Average customer rating:
- A Post-Colonial work about race, oppression, and power...
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In Another Place, Not Here
Dionne Brand
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Literary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Brand, Dionne
| ( B )
| Authors, A-Z
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0802136338 |
Amazon.com
This is poet, essayist, and film-maker Dionne Brand's first novel. The same sensuous language and imagery that informs her other work is present in this story of two contemporary Caribbean women. Elizete and Verlia appear to be opposites. Elizete is a poor islander who dreams of escaping to a life of freedom and prosperity in a city. Verlia is a jaded Canadian who leaves Toronto to return to her island homeland where she hopes to find revolution and authenticity. Each woman sees her fantasy in the other, comparing their urban and rural lifestyles, material wealth and poverty, and different spiritualities. While this book is certainly about the differences between the two women's lives, it is also very much about the power of our fantasies and how we project onto people the things we want to see. Brand's supple, poetic prose is well-suited for her many-textured subject. --Rebecca Brown
Book Description
Acclaimed by Adrienne Rich as "fierce, sensuous . . . a work of great beauty and moral imagination," In Another Place, Not Here tells of two contemporary Caribbean women who find brief refuge in each other on an island in the midst of political uprising. Elizete, dreaming of running to another place to escape the harshness of her daily life on the island, meets Verlia, an urban woman in constant flight who has returned to her island birthplace with hopes of revolution. Their tumultuous story moves between city and island, past and future, fantasy and reality.
Customer Reviews:
A Post-Colonial work about race, oppression, and power..........2001-04-02
I just finished reading this one for a class. It is a very complex novel that I think would benefit from multiple readings. The novel is extremely discriptive and tells the story of two women from different parts of the world and how their paths ultimately cross. Brand's prose is intricately woven with a combination of confusion, wonder, and anger that emminates through fresh use of voice and perception. The book illustrates the impact of the imperialism and the slave-trade in the Carribean and takes place in both the islands and Ontario. I recomend this one but caution that it is a book that takes effort to really get into it.
Average customer rating:
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Not here, but in another place
Ralph Barker
Manufacturer: St. Martin's
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
Netherlands
| Europe
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Criminology
| Crime & Criminals
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Terrorism
| Current Events
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0312579616 |
Customer Reviews:
Evil that good men do........2002-11-13
This true story of a hijacking and hostages. A disturbing fact filled book: extreme human experience. Hostages and captors,not imaginary but real in a part of the world ,that maybe in 1980 would not have half as much interest as it does now. That sad commentary for Americans today. Maybe if we had all had this book on our list to read ,we would not have been so foolish to think such a thing only happens: Not Here,but in another place..
Book Description
This digital document is an article from World Literature Today, published by University of Oklahoma on March 22, 1997. The length of the article is 631 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: In Another Place, Not Here.
Author: Michael Thorpe
Publication:
World Literature Today (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 1997
Publisher: University of Oklahoma
Volume: v71
Issue: n2
Page: p446(2)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
The truth has been buried for hundreds of years beneath myth, symbolism, and propaganda—but it finally comes to light in these pages and can no longer be denied. This is the story of an extraordinary journey of discovery that uncovers the existence of a serpent-worshipping cult that thrived throughout the world in ancient times and whose influences have permeated all the major religions. The cult’s central rite involved mixing together snake blood and venom in a ceremonial bowl, forging a powerful healing elixir—and the evidence shows that this ritual holds the key to solving such enigmatic mysteries as the Holy Grail, Elixir of Life, Philosopher’s Stone, and the lost city of Atlantis. It’s nothing less than a radical reinterpretation of world history.
Customer Reviews:
Evaluation of The Serpent Grail by Osborn and Gardiner.......2007-08-05
Throughout recorded history, human males have had trouble using their sexuality to benefit themselves and others. Sexual energy and territorial rights have continually been the basis for most wars and human problems, individually and collectively. This book deals with the societies that have learned special ways to sublimate sexual energy.
Little boys always have to learn how, what and when to deal with their penis when sexual energy begins to arise and throughout life this is a problem and has always been a problem with all human males--and consequently females.
This book is easy to read with few technical terms and the terms are explained. Well written, plain and simple with explanations of events following in logical order. Both writers are personally interested in the topic from a layman's approach. I suspect that both authors at some point in their research, perhaps before then, and joined some branch of one of the secret societies. The authors do not deal with the dark side of secret societies nor do they hint of this anywhere in the book.
The Shining Ones refers to those that have gone through an initiation process in which they have learned how to deal with their sexual energies: how to sublimate these energies for social purposes--usually. If the methods are successful, the initiate then becomes an "enlightened or illuminated one"--a Shining One. The Shining One refers mostly to the initiate's inner feeling of energy and enlightenment--a new way of life that was spoken of by Christ and others. The initiate then feels illuminated with new energy; Shining inside, often referred to as the inner light or illumination.
