The Third Life of Grange Copeland

Book Description

Despondent over the futility of life in the South, black tenant farmer Grange Copeland leaves his wife and son in Georgia to head North. After meeting an equally humiliating existence there, he returns to Georgia, years later, to find his son, Brownfield, imprisoned for the murder of his wife. As the guardian of the couple's youngest daughter, Grange Copeland is looking at his third -- and final -- chance to free himself from spiritual and social enslavement.

Customer Reviews:

A Best.......2007-05-06

I was mesmerized by this book. I believe it is her best.

what do we make of life?.......2004-12-15

I rarely read a book in one day, not enough time, but this one I did. Obviously I have no way of knowing what it was like for a black man during the years of this book but every time Brownfield blamed someone else for his pitiful life I wanted to scream, grow up!! Brownfield blames everything wrong in his life on the white people, especially the men. Jealousy is really behind his rantings. He sees what they have and he doesn't. Could he have done better for himself and his family? I would hope so. Drinking and beating your wife until she hates you are not living. Then he starts beating his daughters. Only after he kills Mem and Ruth goes to live with her changed grandfather, Grange, do we see what black men can do to change their lives. Grange changed his. He puts his entire life into Ruth. He learns and he passes it on to her. He adores her and she him. Grange is exactly what a child like Ruth needed after living through hell with Brownfield. I do not want to give the ending away so I am not going to comment except that perhaps a circle was broken.
I liked the book, but got very sick and tired of Brownfield's whining and whining. Get up and do something with your life then.

Excellent early Walker.......2004-04-24

Often, if an author writes a book that becomes immensely popular and a mainstay in modern literature, their career is then divided up between before and after. For the majority, I'd say their entry point to an author's canon usually is the well-received work, so it's fun to browse an author's "backlog" and experience their earliest achievements. Having been a fan of Alice Walker for many years but only having read two novels (plus a great deal of short stories and non-fiction), I figured it was time to give her first published novel, "The Third Life of Grange Copeland," a try.

Had this been written by anybody but Alice Walker, I'd say this was one of the most impressive debut novels I've read. Since it *is* written by Walker, I should have known to not be surprised by the eloquence, the poetry and the grittiness of this book. Alice Walker is a storyteller with gifts bordering on the supernatural; if the Southern U.S. landscape could talk, it would sound a lot like Alice Walker. This is the story, told in razor sharp prose, of a man and the effect his actions have on his family over a period of many years. It's not an easy novel to read as there are hard truths in the story of Grange and Brownfield but there are lessons that will stay with the reader. This is also an interesting study on the actions of an individual, and who is to blame; society or the man/woman? There are no such easy answers in this book and I found myself wavering between sympathy and outright hatred for some of the characters, but it's the mark of a great read when I can feel so much for a story.

Exceptional book. As fresh today as it was 30 years ago........2004-02-17

Exceptional writer! Vivid easy flowing language. Not only adresses pregidous, but addresses how humans of any color can sometimes be their own worst enemy.

Not a happy book.......2003-02-09

This is a beautifully written, eye-opening tale of life for poor blacks in the mid-twentieth-century South. I highly recommend it for lending perspective to the lives of oppressed people. However, it is an EXTREMELY DEPRESSING book, particularly for a white person who wishes her own race to be less horrible to others.

Black Expressions Rediscoveries (Third Life of Grange Copeland, Meridian, The Color Purple)

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Black Expressions Rediscoveries (Third Life of Grange Copeland, Meridian, The Color Purple)

Manufacturer: Bookspan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 1582880751

4 PBs by Alice Walker: Meridian, Revolutionary Petunias, Once, Third Life of Grange Copeland

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4 PBs by Alice Walker: Meridian, Revolutionary Petunias, Once, Third Life of Grange Copeland
Alice Walker
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Product Description

