Book Description
Holden's Performance is the story of Holden Shadbolt, a guileless and matter-of-fact innocent, as he passes through the cities and landscapes of Australia. His reassuring silent presence and photographic memory make him useful to men of power and women who appear to need his protection. He is surrounded by larger-than-life figures whose exploits and adventures Holden follows-ex-corporal Frank "Bloodnut" McBee, the scrap dealer who woos his mother; his uncle Vern, a shortsighted proofreader who likes facts and eating newspaper with his breakfast cereal; and the crippled artist Harriet, whose twists and curves appeal to Holden as he holds to his own unswervingly straight lines.AUTHORBIO: MURRAY BAIL's fiction, which includes Eucalyptus, Homesickness, and Camouflage, a collection of stories, has received many major awards including the Miles Franklin Award in Australia and The Commonwealth Writers Prize. He lives in Sydney, Australia.
Customer Reviews:
Very interesting, but too long........1998-02-23
Rampant postmodernism, yet highly unusual, inspiring and deeply intelligent. Murray Bail is weird! He must be! He has taken Australian cultural theory and run away with it. His irreverence towards the whole herd of Australian sacred cows is hilarious and yet written from a well informed historical standpoint. Through humour, he deconstructs the Menzies era and indeed the whole Americanisation of the country from the second World War into the sixtees. Bail also sees the effect that town planning has on its citizens. His description of Canberra is highly informative, downright cynical and yet a real scream. He sees through the sterility of the concentric circles and dead ends of Canberra and associates this strongly with the political mentality of our leaders, who of course, lead us around in circles and up blind alleys! I would recommend this novel to anyone interested in cultural theory, or indeed, anyone interested in an unusually honest and very funny deconstruction of the Menzies era. My only reservation is that the novel is perhaps a little lengthy, given the subject material. Nevertheless, it is well worth a read. John Magee
Average customer rating:
- A classic
- Another Classic
- again, pretty good not great-not disapointing either
- "Goodbye Wren That Was..."
- Disapointing.
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The Elf Queen of Shannara (Heritage of Shannara, Book 3)
Terry Brooks
Manufacturer: Del Rey
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The Talismans of Shannara (Heritage of Shannara)
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The Scions of Shannara (Heritage of Shannara)
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First King of Shannara
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The Wishsong of Shannara
ASIN: 0345375580
Release Date: 1993-01-23 |
Book Description
"Find the Elves and return them to the world of Men!" the shade of the Druid Allanon had ordered Wren.
It was clearly an impossible task. The Elves had been gone from the Westland for more than a hundred years. There was not even a trace of their former city of Arborlon left to mark their passing. No one in the Esterland knew of them -- except, finally, the Addershag.
The blind old woman had given instructions to find a place on the coast of the Blue Divide, build a fire, and keep it burning for three days. "One will come for you."
Tiger Ty, the Wing Rider, had come on his giant Roc to carry Wren and her friend Garth to the only clear landing site on the island of Morrowindl, where, he said, the Elves might still exist, somewhere in the demon-haunted jungle.
Now she stood within that jungle, remembering the warning of the Addershag: "Beward, Elf-girl. I see danger ahead for you . . . and evil beyond imagining." It had proved all too true.
Wren stood with her single weapon of magic, listening as demons evil beyond all imagining gathered for attack. How long could she resist?
And if, by some miracle, she reached the Elves and could convince them to return, how could they possibly retrace her perilous path to reach the one safe place on the coast?
Download Description
"Find the Elves and return them to the world of Men!" the shade of theDruid Allanon had ordered Wren.
It was clearly an impossible task. The Elves had been gone from theWestland for more than a hundred years. There was not even a trace oftheir former city of Arborlon left to mark their passing. No one in theWestland knew of them -- except, finally, the Addershag.
The blind old woman had given instructions to find a place on the coaston the Blue Divide, build a fire, and keep it burning for three days."One will come for you."
Tiger Ty, the Wing Rider, had come on his giant Roc to carry Wren andher friend Garth to the only clear landing site on the island ofMorrowindl, where, he said, the Elves might still exist,somewhere in the demon-haunted jungle.
Now she stood within that jungle, remembering the warning of theAddershag: "Beware, Elf-girl. I see danger ahead for you...and evilbeyond imagining." It had proved all too true.
Wren stood with her single weapon of magic, listening as the demonsevil gathered for another attack. How long could she resist?
