is totally blown away when the regression seems to work. He goes back in time to the period of the rule of Henry III. Here he finds the love of his life, his soul mate and together they battle the same enemy. But can Steven change the past this time around and protect the one woman he's sworn to love and protect?

This book was so well written that I found myself transported back in time along with Steven. I totally fell in love with all of the characters and found myself laughing and crying along with them. This is the second time I've read this book and it really only gets better. I highly recommend this book as well as this author to anyone if there interested in a well crafted story that will move your emotions.

powerful time travel romance.......2003-06-16

During the reign of King Henry III, triumphant knight Stephen of Bellingham and a baron's daughter Amarantha of Ullswater meet and fall in love. He vows forever, but a maniac kills her. He not only feels lonely; he just dreads life for having failed his beloved.

In 2003, Steve Bellingham wakes up every morning in fear, having suffered through a nightmare that feel very real. Feeling the foreboding pressure of relentless angst, he desperately seeks a remedy hopefully something hat will let him sleep dreamlessly, as life is not worth living like this. A psychic helps him see the dream as something that happened to him and his beloved Amarantha centuries ago. He now has a quest of the heart: to complete the vow he once made, but must wait for the moment to go back in time to change history so that he and Amarantha can live and love as he promised.

THE CIRCLE OF A PROMISE is a powerful time travel romance that hooks the reader due to the passion of the lead male protagonist (though one must wonder with his obsession how he escaped the men in white). Because readers will feel deeply the loss that Stephen suffers that lives with centuries after his beloved was killed, the audience will root for him to do the seemingly impossible on the wings of eternal love with his Amarantha.

Book Description

In the spring of 1993, after nine years as an architect in New York City, Wade Mayfield returns to North Carolina. This is no ordinary move; for Wade, at the age of thirty-three, has come back to his father's house to die of AIDS.

Wade's parents have recently separated; but for the remaining months of their only child's life, they and their friends come together in steady care for Wade and in the knowledge and sustenance they gain from his patience and his undaunted determination to die as himself. When death comes, they are slowly amazed to learn of the ongoing mystery Wade has arranged to reveal after his depature—a mystery that promises to continue the proud vitality of a family that had seemed destined for extinction.

A powerful exploration of such timeless matters as love, family loyalty and suffering, race, freedom, and duty, The Promise of Rest concludes Reynolds Price's epic Mayfield family trilogy with a passionate embrace of life in a world that promises to outlast us all.

Customer Reviews:

One of Reynolds Price's best novels.......2006-05-15

This is the third volume of a trilogy that includes THE SOURCE OF LIGHT and THE SURFACE OF EARTH. The time is now 30+ years after the ending of the second volume. Hutch, a college professor of English and a man somewhat stingy with his emotions, must confront the death of his son, Wade, from AIDS. Wyatt, his son's black lover, visits Hutch, a man he despises, and Hutch begins to understand the power of Wade's love and emotional giving. The novel ends with a not-so-successful visit by Hutch to the northern slum in NYC where Wyatt's family resides. Price's writing power is in full flow, especially his uniquely brilliant use of figures of speech. It's a sad and poignant novel (though one that contains hope and promise, too), all about forgiveness and understanding and redemption, and it's one of Price's very best books.

A Moving and Beautiful Book.......2006-02-26

Ignore the one-star types. This is a moving and oftentimes painful book. Just be open to what you read and do not come equipt with preconceptions about how to write. Price writes an often elegant prose with subtlety and depth. Too bad for those unable to appreciate this work.

A more fundamental challenge to the pseudo-literati.......2002-10-15

The cliche of every creative writing class is "show, don't tell." The problem with that philosophy is that true literature can be defined as breaking free of cliches. Unless you abandon omniscient narrator or (most) first-person narrations as literary devices, you will be engaging in some sort of "telling."

Now, as for believability, literature is a tool for the communication of ideas, just as color and light are to a painter. Would you tell Picasso that it is simply not believable for a woman to have two eyes on one side of her head? I would encourage anyone who has questions about the role of believability in literature to read Maupin's The Night Listener. He clarifies that literary truth transcends the believability of the narrative.

