Book Description
Leading Israeli novelist Sami Michael shares his gift for navigating the cultural conflicts in modern Israel with A Trumpet in the Wadi, a novel that transcends its Middle Eastern setting with an honest and heartbreaking story of impossible love and the strength of family.
Set in the months preceding the 1982 Israeli-Arab conflict in Lebanon, this beautifully written tale is the coming-of-age story of two fatherless Christian Arab sisters, Huda and Mary, who live in the wadi -- the Arab quarter in the Jewish city of Haifa on the northern coast of Israel. An extraordinary bond of love and mutual respect unites the sisters -- polar opposites from their appearances to their tempers. Huda, the narrator of the story, is thin and withdrawn and, after abandoning her chance at marriage a few years back, has prematurely resigned herself to the monotonous life of an old maid. Her younger sister, Mary, is voluptuous, carnal, and perennially unemployed. Wrapped in the love of their sometimes bitter mother, their iconoclast grandfather, and the cheerful and omnipresent neighbor Jamilla, the sisters' lives change when a peculiar young Russian Jewish immigrant, Alex, moves into the upstairs flat. The melodies of the soulful trumpet player become the intoxicating theme music for Huda's unexpected reawakening -- and for Mary's dangerous foray into a love triangle with the heir of the local Muslim mob and her country cousin.
Michael's internationally acclaimed novel is a major achievement, illuminating the vast range of interlocking relationships between Jews and Arabs, Muslims and Christians, men and women. A Trumpet in the Wadi is an honest, witty, and ultimately heartbreaking story -- one that draws on the conflicts in the Middle East, but one whose insights into love and family can cross all cultural and political boundaries.
Customer Reviews:
moving and thought provoking.......2004-06-24
This is a beautifully told love story told in the context of a conflict that overwhelms the individuals caught in its web. The characters are drawn so memorably, the cultures that come together described from the heart, and the meaning of family, love and duty are explored in a subtle manner that does not interfere with the telling of the story. It is a powerful indictment of war, and anyone who is lucky enough to read this book will not only be moved by the beauty of the writing, but will also gain a clearer view of the impact of the Palestinian-Israeli struggle upon the lives of the people who live in the region. A must read!!!!
Great novel.......2003-08-31
The Editorial reviews do justice to the book; I can hardly elaborate... for me the best among Israeli authors today. Michael is a former commie in Iraq who has matured and wised up in the Israeli cauldron where Arabs and Jews are mortal enemies. The book will not pacify this bloodsoaked country but its readers will enjoy a well written bittersweet novel as good as the author's previous novel "Refuge" ("Hasut") also in English. "Trumpet..." is now also a good Israeli movie.
Customer Reviews:
Very well written........2006-04-23
Jillian Heart has done it again. Sweet Blessings is about a single mom named Amy McKaslin who is trying to keep the family dinner up and running. One night she is helped out by Heath Murdock, she hires him on as a cook. Heath has his own problems to deal with and they dont included Amy or her son. Will both Amy and Heath learn to put the past behind and learn to love? Or will Heath just be another drifter passing through? I really enjoyed this book, it is another one of Jillian Hearts best stories.
Book Description
Little girls are the nicest things that happen to people. They are born
with a little bit of angelshine about them.
—Alan Beck
This beautifully illustrated book by award–winning artist Sandra Kuck masterfully captures the age of innocence and celebrates the sugar and spice that make little girls so nice. Rediscover the simple joys and delights of life in this timeless tribute to what it means to be young and carefree.
A moving collection of scriptures, quotes and musings by beloved writers, including Anne Frank, Louisa May Alcott, and Edgar Guest, Thank Goodness for Little Girls makes a precious gift for parents, grandparents, and anyone else whose life has been touched by the sweet smile of a little girl.
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Sweet Blessings from Our Home
Elizabeth O. Steedley
Manufacturer: Tate Outloud
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD
 General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Nonfiction | Books on CD | Audiobooks | Formats | Books
ASIN: 1602474052 |
Customer Reviews:
Great cookbook.......2007-07-16
This is a great cookbook of southern and classic family recipes. Easy to follow with few ingredients - most of which you may already have on hand.
Product Description
7 mass market paperbacks. 7 Lavyrle Spencer Titles - Bitter Sweet - Bygones - Endearment - Family Blessings - Forgiving - Fulfillment - Gamble
Amazon.com
Named by his father after the Soviet OMON, the Interior Ministry riot police, Omon, a Soviet astronaut, renames himself Ra after the Egyptian sun god. As he approaches his final crisis, Omon reflects on the lies he's told and on the one that has just been revealed to him--that the Soviet space program (that he's based his entire life upon) is entirely other than what it purports to be. As Omon tries to reconcile the events of his life, he remembers what a Colonel of the KGB once told him, " ... the more consciously you perform your feat of heroism, the greater will be the degree of truth." The ensuing truths he uncovers are astonishing.