And if, by some miracle, she reached the Elves and could convince themto return, how could they possibly retrace her perilous path to reachthe one safe place on the coast?
Customer Reviews:
A classic.......2007-07-08
The story in elf queen moves along quickly and with almost non-stop action. The author also shows alot of creative with his monsterous creations that dwells on the dangerous island which this story takes place upon. Wren begins in search of the lost elves, a task given by the druid shade Allanon's request. She soon finds them on a cursed monster filled island.
I'm really impressed with Terry's imagination and ability to keep coming up with new areas and characters in his Shannara world. There are many memorable scenes through out and some emotional events that will leave you near tears. The perail and dangers Wren and Garth face will have you reading on the edge of your seat and unable to stop. I higly recomnd this book.
Another Classic.......2007-05-21
Terry Brooks is one of my favorite authors and I think this is one of his best works. The atmosphere he creates in this book is chilling. Treat yourself to this gem.
again, pretty good not great-not disapointing either.......2007-02-23
above average, willing to continue with the series. got alittle boring at some points
"Goodbye Wren That Was...".......2006-08-29
The third volume of "The Heritage of Shannara" quartet, and also the most insular. Although there are brief mentions of what fellow-heroes are up to, "Elf Queen" almost exclusively focuses on Wren, quite different from the other three books that tell the over-arching story from various points of view.
The deceased Druid Allanon has given three scions separate quests that must be fulfilled if they are to defeat the mysterious and sinister Shadowen and the totalitarian Federation that is slowly encroaching upon the freedom of the Four Lands. Par Ohmsford was to find the Sword of Shannara and Walker Boh to return the Druid Keep Paranor to the corporeal world. But Rover-girl Wren was instructed to find the Elves, who had gone missing from the lands years ago. With her travelling companion Garth, she sought information from the sage-like Addershag who advised her to burn a signal fire for three nights on the shores of the Blue Divide (the sea). The story begins as Wren and Garth set out for the coastline, trailed by some unshakeable opponent, and ends when Wren returns to the Four Lands - her mission complete, but at great personal cost.
Making up the bulk of the book are Wren's journeys on the island of Morrowindl, where she suspects the missing Elves have been hiding. As the island is infested with monsters, this is no easy task and the second half of the book reads like a standard fantasy-horror, with a large group of characters gradually getting killed off in various gruesome ways. Though it is quicker-paced and debatably more interesting than the first two volumes, it does not have the same re-readable quality since much of the suspense of the second half is based on the premise: who will survive the return journey? Once you know, there's no point in treading the path a second time.
Except that Brooks has made Wren a compelling and sympathetic heroine, with an intriguing story-arc. Unlike typical `hero-journeys' when the protagonist ends up discovering and solidifying their true identities; Wren's growth goes in the opposite direction, from a content and carefree Rover-girl to a confused and lonely scion with a massive weight of responsibility on her shoulders. Though not the most interesting or unique, she is certainly the most three-dimensional character of the series and Brooks takes great pains to explore her psyche and motivations throughout the course of the book. Also worthy of note is her companion, protector and trainer Garth, whom Wren speaks with in sign language. He is a stalwart figure throughout the adventure, though less present in the second half than in the first and his relationship with Wren is palatable. (Though Brooks sometimes forgets that he's supposed to be deaf, as a couple of times he reacts to noises in the jungle).
Finally, keep an eye on Wren's newfound relatives, Ellenroh and Gavilan - they are intriguing characters in their own right, made even more so by the complex and often painful relationships they forge with Wren.
"Elf Queen" is concerned with the answering of many mysteries that have lingered throughout the first two books; the disappearance of the Elves, the true nature of the Shadowen, and the parentage of Wren herself. All of these queries are resolved by the end of the book, but some not as satisfactorily as the others (the revelation concerning the Shadowen is not much of a revelation; Brooks recycles from his previous series, which in turn was recycled from Tolkien. Sigh).
But if you've already invested time and energy into the first two installments, then there's no question you'll want to read "Elf Queen". By its end, Brooks has all the pieces in play for the final volume in the series: "The Talismans of Shannara", a fitting end to an above-average fantasy saga.