In summary:

1) In literature, it is perfectly acceptable to "tell" versus "show" if "telling" is the best way to communicate your ideas.
2) In literature, believability is irrelavant if the amalgamation of words effectively communicates the writer's ideas.

I'd give it a 0-star rating if I could........2001-03-15

Frankly, Reynolds Price's The Promise of Rest is one of the worst books I've ever had the misfortune to read. If it hadn't been for the fact that it was assigned reading for my MFA class, I'd have thrown it across the room by page 15. Price commits practically every literary sin that exists, including the unforgivable telling instead of showing: he explains the characters' every reaction and motivation as the story moves (very slowly and in 350 pages) along, making the reader feel a bit stupid and left out, as if he or she can't possibly understand without some authorial intervention. Some of his other, more egregious transgressions are the characters' identical and unrealistic speech patterns (particularly the fact that everyone calls everyone else "old friend" or "sir"), the vague and often unfulfilled implications of meaning in much of the dialogue, the grand, philosophical statements and epiphanies, such as "He suddenly knew that this would be the last time...," and "It was the first time that he had ever thought...," and "Until now he had never understood...," which seem to come in every other paragraph. The writing itself is terribly strained and highfalutin, with allusions to great cultures and ages and beauty tossed in randomly and without conclusion, as if Price went through and added them in late revisions. The smaller frustrations I felt are too numerous for me to mention here.

As for its content, Price took a promisingly touching theme-that of a man returning to his estranged parents to die of AIDS-and made it into his own little soapbox from which to complain about the state of the world we live in. Soapboxes have their place in literature, but the political agendas of Promise of Rest outweigh the story to the point that the reader can't help but feel a little insulted. In particular, I noticed a vein of misogyny running through the text. At one point the main character, an older man named Hutch, says, "Everybody with eyes in the past three centuries knows that white women were the engines of slavery," which by itself might seem innocuous and perhaps true, in some way and to a degree, but later other characters say things like, "women's training and doubts and pluming problems," and "Skin is mainly what's killed men always. And women have certainly used theirs for harm." These sentences may be taken out of context, but the message of the book is that men are only victims and rarely if ever guilty of anything. The main female character, Ann, vacillates between bitchy and whiny and ; Price blames much of Hutch's unhappiness on her decisions. The other women lack the strength and independence that even the weakest male character embodies, and they exist primarily in roles of caretaking. Besides an attack on the feminine, the book tries to tackle other ethical issues such as racism, sexuality, and religion without much effort on the part of the author or, for that matter, success.

I haven't read the first two books of this trilogy, and if I knew they would give a greater insight into Reynolds Price and his characters, I might give them a try. But I doubt I will, in the hopes of never having to go through this awful experience again. At its best, The Promise of Rest offers hope to all aspiring writers: If this book can get published, then by God your novel should have no problem.

PS. I don't mind being called a "psuedo-literati," though I prefer "literati-in-training;" I don't mind being accused of something I don't even agree with (I've read other books by Southerners that I absolutely enjoyed, and I'm as anti-Gap as anyone); but none of these facts make the book good by any stretch of the imagination. ....

I recommend this Book to everyone.......2000-12-22

I simply can say enough how much I loved this book. I am an avid reader, reading approximately 2 books a month and this was my all time favorite. It was incrediably touching to witness the relationship between father and son. I cried at the end because I was so sad the book ended. Because this is the holiday season and people are always swaping ideas for presents, this is the first suggestion I make.

PROMISES OF OUR CIRCLES: : A Proleptic Journey to Kingdom Economics and Kingdom Leadership

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PROMISES OF OUR CIRCLES: : A Proleptic Journey to Kingdom Economics and Kingdom Leadership
Lamont Robinson
Manufacturer: AuthorHouse
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1425941443

