Book Description
From Mi Jian, the highly acclaimed Chinese dissident, comes a satirical novel about the absurdities of life in a post-Tiananmen China.
Two men meet for dinner each week. Over the course of one of these drunken evenings, the writer recounts the stories he would write, had he the courage: a young man buys an old kiln and opens a private crematorium, delighting in his ability to harass the corpses of police officers and Party secretaries, while swooning to banned Western music; a heartbroken actress performs a public suicide by stepping into the jaws of a wild tiger, watched nonchalantly by her ex-lover. Extraordinary characters inspire him, their lives pulled and pummeled by fate and politics, as if they are balls of dough in the hands of an all-powerful noodle maker.
Ma Jian's satirical masterpiece allows us a humorous, yet profound, glimpse of those struggling to survive under a system that dictates their every move.
Customer Reviews:
DD.......2007-07-08
DD could mean disturbingly delightful, or delightfully disturbing. Both descriptions seem to fit this book equally well. I picked this one up (random choice, I admit) on sale at a bookstore, and it was worth every penny, and more!
Ma Jian captures the spirit of post Tiananmen China in this satirical novel, through a dialog between a professional writer and a professional blood donor. This is not the kind of book you judge based on reviews...its the kind of book you simply have to read, because its worth it.
More a Collection of Short Stories Than A Novel.......2006-07-21
Ma Jian's The Noodle Maker is a collection of very loosely connected stories narrated by a professional propogandist (or "professional writer") to his friend and confidant, the 'professional blood-donor' over an elaborate dinner the blood-donor provides. The stories are about the people the writer observes on the street and knows professionally and includes such diverse characters as a painter who claims to have had a talking three legged dog to a 'street writer' who provides his services to lovesick teenagers wanting to impress their sweethearts with love letters of deep feeling. Flora Drew's translation of this volume is very fluid and satisfying.
I greatly enjoyed Ma Jian's work and 'am eager to get hold of his other books, Red Dust and Stick Out Your Tongue.
A Wonderful Read.......2006-07-03
Ma Jian, Noodle Maker. 1991. New York: FSG, 2004.
The English translation of this wonderful book only came out 13 years after it was published (wisely) in Hong Kong. Its structure is a tapestry of interconnected fables ("noodles") emanating from the mind of an impoverished writer, the noodle maker. Between stories the reader is treated to hilarious colloquies between the noodle maker and his permanent weekly guest, a professional blood donor. The tales are wild and original, and reach quite deeply. They include a benign version of Animal Farm, The Lady and the Tiger, and a generous helping of anti-Communist commentary aimed at the stupid bureaucracy and forced rote memorization of patriotic songs with ridiculous lyrics, such as "Our beloved Party, you have been like a mother to me," played over loudspeakers in an attempt to break up a mob engaging in gang rape outside West Friendship Park. "Chairman Mao's Brilliance Lights Up the World" was also played. Five very large stars.
Insightful and delightful.......2005-07-07
I picked up this book and read a few stories from it when my girlfriend was reading it. The writing is witty and very insightful to the workings and ironies of modern day china. I would recommend this book to anybody as being one of the best I have encountered in the last few years. It is rare to find a writer who can amuse you while being so revealing about the painful, beautiful, and absurd of a culture. I'm going to get my own copy to pass around and one for my mother too.
SIMPLY BRILLIANT!!!.......2005-01-18
Sardonic... insightful... hilarious... satirical... curious... elliptical... Gogolesque... playful... surreal... bitingly sarcastic... cosmic... bizarre... magical... Kafkaesque... touching... disturbing... profound... hugely entertaining.
How many ways can a marvelous work of fiction be praised? Ma Jian's THE NOODLE MAKER deserves all these accolades, and more. This is a dead-on depiction of life's vagaries and absurdities in the earliest years of Communist China, yet it transcends both time and place to describe the human condition.