Book Description
black comic Russian novel, tr Andrew Bromfield
Customer Reviews:
this country needs heros even if they never new they were there.......2007-01-29
have you ever asked your self i would realy like sci-fi if it werent so nerdy? or i love sci-fi but i wish i could find a great book that i could believe. well this is the book for you infact if youve ever thought i like amazingly good books this is the book for you. i was given this book by a friend who was still in a daze after having finished it he just kept saying, "i cant believe it oh my god....wow." so of course i gave it a shot and ...oh my god, i cant believe how good this book is
Requires an index that isn't there.......2004-10-16
This is an amazing book. It's really funny - provided that (like me) you have someone who knows the inside jokes to explain them to you. Otherwise, a lot of the things that happen really make no sense, and you're left guessing as to why things happen. There are a lot of references to Soviet history that totally flew over my head the first time I read it. (The second time, I had more information). It's really sad that there isn't an index because, when given more of a context, it's a fantastic read. (On the other hand, maybe the lack of context works better with a postmodernist work - it all depends on your perspective!)
Pelevin is a modern mystic.......2004-04-27
Most of the reviews available on this page suggest that Omon Ra is a new "1984", i.e., a (morbid) satire of the Soviet State. I would like to disagree with this interpretation. Pelevin is a deeply mystical writer. A mystical writer (especially a Russian mystical writer) would not waste his time criticizing some long-forgotten political regime. Reading Omon Ra as a sad satire of the USSR is like saying that Kafka's Metamorphosis is about the situation in pre-war Austrian Empire or that Borges' The Book of Sand is about the condition of intellectuals in Argentina. People who see only the (pseudo) satirical dimension in Omon Ra hugely underestimate Pelevin.
In my opinion, Omon Ra could have taken place in any society and in any era (whence the surreal "reincarnation test" in the middle of the book). It is (as any good mystical novel) a travel of a soul through layers of emptiness. This travel seemingly ends on the dark side of the Moon, in desolation and despair. But wait until you read the last pages before you conclude that suicide is the only solution in the murky world of Russian mysticism. And please, compare Pelevin to Gogol or Kafka rather than to Orwell.
shattered self-identity.......2004-02-20
I would reccomend this book to anyone who enjoys parody and especially to anyone who enjoyed Catch-22. Pelevin's book is a deeply funny and deeply heart-breaking commentary about self-identity, both personal and national. It is smart without being self-consciously so, its themes are universal, and the protagonist and his journey are unforgettable.
Hilarious view at the Soviet space programme.......2004-02-15
Omon is a typical Soviet boy growing up in a dreary suburb of Moscow with an absent mother, a drunken father and an uninterested aunt who takes care of him. Since his childhood he want to be a cosmonaut and he shares this dream with a boy from the neighbourhood, Mitiok. Together they apply for Flying School and even make it to the training for the space program. Gradually it dawns on them that the Soviet achievements in the air and in space are not as glorious as they are claimed to be: the space program has a whole new interpretation of the term "automation" which makes the people who have to carry out the "automated techniques" into instant heroes, but in a way you do not exactly want. In the end Omon visits the moon, but not in the way he had expected it to be...
Pelevin wraps his criticisms on the Soviet society in a story which is at the same time hilarious, sarcastic and critical and makes you think of Franz Kafka and Joseph Heller. Definitely worth reading.
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Chapaev i Pustota. Omon Ra
V. Pelevin
Manufacturer: Vagrius
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
All Russian Books
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ASIN: 5956000988 |
Product Description
Viktor Pelevin - samyj izvestnyj i samyj zagadochnyj pisatel' svoego pokoleniya. Ego proza - sochetanie kazalos' by nesoedinimykh kachestv: massovosti i elitarnosti, ostroj sovremennosti i pogruzhennosti v realii proshlogo, vsegda uvidennogo pod ves'ma ekstsentricheskim uglom zreniya. Vidimo, vse eto i yavlyaetsya sostavlyayuschimi neveroyatnogo uspekha ego proizvedenij. Roman ''Chapaev i Pustota'' sam avtor kharakterizuet tak: ''Eto pervoe proizvedenie v mirovoj literature, dejstvie kotorogo proiskhodit v absolyutnoj pustote''. Na samom dele ono proiskhodit v 1919 godu v divizii Chapaeva, v kotoroj glavnyj geroj, poet-dekadent Petr Pustota, sluzhit komissarom, a takzhe v nashi dni, i, kak eto chasto byvaet u Pelevina, v virtual'nom prostranstve... ''Omon Ra'' - eto istoriya o tom, kak sovetskaya vlast' durila svoj narod i mirovoe soobschestvo, zapuskaya v kosmos korabli na chelovecheskoj tyage, chtoby sozdat' u ''kosmonavtov'' vpechatlenie, budto oni pobyvali na Lune.