Book Description

PROMISES OF OUR CIRCLES: A Proleptic Journey to Kingdom Economics 1. Promises of our Circles will show the "DNA" of the Bride of Christ: . You'll learn the various meaning of circle: a man lifetime or generation, posterities within a generation, inheritance passed on within a generation, encompass or compass every side, bind or knit, a circuit, observe feasts or festivities and celebrations, to crown, royalty, protection, no beginning and ending, Alpha and Omega, Author and Finisher, Infinite and Eternal. . Learn the symbolism and spiritual qualities of the 12 foundations; access the spiritual treasure of the precious stones and jewels in the democracy or kingdom of God. 2. Promises of our Circles will show the structure needed to sustain kingdom leadership and the strategies needed to support kingdom economics: . You'll learn the 3 levels of predestination: kotp-(kingdom of the priest), kotkh-(kingdom of the kings and heirs), kotg-(kingdom of the gentiles); structured unity, unified leadership as kings and priests . You'll learn how "the Fullness of The Christ" is paramount to establishing freedom and liberty, spiritual victory reflected in material and spiritual dominion over the resistance to Truth 3. You will learn how to manifest divine intensity within the Body of Christ as it relates to time: . Learn how to accelerate your spiritual knowledge base Plus manifest and accelerate Adonai promises through a small percentage and how to translate harvest cycles of old into business cycles that produces perpetual business activity and restored covenant promises

Scottish Crown Series Book Set (Circle of Honor/The Mark of Salvation/The Price of Freedom/The Promise of Peace)

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Scottish Crown Series Book Set (Circle of Honor/The Mark of Salvation/The Price of Freedom/The Promise of Peace)
Carol Umberger
Manufacturer: Integrity Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

ASIN: B000PYIBES

Tangled Promises (Circle of Love, No 22)

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Tangled Promises (Circle of Love, No 22)
Amelia James , and aka Carla Neggers
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0553215647

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The Promise (Circle of Destiny #3)
Jim Kraus , and Terri Kraus
Manufacturer: Tyndale House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000TXORNO

Book Description

Wilks was a space marine with a near-fatal flaw: he had a heart. Billie was a child, the only survivor of a far-flung colony outpost. Thrown together in the last hellish night of an alien invasion, Billie and Wilks helped each other get out alive. Thirteen years later Wilks is in prison, and Billie lives in a mental institution, the nightmare memories of the massacre at Rim seared into her mind. Now the government has tapped Wilks to lead an expedition to the aliens' home planet to bring back a live alien. But the competition on Earth to develop the aliens as a new weapons system is brutal. When Wilks's team departs on their mission, a trained assassin trails them. And what follows is no less than guerrilla warfare on the aliens' planet--and alien conquest on Earth!

Customer Reviews:

Good book.......2007-08-17

My teenagers were having problems finding the book in the stores, they enjoyed the Alien/Predator series.

Good book.......2007-05-06

Minimum Maturity Level - Teen
Extreme violence and gore. Mild language.

Previous Reading Required - None
Seems to be the start of an epic series.

Reading Level - Average
Easy to keep up with.

Rate of Development - Average
Takes a bit to get background on the characters but not too long.

The Story - Good
Aliens found. A group of marines sent to destroy them. At the same time, a queen is brought to earth for study.

My Suggestion - Recommended
I liked this one. There is not much of a plot but its good action. It was a good story save for a few things. The ending was one of those preparing for a sequel endings so there was really no real climax to be found. The title of the book gave me the idea that it starts off as the earth is overrun but it seems like it only just tells the story of how it got overrun with a side quest being told with Wilks and Billie. I would recommend this but only if you plan on reading the sequels after.

Earth Hives.......2007-01-19

This was a gift to a friend. He said it was quite good.

Better than Alien vs. Predator.......2006-05-31

Having read all three installments of this series, I feel that the first book - Earth Hive - was the best. Since the movies all deal with faraway worlds and distant spaceships, choosing Earth as the setting of this book was a good, new angle for a novel. There is a really lurid enjoyment to seeing the places you visit get it (ala Independence Day).

Earth Hive focuses on a Marine named Wilkes and an escaped mental patient called Billie. Several subplots build the action, ranging from the marine squad sent to destroy the aliens' home planet to the arms dealers that see the aliens' as a potential weapon. As the title might imply, the Earth faces a danger of alien infestation.

The scenes are very reminiscent of the movie Aliens, and the characters could well be taken from that movie and dropped into this book without a problem. Perry uses some interesting presentation of the aliens in his book to make Earth Hive an enjoyable read. For a page or two, the book takes a documentary-like script to examining the aliens' biology. That can be a potentially dangerous plot device in a novel, but Perry pulled it off nicely. This book is what it is, and in that regard it succeeds. Three stars - average.

