Average customer rating:
- Early Crowley
- Yet Another Customer Who Thinks This Is The Best
- The Best Novel Ever Written, Plus Two
- All about The Deep
- Wonderful book, why is it of print
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Three Novels: The Deep, Engine Summer, and Beasts
John Crowley
Manufacturer: Spectra
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0553373986
Release Date: 1994-08-01 |
Customer Reviews:
Early Crowley.......2007-02-05
This collection of John Crowley's first three novels is in print today as Otherwise, under a different publisher but with the same contents, page layout etc.
All three novels are strong, but the gem here is Engine Summer, a rare and pricey find as a single volume. Technically it's science fiction, and of the post-apocalyptic variety, but its actual concerns are memory and storytelling, altered states, why people are different, time and loss, romantic quest, and the meaning of life. The most beautiful, moving, profound story you've never heard of.
Yet Another Customer Who Thinks This Is The Best.......2001-01-05
"The World is founded on a pillar, which is founded on the Deep".
The Deep is my favourite book. Is has a strange, ethereal quality and a satisfying completeness that matches the encapsulation of the world described. I've read it at least 5 times, probably 10, limited only by having to leave a gap of a year or two between re-readings to forget the details. Fortunately I have a poor memory.
Engine Summer is also excellent, though pipped by The Deep.
Beasts I've read only once, many years ago, but remember it fondly.
If you've been put off Crowley by the unfortunate Little, Big then please try this instead.
The Best Novel Ever Written, Plus Two.......2000-08-25
How many books in the Amazon database have been called the best novel ever written (or the best novel in its genre) by *half* of all the reviewers? ENGINE SUMMER was actually the first novel John Crowley ever completed; the ms. then sat in a draw for years while he honed his craft with THE DEEP and BEASTS. The original draft was then rewritten. You thus have a unique combination of an author's most central concerns, his fundamental, primal Tale (always in the first novel), with the skills and knowledge of a mature artist.
Civilization has fallen apart and humanity has returned to a primitive way of life. It's one of the oldest ideas in science fiction, but ENGINE SUMMER is unlike any other post-holocaust novel ever written. Rather than a harsh existence and a struggle to return to former glories, Crowley has imagined a veritable utopian existence -- in a world which knows there can be no going back. This is the long "Engine Summer" ("Indian Summer" misremembered) of the world, and winter is coming. It's a setting of unbelievable poignance.
Rush That Speaks, an adolescent boy, finds himself in a strange place. An unfamiliar woman asks him to tell his story. Since Rush's ambition has always been to become a "saint" -- someone who tells the story of their life in a special way -- he is happy to comply. Where is Rush? Who is the woman? As Rush tells his remarkable tale, the special (and unbearably poignant) circumstance of that telling gradually becomes clear to the reader. ENGINE SUMMER is ultimately a story *about* Story, about the human ability to be moved by tales like this and about our desire to know what happens next. I would say more, but I don't want to even hint at what is going on here.
THE DEEP retells the story of the English Civil War in a unique setting which seems to be genre fantasy but turns out to be something very different. At the time it was published, I thought it was flawed but showed extraordinary promise. That promise was fulfilled in BEASTS, a novel I thought was the best sf novel of its year and one (I'm very proud to say!) I cited, in print, as evidence of Crowley's greatness before ENGINE SUMMER and LITTLE, BIG were ever published. You'll notice I made no attempt to summarize its plot. It's like that.
All about The Deep.......2000-04-22
Unfortunately, while I have Engine Summer (and Little, Big) I haven't read either yet and I've never even seen The Beasts (though I'd snap it up if I found it, probably), this is the only place on Amazon where I can write about The Deep, Crowley's famous first novel. This is one weird book, let me put it that way and not weird like mindblowingly weird but just . . . weird. I don't know, I can't explain it but the book feels like it takes place in a fever dream, there's this unreal quality about everything. The plot then. Someone has apparently constructed a giant disk in space and attached a long cord to it (so they say) and there are people on the top of the disc and they endlessly fight in this war of succession. To this mess comes a Visitor who doesn't remember why he came here or even who made him and for most of the story he serves as an observer to the events going on. The only problem I had with this was some of the characters are hard to keep straight because they aren't given proper names, you've got "Red Senlen" and "Red Senlen's Son" and Redhand and Old Redhand and Younger Redhand and Learned Redhand and King Little Black and Black Harrah and Young Harrah . . . you can see the problem. That's a fairly minor quibble though, this is a book that deserves to be tracked down and read. Crowley's writing is amazing, especially since this was his first novel, it's entirely poetic without getting long winded, with a few words he paints brilliant pictures. The premise is utterly unique in its presentation (for the record, I believe that the folks on the disc are reenacting the War of the Roses) and the plot winds along nicely, there aren't many "explosions" but you just snake along, caught up in the dream. The ending is also totally unexpected and completely fits in with the tone of the novel. This is one of the few totally satisifying books I had read, I had expected a lot out of this guy because of the reputation I had heard and he blew away everything I expected. And he only got better. My advice then, get everything you can by this guy, it might take some effort but I have a feeling it'll be worth it. Again, the fact that this brilliant author is out of print and many many many lesser lights are kept in print is beyond me. Get the word out and keep his name alive!
