Landor's Tower: Or Imaginary Conversations

Average customer rating:

More effort than entertainment for the reader

One of our best living writers

A difficult read

Landor's Tower: Or Imaginary Conversations
Iain Sinclair
Manufacturer: Granta Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings

London Orbital

ASIN: 1862074887

Book Description

Commissioned to write about a disastrous attempt to create an estate around a medieval abbey in Wales, a London writer is sidetracked by a series of bizarre suicides in the secret defense industries, and by witnesses who claim to know the truth about a decades-old murder case. He employs a burned-out media man named Kaporal to research these events, only to find himself accused of murder. Featuring 20 black-and-white illustrations, Landor's Tower is an intriguing tapestry of fiction, history, and autobiography. "Iain Sinclair is the most inventive novelist of his generation." — Peter Ackroyd

Customer Reviews:

More effort than entertainment for the reader.......2005-09-06

You need to invest considerable time and effort to benefit from this novel. It's not a quick read, and quite dense in parts. Fans of post-modern fractured looks at Britain presumably know what they'll encounter here. Those, like myself, with less experience with the likes of not only Sinclair but Moorcock, Ackroyd, & Chris Petit (whose The Psalm Killer is a great take on the Irish Troubles in 90s Belfast) may find it a tough slog.

In parts, notably the few pages on post-Thatcher Wales and the episodes on the poet-artist David Jones in his stay with Eric Gill at Capel-y-ffin, the relatively straightforward tale telling and powerful descriptions work wonders. But the greater tale of Kaporal and his pursuit of disgraced politician Jeremy Thorpe, along with the suicides in the West Country and the mixing in of Sinclair's own Landor-ing tries at a novel and his own semi-autobiographed childhood, make for less than knockout fiction, over the course of 350 pp.

The trouble is that, as Sinclair's clever enough to incorporate (285) a character who critiques accurately Sinclair's faults as a writer, is that Sinclair seems too self-satisfied to keep on meandering in the same groove. A mish-mash of events rather than an attempt to learn from them, the ultimate laziness of Sinclair, masked as a Borgesian or Burroughian exercise in the nature of unreliable truth & fiction, seems tired and listless far too often. My three rather than two stars are credit to the effort Sinclair puts into many small details that work well, but even these fail to resonate beyond a few pages at a time.

This lack of quality control leaves lots of glintingly crafted needles among the prosy haystacks that'll prick your attention, but I wish there were so many more. Colin Tunstall's attempt to revive the utopian dream, Prudence & Annwn and the Mabinogion, the clash of pulp vs. poetry, the Eagleton quote on the literature of a subject people tending towards neologisms, shamanism, and farcical excess, the details on the Bob Dylan photo at Aust ferry (that conincidentally graces the new Scorcese Documentary on the bard): these may bolster his thesis that "endlessness is immortality" in the accumulation of facts, opinions, and observations, but I doubt if Sinclair himself will wind up among the immortals of Brit Lit.

His newly proclaimed Welsh origins caused hin, evidently, to aspire to a take-down of both the Welsh and the English, but the dreariness inherent in a plague on both houses dispirits the whole enterprise, and after hundreds of pages of inconclusive material, a wish for a more succinct and focused control over so much promising raw data may mean that I'm less trendy than the likes of Sinclair, but a story does come first, immortal or not.

One of our best living writers.......2002-01-11

Iain Sinclair is without doubt one of our greatest prose stylists and this is a wonderful piece of reading. It has a lot of narratives running through it but, like life, not all of them cry out of be resolved. As is usual with Sinclair, there are dozens of stories lurking just beneath the surface. This bizarre picaresque, in which the central character has truck with rogues and vagabonds of various description, is tremendously refreshng for those of us who had becom a bit bored with that most prominent strand of English fiction, which some Americans seem to think is all there is. Sinclair, Moorcock, Ackroyd, Carter. The so-called Cockney Visionaries. All are substantial writers, but Sinclair is the best of them all.
Try Downriver before this, if you get the chance. But get this now. You won't regret it.

A difficult read.......2002-01-01

It contains writing good enough to merit five stars but the confused plot makes it tough to read through. It helps to have read a few of the reviews first. Skipping to page 297 and reading the last part of the book first also makes it more understandable. Get some maps of South Wales and South-West England and then you're almost ready to read the book. You may notice that the the reviews have different versions of what it's about. I would say it's mainly about people trying to establish communes in Wales, and perhaps about the fate of utopian/religious communities in general and the relation between Wales and England. The main plot, told in the first person it about the author travelling from London to Hay-on Wye, on the Welsh border, which is itself a kind of commune, a town of used bookstores, to research the life of Walter Savage Landor. He has an affair with a woman called Prudence. He returns to london, and then learns that his father, a doctor in Wales, has died, and has to go back to Wales. On the way back he is falsely accused of having murdered Prudence and then incarcerated in a mental hospital. In the final chapters (which are more coherent) he is restored to sanity and there are reminiscnces of his boyhood in Wales.
The characters Dryfeld and Silverfish, the crooked bookdealers, who are travelling from London to Hay on Wye in the first chapters, later disappear from the book. The Kaporal plot is entirely separate and is mainly told in extracts from Kaporal's tapes (This part is also first person, so there are two separate first person narrators). These are partially explained after page 345 in "Files Recovered from Kaporal's Caravan"
It's full of literary allusions, especially to Anglo-Welsh writers who lived in the border area. It contains a lot of information about them but it helps if you already know who Kilvert, David Jones, Eric Gill, Father Ignatius, Henry Vaughan etc are. There are also many allusions to contemporary British writers and some of them appear under their own names, or thinly disguised, as characters.