Paperbacks

Alice Walker: Color Purple/Meridian/the Third Life of Grange Copeland

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Alice Walker: Color Purple/Meridian/the Third Life of Grange Copeland
Alice Walker
Manufacturer: Pocket Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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Black Expressions Rediscoveries (Third Life of Grange Copeland, Meridian, The Color Purple)
Alice Walker
Manufacturer: Quality Paperback Book Club
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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THE THIRD LIFE OF GRANGE COPELAND
ALICE WALKER
Manufacturer: THE WOMEN'S PRESS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Third Life of Grange Copeland
Alice Walker
Manufacturer: Pocket Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Third Life of Grange Copeland
Alice Walker
Manufacturer: Harcourt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Third Life of Grange Copeland
Alice Walker
Manufacturer: Avon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Third Life of Grange Copeland Meridian T

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Third Life of Grange Copeland Meridian T
Alice Walker
Manufacturer: QUALITY PAPERBACK BOOKCLUB
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VFVBKC

Texas Homecoming (Night Riders)
Average customer rating:

Conflict, tension and history? Yes. Romance? Not so much.

A very different story line makes for an enjoyable read.

Cade and Pilar-Texas Homecoming-SPOILERS

Disappointed in California

superb Americana romance
Texas Homecoming (Night Riders)
Leigh Greenwood
Manufacturer: Leisure Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Romance | Subjects | Books
Greenwood, Leigh | ( G ) | Authors, A-Z | Romance | Subjects | Books
General | Historical | Romance | Subjects | Books
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Texas Bride (Leisure Historical Romance)

Born to Love

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Wyoming Wildfire

ASIN: 0843949724

Customer Reviews:

Conflict, tension and history? Yes. Romance? Not so much........2006-03-28

From the back cover:

Night Riders...

They were a crack team of Confederate raiders, striking behind enemy lines under cover of darkness, operating with one mind, one heart. Until one of their number betrayed them all. In the aftermath of tragedy, they swore the would live to hunt down the traitor. But to each, life would bring first a woman and then a revelation: Far sweeter than revenge is love.

Cade...

Captain of the Night Riders, he led the survivors home to Texas to make a fresh start. His grandfather still lived, his ranch still stood, and waiting there was a dark-eyes temptress who made him all too glad to be alive. When he took Pilar in his arms, his blood surged hotly and he felt like the wild young man who'd once abducted her for a lark. But the war had changed them all and now he would allow nothing to come between them--not her family, not his heritage, not even her turncoat of a brother.

And my review:

This book was obviously well researched, and it was presented in such a way that it painted the background picture, instead of jarring the reader out of the story.

My complaint with this book was that I was looking for a romance, and got a historical fiction novel instead. The constant arguing between the feuding families got very grating very quickly. And there wasn't much romance in this book. What romance there was showed up very late (I cheated and skimmed ahead) and wasn't all that compelling.

The non-romance plot wasn't gripping enough for me to need to finish this book. I wanted a romance novel, and instead I got a historical fiction novel with a love story sort of tacked on to it. You may like this, but it all depends on what you expect from the book. If all you want is a post-Civil war story, then this will probably satisfy you. But it won't if you want a story that is primary romance.

A very different story line makes for an enjoyable read........2003-06-17

The story held my interest. All 6-7 pf Cade's friends has a personality of his own and could be worthy sequels. The heroine became more enjoyable as she broke thru the bounds of her staid ecultural upbringing and became her own person. The "old feud"
dialogue got redundant and boring. It's alwasy interesting to see how people tried to pick up the pieces of their broken lives after the civil war which made the slow parts tolerable.

Cade and Pilar-Texas Homecoming-SPOILERS.......2002-06-18

favorite scene with pilar-
finally having the sense to tell her brother off and stand up to her grandma.

favorite scene with cade-
willing to compromise with pilar on her brother.

favorite scene with pilar and cade together-
the fiesta they go to in san antonio.