Wonderful book, why is it of print.......1999-09-24
Crowley has got to be one of my favourite authors ever. These books are both beautiful and moving. They are always going out of print and people who own them guard them jealously, so they are even hard to get second hand. Does anyone know why he doesn't write more?
Customer Reviews:
Scott Ciencin: The Night Parade.......2006-04-12
I am reading this book right now and find it hard to put it down.
I really enjoy it and will read more of this author.
Night Parade: The Evil Awaits.......2004-12-16
If Amazon had a "-5/Gouge Your Eyes out before reading" rating, I would have used it. Unfortunately, I'm compelled by the system to give it a "1" -- which is a far higher rating than this book deserves.
I keep this book for two reasons. It's nice to have a benchmark for "most horrible book". Other than a college statistics textbook, it's the only written material in my bathroom thus ensuring that people flee as soon as possible. If I had to use one word besides "horrible" to describe this book, I would use "wooden". The plot could have been interesting, however the characterization, dialog, plot transitions, writing, and literary devices are so pathetic that any potential the storyline had is crushed.
I'm very familiar with the Forgotten Realms series. I'm not expecting top-notch writing. I'm expecting an easy, entertaining read, though. I don't expect to end up with a book that I'm embarrassed to own.
"Lord Sixx" -- the evil genius in the book -- has a supposedly horrific appearance primarily focused on the number of human eyes embedded in his body. (Something that Laurell Hamilton managed to pull off -- if not well -- at least better in Obsidian Butterfly). Mr. Ciencin makes a reference to the supposed-to-be-horrifying "Eyes of Domination" in Lord Sixx's chest. You can tell that the author has some horrifying soundtrack from a Stephen King movie playing in his mind. He manages to convey nothing but sheer cheese.
I have been tempted to quote from the book to provide graphic illustrations of everything I've pointed out as a flaw in this book. Randomly flipping pages, I've started typing only to realize that I can't find a place to stop. The book is so terrible that if I started to provide an example of things done wrong, I would have to continue typing until the entire book was included in my review -- the horror of reading Night Parade increases continually -- the sheer awefullness of the writing builds page after page until you will beg forgiveness for ever having bought, borrowed or read this book.
Not so much Fantasy as it is Horror!.......2004-07-26
Scott Ciencin is a GREAT author (Shadowdale was AMAZING), but unfortunately The Night Parade was a bit of a disappointment! It is much closer to HORROR than it is to FANTASY. Therefore, it is not your conventional Forgotten Realms fantasy novel. For those fans who enjoy Horror this is a book that combines the two, but for the rest of us, I recommend other books from the Series such as Red Magic or Parched Sea to mention a few, all the while keeping in mind the "heavy artillery" Forgotten Realms novels that have been written by RA Salvatore, Elaine Cunningham, Ed Greenwood etc My advice, read The Night Parade only after you're done reading all the other Forgotten Realms books and you are still in need of more Toril related material.
Not one of the better FR books to date..........2003-10-20
I found this book to be lacking in numerous areas. Primarily, it seemed hard to follow and somewhat irrelevant to the Harper series. The main character, although she had a lot of depth, didn't stike me as very interesting and most of the supporting characters met untimely ends too frequently thoughout the story, making it more like a bad horror movie. The writing style was okay. I wouldn't recommend this book.