Set just after Deng Xiaoping's pronunciation of the Open Door Policy to modernize and open China to Western ideas and business, THE NOODLE MAKER tells the story of two friends, a professional writer named Sheng and a professional blood donor nicknamed Vlazerim. Sheng has been charged by his Writer's Association to pen a short novel about a modern-day Lei Feng, an actual Red Army soldier who died in his country's service and was effectively canonized by Mao for his supposed good deeds while alive. Not only can Sheng not think of anyone to write about, he can only think of stories drawn from his own acquaintances, people whose actions illustrate the most unconventional responses to Deng's vision of a "new China."
Most of the book consists of stories Sheng would have written had he been granted the artistic freedom. He begins with undoubtedly his best piece, the story of a young man who buys a used kiln from an art school and turns it into an upscale crematorium, complete with corpse pick-up service and a wide range of legal and illicit music for the deceased to swoon to as he or she enters the furnace. The young man and his mother become wealthy from his business, enough so that the mother decides her time has come to move on to the next life. Other stories deal with a failed actress who arranges her own, very public suicide in the jaws of a tiger, a middle-aged editor who embarks on a series of love trysts until he encounters a textile worker who won't let go, a writer of love (and rejection) letters who comes to realize that he himself can love someone, a woman whose large breasts ruin her life and career, and a painter who lives with a philosophical talking dog.
Ma Jian tells each story with panache and a wonderful sense of comic timing. His characters are absurd and their actions grotesque, yet they lovably empathetic, each in his or her own peculiar way. The characters' lives and stories are cleverly interconnected, so that as the novel unfolds, we begin to see a community, not just a random collection of individuals. At the same time, each story offers sharply satirical and wonderfully funny commentary on life in a socialist state bent on control of every detail of peoples' lives. The result is a society so full of rules, all rules are meaningless.
Some readers will be reminded by this book of DEAD SOULS, or perhaps Kafka's THE TRIAL or THE CASTLE. For me, THE NOODLE MAKER was most reminiscent of Italo Calvino's IF ON A WINTER'S NIGHT A TRAVELER, a collection of short tales exchanged between Marco Polo and Genghis Khan. This is a wonderful short novel, one of the best I've read in recent years. Sadly, it may well pass largely unnoticed by the public, lacking the advertising and name recognition of far less deserving works by Grisham, Clancy, or King. That such should be the case is undoubtedly another one of life's ironies that Ma Jian's characters would have duly noted with a sigh.
Book Description
Marvel's critically acclaimed The End line continues with a look at the final days in the life of Logan - the man called Wolverine! It's the distant future, and a series of strange events sends the aging Wolverine on a globe-spanning quest to find the final truths behind his origin. But when he encounters a mysterious figure from his past, everything he thought he knew is turned upside-down! It's the end of a legend, written by the man who brought you the beginning of the story, Paul (Origin) Jenkins!
Customer Reviews:
not the end just a possible future.......2007-10-10
interesting story at some point logan discovered his roots he killed xavier the old x men are dead since this is 100 something years in the future he meets his long lost brother and its revea.led that logan's mom was screwing thomas logan another hint that wolvie and his brother might possibly be thomas' kids all along logan also said that the howletts had more kids and they all died and that logan was the last one another mystery in his long life cool story but even in his last years logan's life is full of mystery and drama this guy can't get a break.
Top Dogs Comic.......2007-03-14
What did I think of this Comic - Wolverine: The End?
It was great! I was well thought out and drew me in - after reading the origins series (which if you haven't read it, go now and buy it!) when I heard this volume was coming out I was skeptical as I had thought "Is this going to meet my expectations?@ it certainty did!
Well Done Paul
I give it Double Top Dogs!
The Begin of the END.......2007-01-30
This book it is not the end of wolverine is the begginig of an a new adventure of LOGAN'S sad (but full of action) life, the art is really good, but the history leaves you with more questions about the Howlet family and Wolverine's past. I liked this book.
The End? I hope not.......2007-01-05
The artwork in the book is great, but the story was really blah. Origin was great, I dont like how this doesnt tie up all the loose ends either. Pass on this one, Wolverine fans.