Disappointed in California.......2002-05-01

I have been waiting months for a new book by Mr. Greenwood and was excited when this book was finally published; but alas, I was extremely disappointed in 'Texas Homecoming'. The story is slow, boring, very little action, and all gibberish. The two main characters, Cade and Pilar, had nothing in common except old family feuds. They just didn't click with their boring personalities, which I contribute, in part, to Mr. Greenwood not providing his usual character buildup/background. The bickering between grandparents and Cade and Pilar started to annoy me about a third way through the book.
I can normally finish one of his books in less than two days; this one required a lot of determination to finish.
I loved and kept the Bride and Cowboy series, but this one just isn't worth keeping. However, I will try to give Mr. Greenwood the benefit of the doubt and will await the second book of this series, and hope that it rates at least a three.

superb Americana romance.......2002-03-10

By 1864 Confederate Captain Cade Wheeler is tired of the war and the successful raids he has led. Perhaps his wariness is born of the treachery suffered by Cade and his men when one of their alleged most loyal followers diViere betrayed them, leaving many dead from the Northern ambush. The war is over so Cade leads the survivors back to their Texas home to start anew in a radically different world. However, foremost in most of their minds is vengeance on diViere.

Cade takes over his family ranch from his feisty grandfather. Already staying at the spread is diViere's sister Pilar and their grandmother because squatters have forced them out of the family home. Cade plans to use Pilar to get to diViere, but as Cade and Pilar argue they fall in love. However, she is the sibling of the person he detests so much that he wants to personally kill the man.

Leigh Greenwood raises the heat and tension with his latest tale, TEXAS HOMECOMING. The story line is loaded with action and two strong lead characters. Cade struggles between his obsessive thirst for vengeance and his need to nurture his beloved. Pilar is a fiery individual who loves her captain, but when she learns why he courts her, all hell breaks out. Few authors provide a vivid descriptive Americana romance filled with realistic angst-laden protagonists as this author can.

Harriet Klausner

The Texas Brand: The Homecoming
Average customer rating:

Very nice ending to the Texas series......

:)
The Texas Brand: The Homecoming
Maggie Shayne
Manufacturer: Silhouette
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Romance | Subjects | Books
General | Contemporary | Romance | Subjects | Books
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That Mysterious Texas Brand Man (World's Most Eligible Bachelors)

Baddest Bride In Texas (The Texas Brand) (Silhouette Intimate Moments, 907) Baddest Bride In Texas (The Texas Brand) (Silhouette Intimate Moments, 907)

The Husband She Couldn't Remember (The Texas Brand; Silhouette Intimate Moments, No. 854)

The Texas Brand: Angel Meets the Badman (Silhouette Intimate Moments, No. 1000)

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ASIN: 0373484291

Customer Reviews:

Very nice ending to the Texas series.............2005-08-04

Luke Brand is one of the illegitimate cousins of the very large Brand family and he comes to find Quinn, Texas the home he never knew he needed.
Although it is difficult to believe that I have read all of the preceding Texas Brand books already, this last installment delivers the fabulous story lines I have come to depend on from Maggie Shayne!
I am a huge fan of Ms. Shayne's vampire and witch books and decided to give this series a try as a result. I found I could not put them down! I am off to start the Oklahoma Brands now!
If you want excitement and great storylines, then this series and Maggie Shayne are just for you!

:).......2001-06-18

Another GREAT Texas Brand book! If you have been reading the series than you know that Grant and Sara's father was a bigomist. He was married to two different women at the same time. He had two kids with one woman and five kids with the other. We learn in this book that he also had a long time affair with yet another woman, and this woman gave birth to a son-Luke Brand.

Luke has been isolated his whole life, but after a good friend dies he realizes that he wants more than his solitary life, so he heads to Texas to meet his half siblings and cousins. The Brands are thrilled to have Luke among there family and soon he decides to stay in Texas. Luke is remodeling the house that he rents and soon he will buy it at auction. Luke's plans are threatened when Jasmine and her son Baxtor show up claiming the house to be theirs.

Luke soon develops feelings for both Jasmine and her son. Luke knows that they are in serious trouble and he wants to help. Jasmine does not want to involve Luke or the rest of the Brands into her messy troubles (she obviously knows nothing about the Brand family). The decision may be taken out of Jasmines hands when she finds herself in over her head.

This is a great addition to the Texas Brand series. I love Luke, Jasmine, and Baxter. It was also nice to read about the rest of the Brand family again. This book has everything-suspense, romance, and family. And just when you think that the trouble has ended it starts all over again. I read this from cover to cover before putting it down. Thank You Maggie Shayne for another great Brand book.