Extreme Realms.......2000-05-12
If you've never read a Realms book before, then don't read this as a starter! This book is written so differently from other Realms books that it comes as a shock to fans - they either hate it or love it for its uniquness. It is extremely gory and descriptive, but what else should we expect from a book based on nightmares? There is adventure and plenty of mystery - not as fine-tuned as "Azure Bonds" but keeps readers on their toes. The plot and enemies are all-new showing us a very different side to the realms, staying out of the safe, well-run tracks of many FR novels. The Night Parade instead breaches boundaries into a side of the Realms you never dreamed you'd see. If you don't like change or "different", then perhaps you better work your way up to this book but if you embrace books that are often the odd one out, then this is a must-read.
Average customer rating:
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6 Titles Forgotten Realms Series The Harpers (1-6) : The Parched Sea Elfshadow Red Magic The Night Parade The Ring of Winter Crypt of the Shadowking (Forgotten Realms)
Troy Denning ,
Elaine Cunningham ,
Jean Rabe ,
Scott Ciencin ,
James Lowder , and
Mark Anthony
Manufacturer: TSR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Anthony, Mark | ( A ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Ciencin, Scott | ( C ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Cunningham, Elaine | ( C ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Denning, Troy | ( D ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Rabe, Jean | ( R ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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Magic & Wizards | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000M7Y8OU |
Product Description
6 Titles Forgotten Realms Series The Harpers (1-6) : The Parched Sea Elfshadow Red Magic The Night Parade The Ring of Winter Crypt of the Shadowking. six mmpb books.
Average customer rating:
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Bonfire Night (Special Days)
Katie Dicker
Manufacturer: Hodder Wayland
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Around the World | Holidays & Festivals | People & Places | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0750252359 |
Average customer rating:
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First Night
Harriet Ziefert
Manufacturer: Putnam Juvenile
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Picture Books | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 039923120X |
Book Description
First Night is a fast-growing holiday celebrated in towns and cities all over America. What could be more fun than dressing up, marching in a parade, and heralding in the new year with music and fireworks! Leading this parade is the lucky little Amanda Dade. With baton in hand, she keeps a cast of one-of-a-kind, humorously-clad characters in line.
Harriet Ziefert's funny cumulative verse will have readers chanting along as they follow the parade's progress. S. D. Schindler's dramatic pictures catch the spirit and magic of this late-night, once-a-year celebration.
Average customer rating:
- introductory Survey: Colorful & Concise
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Living Religions - Western Traditions
Mary Pat Fisher
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Similar Items:
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Readings in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
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Scriptures of the West
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Gonzo Judaism: A Bold Path for Renewing an Ancient Faith
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Loaves and Fishes
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A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I am a missional, evangelical, post/protestant, liberal/conservative, mystical/poetic, biblical, charismatic/contemplative, fundamentalist/calvinist, ... anabaptist/anglican, metho (Emergentys)
ASIN: 0131829297 |
Book Description
Living Religions—Western Traditions is a highly readable and stimulating survey of the major global religions and new religious movements that originated in the West, with particular focus on how people are trying to live by them in today's world. Evocative illustrations enhance this approach; first-person interviews of ordinary people and boxes uncovering the spiritual roots of well-known public figures bring this book to life. Covering the key religions of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and new religious movements together with a brief chapter on indigenous religions that focuses primarily on Native American traditions, the social context, origins, teachers, scriptures, and historical development of each faith are carefully explored, with emphasis on how practitioners themselves understand their tradition from the inside. For readers interested in a comprehensive book about Western religions, as well as the clergy of various faiths.
Customer Reviews:
introductory Survey: Colorful & Concise.......2004-02-12
Living Religions - Western Traditions is a sympathetic approach to what is living and significant in the world's major religious traditions that have originated in the West as well as in local indigenous religions and new religious movements. This book provides a clear and straightforward account of the development, doctrines, and practices of these faiths. The emphasis throughout is on the personal consciousness of believers and their own accounts of their religion and its relevance in contemporary life.
One of the unique features of this text is personal interviews with followers of each faith. This material provides interesting and informative first-person accounts of each religion as perceived from within the tradition. This volume includes special boxes featuring interviews with a Jewish holocaust survivor, a Southern Baptist Christian, who is now manager of a wilderness camp for inner-city youth, an Egyptian pharmacist, who returned to Islam because he learned to appreciate it from a scientific point of view, and a German follower of the Unification Movement. In addition, first-person accounts have been interwoven throughout the text.