Stick to the middle years.......2006-12-13
Leaping from the alpha of Logan's life to the omega, Paul Jenkins (of questionable "Origin" fame) decided to use Marvel's "The End" series (a sort of "how did they die"/What If? occasional series) to cap Wolverine's life and, in the process, further seal the hero's storyline. Logan is now old, having outlived his X-friends by a century or so; his mutant healing factor is starting to fail but he continues to seek the answers to his identity that we regretfully learned in Jenkins' previous outing. Suddenly, Wolverine has a brother who knows all the answers and teases Logan with them -- but only if he assists in a scheme to wreak havoc on humankind. Ugh.
Coupled this time with muddy, unexciting art by Claudio Castellini, "The End" seems to say that Logan's life must both begin and end with a fizzle. If you like Wolverine, do yourself a favor and stick with the stories in the middle.
by Tom Knapp, Rambles editor
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D.P.7 #3 : Loose Ends (New Universe - Marvel Comics)
Mark Gruenwald
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: B000RDFZXC |
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Marvel Tales #156 : Starring Spider-Man in "The End of Spider-Man" (Marvel Comics)
Stan Lee
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ASIN: B000PO3152 |
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The New Mutants #100 : The End of the Beginning (Marvel Comics)
Fabian Nicieza
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ASIN: B000QS3BK2 |
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The New Mutants #99 : The Beginning of the End (Marvel Comics)
Fabian Nicieza
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ASIN: B000QRY0W6 |
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Power Pack #56 : Childhood's End (Marvel Comics)
Michael Higgins
Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
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ASIN: B000T0KM4K |
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Raise The Dead #1: The Beginning of The End (Arthur Suydam Cover - Dynamite Comic Book 2007)
Leah Moore & John Reppion
Manufacturer: Dynamite Entertainment
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ASIN: B000P84FRQ |
Product Description
Dynamite enters the land of the dead with an all-new Zombie tale set in the middle of a full-scale zombie infestation! This time though, thereís a twist as Dynamite puts the "living" into the living dead! From its shocking opening to its ever-evolving cast of doomed humans facing an overwhelming number of the undead, Raise the Dead sets a new standard in horror storytelling -- and all the gory details will be presented in full-color!
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Spider-Man #55 : End Hunt (Web of Life - Marvel Comics)
Howard Mackie
Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: B000UWVW3M |
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Spider-Man #66 : End Game (The Return of Kaine - Marvel Comics)
Howard Mackie
Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
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ASIN: B000T63KRU |
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Spider-Man - The Final Adventure #4 : To End The Begin (Marvel Comics)
Fabian Nicieza
Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
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ASIN: B000SRVB1M |
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- Light-hearted, Seasonal Genre Fiction
- Great collection of Christmas stories
- This is my favorite Christmas book!
- If you love Christmas--the good AND the bad--read this book!
- Absolute Drivel
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Miracle and Other Christmas Stories
Connie Willis
Manufacturer: Bantam
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ASIN: 0553580485
Release Date: 2000-10-31 |
Amazon.com
Connie Willis loves Christmas. "I even like the parts most people hate--shopping in crowded malls and reading Christmas newsletters and seeing relatives and standing in baggage check-in lines at the airport. Okay, I lied. Nobody likes standing in baggage check-in lines," she writes. Willis knows it's hard to write good Christmas stories: the subject matter is limited, the writer has to balance between sentiment and skepticism, and too many fall into the Victorian habit of killing off saintly children and poor people. Here she presents eight marvelous Christmas tales, two of which appear for the first time.
