Book Description
The central characters in this stunning literary find are Mario – the “witness” of the title – and Franciscan friar Brother Benigno, the heart and soul of St. Ansgar’s, the working-class German Catholic “Dutchie” church on Manhattan’s West Side. Mario is an assistant to Brother Benigno, mornings, afternoons and weekends, through high school and up until he joins the army to fight in World War II. Those who enjoy re-creations of old New York by the likes of Pete Hamill and E. L. Doctorow will find much to enjoy in Nielsen’s rich portrait of the working-class neighborhood anchored by Stanley Street. But perhaps more compelling is the evocation of life inside a religious order; The Witness of St. Ansgar’s is as honest and deft, insightful and revealing, inspiring and cautionary as any ever written, a book that has the potential to become regarded as an enduring fixture of Catholic American literature.
Customer Reviews:
The Patience of a Saint.......2006-05-01
Steerforth is to be commended for taking a chance and publishing a book so resolutely out of style. I was reminded while reading it of the novels I used to read as a boy by the late Taylor Caldwell, such as NO ONE HEARS BUT HIM or DEAR AND GLORIOUS PHYSICIAN, for Nielsen has a great gift for combining religious sentiment with the hard edges of modern life. Here, "modern life" is the period right before World War II, where a "Dutchie" boy called Mario works as an altar boy--apparently a paid position then--in order to help out his immigrant family. At first I thought all the "Dutchie" references meant that the parish was a Dutch one, i.e., from the Netherlands. But later on it becomes apparent that these people are all German-American with their own little enclave on Stanley Street on the West Side. Funny, I never considered "Mario" a German name.
Nielsen pits his 15 year old hero against the incredibly aged Brother Benigno, who is so old that he can remember the day that Abe Lincoln's funeral train passed through the town. Mario loves Benigno as a substitute grandfather figure, and teaches him all sorts of lessons about the peculiar ways of grace, and also, poverty, chastity and obedience. In one disquieting episode he takes off Mario's shoe and sock and puts a pebble in them, making Mario get up and try to hobble around the excruciating pebble pain, all in the service to trying to make his boy understand how a guilty conscience is like having a pebble in your soul.
If any of you know the famous IN THIS HOUSE OF BREDE by Rumer Godden, or have seen Otto Preminger's film of THE CARDINAL, some of the interlocked vignettes of ST. ANSGAR's will be familiar to you. Yes, it's an old fashioned book, that might have easily been written in the 1930s, but chalk that up to the late Francis Nielsen's extremely close rendering of his adorable teenage altar boy, and the way he sticks close to what Mario is feeling, seeing, tasting and smelling, not to mention thinking, for although no Einstein, Mario doesn't get fooled for very long. A brief afterword by Florence, the widow of Francis, reveals that Nielsen wrote this book in the very last years of life, and that for 15 years his family failed to find a publisher. It is, after all, a decidedly old fashioned subject--spiritual growth--and commercial publishers probably couldn't figure out a way to sell the movie rights. Although I hope a movie is made of this, and for Brother Benigno, the towering, profane, saintly curmudgeon who dominates Mario's soul, I would ask Kirk Douglas for a last hurrah, or maybe Richard Widmark.
Average customer rating:
|
Manhattan transfer.(The Witness of St. Ansgar's)(Book review): An article from: Commonweal
Neil Coughlan
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
 General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| Classics
| Comic
| Contemporary
| Literary
General
| Politics
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| e-Docs
| Formats
| Books
Political Science
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| e-Docs
| Formats
| Books
General
| Nonfiction
| HTML
| Formats
| e-Docs
| Formats
| Books
Political Science
| Nonfiction
| HTML
| Formats
| e-Docs
| Formats
| Books
ASIN: B000KLRQIS
Release Date: 2006-11-15 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Commonweal, published by Thomson Gale on May 19, 2006. The length of the article is 888 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: Manhattan transfer.(The Witness of St. Ansgar's)(Book review)
Author: Neil Coughlan
Publication:
Commonweal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 19, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 133
Issue: 10
Page: 22(2)
Article Type: Book review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Amazon.com
This is the third installment of Salvatore's Demon trilogy that starts with The Demon Awakens and The Demon Spirit.
Once again the demon dactyl of Corona seems defeated. Ranger Elbryan Wyndon goes north to protect the new settlers from goblins and powries, but his beloved Jilseponie returns to Palmaris. There Father Abbot Markwart is consolidating his power over Church and State with the aid of gemstone magic and the demon's power. Pony's determination to stop the evil abbots puts her and Elbryan in deadly peril, for even the king has been turned against them.