Living Religions - Western Traditions also includes feature boxes on "Religion in Public Life." These portray the spiritual roots of selected followers of Western religions each of whom is making a significant contribution to modern society-Senator Joseph Lieberman, Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu, and Muslim scholar Farid Esack. In their stories, one recognizes that deep religiosity can go hand-in-hand with deep social commitment.
There are also feature boxes on "Religion in Practice," such as Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity, and "Teaching Stories," which can serve as take-off points for discussions about core values imbedded in each faith.
Violence perpetrated in the name of religion is often in the news these days. Living Religions: Western
Traditions includes probing discussions of this disturbing factor in the major Western religions and also in new religious movements. Distinctions are made between the basic teachings of religions, none of which condones wanton violence, and the ways in which religions have been politicized. There is extensive coverage of the socio-political context of the contemporary practice of religions, especially the changes that have come in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
Throughout the book, women's contributions and women's issues are carefully considered. Women's voices are woven into the discussions throughout, including those of female theologians who are bringing vital new perspectives to religious scholarship. African and African-American religious experiences are also of increasing interest, and these are extensively covered in this volume. There are poignant descriptions, for instance, of the lives of American Muslim converts who are trying to maintain traditional piety in the midst of modern materialistic society.
The opening chapter, "The Religious Response," brings critical scholarship to bear on underlying issues in the study of religion. Throughout the book the latest scholarship has been applied. The book incorporates extensive quotations from primary sources to give a direct perception of the thinking and flavor of each tradition. Particularly memorable brief quotations are set off in boxes.
One of the most engaging features of Living Religions: Western Traditions is its illustrations. 120 illustrations, 64 of them in color, helps to bring the religions to life. Narrative captions accompanying the illustrations offer additional insights into the characteristics and orientation of each tradition and the people who practice it.
Each tradition is presented clearly and without the clutter of less important names and dates. Key terms, defined and highlighted in bold-face when they first appear, can also be found in an extensive glossary. Because students are often unfamiliar with terms from other cultures, useful guides to the pronunciation of words that may be unfamiliar are included in the glossary.
Maps are used throughout the text to give a sense of geographical reality to the historical discussions as well as to illustrate the present distribution of the religions. There is also a map of the missionary journeys undertaken by the apostle Paul in the chapter on Christianity. Timelines are used to recapitulate the historical development of the major religions up to the present.
Readers who want to delve further into the literature, there is, at the end of each chapter, an annotated list of books that might be particularly interesting and useful in a deeper study of that religion.
Book Description
This book presents the esoteric original core of Christianity with its concern for illuminating and healing the inner life of the individual. It is a bridge to the often difficult doctrines of the early church fathers, explaining the spiritual psychology of the fathers that underlies the current renewal of spirituality in the Greek church. This renewal, like this book, is closely linked to the understandings of the modern monks and abbots on Mount Athos.
A Different Christianity is useful to the practitioner, as well as to the scholar, providing new insights into the problems of studying and following the spiritual path outside of a monastery.
Customer Reviews:
Discoveries.......2004-12-30
Why four stars? First of all because the book has a great deal of good content and because it repeats many of the things from different 'angles' making them this way easier to understand. I dropped the one star only for Robin's insistence on, in my view, unnecessary quotes from Boris Mouravieff.
I would like to pay attention to just one of the many discoveries made by Robin Amis.
This gem is in the early part of the book, page 44, in a chapter called 'The Fathers of the Church':
"The fate of the written knowledge is one story. For far more than a thousand years after it was written down, printing did not exist. For an even longer time, modern book distribution and other forms of communications did not exist. Until now, the texts of this tradition have remained little known in and wholly unassimilated by the West. Much of that knowledge was preserved in writing only in the Alexandrian and Syrian churches. Some but not all of this reached the Greeks through Clement of Alexandria, Origen and the saints known as the Cappadocian Fathers. More written knowledge from these Middle Eastern sources reached Russia about a century ago. Some rached the West from Russia and Greece in the first twenty years of this century [20th], normally in obscure scholarly translations laden with Greek and Latin that made them wholly inaccessible to the majority of men and women."
"But this - which forms a true discipline in the widest sense of the term - has never in two thousand years been generally available in complete form. The unwritten teachings have been even more inaccessible."
The above thoughts make me ask the following:
What do we know about the 'original teachings of Christianity'?
Who decided what these were?
What were the important criterions and what were the changes to the earlier message?