The stories range from "The Pony," about a psychotherapist who doesn't believe that Christmas gifts can answer our deepest longings, and "Inn," in which a choir member rehearsing for the Christmas pageant becomes part of the original Christmas story, to "Newsletter," where an invasion of parasitic creatures causes unusually good behavior in their hosts, and "Epiphany," a story of three unlikely Magi following signs through a North American winter toward the returned Jesus Christ. "Miracle" is a comic romance echoing Willis's favorite Yuletide movie, Miracle on 34th Street, and "Catspaw" is a homage to the traditional Christmas murder mystery with a sly, science-fictional twist. The collection also includes "In Coppelius' Toyshop," in which a bad guy is trapped in Toyland, and "Adaptation," a Dickensian story about what it means to keep Christmas in your heart.
Those who want only SF stories may find this collection lacking, but anyone who enjoys complex tales with true Christmas spirit will treasure it. --Nona Vero
Book Description
The winner of multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards, Connie Willis capture the timeless essence of generosity and goodwill in this magical collection if Christmas stories. These eight tales-two of which have never before been published-boldly reimagine the stories of Christmas while celebrating the power of love and compassion. This enchanting treasury includes:
"Miracle," in which a young woman's carefully devised plans to find romance go awry when her guardian angel shows her the true meaning of love
"In Coppelius's Toyshop," where a jaded narcissist finds himself trapped in a crowded toy store at Christmastime
"Epiphany," in which three modern-day wisemen embark on a quest unlike any they've ever experienced
"Inn," where a choir singer gives shelter to a homeless man and his pregnant wife-only to learn later that there's much more to the couple than meets the eye
And more
Customer Reviews:
Light-hearted, Seasonal Genre Fiction.......2005-01-22
If you're sitting in front of the burning Old Yule log and looking for some light Christmas reading, you may want to consider this collection of holiday stories from science fiction maven Connie Willis. Admittedly, there are some real clunkers in here, but a fair amount of variety (from a genre standpoint) and most readers should find at least one story they'll want to read again next Christmas.
"Miracle" is a fine example of Willis' much-documented ability to merge the fantastic with the everyday. A typical harried office worker finds herself dealing with a particularly troublesome Christmas Spirit just at the time of year when she's already much too busy.
"Inn" is a less successful version of the same, placed in a mainline church. It seems like a lame brand of physical comedy is being presented as the heroine shepherds her destitute charges round and round the church building, but it goes on far too long for the amount of story in it.
"In Coppelius's Toyshop" has an irritating protagonist trapped in an even more absurd travesty, but without the sci-fi trappings or religious significance that bolstered "Inn". An almost total failure.
"Pony" is okay, but too short to merit much interest.
"Adaptation" features some of the ghosts from Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" working in a modern bookstore. This one isn't bad, and certainly isn't as predictable as some of the others, but it's still not great.
"Cat's Paw" is a parody of a Sherlock Holmes-style mystery revolving around a murder at Christmas-time (if that's not one genre too many for you).
"Newsletter" taps Heinlein's classic The Puppet Masters for an unforgettable alien invasion. This one is pretty light-hearted for a science fiction tale, but it's this reviewer's personal favorite.
"Epiphany" is a more religious entry, but drags on a bit too long. Most readers will get the point pretty early on, and once you do, there's really nothing left.
Well worth reading are Willis' "Introduction", "A Final Word", "Twelve Things to Read at Christmas" and "And Twelve to Watch". Her analyses of what makes a good Christmas tale are so insightful that one is almost tempted to wonder why the rest of the book isn't better than it is.
Not for those who take their sci-fi too seriously. And by all means read it during the Christmas season, preferably with a few drafts of Christmas cheer.
Great collection of Christmas stories.......2004-12-18
I have read several books and stories by Connie Willis, and she's become one of my favourite authors. This warm collection of Christmas stories was not disappointment, either, but everything you'd expect from Ms. Willis - romance, humour, mystery and also genuine Christmas spirit.
This book, like other works by her, has been labeled as "science fiction". But if you're looking for space travel and funny aliens, this probably is not the book for you :) This collection comes perhaps closer to magical realism than scifi, and I would suggest it for also larger audience, not only for scifi enthusiasts. The genre of these stories varies from comedy to romance, from English country manor mystery to story of religious epiphany. "Inn", church comedy with more serious undertone, and "Cat's Paw", English Christmas mystery, are probably my two favourites.