Aliens Earth Hive.......2005-09-06

After reading S.Perrys 'Earth Hive' I found myself wanting more, and before I knew it I had worked my way through 8 aliens books, 3 AVP books and 3 Predator books. From the first page of the first Aliens book I was hooked and I must admit nothing has ever been able to grab my mind and keep me thrilled and the need to keep me reading.

From a small age I have never really been interested in much reading, but being a fan of the Aliens movies and receiving the first 3 aliens books as gifts, I thought to myself that I would take the time and read them, and I am not regretting this decision.

The story is quite simple, humanity has fallen into a world of greed, living for the wants of life, not the needs. And during these sorrowful years we find ourselves in hell, as the beginning of the war for Earth begins. Alien eggs are stolen from a science facility and spread across the globe, and within a year man has to live in space stations and almost unhabitable planets.

Each of the books follows an almost linear pattern of story telling, we are introduced to almost doomed individuals and their growing struggle to live in a world and space inhabited by monsters. The books themselves originate from Graphic novels that would be inspiration for the books, and each page you can see this. The description jumps out at you, as each Xenomorph attack does, and you want to turn the page to see who lives, who dies and who, well becomes a lifeless host for the aliens.

S.Perry started with a great read, and with the help of his daughter who joined him and wrote her own stories, was met up with many other writers, and each one did a great job, bringing likable and hated characters, and the stories that would make you just hope that Earth would not be taken over by these creatures. But with each of the novels, you learn that man itself is far worse in nature than these creatures.

Thank you for all the authors who would write the books that would make me wish to continue the series and I hope to see on the bookstore shelves, one more story that would take me to a world where power and greed outways the growth of such a devastating species.

Earth Hive began it all, read it, it will scare you into reading the others...!

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Aliens Book One Earth Hive
Steve Perry
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000UUMAAS

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Aliens: Earth Hive and Nightmare Asylum
Steve Perry
Manufacturer: Orion
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MVVT3O

Aliens Omnibus: Earth Hive / Nightmare Asylum / The Female War (A Dark Horse Science Fiction Novel)

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Two Great Aliens Novels

Aliens Omnibus: Earth Hive / Nightmare Asylum / The Female War (A Dark Horse Science Fiction Novel)
Steve Perry , and Stephani Perry
Manufacturer: Orion Publishing Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Customer Reviews:

Two Great Aliens Novels.......2004-01-23

Steve Perry has done a wonderful job taking the horrible beasts of the screen and comics into novel format. Though these books dont have as much aliens as the movies, when they do it is horrifiying and great at the same time.

Instead of getting one book at the time just get the omnibus edition. This one, comtaining Earth Hive and Nightmare Asylum (which are the first two)has Wilks and Billie fighting the hordes of aliens as Earth is being taken over by the beasts.

In all two great novels.

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Aliens Trilogy Book 1, 2, 3 - Earth Hive - Nightmare Asylum - The Female War
Steve Perry
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000ILGCTO

Product Description

Three massmarket Paperbacks.

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Aliens, Book 1: Earth Hive
Steve PERRY
Manufacturer: Bantam Spectra
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000M6AX3Q

Earth hive : Nightmare asylum : omnibus edition / Steve Perry

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Earth hive : Nightmare asylum : omnibus edition / Steve Perry
Steve (1947-) Perry
Manufacturer: London : Millennium
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VZCW4G

Book Description

When renowned novelist and poet Reynolds Price, one of Christianity's most eloquent outlaws, was invited to deliver the annual Peabody Lecture at Harvard University Memorial Church in 2001, he chose to explore a subject that has produced fierce debate -- even wars and crusades -- and is still intensely relevant today: the ethics of Jesus. In two succeeding lectures at the National Cathedral and at Auburn Seminary, he continued the theme, exploring not only the apparently contradictory ethics that Jesus articulates in the Gospels but also constructing scenes that present Jesus with urgent dilemmas he never confronts there. In A Serious Way of Wondering, Price greatly expands those lectures and imagines Jesus in moments of confrontation with three problems of burning moral concern -- suicide, homosexuality, and the plight of women in male-dominated cultures and faiths.