Book Description
With the demon dactyl and its foul minions defeated, the war-weary citizens of the kingdom of Honce-the-Bear wish only to begin rebuilding their broken lives. Yet the specter of civil war haunts the ravaged land--and a specter more fearsome still. For the demon, though defeated, was not destroyed. And now its vengeful spirit has found an unholy sanctuary.
The elf-trained ranger Elbryan Wynden presses north to reclaim the savage Timberlands from retreating goblin hordes. His companion, Pony, mistress of gemstone magic, turns south to the civilized--but no less perilous--streets of Palmaris. Suddenly they find themselves caught up in a ruthless power struggle to decide the fate of all Corona--a struggle that will push their courage and love to the breaking point . . . and beyond.
Download Description
With the demon dactyl and its foul minions defeated, the war-weary citizens of the kingdom of Honce-the-Bear wish only to begin rebuilding their broken lives. Yet the specter of civil war haunts the ravaged land -- and a specter more fearsome still. For the demon, though defeated, was not destroyed. And now its vengeful spirit has found an unholy sanctuary.
The elf-trained ranger Elbryan Wynden presses north to reclaim the savage Timberlands from retreating goblin hordes. His companion, Pony, mistress of gemstone magic, turns south to the civilized -- but no less perilous -- streets of Palmaris. Suddenly they find themselves caught up in a ruthless power struggle to decide the fate of all Corona -- a struggle that will push their courage and love to the breaking point... and beyond.
"Another rousing and masterful DemonWars adventure.... A must-read for all fans of Salvatore's work."
REALMS OF FANTASY
Customer Reviews:
Good read.......2007-09-19
It is as good as I have come to expect from Salvatore. Well written and thought out.
Demon Wars part 1.......2006-07-27
This is Salvatore at his best. Fans of Drizzt will love the Demon Wars Saga. Salvatore takes fantacy and intertwins politics, church and amazing character development. There is something for everyone in The Demon Wars Saga. I highly recomend this book to any one who needs an escape from mundane reality.
A Tremendous End to the Original Saga.......2005-11-11
The Demon Apostle is my personal favorite of all of R.A. Salvatore's work.
The book contains incredible fight scenes, great character death and development, and the last 100 pages or so is some of the best I've ever read from ANY Fantasy author. Who would have thought that a book could incur such real emotion from me? I certainly did not but Bob proved me wrong with this one.
Elbryan dies.......2004-08-07
Elbryan dies. he couldnt kill off pony. he already killed avelyn in the first book, and now he has to off the only good character left. leaving pony, who bitches through the whole next book. i know main characters need to die, but why elbryan? he was almost as cool as drizzt and artemis.
A dazzling mix of human emotion, and action..........2004-07-07
In my opinion, The Demon Apostle is the greatest installment in the first part of the DW.
The fights are soaring in the dazziling department.
But this book, although filled with battles, is deeper, the mix of emotion and rage, love and care, captured my heart as I consumed every word into thought.
Another amazing thing is how Salvatore does his charecters, having several new charecters added, all of them are well built, knowing each of them as you knew yourself.
This is, by far, a must read.
Average customer rating:
|
Demon Apostle
Manufacturer: Tandem Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 1417650877 |
Customer Reviews:
Cute.......2000-12-03
This is a cool space book for all u little kiddies who r interested in stuff like diz...i read diz here book in 2 hours. It's a cool sequel to the first 4 books and i can't wait til dey come up with another book...
Average customer rating:
|
Planet of the Dips (Space Brat 4)
Bruce Coville
Manufacturer: Minstrel / Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Action & Adventure
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic
| Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ages 4-8
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ages 9-12
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Space Brat
| Science Fiction
| Series
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Wrath of Squat (Space Brat Series, Book 3)
-
Blork's Evil Twin (Space Brat 2)
-
Space Brat (Space Brat 1): Space Brat
ASIN: 0671500929 |
Customer Reviews:
a good book.......2003-07-10
This was a pretty good book about a bratty alien. This alien is different from the other aliens on planet splat he cries and screams and has a tantrum until he gets his way. But when his poodnoobie is kidnapped what can space brat do? He cant throw a tantrum to get what he wants this time. So how can get the thing he loves most back... find out and see! I'd recommend this book to any one who likes hilarous science fiction books.
Space Brat.......2003-02-25
This book is about an alien named Blork who throws big tantrums and gets what he wants. He brought his poodnoobie Lunk to school and then Lunk destroyed the whole classroom. The teacher called the Big Pest Squad. They turn things into dust. Blork saved Lunk and then went to another planet. There were lots of Things on the planet. Blork and Lunk almost never got off the planet but they did.