Both writers collaborated also on another book, The Shining Ones, which is about some of the members of these secret societies. This book is about how humans have dealt with their sexual energies: how they have sublimated these energies via special, secret methods. The serpent or snake became a model for the human penis and how special methods allowed these initiates to use their sexual energies to help themselves and others.
Both of these books are well written and present the concepts that are the origins of all secret societies: how humans, particularly men, learn to harness their sexual energy for social purposes (usually social).
A journey into the imagination.......2007-07-01
This is a book which aims to appeal to people's prejudices and fantasies. Lack of proof and quantum leaps to dubious conclusions mark its arguments. It is a singularly unscholarly work where the diving line between fact and fiction is difficult if not impossible to discern. As a serious work it has little merit as a work pandering to people's superstitions and assumptions it may succeed.
Adventure did not ask, but no harm done.......2007-06-03
Another of the genre, "truth behind everything". The title alone is enough to draw one in, yes? Why not say it is a "secret" revealed and sell a few more? From the beginning of the "secret" of the grail it was said that unless "adventure" asked, one should not speak, or in the nascent case, write about the grail. However, when you have missed the proverbial boat by as far as this work does, it makes no difference. The truth is so simple-and that is the only way it can survive. Be entertained, but don't be fooled, as the dog clips your heal, from beginning to end, it would seem....
Another Modern Gnostic Classic.......2007-01-21
THE SERPENT GRAIL is akin to the translation of the Bible into the vernacular. In the latter case the Bible in the West had only been copied in Latin, a language the common person could not understand. Its seventeenth century translation fueled the Protestant Revolution. THE SERPENT GRAIL makes the deepest levels of occult lore accessible to people today who possess a sincere desire to delve into their innermost Self & ancestral roots. Together Gardiner and Osborn have created their own unique individual and collective version of THE GREAT WORK.
Paganism: An Introduction to Earth- Centered Religions
History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Knights Templar Encyclopedia: The Essential Guide to the People, Places, Events, and Symbols of the Order of the Temple
Fantastic.......2006-07-24
Regardless of the previous reviewers feminine angle I found this book to be amazingly concise and covering all the aspects, indeed even those supposedly left out. I have also just read Gardiner's new book Secrets of the Serpent, which goes into much more depth. The Serpent Grail is about the Grail and it's links to the serpent worshippers of the past. It reveals the elixir of life and therefore is not a mythological encyclopedia as desired by the previous reviewer. Secrets of the Serpent reveals much more than any other mythological book of the serpent and even comes up against the Da Vinci Code. The Serpent Grail is an amazing new angle on the Grail lore and one that many scholars have reviewed glowingly, so it has to be worth a look.
Book Description
The boy-king Arthor has beaten back the berserker wolf warriors of the Saxon god, uniting his island kingdom -- but at a terrible cost. For the Grail, the chalice of the Last Supper and the magical shield of Britain, has been stolen.
Without the Grail's protection, Britain lies parched and barren, a demon-haunted landscape where sulfurous vapors taint ther air. To find the Grail, Arthor's mother, Ygrane, must strike a dark bargain with Bright Night, elf-prince of the "pale people,"in the hollow hills. Merlin must use his magic to show the way. But it is Arthor himself who must confront the Serpent, Sword in hand.
A.A.. Atanasio's epic retelling of humankind's most powerful legend weaves together, for the first time, the hallowed yarn of ancient Arthurian lore and the shimmering strands of modern quantum science.
Customer Reviews:
Reality (?) bites........2002-08-14
Finally, a multi-faceted, richly textured, thought-provoking and deeply woven and embroidered series of "tales" from a rather masterful story-teller who treats his readers as cogent listeners capable of keeping the various skeins of this historical, cultural, psychosociological and demi-religious tapestry flowing. As an avid and voracious reader with somewhat eclectic tastes, I find Mr. Attanasio's spinning of the threads of these tales to be highly intelligent, deeply fascinating, richly image-evocative and teleportational. So much more so than the typical Freudean psychic-cleansing pap that many current editors seem to qualify as saleable fiction. Yes, life is not easy and we all have our "crosses" to bear; however, can't we have a little more story-telling and a little less Freudean-couch revelations? Occassionally, as with any modern-day story-teller, he has to fall back into reiterrations in order to keep those not willing or able to invest the time and/or money in the preceding tales up with the mulitlayered goings-on in these tales; and yes, he sometimes strays across to "New Age-Feel Good" whining or carping. Yet, his characters for the most part are so fully fleshed and "real" that I feel I'm standing, next to, or even looking out of the eyes of, each narrating character.