It was while teaching a university course on the Gospels of Mark and John that Price first explored the ancient idea of expanding upon the Gospel narratives with further encounters between Jesus and troubled persons. Price has previously documented his studies in Three Gospels, a book in which he not only translated Mark and John from the Greek -- and discussed them extensively -- but also provided a third gospel of his own making. Price based the third gospel closely on the earliest sources but imagined his way into some of their baffling omissions. He continued those explorations when he wrote provocative new scenes for the cover story on Jesus in one of Time magazine's millennium issues.

Now, in this new book, Price offers a devoted and profoundly thought-provoking look at a subject that underlies vast areas of world civilization and has occupied the minds of many great thinkers. A sweeping view of the inescapable implications of Jesus' merciful life and all-embracing thought, and of the benefits of enlarging our notions of humane community, A Serious Way of Wondering is a significant contribution to Price's penetrating works of religious inquiry.

Customer Reviews:

Clear and thoughtful consideration of Christ-like action/ethics.......2007-01-29

Reynolds Price has been developing a large collection of significant works addressing areas of faith, understanding, interpretation of the Bible, morality in the modern world, and struggles with being a person of faith who has less faith in the traditional institutions that support Christian faith. It would stand to reason that one of the reasons that Price and others have been struggling with faith and understanding outside the traditional church is that there is a forgetfulness of the person of Jesus and his actions beneath platitudes and cliques. The "What Would Jesus Do?" fad, or as other reviews have called it the WWJD fad, ends up to be a shallow exercise if there has not been clearheaded thought and reflection on what he did do in his times and finding modern analogies to those actions. (It also losses focus because the real question is what will we do.) To think that Jesus would never have placed himself in a position to be "tempted" by drugs or the advances of a homosexual displays a forgetfulness that Jesus was open to all who came to him without a morality filter to cut off people that were taboo. It is also naive to think that Israel in the time of Jesus was homosexual free or drug free. Alcohol is a drug and if I'm not mistaken, Jesus made more wine when the guests at a wedding drank their hosts wine too fast. Instead of a sobriety speech, he made MORE wine. Homosexuals are a percentage of every society no matter how backward their morality. So I think it is safe to assume that Jesus did come into contact with homosexuals and that they may possibly have made an advance. Remember Jesus was all about intimacy (what Ivan Klima call the Ultimate Intimacy) and this could have been mistaken for something else. We don't know, but we can find certain analogies in his dealing with others in society who were looked down upon or cast out. As Price tells us, he broke down the barriers (which were built of falsity) and touched people were they stood - open, embracing, defenseless.

"A Serious Way of Wondering" show us why we need writers like Price to bring us back to the reality of Jesus in History with real people doing real things. The beauty of his reflections on the suicide is ample proof that Price is neither writing for the pouch line, nor writing to take people to task for their pain and hurt (ala most evangelicals and even Dante). We on the outside are there because we want to fully engage the texts and the truth of biblical Christianity without buying into a set of presumptions that have nothing to do with the text of Bible or with Jesus' life. Price opens the door to serious wondering / reflection because we really can't be too sure what Jesus would do in all circumstances. In his day, many people thought they knew exactly what the Messiah was going to do and as we now see clearly, they were a bit presumptive. With Price, I hope for a little more wonder and little less rigidity. If this way of wondering seriously means that one is an outlaw Christian, then sign me up.

I highly recommend Reynolds Price "A Serious Way of Wondering" to all readers. If possible see also "Palpable God", "Three Gospels", and his "Collected Poems".

Thought provoking... in the extreme........2004-02-03

Reynolds Price provides a wealth of imagination and speculation in this physically small but intellectually expansive book. Writing as a self-described "outlaw Christian", he attempts to address Jesus' role or philosophy with regard to topics given relatively short shrift by the Gospels -- homosexuality, suicide and the role of women in the Church.

Taking a thought from the "What Would Jesus Do?" (WWJD)fad, Price speculates on how the ethics of Jesus might have led him to react had he been faced with the romantic affections of another man, or the immiment suicide of a follower. More appealingly, Price never claims to be presenting new theology, only to be offering the basis for continuing consideration of Christ's timeless message.