Disapointing........2006-07-22
I've been reading all of the Shannara books in order, and up until this one, they have been getting better and better. Not so with The Elf Queen of Shannara. For some reason that I can't quite put my finger on, this book just didn't pull me in the same way the others did. I think this mostly stems from the heroine's frustrating mental battles with her identity and purpose/fate. Wren Ohmsford just never really came to life for me as the other Shannara children have, with her constant self-pity and annoying confusion as to what she wants in life. I think that Terry actually realized this problem and spent a good deal of time and energy trying (and failing) to make Wren understandable. The book is frustrating to read as nearly every page contains repetitious attempts to explain Wren's feelings. It is my belief that Brooks himself never really knew or liked his main character for this book, and its a shame too because Wren had a lot of potential and the plot of this book could have been worked into a very exciting tale. Also, the other characters in this book are for the most part more typical of Brooks' books, being determined, honorable, and cool (in other words, fun to read about).
Hopefully the Heritage and Shannara will pick up the pace and focus on more likable characters. If so, the series will be redeemed and I'd recommend it to anyone.
Customer Reviews:
The Scions.......2004-03-15
The Scions of Shannara is a fictional book with classic adventures and romances. The story tajes place in the Four Lands. There are different races like the dwarves, elves, humans and several others.
Three hundred years have passed since Allanon the Druid died. The Four Lands have changed since then. The Elves have vanished and the Dwarves have been enslaved. The Southland is under the rule of the Federation. However, Par Ohmsford still has the power of the wishong. Allanon's spirit summoned Par and Coll and a few others to rid the Four Lands of the dangerous shadowen.
Par's cousin Wren has to find the elves. His uncle, Walker, has to bring back the Druids Keep in Paranor, and Par and Coll have to find the Sword of Shannara. Once all the quests are complete, the Four Lands will be back to normal.
I would recommend that you read the first Shannara books before you read this one. Several of the characters are descended from previous characters and knowing the history helps to understand the book.
Terry Brooks' writing style is one of a kind. He focuses on description and details so that one can see everything. When Brooks describes a character, it is thorough and one might find them selves agreeing or disagreeing with a characters thoughts.
I liked the book because there was a little bit of suspense and mystery. Just when you think you have figured it out, something else happens to twist the story around. The end of the story is surprising and it makes you want to read the rest of the series of Shannara.
There were some things I didn't like about the book. For one thing, it was kind of repetative. I read all the books before the Scions of Shannara and they were pretty much the same. Another thing was the characters didn't interact much. Sometimes, in the book, it would be days before anyone talked to someone else.
Overall, I thought that this book was unique because even though the story line has been seen before, Terry Brooks came up with new ideas that suited the setting and made it his own.
Really Good Book.......1999-09-23
I have never even heard of the Shannara before. I bought book 3 when I was in grade 8. It sat on the bookshelf for about 7 years. I was sitting at home and began to read it. I couldn't put the book down. I read to about page 100 and my dad told me I shouldn't start a series without reading the first book first. So I went to the Grande Prairie Public Library and got out The Scions Of Shannara. I read this book in about 4 or 5 days. I loved it. It had a good story line. The way Terry Brooks, described Par Ohmsford, kind of made him sound like a bad ass. Which describes me. So I really liked it. I am just starting book 2 and am on about page 120 and it is still the same. The Shannara Heritage is very interesting, and would reccommend it to anyone. Especially if your still young and exploring the library's to see whats out there
A really good book (The Scions of Shannara)........1999-07-02
It follows in the footsteps of the Shannara Trilogy, with more magic and more energy that keep you guessing and hoping and right on the edge of your seat. It was a very well written and exciting book and I look forward to reading the rest of the series.
Product Description
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The Elf Queen of Shannara
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000HILJP0 |
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Elf Queen of Shannara
Terry Brooks
Manufacturer: ORBIT (LITT)
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Shannara | Series | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000JZ60CS |
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Elf Queen Shannara
Terry Brooks
Manufacturer: Random House Value Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Shannara | Series | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0517128012
Release Date: 1994-05-25 |
Product Description
4 Titles By Terry Brooks Heritage of Shannara Series : The Scions of Shannara The Druid of Shannara The Elf Queen of Shannara The Talismans of Shannara Books one thru four. four mmpb books.
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Multiple books shipped as one item for your convenience. Save on Shipping/Handling charges.
Customer Reviews:
Finally, A Star Trek Roleplaying Game Worth Playing!.......1999-12-30
Ever since FASA discontinued their mediocre Star Trek game, I've been waiting for a new one. The folks over at Last Unicorn Games have done a great job with this one. Thier Icon gaming system is simple to learn, yest intricate enough to hold the interest of seasoned gamers.
Designing a player character for this game is a lot of fun. The templates and overlays are well thought out, and the advantages and disadvantages add the extra flavor to make all the characters in your campaign stand out.
The book can be a little wordy and confusing at times, but that point is barely even worth mentioning. Many more supplimental books are available and many more are scheduled to be released soon. A definate good buy.
Average customer rating:
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NetAppeal College Selection Guide
Trudy Kaehler
Manufacturer: Kaeland House
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ASIN: 0966474201 |
Book Description
NetAppeal College Selection Guide is a winning game plan to help high school athletes who want to play sports in college choose the right school. The book looks at how athletes can find the school that fits right athletically and academically; how they can put the recruiting process in perspective; and how proactive or reactive they should be in finding the right school and athletic program for themselves. The book's primary goal is to help student athletes make the right college decision and to help them take charge of the college selection process.
NetAppeal College Selection Guide includes information about the competitive college arena; how and when athletes should market themselves; real, personal recruiting experiences; as well as targeted strategies to find the right school and factors to consider in decision making.
The book includes a NetAppeal College Selection Worksheet and a NetAppeal College Decision Making Chart to help athletes plan and target their futures.
Average customer rating:
- An answer to a non-question
- Why indeed?
- Well written: scientific yet accessible without unnecessary jargon
- Turgid beyond despair
- Accessible, yet chock-full of relevant theories
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Why Would Anyone Believe in God? (Cognitive Science of Religion Series)
Justin L. Barrett
Manufacturer: AltaMira Press
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ASIN: 0759106673 |
Book Description
Because of the design of our minds. That is Justin Barrett's simple answer to the question of his title. With rich evidence from cognitive science but without technical language, psychologist Barrett shows that belief in God is an almost inevitable conseq
Customer Reviews:
An answer to a non-question.......2006-07-10
This is a good attempt to answer a non-question. The meaniningful question is 'What does a particular person mean by the word "God"?' A second question is 'Does this person behave in ways that seem to fit with what they say they mean by "God"?' There is no general answer to either question, though it would be possible, by interviewing and observing many individuals, to recognize large sets of people for whom the answers are similar. These sets would probably not correspond with traditional labels such as Christian, Hindu or Atheist, but until serious research has been done it is hazardous to generalize. Still, this is a learned and moderately readable book, as long as you don't expect it to answer a question.
Why indeed?.......2006-06-25
This is a truly excellent introduction to the cognitive study of religion. Justin Barrett has an amazing gift for communicating difficult ideas and concepts in very simple language. Indeed, as an educational reference it should become a classic in the field, but it is full of seminal and important ideas in its own right. It will surely challenge anyone's preconceptions about how religious beliefs are formed, whether theist or atheist. This is evidenced by the review of the ignoramus below who tries to cough up numbers to 'refute' Justin Barrett's claim that it is natural for the human mind to postulate supernatural persons as part of the world.
It is not, as the one-star reviewer thinks, a work of apologetics. It is not intended to bolster the faith of believers. Even though Barrett is a Christian, the book is neutral (as any work of science should be) on the question of whether God actually exists.
Indirectly, however, this book does provide a defense of theism in the following way. Barrett establishes, through a careful overview of the cognitive literature, that beliefs in God or gods are formed from the same cognitive machinery as that which produces our belief in other peoples' minds, the flow of time and other beliefs which we take for granted. You cannot isolate religious beliefs as an evolutionary by-product and not do the same for these other indispensable beliefs. That does not prove that there is a God, but it does effectively neutralize evolutionary criticism of religious belief.
Barrett makes an interesting connection between the results of cognitive science and Alvin Plantinga's seminal work "God and other minds" which is well worth reading. Overall this book is a goldmine of insights and the best general overview of the cognitive science of religion for non-specialists.
Well written: scientific yet accessible without unnecessary jargon.......2006-01-25
Well written: scientific yet accessible without unnecessary jargon
Justin L. Barrett presents a well-substantiated, yet very accessible thesis describing the psychological mechanisms involved in belief -- that is, both belief in general and belief in God in particular. Drawing on clinical research, Barrett demonstrates how from childhood, each of us is predisposed to view adults, such as our parents, as omniscient and omnipotent beings. Though we mature and abandon those beliefs about adults, these concepts still allow us to believe in the omnipotent and omniscient qualities of god (any god of any culture), as transmitted to us by our parents and by our society. Barrett demonstrates how ideas and stories that engender belief in such a god are more easily accepted and transmitted than other types of stories.