To be honest, I haven't watched TV since I got hooked on the first book of this Middle Earth adventure, nor even listened to the stereo, as the lyricality of this writing, and the characters, both human and demiurge (sometimes even animal) has enraptured all of my senses, especially my own little dreamworld. He has also led me into new forays through the almost-forgotten magical pleasures of my local library, seeking further illumination on Celtic, Drudic, Christian, British, magical and other tangential gems tossed out as asides in his tale. What an extra-special, unexpected treat! Challenge yourself to reasses your own "reality". Wrap yourself up in these tales.
I should like this series more, but. . ........2001-08-28
As a confirmed fan of the Arthurian Legend and the various retellings, I should probably like this series more than I do. I can't claim that it's because I'm a traditionalist - one of my favorite retellings is Patricia Kennealy-Morrison's three-book subset of her Keltiad series known as "The Tales of Arthur". For those of you who haven't read it, it's a great series referred to by both to the author and its aficionados as "Celts in Space", so use your imagination. And, it's not because A. A. Attanasio's series is poorly written. The prose is lyrical, yet strong, and the characterizations are full. I think it may be because even though the series is original and the setting non-traditional, it reaches too far for my personal tastes. In this series, Arthur (or, Arthor, as he starts out), is certainly a featured character, but not the main one. Arthur's tale is lost in the maze of all the immortals in all the galaxies in all the universes of the cosmos. The story has its beginning in the beginning of time when all was chaos. To keep it brief, Merlin starts out as the demon Lailoken, spawn of Lucifer along with the others of his ilk, who through a series of miraculous events is given birth as a human living backwards in time, i.e., his body grows younger as time progresses. As a result, Merlin sheds his demonic ways, becomes a devout Christian, and is tasked with guiding Arthor on his quest of uniting the British Isles under the umbrella of Christianity. Opposing him are the Furor and the old (pagan) gods. The Furor is Odin and his cohorts the rest of the cadre of the Norse deities. Throw in the Firelords (i.e., the "good" angels), the immortal Nine Queens of Avalon, and the elfin Daione Sid, and you have a battle royale par excellence. Oh, and throw in the fact additional fact that the earth `s core is formed by a sleeping dragon who is cosmically connected to every other dragon that forms the core of every other planet in the Creation. . . As many of the characters are gods or have god-like characters, time tripping abounds and everyone, save the puny mortal humans, can see the future and has their own ways of trying to prevent the holocaust they all foresee. The fact that they all have different ideas about how to accomplish this is what provides the conflict that makes the story go. Mr. Attanasio tells the story far better than I do, but I find the constantly shifting points of view to be difficult to follow. I like the straight-ahead descriptions of Arthur's dealings well enough, but tend to get lost and gloss over the philosophical and mystical mumbo-jumbo. Also, there are some incongruities with the mainstream Arthurian legend that seem to serve no real purpose, or none that I'm smart enough to discern. The Fisher King appears in the book, but Arthur's the one with the wound that will not heal. Call me an ignorant, lowbrow Philistine, and that's OK with me. I like thoughtful fantasy, but a little sword and sorcery floats my boat, too. As I intimated earlier, I don't dislike these books. I've read all four to date, and will read any more that are published. Which brings up another question in my mind - this book has a complete enough ending that it could be the last in the series. However, it leaves us at the very beginning of Arthur's reign. Will there be more? I can't tell. . . The books are well written and mostly enjoyable. They are a strong addition to the store of Arthurian lore that exists. There not my personal favorites, but I do recommend that anyone who enjoys Arthurian literature at all give them a try and formulate their own opinion.
Arthurian Legend ..... retold (?).......2000-10-25
I picked up the first book of this series because I am an Arthurian legend fan. At that time I had never even heard of Attanasio....I am now an avid Attanasio reader.
The Serpent and the Grail is a hard-to-put-down book and continues the fantasy world of Arthur's rule started in the earlier books. The only problem I have with this book is that this is still not the end of the series (I hope!). As an Arthurian fan, I hope that Attanasio will continue telling this story until the end of the legend and that the next book in the series comes out before I forget the characters again (that's another problem ... the wealth of characters!). If you're already familiar with the legend then reading this series is as if you've never heard of Arthur and Camelot before .... very refreshing.
As an Attanasio fan, this is another example of the diversity of Attanasio's vivid epic-telling talents. You need to read other Attanasio's works to appreciate what I mean (personal recommendations: The Last Legends of Earth, The Dark Shore)
My advice to all would-be readers .... get all the books in the series and read them straight through from the first to the last, in sequence. It won't be easy reading, but it will be worth it.