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OMON RA
Victor Pelevin
Manufacturer: Farrar Straus Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OXMCUE |
Average customer rating:
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Omon Ra
V. Pelevin
Manufacturer: EKSMO
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 5699068910 |
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Omon Ra
Manufacturer: Vagrius
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 5264004331 |
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Omon Ra
Viktor Pelevine , and
Galia Ackerman
Manufacturer: Mille et une nuits
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
All French Books
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ASIN: 2842053362 |
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Omon Ra
V. Pelevin
Manufacturer: Vagrius
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
All Russian Books
| Russian
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ASIN: 5956001747 |
Customer Reviews:
Fascinating.......2005-05-21
Victor Pelevin, without any doubt, is one of the best of the Post-Soviet Russian writers. His short novel "Omon Ra" is a marvelous fable of the Soviet Union. The main character, Omon, named so after the Soviet riot police, dreams of escaping the gloomy reality of Soviet life by becoming a cosmonaut. But his dream slowly turns into a nightmare once he is told that he is being trained for a space suicide mission... The storyline is fascinating. It's a satire of the highest calibre. Wonderfully written book, it keeps you tied to its pages from start to finish...
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Omon Ra: With the Novella the Yellow Arrow
Victor Pelevin , and
Viktor Pelevin
Manufacturer: Harbord Pub.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Contemporary
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Eastern European
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Russian
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Russian
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ASIN: 1899414002 |
Book Description
Leszek Kolakowski discusses, in a highly original way, the arguments for and against the existence of God as they have been conducted through the ages. He examines the critiques of religious belief, from the Epicureans through Nietzsche to contemporary anthropological inquiry, the assumptions that underlie them, and the counter-arguments of such apologists as Descartes, Leibniz, and Pascal.
His exploration of the philosophy of religion covers the historical discussions of the nature and existence of evil, the importance of the concepts of failure and eternity to the religious impulse, the relationship between skepticism and mysticism, and the place of reason, understanding, and in models of religious thought. He examines why people, throughout known history, have cherished the idea of eternity and existence after death, and why this hope has been dependent on the worship of an eternal reality. He confronts the problems of meaning in religious language.
Customer Reviews:
St. Augustine was right.......2007-03-26
This is the second book which I have read by this author and if I may say so, out of respect for his age, as well as out of respect for my own faith, it will be the last.
This book has an agenda, namely, to persuade the reader, particularly one who is a person of faith, to abandon that faith and follow the author's line of reasoning, which is to deny all but offer nothing in return. He selectively uses excerpts, many out of context, from many past historians, philosophers and theologians none of whom he agrees with yet uses them only to fit or to favor his agenda. Throughout the book he qualifies his statements with many "it seems, perhaps, some would say, others would say" and so on without stating concretely who say what and who doesn't in those specific instances. As a result one is left with a feeling that there is a lot fence straddling going on in this author's mind. Of course, in America, Religion sells and in the current culture, anti-religion probably sells equally well. Curiously, there is hardly any reference to Islam and the bulk of the book is anti-Christian.
This book is all about brains without heart and pride without humility. The author on several occasions refers to those who follow certain religious faiths as "simpletons," yet in other parts he stresses the value of equal human dignity for all. Thus, he makes a good argument that some are more equal than others as some are the "elite" brains and the others "simpletons" who deserve only a life of servitude to the intellect of those brains.
His concluding remarks, which are supposed to state the author's own and personal viewpoint as to belief in God as well as the meaning of life, are not persuasive and from a psychiatric viewpoint, without affect.
It is as if an automaton is speaking.
The author mentions St. Augustine several times and if anything this book proves that St. Augustine was correct in that the author's soul is restless and will remain so until it rests in God.
Books:
- Above the Thunder
- Accident: A Day's News: A Novel (Phoenix Fiction)
- Across the Nightingale Floor (Tales of the Otori, Book One)
- Al Este Del Eden/East of Eden (Granta en Espanol)
- Archaeologies of Vision: Foucault and Nietzsche on Seeing and Saying
- Arrogance: A Novel
- ART OF THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, THE
- At the Eleventh Hour: The biography of Swami Rama
- Best of American Splendor
- Black Mountain Breakdown
Books Index
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Refuge
Arabesques: A Novel
Human Parts (Verba Mundi,)
The Smile of the Lamb
The One Facing Us: A Novel