Warmly recommended. The Denver Post critic says in the back cover of the book, "When the holidays seem too stressful, pick up Miracle and Other Christmas Stories, slow down, read a few and remember what the holiday is all about", and I couldn't agree more.
This is my favorite Christmas book!.......2003-12-10
It is now a tradition for me to read this book at Christmas time to put myself in the real Christmas spirit. Ms. Willis has includes stories that are just plain fun and stories that are very insightful and thought-provoking. Each story is a delight and a surprise. Enjoy!
If you love Christmas--the good AND the bad--read this book!.......2003-12-08
As soon as I read the first few lines of the author's introduction--"I love Christmas. All of it--decorating the tree and singing in the choir and baking cookies and wrapping presents. I even like the parts most people hate--shopping in crowded malls and reading Christmas newsletters and seeing relatives and standing in baggage check-in lines at the airport."--I knew this book was for me! Like Willis, I'm crazy about Christmas; there's virtually no aspect of the holidays which I dislike. I also enjoy science fiction, and so I was eager to discover what Willis had in store for her readers.
The stories in this book aren't exactly classical science fiction; there are no beings from other planets, giant creatures, robotics, or anything of that sort. Rather, the tales contain elements that are more supernatural in nature and involve the appearance of various ghosts and other strange phenomena. Although certainly not the traditional sappy Christmas fare, all of the stories have happy endings. Furthermore, Willis's love of Christmas shines through her writing, and thus each story embodies the magic of the Christmas season.
The best way to determine if you'll like this book is to answer the question posed by the title story: which Christmas movie is better, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE or MIRACLE ON 34th STREET? If you chose the latter, read this book!
Absolute Drivel.......2003-11-06
I wish I could give this *NO STARS*. Connie, what happened??! I was looking for a nice gift to get my friends for Christmas--I have been a huge Connie Willis fan ever since I opened "Bellwether" and stayed up all night to finish it--and I thought this would be perfect. Her other books are nothing short of brilliant, "To Say Nothing of the Dog" is perfect, so what happened here? I tried desperately to like it, but I was so glad I checked it out of the library before spending money on it buying my very own copy. The stories are nothing short of incredibly clumsy, fanciful and amateurish writing where Connie continually slaps you about the face to remind you of her pure dislike of the movie "It's a Wonderful Life". Okay! Enough already! We get the point! I've read better. It's ultimately cheesy. Do yourself a favor and avoid this at all costs. (And to the other reviewers...did you even read this book?)
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Midnight Miracle: A Musical Christmas Story
Gene Grier , and
Lowell Everson
Manufacturer: Abingdon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
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ASIN: 0687015553 |
Book Description
In the last decades of the eighteenth century, old arguments about what constituted true Christianity resumed with the newly refined tools and methods of linguistics, history, and comparative literature. The most sensitive questions sought to probe through the centuries and discover the original Jesus. Why, scholars asked, is the New Testament silent about most of Jesus's life? Why didn't Paul say more about the life of Jesus? To what extent was Jesus Jewish? How significant were the differences among the Gospels? What evidence could be trusted and what views justified? As scholars sought to discover and describe what they thought the "true" Jesus might be, they proved that Jesus could be many things.
In this broad survey of the efforts to establish, amend, or deny the historical Jesus, Albert Schweitzer presents the history of a debate about what mattered most to millions of people: If God had entered human history, what could history tell about it? Throughout the course of this heated and prolonged dispute, one retelling of the life of Jesus followed another, enjoying--in Schweitzer's phrase -- "the immortality of revised editions."
Lesser writers might consider differences of opinion as signs of a hopeless enterprise, but Schweitzer instead finds immense value in the differences. Approaches and conclusions may differ, he concludes, but the quest for the historical Jesus has provided ample testimony to the importance of the effort and the rewards of the experience.