Odin vs. the Industrial Revolution.......2000-10-10
The Wolf and the Crown, The Eagle and the Sword, The Dragon and the Unicorn, The Serpent and the Grail, so far... Don't know what to make of these well-written but tiresome and confusing books with all the gods and demons and faeries and elementals; mysticism and visions of our industrial future; God (she) as a hermit, Lucifer as a noble exile, the 10000-year-old ladies of the lake; big-bang theory and the sleeping dragon under the earth; Furor (Odin) and Christian monks, the surprisingly civilized poet-king Wesc of the Saxons, and of course Merlin who is the demon Lailoken reborn in the womb of St somebody or other, a nun. (In effect he raped his mother and became his own father; and Morgan la Fay reincarnates the soul of HER own father King Mark into Mordred, the offspring of an incestuous union with her half-brother Arthur -- not exactly wholesome reading for the family -- you get the flavor of this series). Worth reading if you are into this sort of stuff. Stay tuned.
It is, however, beautifully written, no matter how absurd and confusing the plotting is.
The Legend continues...........2000-07-11
I have just finished reading the serpent and the grail and I must say that it was again one of the best books I have ever read! Just like the rest of the Arthurian books he has out it was in one word...beautiful. The way this author writes is incredible. It is almost like reading poetry. The book taking place after Wolf and the Crown,finds the young king once again in a quest to save Britian. This book was one of the best i've read in the series and hopefully not the last. This book is a must read for A.A. Attanasio fans. But if you've just discovered the author and the series i recommend picking up his first book in the series The Dragon and the Unicorn.
Average customer rating:
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The Serpent Grail
Philip Gardiner , and
Gary Osborn
Manufacturer: Watkins Publishing Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
General | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1842931571 |
Customer Reviews:
What Came Before Christianity?.......2007-09-13
In essence prior to the doctorine of the Christian church, Gardiner reveals that all religions eminate from the most ancient of all architypes - the serpent.
Wish I would have had a book like this 10 years ago.......2007-09-11
Gardiner really brings some interesting info to the surface and ties it all together nicely. Recommended.
I saw the DVD of this first..........2007-08-29
Which I enjoyed so much that I ordered the book and wasn't dissapointed with that either. Good read and more or less a must for people interested in ancient religions and their symbols.
A work of interesting Fiction.......2007-08-21
Although no King, Herbert or Koontz, this fictional work of meandering diatribe does have its merits.
For example its ability to make great A grade toilet paper once read. Definately worth 5 stars for that alone!
To will. To know. To keep silent. To read this book........2006-08-15
The name Philip Gardiner has been brought to our attention more and more recently and then all of a sudden we receive a signed copy (wow) of this amazing tome through the post from the man himself!
If you are unaware of the subject matter then its gonna get you right between the eyes. On the other hand, if you think you know absolutely everything about serpent mythology, tough, its still gonna get you right between the eyes! Take it gently, one chapter at a time and let it sink in. Question every sentance. Scream at every full stop. Because thats what they are gonna do to you!
Philip, in his amazing litery manner takes you from pre history to the present, exploring the links between names, quantum science, bloodlines and even touches upon the holy grail. Is nothing sacred? Absolutely, but at least you know WHY by the end of this fascinating and absorbing book.
Read it if you dare!!!
Average customer rating:
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Serpent Grail
Manufacturer: WATKINS PUBLISHING
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GZ3F3S |
Customer Reviews:
The 3rd and 4th books in the Norby series........1999-06-08
This volume is a combination of the third and fourth books in the humorous Norby series of science fiction books for children about a space cadet and his unusual robot Norby. In the first story, "Norby and the Lost Princess," Jeff and Norby locate a planet populated by humans who had been transplanted from Earth millennia ago. They rescue a young princess trapped on another planet who has been changed into a plant. In the second story, "Norby and the Invaders," beings from another planet have invaded the planet of friendly dragons and deactivated all of that planet's robots. Jeff and Norby attempt to thwart the invaders who, they discover, believe that technology is bad. They all learn that only misuse of technology is bad.
Average customer rating:
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Norby: Robot for Hire
Manufacturer: Ace Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000HWH7XO |
Average customer rating:
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Norby: Robot for Hire
Manufacturer: Ace Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000HWL0Z0 |
Book Description
A practical guidebook for those who, like the author, want to discover how Zen can be a complementary and rewarding part of Christian Life.
Customer Reviews:
Didn't finish.......2006-01-22
It was all New Age, not Christian, so I gave up on it.
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- Le Pere Goriot
- Lorna: The Ark (Lorna)
- Loyal Subject (German Library)
- MAD - Cover to Cover: 48 Years, 6 Months, & 3 Days of MAD Magazine Covers
- Making a New Vow: A Christian's Guide to Remarrying After Divorce
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