Jared's Texas Homecoming: The Texas Brotherhood (Silhouette Romance)
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Jared's Texas Homecoming: The Texas Brotherhood (Silhouette Romance)
Patricia Thayer
Manufacturer: Silhouette
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Romance | Subjects | Books
Silhouette Romance | Series | Romance | Subjects | Books
General | Contemporary | Romance | Subjects | Books
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Wyatt's Ready - Made Family (Silhouette Romance)

Dylan's Last Dare (Silhouette Romance)

ASIN: 0373196806

"Acts, Patterns of Church Growth" Preston Road School of Preaching 18th Anniversary Homecoming Lectures November 20-23, 1983
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"Acts, Patterns of Church Growth" Preston Road School of Preaching 18th Anniversary Homecoming Lectures November 20-23, 1983
Preston Road Church of Christ
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NZW9XI

Product Description

Table of Contents:Theme LecturesAn Explosive Expansion, Neal Anthony, 1973Expansion Through Struggle, Steve Snider, 1977The Conviction of Preaching in Acts, Hiawatha Jackson, 1980Expansion Worldwide, Fred Yarbrough, 1977The Concern of Preaching in Acts, Bob Owen, 1968Expansion Now!, Alfred Less, Faculty, 1973-83The Content of Preaching in Acts, Larry Foster, 1968Panel DiscussionsThe Distinct Message of the PreacherThe Church, A Distinct Body, Tom Allen, 1968The Life, A Distinct Way, Johnny Kennamer, 1974The Distinct Life of the PreacherThe Preacher's Distinctive Principles, Michael B. Hays, 1979The Distinct Heart of the PreacherThe Preacher's Distinctive Purpose, John Orr, 1982The Preacher's Distinctive Hope, Gilberto Torres, 1980ExpositionsExposition of Acts 13, Mike Schneider, 1979Exposition of Acts 17, Martin D. Moore, 1981ClassesMethods in Personal Evangelism, Rick Eldred, 1977Ideals of Church Growth, Don Coles, 1969Team Work in Acts, Rick Kelly, David Ridenour, 1980

Jared's Texas Homecoming: The Texas Brotherhood

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Jared's Texas Homecoming: The Texas Brotherhood
Patricia Thayer
Manufacturer: Silhouette
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OWJVZE

2 Books by Leigh Greenwood (Texas Homecoming and The Reluctant Bride)

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2 Books by Leigh Greenwood (Texas Homecoming and The Reluctant Bride)
Leigh Greenwood
Manufacturer: Leisure Historical Romance
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000TBIML4

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COLFAX

Manufacturer: Henry L. Geddie Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000I9NPGE

Product Description

Very interesting book on Colfax/Van Zandt county.Tells alot of history and names of people that lived in Colfax.Published for the Homecoming Committee

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The Homecoming: The Texas Brand
Maggie Shayne
Manufacturer: Silhouette Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000UHMIYO

The Last Bride In Texas; Beckett's Birthright; The Doctor's Homecoming (3 Books - All Historicals Western Series)

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The Last Bride In Texas; Beckett's Birthright; The Doctor's Homecoming (3 Books - All Historicals Western Series)
Judith; Williams, Bronwyn; Bridges, Kate Stacy
Manufacturer: Harlequin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OWNTIE

"Servants of God" 16th Homecoming Lectures Nov. 22-25 1981 (PRESTON ROAD SCHOOL OF PREACHING; DALLAS, TEXAS)

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"Servants of God" 16th Homecoming Lectures Nov. 22-25 1981 (PRESTON ROAD SCHOOL OF PREACHING; DALLAS, TEXAS)

Manufacturer: PRESTON ROAD CHURCH OF CHRIST
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000EI4F4A

Book Description

Utopia has been achieved. For centuries, disease, hunger, poverty and war have been things found only in the history tapes. And applied genetics has given men and women the bodies of athletes and a lifespan of over a century.

They should all have been very happy....