Customer Reviews:
Misunderstood classic.......2007-01-12
For over one hundred years people have been misinterpreting this book, or at least focusing on a secondary issue. Yes, Schweitzer does show how views of Jesus mirror the culture of the writers who write about him. But that is not as important as the fact that the Jesus who emerges from scholarship is probably not very appealing to modern people. He was not a loving Saviour giving his life for others. He was a Jewish apocalyptic prophet interested only in divine intervention to save Israel and destroy the Romans and other ungodly gentiles. He failed in that God did not intervene, neither to save Israel not to save Jesus from death. Thus Christianity as we know it is a hoax, a delusion, a fairy tale. This is the meaning of Schweitzer's great discovery.
albert schweitzer is my hero........2006-12-26
The Quest of the Historical Jesus made me question my faith. This is not a bad thing as per Milton:
...Then wherefore shunned or feared
By us who rather double honor gain
From his surmise proved false, find peace within,
Favor from Heav'n, our witness, from th' event?
And what is faith, love, virtue unassayed,
Alone, without exterior help sustained?
By the way, I first checked this book out from the library and read half of it before I bought this one. The one at the library had the blue cover with a drawn picture of Jesus on the front. i expected to get the brown one with Schweitzer on the cover but was pleased to receive the blue one instead. long story short, if you order this book you probably won't get the brown one but the blue one that is on the browse sample page front cover.
Monumental.......2006-02-12
THE QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL JESUS is Albert Schweitzer's monumental attempt to review and comment on the research done on the historical Jesus mostly in the nineteenth century. The book covers the work of Herman Samuel Reimarus, Paulus, David Friedrich Strauss, Bruno Bauer and many others.
Strauss was particularly important since his analysis of the Gospels' miraculous stories was that they were mythical. For this he was attacked by other scholars of his time although his basic idea about the mythical character of the biblical miracles has steadily gained popularity among academics. Schweitzer, on the other hand, saw Jesus as a prophet who had a strong apocalyptic message for the world. Everything Jesus said and did was influenced by his belief that the end was near, according to Schweitzer.
Schweitzer's work helped to lay the groundwork for future research on the historical Jesus. All subsequent research, including that of the Jesus Seminar, has owed a debt to Albert Schweitzer.
Classic.......2006-02-11
We know Dr. Schweitzer from the bushy white hair and mustache, lost somewhere in Africa, Nobel prize winning peace activist. But here we have the young spirited seminarian for whom the quest for Jesus was a great endeavor. And great indeed is this magnificent tome, which pulls together 200 years of scholarly endeavors and tries to reach a conclusion about who Jesus was and what the quest was all about. Here are a few quotes...
"This dogma [Jesus as God/Jesus as Man] had first to be shattered before men could once more go out in quest of the historical Jesus, before they could even grasp the thought of his existence..."
"There is no historical task which so reveals a man's true self as the writing of a Life of Jesus. No vital force comes into the figure unless a man breathes into it all the hate or all the love of which he is capable..."
"He [Jesus] is a figure designed by rationalism, endowed with life by liberalism, and clothed by modern theology in an historical garb..."
"He had been riveted for centuries to the stony rocks of ecclesiastical doctrine, and rejoiced to see life and movement coming into the figure once more, and the historical Jesus advancing, as it seemed, to meet it. But he does not stay; He passes by our time and returns to his own..."
Yes, of course it is dated. And yes, of course, it is written in that heavy Germanic style that demands more than you want to give. And yes, of course, you never heard of many of the people he talks about. etc.
And yet there is nothing in the past 100 years that really matches it, despite all the findings and all the methods and all the books since.
Albert, I hardly knew you!.......2005-07-28
This is a most erudite and methodical analysis of the lives of Jesus written in the 100 years or so before and during Schweitzer's life, many of them by German writers. It's a book for those interested in delving into the thinking of that time period about Jesus, and in understanding better how we arrived at our current view of Jesus.
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Books Index
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