I'm usually quick to reject much of the WWJD speculation for the simple reason that Jesus would likely never have put himself in the position of flirting with more modern temptations such as drug use or fathering a child out of wedlock, but the three scenarios offered by Price are much more plausible.

People of faith, who welcome theologic speculation and reverent debate will enjoy this work, as Mr. Price never allows doubt on the divinity of Jesus. You might agree with his imaginings, or you might believe that he's off base. But either way, once you've finished this book, you'll be thinking more about Christ and his teachings. It's not meant to be either a repudiation or augmentation of the Gospels, but it does shine a very interesting light on them.

Poignant with No Ideological Axe to Grind!.......2004-01-03

Imagining what God or Jesus might say or do in any given situation is not new. Serious speculation of such is. Our nation's roadways are littered with signs bearing cutesy quotes attributed to "--God." Televangelists continue to tell us what God told them in private. Pop Christianity's commercialized 'What Would Jesus Do' (WWJD) movement conjures a moralistic/legalistic Jesus obsessed with strict application of select aspects of Jewish law (a Jesus who bears little resemblance to the iconoclastic figure captured in the New Testament gospels). In all these forms, however, there is little imaginination and an abundance of agenda. The sponsors of the God billboards want you to go to church. The televangelists want you to send in more money. The WWJD crowd wants to sell a few more wrist bands and t-shirts (and perhaps help you abstain from pre-marital sex too while they're at it). None, however, are serious in their wondering. None are actually grappling with the often difficult application of Jesus' ethic of unconditional love. Reynolds Price shows us a serious way of wondering. His "speculations" are timely, thoughtful, and thoroughly substantiated (Price provides more background than speculation). And his Jesus is just as surprising as the one we witness in the gospel narratives. You might expect Reynolds Price to push his own sexual/political agenda here, but he doesn't. You might expect Reynold's Jesus to bend the old law to bring himself into it. He doesn't. Rather, Price gives us an encounter with a Jesus who explodes our conception of love and confounds our assumptions, our tendencies to judge, and our often desperate defenses of patriarchy and tribal prejudice. What can love mean? Indeed!

Jesus Lite.......2003-12-30

Despite describing himself as an "outlaw" Christian, Price makes it clear from the outset that his views are of the conventional variety when he describes the Resurrection as "a firmly attested fact." (p. 28) Miracles are part of the fabric of his beliefs, there being no doubt in his mind that Jesus was the Son of God who had miraculous powers. Many other thinking Christians would consider that fact, whether true or not, irrelevant.

He then goes on to describe, in the WWJD [What Would Jesus Do] mold, how he thinks Jesus would have dealt with three sticky moral and ethical issues -- homosexuality (he would have been tolerant of it, if not a participant), suicide (he would allow it in appropriate circumstances), and the role of women in a male-dominated society (no real answer here). The stories in which he deals with these issues are well-written (Price is a professional writer who teaches English at Duke), but offer little insight into these issues, and little in the way of scriptural or historical support for his views.

The most useful thing in the book is an appendix entitled "Further Reading," but that doesn't justify the cost.

Bold.......2003-08-28

Price dares to wonder, 'What would Jesus think?' and offers the reader some fascinating possibilities. It is impressive and humble all at once; a must read for anybody fascinated by the ongoing evolution of religious thought.

A Serious Way of Wondering: The Ethics of Jesus Imagined

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A Serious Way of Wondering: The Ethics of Jesus Imagined
Reynolds Price
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Ethics | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0743230094

Book Description

In two succeeding lectures at the National Cathedral and at Auburn Seminary,

Price continued to explore the apparently contradictory ethics that Jesus articulates in the Gospels; and in a controversial act of artistic license, Price reimagined the historical Jesus. In A Serious Way of Wondering, Price expands these lectures to present Jesus with three problems of burning moral concern -- suicide, homosexuality, and the plight of women in male-dominated cultures and faiths. A sweeping view of the inescapable implications of Jesus' merciful life and all-embracing thought -- and of the benefits of enlarging our notions of humanity, community, and equality -- A Serious Way of Wondering is a significant contribution to Price's penetrating works of religious inquiry.

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