But Hamilton Felix is bored. And he is the culmination of a star line; each of his last thirty ancestors chosen for superior genes. Hamilton is, as far as genetics can produce one, the ultimate man. And this ultimate man can see no reason why the human race should survive, and has no intention of continuing the pointless comedy.

However, Hamilton's life is about to become less boring. A secret cabal of revolutionaries who find utopia not just boring, but desperately in need of leaders who know just What Needs to be Done, are planning to revolt and put themselves in charge. Knowing of Hamilton's disenchantment with the modern world, they have recruited him to join their Glorious Revolution. Big mistake! The revolutionaries are about to find out that recruiting a superman was definitely not a good idea....

Customer Reviews:

Immature Heinlein.......2006-07-08

"However, Hamilton's life is about to become less boring."

But not by much.

Of course there's something fine in the book, and that's because Heinlein wrote it: the fun of the imagined future, twinkling with unexplored wonders, the unbelievable and yet somehow unobjectionable superwit of the characters, (the erotic dominant/submissive roleplay), the guns. Scientific explanations still sound fresh and informative, and one forgives the author when he begins directly addressing the reader to describe the technology of his new world.

But even for 150 pages not much happens in this book---the climax crests ever so slightly about halfway through and leaves the plot sputtering, sputtering, refusing to die for another fifty pages. Characters are mostly supermen, who certainly don't need our pity and seem to get along fine without our caring. Hamilton plays a supporting role in his own tale. Our man from the past arrives only to tease us with a brief significance subsequently written off as a plot detail.

Heinlein has yet to hit his prime here. The writing, while enjoyable, clunkily switches scenes.

'"I wonder what Jack's up to?" wondered Amy.

'Here's what Jack was up to..."

Or...

'"We probably should go see Malcolm."

'At Malcolm's house, where they arrived...'

The author (as condescendingly as one of his characters) will relay fictive history to us of past wars and interesting events, and then crisply bring us back to the present, where such history has little effect or interest. There are too many speeches, too many damned theories let loose with nothing to attach, personify, or realize them.

Not that the theme isn't a significant one, and Heinlein does flesh it, but the story just won't fit around it: the shapes don't match. Bringing life to his imagination is a task competing with communicating with the reader: he proposes the fantastic again and again, forgetting the book's primary reason. What is life? Where are the answers? A grand game, suggests one of Hamilton's monologues, preprogrammed, or simple love as his macroeconomist friend discovers, children, reincarnation, the dollars of the man from the past--or the basic utilitarian goal, eugenically realized? That is a theme, damn it, something you can write a novel about. And it's there, no doubt, but I'm meeting Heinlein more than halfway: I'm dragging it out, really twisting the plot to get at it, being more cooperative than a reader should be.

An armed society may be a polite society, but a polite society isn't all that exciting.

And Heinlein's the best, but this isn't the best Heinlein.

An imaginative future that never was.......2006-04-09

As with many Heinlein novels, Beyond This Horizon isn't so much a straightforward narrative as it is an excuse to throw as many bizarre locales and situations at the reader as will fit between the covers. Indeed, the title betrays the author's intent, much like H. G. Wells's The Shape of Things to Come, in that it places the depiction of a possible future as the purpose of the book; the plot takes second place, existing primarily as a convenient hook on which to hang the various prognostications.

And prognostications there are: humanity becomes a colossal genetics experiment, with some people paid not to enhance their genes due to the need for a control group; dueling is allowed in order to avenge slights, though if one opts out of dueling one may not be armed; Leisure time has increased immensely, and in fact one of the smartest men in the world, our protagonist, has amassed a fortune designing complex electronic games (not video games as we know them, but this is still remarkable prescient); and, of course, undercurrents of rebellion as a small group expresses dissatisfaction at the way such a perfect society is maintained.