What I liked about this book was there lots of things I liked in this book, such as aliens, a creature that looked like a dog, and space. I would recommend this book to other readers because it's an interesting book.
Goes a bit far for me..........2000-10-27
I love a good light-hearted sci-fi. (I like Star Wars for the droids and aliens, but the battle planning scene bores me) Space Brat was a bit much. The book was written for a younger audience and the Blork character isn't developed well enough for me to like him. "Aliens Ate My Homework" is a better Coville choice as far as I'm concerned if you want to get wrapped up in a good bizarre tale of outer space.
Review for Space Brat.......2000-05-22
space brat Recently I read a book called Space brat, by Bruce Coville. In this book there is an alien that is labeled a "brat" when he was born. He is known throughout the galaxy for being the best at throwing temper tantrums. One day in his school , it is show and tell day and the brat decides to bring in an animal that he had found. He doesn't know that the animal he found grows really fast . The next day he decides to bring in his pet. When he gets to school the poodnubie(or his pet) is so big that it knocks over everything in the class room. His teacher got all mad about it and yelled at him. That night, Brat decided that he and his poodnubie should go out. when they were outside they saw a weird figure, so they decided to follow it. They followed it to a different planet. when they got there they had to hide because they didn't want anyone to see them. they were discovered the king an d he brought them with him. The king asked them why they were there. they told him the story of how they got there. after the story the king was hungry. He was sick of the meals that he had been eating lately so he wanted to try something new. What the king wanted to eat was Brats poodnubie. the brat wouldn't let him have it so he through a big tantrum,( since he was the best person in the galaxy at throwing tantrums). The king was so impressed by the Brats tantrum that he made a deal with him that if he taught him how to throw a fit, then he would not eat the poodnubie. Brat didn't tell him because he wanted to be the only best. The king kept threatening Brat but he wouldn't give in. Finally, when the king was about to eat his poodnubie, Brat finally let in. he figured that even if he taught him, he would still be the best on the planet. A few days later they decided to go back. I thought this was a very strange book. it was kind of fun to read. I guessI enjoyed it.
Cool book!.......1999-11-07
I throughly enjoyed reading this book. I have read all five in the series and this is the coolest. The book is silly and funny at the same time. I would recommend this book to anyone.
Customer Reviews:
better then the first!.......2003-07-10
Space brat 2 was much better then the first with more action, more comedy, and the biggest space brat tantrum yet! In this book Blork accidentally makes a clone of himself named Krolb who does the opposite of what Blork says or does. Now Krolb stole a shrink-ray and wants to shrink the planet splat. What can space brat do now...read and see! I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes hilarous science fiction books.
Watch out for the EXTREME content of this book!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......1998-04-09
Space Brat 2: Blorks Evil Twin is written by Bruce Coville. It is about an alien from the planet Splat. In the first book Blork had lots of tantrums, but then he went on a trip where he learned to control his temper. There are lots of other weird names in the book. One day, the class goes to the museum where they see some inventions. Something bad happens there, but if I tell it would give the story away. I recommend this book to people who like interesting books. I would not read this book before the first book. There are more after this book , so I would read those too. I would also recommend other Bruce Covill books. By:Benjamin Goodman
cool.......1998-02-19
I thought of this book a couple minutes ago and I said to myself, this book was okay, but i think it was a little boring at parts. mainly because Blork didn't get to go into space at all. he was on Splat the whole time.
Average customer rating:
|
Space Brat
Manufacturer: Minstrel Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 9993184500 |
Average customer rating:
|
Space Brat 3: The Wrath of Squat (Space Brat)
Bruce Coville
Manufacturer: Rebound by Sagebrush
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding
Humorous
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic
| Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ages 4-8
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Space Brat
| Science Fiction
| Series
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0785767568 |
Book Description
If the church is to thrive in the twenty-first century, it will have to take on a new form as it ministers to the 120 million unchurched people in the United States. Planting Growing Churches for the 21st Century is still virtually the only available text on church planting in North America and beyond. In this third edition, readers will find material on the importance of healthy, biblical change in our churches, updated appendixes, insight on our postmodern ministry context, and strategies for reaching new population demographics such as Generations X and Y. Pastors, ministry leaders, and church planters will find the information and advice found in this book invaluable as they carry out their ministries.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Bible-Based Book.......2006-11-05
Mr. Hesselgrave is an excellent author and has a very Biblical based philosophy on worldwide missions.
I am a church planter.......2006-10-19
Hesselgrave's book, "Planting Churches Cross-Culturally" has a lot of good information that any would be church planter should make himself aware of. It also contains a lot of information that goes beyond just church planting and really examines different issues of ecclesiology. I thought the book would have been much better if it was about 150 pages shorter as he tends to drag on from time to time. He does give examples, which is helpful, because otherwise his writing style is not that captivating.