The foundation of these beliefs stems ultimately from our instinctual ability to distinguish, often incorrectly, the difference between non-agents (for example, a leaf carried by the breeze) and agents (a live mouse) and to believe that they possess mental functions such as fear and desire (for food, for example) which cause them to act.
In the final chapters, Barrett speculates somewhat sarcastically, but still effectively, why reason, logic, and factual evidence do not easily overcome belief. Reading past the sarcasm, there is much to be learned in this chapter. Finally, Barrett discloses his personal belief in Christianity and speculates that our innate capacity to imagine the divine was not the result of mere natural selection, but supernatural selection. I found the idea intriguing yet I wish the rational were a bit more transparent.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to both believers and non-believers who want a better insight into the psychology of belief. Everyone will recognize within himself these psychological processes that Barrett describes and will find it easy to make the connection between that understanding and the phenomenon of belief.
Turgid beyond despair.......2005-06-27
With terms like the "hypersensitive agency detection device (HADD)" and "minimally counterintuitive (MCI) agents", the writing in Barret's book is turgid, pretentious, full of acronyms, and pseudoscientific. If Christians want/need a book to try to reinforce their faith in Christianity, I suggest reading C.S. Lewis. His books are better written and perhaps more persuasive.
Accessible, yet chock-full of relevant theories.......2005-01-04
I would recommend Barrett's book to anyone, academic or no, who has an interest in getting a concise and accessible cognitive explanation for religious belief. Throughout his book, Barrett manages to integrate a variety of current cognitive approaches, some of which were originally intended specifically for explanation of religious belief and some of which have been adapted (in ways that I do not think would be objectionable to their original authors) to this field. In particular, those familiar with the cognitive sciences will recognize elements of Cosmides and Tooby's theory of mental modularity, Pascal Boyer's theories on the signifiance of counter-intuitive agents and agency detection, and Harvey Whitehouse's concept of imagistic and doctrinal modes in religious ritual. But those of you who are unfamiliar with these theorizers, have no fear-- everything you need to understand this book is within the book itself.
Barrett's basic thesis is that belief in God (or gods) is a natural byproduct stemming from two particular capacities of the human mind which have served us well in a variety of contexts throughout the evolution of the species. These capacities he calls Hyper Active Agency Detection, or HADD, and Theory of Mind, or ToM. Chapter by chapter, he explains how these capacities work in formulating beliefs generally, in what contexts (or people) they may be strengthened or weakened, and even how people in which they both function quite normally may still end up not believing in deities for one reason or another. Barrett argues that the mental equipment we as homo sapiens have evolved for myriad purposes ranging from detecting predators to romantic relationships to finding food actually end up working together in a fashion that causes us to find the existence of supernatural agents entirely plausible-- and not just plausible, but necessary.
Of course, one's immediate response may be, "Well, that is all very good...but if that is the case, how do some of us end up not believing in gods?" And Barrett expects this objection. His penultimate chapter is entitled "Why Would Anyone Not Believe in God?" and in it he explains why even though religious belief may be natural, it is not inevitable in all of us. Personally, I feel that the book lets us down a bit at this point-- Barrett's answer is basically that atheists are generally people who have frequent occasion to challenge their own perceptions, specifically the ones that cause us to suspect that there are agents present when we can't be sure, or to attribute agency where there may actually be none. He surmises that this is most likely to occur in academic circles and/or in western, affluent societies, specifically urban areas, where the common understanding is that the environment is designed by humans, not supernatural entities, and intentionality may very well be ascribed not to deity but to more abstract entities such as the government, the market, or society. He describes atheism as seeming natural to some who "enjoy an environment especially designed to short-circuit intuitive judgments tied to natural day-to-day demands and experiences." (118) This is fair enough, but deserves quite a bit more analysis, and in my assessment does not warrent Barrett's conclusion that atheism is therefore "unnatural." Abnormal? Certainly. But it is quite possible to make an effective argument for the naturalness of a belief without maintaining that those who do not have it fall into the category of "unnatural." My suspicion is that Barrett overstates his position a bit in defiance of academics he describes as stating unabashedly that theistic belief is absurd and unworthy of rational-thinking people. But this does not detract from the very worthy points made throughout the book up to this point.
By and large, the book could have been written by theist or non-theist-- its goal is emphatically not to make an argument for or against the existence of God. Rather, it is to explain how each of us enter the world pre-equipped with minds containing a legacy of engineering which has served us in the goal of surviving through the ages, and how this equipment has made belief in the supernatural an entirely natural part of that world...for better or for worse.
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