It is this latter item that is ostensibly the source of the novel's conflict, at least according to the copy on the back cover of the Baen edition-the hero must decide which side he is on. But this conflict comes and goes with little real suspense, and in fact that may be the characteristic that best defines Beyond This Horizon: a pronounced lack of tension. But if you know Heinlein, you know that whether it succeeds or fails as a novel, it will not fail to fascinate, and it is on that basis that I recommend it. Don't read it for the plot. Read it for the prescience; along with video games, this is the novel in which Heinlein inadvertently invents the waterbed. Read it for the howlers; humans are said to have forty-eight chromosomes (though I've found this in several older stories, so they must have really thought that back then), and Heinlein identifies rabbits as rodents (but so does Monty Python, so I guess it happens to the best of us). Mostly, read it for the vision of the future, which, in Heinlein's hands, can be inspiring or ludicrous but is never boring.

Early Heinlein with all his faults.......2005-08-07

Genetic engineering, Second Amendment implications, the war between the sexes, life after death, telepathy -- just what is this book about?

It meanders through numerous half-baked subplots (and the pointless intrusion of a twentieth century time traveler), only really dealing with genetics in detail, until it finally just peters out (presumably when the word count was sufficient for Astounding serialization in 1942).

Not only is it stuffed with Heinlein's usual lectures and pontificating, but it uses the annoying device of addressing the reader directly in first and second person asides outside of its characters, and uses 1930's slang that was already obsolete by WWII.

Really a mess, nevertheless, Heinlein could come up with more thought provoking ideas at his worst than today's authors can come up with at their best, so I'm giving the book an extra star, but only recommending it for Heinlein fanatics.

Chaotic Mess.......2005-01-12

This is one of Robert A. Heinlein's earliest novels. It was originally published in Astounding Science Fiction in April and May of 1942, and then was published in book form in 1948. In the 1952 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll it was rated 25th overall for science fiction books.

I found this book to be surprisingly poor. After reading it I was not sure what the purpose of this story was. The first part of the book is somewhat standard, it is the story of Hamilton Felix, who questions what the purpose of life is. He is genetically superior to most people, and thus there is a lot of pressure on him to procreate. The society he lives in is considered a "Utopia", but frankly it has a lot in common with the society presented in Huxley's "Brave New World". However, the mood of this book is much lighter than that of Huxley's. After an incident at a restaurant things change for Hamilton. A revolutionary group tries to recruit him to use in their attempt to seize control of the government and he meets a woman who changes his viewpoint on remaining single.

Once that story reaches a conclusion, the book continues on, touching on a variety of Science Fiction themes, but failing to deliver anything more than a chaotic mish-mash of a plot. There is a bit of a story about a man from the early 20th century being found in a stasis field. There is the start of a search for the meaning of life and the universe. There is the beginning of a story about a telepath. Finally, there is the start of a story about the transference of a dying person's consciousness into a fetus. Hamilton Felix is present throughout the book, and there are several other characters that are in most of the book as well, but there doesn't seem to be any conclusion to most of what happens in the book. Any and all of these themes could be used to make up a great science fiction novel, but this isn't it.

It is with extreme reluctance that I give one of Heinlein's books such a low rating. He is truly one of the greats of the genre. I suspect this must be his worst, as it isn't even near the same quality as any of his other novels or short fiction that I have read.

Some is better than none...but not by much!!!.......2004-11-12

Let's face it....some Heinlein, even bad Heinlein is better than no Heinlein, but in this case it barely squeaks under the bar.

This story is set in a society of genetic supermen where honor is settle via duels. Brace yourself for long preachy chapters on genetics (which in fairness are pretty advanced when you consider this book was written in the forties).

One of the odd things you will find is the characters don't seem to relate to each other at all as if they are merely there to "pitch" for the boss (the writer).

Then there is the fact that the two main characters brultalize the women they wind up with in the end. One of them tries to laser zap her and latter when they get together he says "I tried to burn you." to which she replies something to the effect of "I know you did not mean it." Grrrrrrr! Slap them around and they will come back to you? Even in 1948 this might have been a bit much to ask anyone to accept.

There are some interesting nuggets here and there but they seem to have been thrown together with no master plan and in the end it is a most uneven ride that draws to the a conclusion that makes you scratch your head and go "Huh?". You don't have to be a Heinlein Ubber Man (or woman) to realize this novel could have used a serious rewrite.