I think the biggest strength of the book is the amount of time he spends describing the need of preparation that a team needs before they show up. Many church planting books don't stress this enough. As a church planter myself, I wish someone had talked to me about the things which he brings up as it would have saved a lot of time and energy and pain. I'm not sure that he even emphasises his point enough when he says, speaking of Jesus' great commission in Matthew, "...the emphasis is not on the going, but on the reason for going." So many missionary sermons place there emphasis on challenging people to go that when they get there they're not even sure what they will do! He is one of the few writers that I've read that stresses the premier importance of knowing what you are going to do. As far as I'm concerned, he could have emphasised it even more than he did.
I like other points he made as well. He did a good job of speaking about the need for narrative theology and an emphasis on the biblical super-narrative in our communicating in areas that are highly unchurched rather than just on topical preaching or systematic theology. He also did well to decry the fact that we tend to send just about anyone to plant churches cross-culturally even if the person is ungifted and untrained. He also did well to discuss the role of the sending church and their need for both discretion in who should be sent and the need for continued support once the missionaries have been sent. Hesselgrave's book mentions some very practical things that others simply have failed to mention in their books. This is the book's greatest strength.
On the down side, It seemed like he could have said these things in a shorter, more direct way. He also spends a lot of time sharing various ecclesiastical views on different subjects that I didn't feel were necessary in a book that should have been focused on the particulars of planting churches cross-culturally. But if you grab a hold of the few gems that are in the book, it is a worthwhile read.
A Look Into How Paul Did Missions!.......2005-01-13
This book is about planting churches cross-culturally. It is about taking the Great Commission seriously, but it isn't about doing evangelism in a narrow way. David Hesselgrave says that in the past evangelism was closely identified with the great campaigns and crusades of the nineteenth century. But this approach has resulted in decisions without follow-up. What Hesselgrave does is to stress the importance of evangelism with the formation of churches also.
We can proclaim the message to people...but if they don't have a small group to grow in they may fall through the cracks. What Hesselgrave does, and what this book really is, is a theology of how Paul did missions and evangelism. Hesselgrave lists out, mainly chapter by chapter, the Pauline cycle from the book of Acts. This cycle consists of 10 movements that Paul went through to proclaim the gospel and to establish churches in all the areas he preached in.
These movements are:
1. The missionaries commissioned
2. The audience contacted
3. The hearers converted
4. The gospel communicated
5. The believers congregated
6. The faith confirmed
7. The leaders consecrated
8. The believers commended
9. The relationship continued
10. The sending church convened
Get this book if you want to be able to contextualize the gospel to your specific area!
An Awesome Tool for Ministry.......2000-11-25
In this book, David Hesselgrave presents church planting in a practical way. I am so thankful for the influence this book has had even in my own church planting adventure. He discusses the necessary tools that every church planter, and or Ministry worker needs to be:
1. Relevant 2. Possess an anointed message 3. Practical in a world that is continually changing,
I highly recommend this book as a tool for ministry, and a great book for informatory purposes for any library...
Blessings, Rev. Rick Metzgar, Jr.
Books:
- Xicotencatl: An Anonymous Historical Novel About the Events Leading Up to the Conquest of the Aztec Empire (Texas Pan American Series)
- Zora Neale Hurston : Novels and Stories : Jonah's Gourd Vine / Their Eyes Were Watching God / Moses, Man of the Mountain / Seraph on the Suwanee / Selected Stories (Library of America)
- Zuckerman Bound : The Ghost Writer, Zuckerman Unbound, the Anatomy Lesson, Epilogue : The Prague Orgy
- 2 Wheels 2 Years & 3 Continents: A Bicyclist's Dream Fulfilled
- A Posturing Of Fools
- A Tryst in Time (Timeswept)
- Adventures of Huck Finn
- An Altered Light
- Ballet (Ultimate Sticker Books)
- Between, Georgia
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- China Shakes the World: A Titan's Rise and Troubled Future -- and the Challenge for America
- The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove
- Muriella Pent
- Sunne in Splendour
- The Dream Palaces of Hollywood's Golden Age
- The Great Gatsby
- The Craggy Hole in My Heart and the Cat Who Fixed It: Over the Edge and Back with My Dad, My Cat, an
- Sexually exploited children: Working to protect and heal
- Switch on Your Mind: Accelerative Learning Strategies at Work
- Coping With Numbers: A Management Guide
Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church Is Transforming the Faith
God Laughs & Plays; Churchless Sermons in Response to the Preachments of the Fundamentalist Right
Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith
