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- Gripping, Brutal, Readable
- The rebellion finally begins
- real people, real life, real solutions
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The Rebellion of the Hanged
B. Traven
Manufacturer: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary
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Literary
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German
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Action & Adventure
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Similar Items:
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Government
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Trozas
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General from the Jungle
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March to the Monteria
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The Carreta
ASIN: 1566630649 |
Book Description
The fifth of Traven's Jungle Novels, depicting a revolt by long-oppressed workers in the great mahogany plantations, and culminating in a treacherous march through the jungles at the height of the rainy season. Traven is a riveting storyteller. --Philadelphia Inquirer
Customer Reviews:
Gripping, Brutal, Readable.......2007-06-28
This is a gripping story of mistreatment of Indians in Mexico just prior to the Revolution of 1910. The principal character is Candido, a poor Indian whose debts lead him to become a contact laborer cutting wood in the jungles of Southern Mexico. Life in these labor camps is cruel and oppressive, and one has little chance of escaping. The Anglo-Mexicans that run the plantation (Don Felix, Don Severo, Don Acacio) demand an impossible level of work from their Indian laborers; those that fail are beaten or hanged by their wrists as punishment. Having endured their employers' unfathomable cruelty, an unintended rebellion springs up when the opportunity arises. The workers realize that in the corrupt Mexican society such a rebellion is unlikely to succeed, but they feel a level of freedom just in trying.
This is the fifth and perhaps best of the jungle books by Chicago-born author B. Traven (1890-1969). Traven had great sympathy for the oppressed Indians, leftist views, and a very engaging style. Readers should also see Traven's other novels about Mexico and oppression, the most famous of which is TRESURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE.
The rebellion finally begins.......2005-04-15
In Traven's fifth jungle book, The Rebellion of the Hanged, the tensions and oppression finally build up to the breaking point. We have many characters in this fifth book that were introduced to us in the earlier books. Andreas, the oxen driver from The Carretta, longs to escape from the mahogony plantation and return to his young wife. Celso, the heroic Indian man of action, again plays a central role as he did in March to the Monteria. Candido, the dirt farmer, loses his wife Marcelina to appendecitis because the drunken doctor refuses to operate without outlandish payment. Candido, his two sons and his younger sister Modesta, go to the plantation to pay back the price of Marcelina's medical and funeral expenses. Don Gabriel is back, tricking young Indian men to sell themselves into debt slavery from which there is little chance of escape. The three money hungry sadistic plantation owners, Don Felix, Don Severo, and Don Acacio are back with a vengence. Their cruelty to the Indians is hard to imagine.
Traven however is very wise in that he brings into this situation three components of successful revolution: the chance event that signals vulnerability of the oppressors, the thinker who brings reflective consciousness to the oppressed so that they begin to understand their conditions, and the catalyst event that drives the revolutionaries forward.
The chance event that signals vulnerability is when Don Acacio unjustly tries to beat and hang two Indian men for a transgression they did not commit. He lets down his guard and the two men fight back, blinding Don Acacio.
A new group of characters, revolutionists on the run, join the plantation work crews to hide. One of them, Martin Trinidad, raises the consciousness of Celso, the natural leader of the debt slaves.
Finally, Don Felix's cruel cutting off of the ears of Candido's young child, stimulates his aunt Modesta to fight back which becomes a snowball of death for the plantation owners and their foremen.
This is the fifth novel in the series. In the first novel, Government, we see the corruption at all levels of society and government in Mexico that leads to the suppression of the native Mexican Indians. In the other three novels we are introduced to the characters Andreas, Celso, and learn the terrible business of the jungle mahogony production. Finally in this fifth novel, the tide is turned and the revolution begins. The novel ends as the revolutionists emerge from the jungles and begin to march across the corrupt fincas, encouraging the peons to rebel.
real people, real life, real solutions.......1999-12-16
this book started off intense and full of political emotion and it never backed down. if you would like a real and emotional story of who workers are, the opression they face, and the breaking point for them, then i suggest this book. i remember being outraged, shocked, disgusted throughout the book.....and then the ending...well it's full of sweet vengenace. real people, real life, real solutions....that's what this book is about.
Average customer rating:
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The Rebellion of the Hanged
Traven
Manufacturer: Allison and Busby
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Contemporary
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ASIN: 0749003006 |
Average customer rating:
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The Rebellion of the Hanged
Manufacturer: Hill and Wang
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GNT0AC |
Amazon.com
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's epic of the vampire Ragoczy, the Count Saint-Germain (including Mansions of Darkness, Darker Jewels, and Writ in Blood) has slowly gathered a dedicated readership, while each installment has garnered increasing critical praise. For new readers, Blood Roses is perhaps the most accessible in the series. In 14th-century France, Saint-Germain is caught amidst the devastation of the Black Plague. Though he is unaffected by the disease, his resistance draws the suspicion of each new town he visits--even as he uses ancient Egyptian healing techniques to save lives. Yarbro's impressive novel offers the flavor of the late Middle Ages while flawlessly integrating the elements of horror and the supernatural that mark this eloquent series. One wonders, for example, if the letters and documents that Yarbro integrates into the text are embellishments of the real. But, as with all the Saint-Germain novels, the most satisfying aspect of the narrative is the author's complex rendering of her central character. With the exception of Anne Rice, few writers have as effectively captured the wearied soul of a being living through the great expanse of human history. --Patrick O'Kelley
Book Description
Now in trade paperback, Blood Roses finds Saint-Germain living in relative peace and prosperity in the village of Orgon in fourteenth-century France. He has won a grudging acceptance from the local populace. But a new threat has upset the precarious balance: Plague has come to France, and the peoples fear turns to xenophobia. To avoid the scrutiny that could reveal his true nature, Saint-Germain must flee. However, his travels drive him deeper into the heart of the Black Death, and danger.
Customer Reviews:
Dragged Somewhat But Yarbro Got The Feel Of Tragedy Right.......2006-09-06
Yarbro is a fine historical novelist and in Blood Roses (the term for the skin eruptions the bubonic plague caused) she succeeds in impressing upon a reader something of the dimension and scope of the worst plague outbreak in history. Here we see the breakdown of the fabric of a complex society. Here we read of the tragedy of the human toll of the Black Death. And here we grasp something of the horror and terror those living through such an event must have known. The book was also slightly slow-paced, had whole chapters it would have been better off without, and, frankly, the plot device of having a recurring set of undead characters passing through the great moments of history taxes credibility just a little. Still and all a lot can be learned from reading one of Ms. Yarbro's books and her well-researched knowledge of each time period in which she sets her tales is nearly flawless. It's rare indeed that an anachronism should creep into her opus, and common that one come away better educated for the time spent reading. Having to tolerate (if that's even the correct term) the fact that these are novels of the supernatural is a small price to pay for all she delivers.
Eleventh in the Saint-Germain series........2003-04-24
Or twelfth, if you count "Out of the House of Life", which is primarily a spinoff novel about Madeline de Montalia (former lover and vampiric "childe" of Saint-Germain), but which does include some flashback scenes from some of Saint-Germain's early history.
Or fifteenth, if you also count "A Flame in Byzantium", "Crusader's Torch", and "A Candle For d'Artagnan", the spinoff series about Atta Olivia Clemens, an earlier lover and vampiric "childe".
This book is set in the mid-1300s at the time of the first wave of the Black Plague to sweep through Europe. The romantic interest doesn't even appear until nearly two-thirds of the way through the book, which makes for an interesting variation on a theme, as does the way that romantic interest plays out. The setting reminded me somewhat of "Narcissus and Goldmund", by Herman Hesse, a book which made an impact on me long enough ago that I'd rather not think about how long it's been; perhaps I should re-read it, as I remember very little of the details of that book.
Unlike some other reviewers, I feel that on balance, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's writing has been steadily improving as she's progressed through this series; I enjoyed the early books ("Hotel Transylvania", "The Palace", "Blood Games", "Path of the Eclipse", and "Tempting Fate", in that order, are the first five books in the series) but found the writing to be significantly less developed than they have been starting with "Darker Jewels". This book fits the same pattern, although I don't find it QUITE as enjoyable as its predecessor, "Writ In Blood".
The series is not written in chronological order; from earliest to latest historically, the series to this point would be:
1. "Out of the House of Life" (if you base it on the flashbacks to Saint-Germain's early years; set in Ancient Egypt)
2. "Blood Games", set in Rome at the time of the Emperor Nero
3. "A Flame in Byzantium", set in the time of Justinian, mid 500s.
4. "Better In The Dark", set in the mid-900s in Saxony.
5. "Crusader's Torch", set in the late 1000s and early 1100s, Europe and Middle East.
6. "Path of the Eclipse", early 1200s China, India, and other eastern areas.
7. "Blood Roses", 1300s France.
8. "The Palace", 1400s Italy.
9. Darker Jewels: Late 1500s Russia
10 & 11: virtually simultaneous, "A Candle For d'Artagnan" and "Mansions of Darkness", early 1600s France and the New World (mostly Peru) respectively.
12. "Hotel Transylvania", later 1600s France
13. The "current" part of the plot in "Out of the House of Life", early 1800s Egypt.
14. "The Chronicles of Sant-Germain", a collection of short stories that extend temporally from 1890s to 1980s, which time period overlaps both #15 and #16.
15. "Writ In Blood", 1910-1914, Russia, England, Germany, and Finland.
16. "Tempting Fate", Germany 1920-1930s.
These novels are all variations on the genre of "Romantic/heroic/historical fiction", with the part of the extremely heroic hero being played by a vampire. If this concept intrigues you, you definitely want to read these books. If you enjoy historical romance, but find the concept of the vampiric hero unsettling or weird, you may want to give them a try anyway; if either none of these concepts grab you, or if you insist on your vampires being more traditionally minded, this series is not for you.
A plague on the Church.......2002-08-02
St Germain in France during the time of the black plague. Blood roses refer to the boils which were the visual symptoms of the plague. Since St Germain can heal he is course suspect. Anyone who is different must be an agent of the devil. In all the recent St Germain books Yarbro seems very critical of the Church.
In this book because of the belief that cleanliness is a sign of pride and because cats, who could have killd the plague bearing rodents, were seen as witches familiars and the cats were killed, Yarbro implies that the superstitions of the Church were responsible for the plage being so bad.
I only give this book four stars instead of five because after reading a bunch of these books, I became weary of St Germain's travails. Too bad he can't settle down.
Vampires and the Black Plague- death battles death.......2001-01-02
This is one of the series of books about the Count St. Germain, an almost-immortal vampire. Those who already know that they like vampire novels, anything at all that features a vampire, can skip this review, and likewise, those who hate the whole idea of vampires can skip it. But for those trying to decide whether or not to read more of this genre, or whether the one vampire novel you've already read was a fluke, it may help to have some ways to categorize these novels. Thus: BunRab's Standard Vampire Classification Guide. First, most authors of vampire novels approach from one of the main genres of genre fiction; thus their background may be primarily in romance, or in science fiction/fantasy, or in murder mysteries, or in horror. Second, many vampire novels come in series; knowing whether this is one of a series, and where in the series it falls, may be helpful. Then we have some particular characteristics: - Is the vampire character (or characters) a "good guy" or a "bad guy"? Or are there some of each? - Are there continuing characters besides the vampire, through the series? - Are there other types of supernatural beings besides vampires? - Can the vampire stand daylight under some circumstances, or not stand daylight at all? - Does the vampire have a few other supernatural characteristics, many other supernatural characteristics, or none other than just being a vampire? (E.g., super strength, change into an animal, turn invisible) - Does the vampire have a regular job and place in society, or is being a vampire his or her entire raison d'etre? - Does the vampire literally drink blood, or is there some other (perhaps metaphorical) method of feeding? - Is sex a major plot element, a minor plot element, or nonexistent? - Is the entire vampire feeding act a metaphor for sex, part of a standard sex act, or unrelated to sex? - Is the story set in one historical period, more than one historical period, or entirely in the present day? - Does the story have elements of humor, or is it strictly serious? - Is the writing style good, or is the writing just there to manage to hold together the plot and characters?
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's series about the vampire St. Germain starts from the historical romance genre (although Yarbro is equally well known as a science fiction writer), and is a continuing series. St. Germain is definitely a good guy, using the knowledge he's gained in several thousand years of living to help others. There are a few characters that continue from book to book besides him: the women he turns into vampires, and his "servant," Roger, who is a ghoul. Ghouls are the only other supernatural characters who appear in these books. St. Germain can stand daylight with the right preparations. He has unusual strength, but not limitless, and unusual wisdom, and is an "alchemist" but there are no other overt magic powers. In most of the series, he has an occupation of being an aristocrat, insofar as that was a full-time occupation through most of history; in some books he has another "job" as well. St. Germain does not literally drink blood; he feeds on emotions, usually during erotic experiences, but sex is nonetheless only a minor plot element, rare and very discreet. The series covers 3000 years, from ancient Egypt to the modern day; each book is set in a span of a particular period, usually 20-30 years. The writing is serious, but not self-important; the writing quality is excellent, and Yarbro's abilities as an author qualify these books as literature rather than "merely" genre fiction.
Blood Roses is one of the most recently written in the St. Germain series; chronologically in history, it is in the middle, set in the late Dark Ages, France in the 14th century, during one of the several waves of the Black Plague that went around Europe during that century. The Catholic Church has contributed much toward keeping the populace ignorant and downtrodden, a recurrent theme in the series. At this period of history, there is not yet a full-blown Inquisition as there will be a couple of centuries later. Part of the conflict in the story is due to the schism in the Catholic Church, where a second Pope has been set up in France, in Avignon. Letters between St. Germain and his fellow immortal, Olivia, every few chapters, help set the changing scenes. There is a helpful character in the form of a persecuted Spanish Jew; this novel also has a relatively happy ending, in that there is not a huge final bloodbath featuring war, torture, etc. - perhaps, in the face of the Plague, we do not need further human tortures to keep things active. The female love interest lives a full and happy life even after St. Germain leaves. St. Germain leaves the area having passed along some literacy in spite of the church; we can get the sense that the Dark Ages are going to end soon, as things are changing.
BRAVO !.......2000-07-02
I am astonished that CQY makes me crave the recreation of historical events that have changed the course of mankind while satisfying my need for a great vampire novel. She allows you to travel with Saint-Germain through devastation, death, and the turmoil of Europe during the 1300's when religion and politics were intertwined.
Customer Reviews:
Two Sams At Once.......2003-01-05
I know this one has been out of print for a while, and it is customary to review newer things or at least things that can be located without a search, but I couldn't stand to see such a fine book supported only by a one star review. This is the only novel where Sam Leaps into two people at once, identical twins. His psyche is split in half, and we get two different versions of Sam: the side that is dedicated to solving the Leap and continuing on to help more people, and the darker more selfish side that is tired of jumping around and wants to settle down and satisfy his own desires. Their two lives unfold and they finally confront each other at the end. I had to leave off the fifth star because this one doesn't reach the emotional depth of several others in the series, the ending is good but not very touching (unlike Angels Unaware, which is perhaps the best in the series).
A Double Leap For Sam.......2003-01-04
Pay no heed to the one star review, this book is a great Leap. It isn't one of the best, I'll give you that, but it did split Sam Becket's psyche in two. In this novel and this one alone, we get two different versions of Sam at once: the one who wants to focus only on the Leap and how to solve it, and the one who is tired of Leaping and wants to settle down. What results is a sometimes comical, sometimes dramatic, altogether unique approach to the Leap themes. The two Sams move along different paths that will eventually cross in an explosive and touching finale. The only thing keeping it from a five star is the fact that it didn't reach as deep down as some of the other Leap novels and many of the episodes. Fans of the show know what I'm talking about, that little bit of seasoning that leaves you misty eyed. I can't quite describe it, but if you've ever read "Angels Unaware" you'll know. Overall, this one is worth reading.
Keep looking........1996-08-09
The title says it all. The publisher gambled double or nothing and lost. Hernderson's portrayal of the time tripping Sam Beckett was very sub-par. The story was bland with very little relation to the television series what so ever. I give it two thumbs down, only because I am limited to only two thumbs. If you want a good QUANTUM LEAP book, try "Odyssey" or "Pulitzer"
Customer Reviews:
Excellent.......2002-06-29
Mr. Pennick is thorough, detailed and pragmatic. I am thoroughly impressed with this book. In a field where new age mumbo-jumbo can overwhelm practical study, this shines. He has written careful, well researched accounts that clarify the celtic use of the landscape, without falling into anecdote, he gives useful examples, and writes clearly. I will buy more of his books.
10 / 10
Celtic Sacred Landscapes.......2000-04-12
This is a beautifully presented book replete with the author's own illustrations of crosses, knotwork, labyrinths etc. For anyone with an interest in Earth Mysteries or Celtic belief systems this is an essential and informative read. Pennick's style is comfortable, easily accessible yet never too simplistic. One gets the feeling that he truly knows his subject and indeed he should for he has being studying the European Sacred Traditions for nearly thirty years and has written many other books on these subjects such as the Celtic Oracle and Celtic Art in the Northern Tradition. Each chapter is laid out in easy to read sections dealing with a comprehensive range of topics including the symbolic landscape and the Celtic World Tree, sacred groves, the healing powers of wells, springs and stones, caves and the underworld, cities, earthworks, holy mountains and islands, trackways and spiritpaths. Scholarly insight melds with folklore and spirituality yet never descends into over-sentimentalism as so many of these books can do. Pennick awakes in the reader a gentle sense of wonder and a yearning for a return to the times when the earth was embraced as the living being she is, where each tree and stone, each river and spring, bore a name and blessings to bestow, where spirits abounded and the bards sang with pure voices now sadly silenced. Highly recommended.
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- The Slynx (New York Review Books Classics)
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- The Virtual Kibbutz: Stories from a Changing Society
- The Watchful Gods And Other Stories (Western Literature Series)
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Tomorrow They Will Kiss: A Novel
- Untameable (Zebra Regency Romance)
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