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BEYOND THIS HORIZON
Robert A. Heinlen
Manufacturer: Signet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000IOSN70

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Beyond This Horizon
Robert A. Heinlein
Manufacturer: Signet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NURPLE

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Beyond This Horizon
Robert A. Heinlin
Manufacturer: NY Signet 1942.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000LTOG4Q

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Beyond This Horizon
Robert A Heinlein
Manufacturer: SIGNET SCIENCE LIBRARY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000UC9892

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Beyond This Horizon
Robert A. Heinlein
Manufacturer: Fantasy Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GTEJAC

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Beyond This Horizon
Robert A Heinlein
Manufacturer: Signet Science Fiction
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000PWH8B2

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Beyond This Horizon
Robert A. Heinlein
Manufacturer: New English Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KKIX68

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Beyond This Horizon
Algimantas Kezys
Manufacturer: Galerija
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Death & Grief | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1886060169

Book Description

Photos and texts by the photographer. His impressions of visits to the cemeteries in Lithuania. The insights found in the texts are based on theological and mystical experiences of writers dealing with the mysteries of death and afterlife. These turn out to be his own meditations on this sublime and profound element of human existence

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Beyond This Horizon
Robert A. Heinlein
Manufacturer: New American Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OVTFEM

Customer Reviews:

Half a Religious biography, Half other.......2006-10-06

Gaustad, Edwin S. Sworn on the Altar of God: A Religious Biography of Thomas Jefferson. Grand Rapids, Michigan / Cambridge, United Kingdom: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1996. 246 pages. Notes on the Sources, index.

Sworn on the Altar of God, is a religious biography (as the subtitle implies) by Edwin S. Gaustad, the critically acclaimed professor of history at the University of California, Riverside. He has written other historical books (also with good reviews I may add) such Documentary History of Religion of America, and in this book he scores again, only if it were a biography of Thomas Jefferson rather than a religious biography.

Gaustad uses many of Jefferson writings and includes it in this biography with citations and context of when it is being said. He does this in a way that makes this book appealing. Right from the start though I noticed a flaw, he states his opinion as fact which is also known as the fallacy of misplaced concreteness. He states "Thomas Jefferson was the most self consciously theological of all America's presidents" [Gaustad, preface XIII]. This is contested by many people today who argue that Abraham Lincoln (a well known deist who spoke on God often) and / or George W. Bush (though I don't agree nor do I wish to resort to argumentum ad populum fallacy) is / are the most self consciously theological of all presidents. While this book isn't supposed to be arguing for ones view, I can forgive this. I liked how in the beginning he pointed out the misconception that everyone has today about Separation of Church and State, in the fact that it is not in our constitution but rather it was just a letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists [preface IX]. So he expected to catch the viewer's attention by pointing out that misconception (though I already knew that fact) and worked. The books title is based on the quote from Thomas Jefferson "I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny of the mind of man" [189]. He goes on to explain Jefferson's life from child hood to death and how he was very Anglican in his birth but went astray from his roots when he got older during The Enlightenment. He explains that he did this because he read many of Joseph Priestley's and Thomas Paine's works and wrote back to them (in secrecy) with open theological discussions. He does a good job doing this due to his extensive work he put into going out and getting all of Jefferson's writings.

What my main quarrel is with this book, is the fact that only a portion of this book actually is actually a religious biography of Thomas Jefferson. The only chapters I found interesting and valuable (that actually pertained to the title) were chapters: 1, 2, 5, and 8. The other 4 chapters were a complete bore and filled with clutter that has nothing to do with religion and never built up to anything associated with religion. Let me give you a fine example, in chapter 6 "The Educator", all Gaustad talks about is James Madison and Thomas Jefferson building the University of Virginia and what his rules were, and to be more specific, one page is even devoted to his architecture from Monticello and how he applied it to the University of Virginia [174]. I noticed what he tried to do in this chapter, he opened up with a quote from Thomas Priestly about creation and man, then he stuck a bunch of clutter about the establishment of University of Virginia then at the end he puts "What sounded like freedom to Jefferson could sound like Unitarianism to others" [180] even though he hardly touched on that aspect in the chapter itself.