If the Christian teaching is only now available to the 'people' and it is not received by them, it confirms that Christianity has failed and that instead of a Way it has become a religion and that a correct 'judgement' of what religion is, was that of Karl Marx, who said that it was the opium of the people?
In Praise of A Different Christianity.......2000-10-26
This book makes a complex matter approachable to the modern reader. I recommend it without reserve. I have attended the Greek Orthodox Church all my life and was shocked and humbled at what I did not know. Post-graduate Sunday School at its best; anyone who has ANY relation to Christianity, close or distant - (nearly everyone in our society) should read it. It will put an entirely new-old angle on how one considers the term "Christian" - and how Christianity has evolved since its first conception.
Excellent intro to Orthodox mysticism.......2000-03-06
This is a fine introduction to Christian mysticism within the context of the Greek Orthodox monastic tradition and Robin's attempt to find a way to make it applicable to those of us in the workaday world. He also does a decent job on explaining the psychological aspects of mysticism, something that is usually missing from most works in Christian mysticism. However if you are looking for a how-to book this is not it. Though I must quibble with the way he defines metaonia ie., "change of mind" as something else.
*One big gripe though* I would have given it 5 stars if the author was not so insistant in reminding the reader Gurdjieff's teaching were from taken from the Greek Orthodox tradition. They weren't. Get "In Search of the Miraculous" and a volume of the Philokalia and compare them. The differences are obvious in aim, method and teaching. It is well documented that the bulk of Gurdjieff's teachings derived from his time spent with the Sufis, along with the Buddhists and yogis. He reformulated them to reach Europeans who were soaked in existenialism like Ouspensky and Nicoll. In fact the the mystical teachings of the Orthodox Church are aimed at monks not householders or married folks. Just read the Philokalia or the writings of St. Theophan the Recluse that Amis uses to support his this. The writings of St. Theophan are not aimed at laity, in fact if a modern person followed them they'd lose their sanity. Gurdjeiff even on his death bed advised his students to travel to the far east not Mt. Athos. Even though Amis claims otherwise he presents no proof of it. Though one can truthfully state that G. was well schooled on Orthodox theology he never claimed that it presented a complete spiritual path. An example would be G's concept of us as a "three brained being" is clearly Sufic not Christian.
Amis also raises the idea that a secret brotherhood in Eastern Christianity kept alive esoteric teachings is betrayed by the fact that he has no evidence for them nor does the Orthodox condone it.
To me Amis does a disservice to himself and to the reader by making up a fake history to support his claim that the Fourth Way is inner Christianity. The Church would consider G's teaching a heresy at the very least. Though it can be used as such as it would form the "how to" part of Christianity. The Orthodox maintain that Eastern Christianity is perfect and needs no occult practices.
I'd also recommend the following books which can help with the how-to aspects of what Amis is writing about.
The Mystical Theology of the Orthodox Church - Vladimir Lossky
Living the Mindful life - by Charles Tart
Living Presence - Edmund Helminski
An exceptional revelation of a transformative discipline.......1997-05-16
See review of hardcover copy listed with Amazon.co
This exceptional work can revitalize western spirituality.......1997-05-13
Author Robin Amis offers us a masterwork of synergy and understanding, providing potent food for the serious seeker of personal transformation.
Amis tells us that Christianity possesses an inner tradition that has never been common knowledge in the Western world. This Esoteric Christianity was once known as the "Royal Way" and has barely survived except in places like the monasticism of the Eastern Church.
The inner psychological work revealed in these teachings contribute to the goal of "inner autonomy of spirit."
This book offers us the missing pieces that can revive a teaching of great power and which is made known in the 20th century through the legacies of Theophan the Recluse, G.I. Gurdjieff and other masters of wisdom.
Books:
- Train to Durango: Border Empire 2 (Border Empire)
- Trouble in July
- Ulysses: A Reproduction of the 1922 First Edition
- Unlikely Angels: Cupid's Chase/Fool Me Twice/Birds of a Feather/A Season for Love (Palisades Pure Romance Valentine Anthology)
- Vecindarios excéntricos
- War with the Newts (European Classics)
- What It Takes to Get to Vegas
- Zane Grey's Laramie Nelson: Other Side of the Canyon (Gunsmoke Westerns)
- A History of Christianity (2-Volume Set) (Volumes 1 & 2)
- After the Funeral: The Posthumous Adventures of Famous Corpses
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