What I like about the 4 chapters that actually related to the title of the book was that it delves deep into his feelings and his theological thinking. Chapter 2 "Student of the Enlightenment", explains his reasoning behind accepting reasoning over scripture, for instance "But those facts in the Bible which contradict laws of nature which must be examined with more care" [33]. Chapter 5 "The Religious Reformer", completely goes through Thomas Jefferson's work The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth with a fine tooth comb explaining what verses he cut out and what he kept. His book is a rehash of the 4 gospels that cuts out all miracles and supernatural and leaves the morals for him to study on his own. This work has now been put together and published as The Jefferson Bible. Chapter 8 "A Religion for the People" focuses on Jefferson's feelings against other religions and explains how he ended up intensely disliking the Anglicans because of their doctrine and charging him as a heathen around election time. It also explains how he liked the Quakers because they possessed no doctrine (thus accepting reason over scripture) but were mainly peaceful.
Overall, this work by Gaustad does a good job portraying Jefferson's deism and his thoughts on prayer, but the few chapters that actually were related to the title could have been made into a pamphlet or an online article rather than a $14.00 book. It is very mainstream friendly, but I would recommend anyone JUST interested in Jefferson's religion to read the book The Religious Life of Thomas Jefferson by Charles B. Sanford instead.

A Review.......2005-12-16

Sworn on the Altar of God is an extremely informative look at Thomas Jefferson's faith. As one of the Founding Fathers, politicians and people of faith have so often tried to understand Jefferson's faith. In truth, he was a deist and a rationalist. Understanding the implications of this faith have great ramifications in our current times, especially in relation to a government which seems so intent on glorifying evangelical fundamentalism at the expense of reason. I feel that Jefferson would have been appalled!

Narrative Account of Jefferson's Religious Ideas.......2002-04-05

This book is an excellent compliement to Charles Sanford's "The Religious Life of Thomas Jefferson." Whereas Sanford does a scholarly review of the content of Jefferson's religious ideas, Gaustad in this book gives the narrative and context for how Jefferson applied his ideas concerning religion and religious freedom. Most interesting to me in the Gaustad book were the accounts of the political fights Jefferson and Madison waged for religious freedom during the early years of the Republic. Gaustad filled in the historical gaps and gave me context for understanding how momentous the struggle truly was. Also brought to life by Gaustad are the correspondences between the aged ex-presidents Jefferson and Adams about God and religion. I highly recommend this book to those interested in the history of ideas and freedom of thought.

Jefferson's Thinking Hovers.......2002-03-27

Thomas Jefferson's thinking hovers over many of today's debates regarding separation of church and state, school prayer, the place of public education, and the place of faith in our own lives.

This is an excellent exploration of the complexities of Jefferson's beliefs and the even more complex world of how his writings and thoughts continue to impact America today.

Public education is necessary to save democracy Chapter ^.......1997-09-07

Excellent book As a school board member this book is important to show the importance of saving public education to perserve the American EXperiment. Jefferson was always in favor of a public educational system as a means to perserve the wall of separation between church and state. I would recommend this book for anyone who is oppossed to vouchers and charters schools

Sworn On the Altar of God: A Religious Biography of Thomas Jefferson.

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Sworn On the Altar of God: A Religious Biography of Thomas Jefferson.
EDWIN S.: GAUSTAD
Manufacturer: Wm. B. Eerdmans
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Sworn on the Altar of God: A Religious Biography of Thomas Jefferson.: An article from: Journal of Church and State

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Sworn on the Altar of God: A Religious Biography of Thomas Jefferson.: An article from: Journal of Church and State
Joe E. Barnhart
Manufacturer: J.M. Dawson Studies in Church and State
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This digital document is an article from Journal of Church and State, published by J.M. Dawson Studies in Church and State on March 22, 1997. The length of the article is 649 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Sworn on the Altar of God: A Religious Biography of Thomas Jefferson.
Author: Joe E. Barnhart
Publication: Journal of Church and State (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 1997
Publisher: J.M. Dawson Studies in Church and State
Volume: 39 Issue: n2 Page: 367-368

Article Type: Book Review

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