Landor's Tower Or The Imaginary Conversations

Average customer rating:

Landor's Tower Or The Imaginary Conversations
Iain Sinclair
Manufacturer: Goldmark
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1870507657

Book Description

As the Aquarian Age rises, the violence escalates between the various female factions, the Mindbreakers and the alien Erasers. However, a new change is on the horizon. Great power awakens in certain men and boys. Like the young girls of ages past, they learn to wield the magic found deep inside themselves. And now female Mindbreakers emerge in the battle to decide the fate of the Earth. Mana and Tsukasa are attacked by Lafayel, a mysterious boy who holds the secret to Tsukasa's past. Kaname, sensing danger, rushes to their aid. But before he can reach them, Tomonori attacks him - determined to rid the world of the evil of DARKLORE. What Lafayel reveals to Tsukasa frightens him. If Tomonori learns the truth, will he be disgusted with his past?

Customer Reviews:

Good!.......2007-02-14

This manga book was really good. The artwork by the author was superb and I can't believe a person could have that much talent in drawing in this world of art, and literature. This manga book, volume 1 of the series, is HIGHLY recommended. I think anyone would like it.

I think this series goes towards the "female" audience since it has revealing pictures of the characters, so I recommend this book to maybe teenage girls or women in their early 20s.

The story is okay, but the manga focuses more on the artwork than the actual writing and literature of the story. But this book was good overall.

Some Bad Things.......2005-10-04

Juvenile Orion is a very good series, even from the first volume, but there are alot of problems. Yes, the drawings are beautiful and such, but as you read things get a bit odd.

Fighting scenes are almost practically non existent. Which is not bad, but as the series goes on random characters will appear with no reason and random characters will be mentioned but never told about. Things seem to get jumbled up and questions unanswered. The series takes 2 books to explain everything that happened and 3 books to jumble up one big enemy boss. Its ends abruply making you wait for more until you realize theres only 5 volumes.

Its an entertaining series, but if your looking for something more in depth it may not be the best thing for you.

What originality is all about.......2005-08-26

I honestly never really made a connection to Clamp's X with this work until I read reviews. I have read through four of the five books and I must say that I saw several similiarities in these characters with other characters from almost every other manga I have ever read. Mana reminds me of Himeno from Pretear, for example. Their attitudes and mannerisms, even Kaname reminds me of the Leafe Knight Hayate...and those characters remind me so much of others from Blue Seed 9; so really, if you are any kind of manga fan at all, you'll realize that almost ALL manga have some kind of parallel to others out there, and why not? Shakespeare took all his ideas from a lot of mytholgical legends, do your homework on this and you'll see what I mean. And if you want to go talking about ripoffs, take a small glance at RahXephon, see if THAT doesn't make you go "HEY! I know this story! I watched it under the title Neon Genesis Evangelion."

As far as this particular story goes, I would have to say I gave this book a four because the next three are so much better, giving us more into the characters, helping us understand a little better who they are and what exactly they have to give in this tale. Development I think is what they call it. =)

Essentially I see that (as in so many other manga) this whole scenario was created by the life of society as a whole in the book world. Many things come about because of the choices people make, destined for consequence.

I enjoy a whole range of genre when it comes to manga, it really depends on my mood, and I can tell you that this is one that I could pick up at any time and truly enjoy with a smile on my face and an upbeat rhythme in my heart. I can't wait to read the fifth book.

I suppose I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys beautiful artwork, heroine romance, and the possibility of hidden abilities within everyone. And let's face it, is this stuff excellent eye candy or what?!

Absolutely Wonderful.......2005-01-26

I bought volume 1 of Juvenile Orion on a whim from a local Barnes and Noble. I expected an average manga with slightly above average artwork, like so many other series, but I was pleasently surprised. The story is captivating, the artwork is phenominal, and the characters have depth to them, which I find increasingly hard to find in manga. Honestly, I hadn't even thought of the similarities to X until I read the reviews, and I believe that, while slightly reminiscent, the differences are great enough to create a unique and absorbing plot that will keep you reading. I immediately went out and bought the next three volumes after reading the first, and they were even better than the first. I highly suggest this wonderful series to anyone who likes almost any type of manga!

Pretty good.......2005-01-07

To be honest, I thought that Aquarian Age could have been better. True, the art was beautiful (with plenty of bishonen to boot) but I felt that the story was a bit choppy. However, it was still interesting enough to keep the reader flipping the pages, even though its was a bit like X/1999 (which is better by the way)...my main issue was that the main character, Mana, seemed like all the other main shoujo characters. But that is just my personal opinion. Overall, I think that Aquarian Age is a good buy if you have some extra cash or something, but definately not a must-have.

Book Description

Sparkling like a three-dimensional snowflake in the depths of space, Gernworld once was one of the Federation's greatest marvels. Six different alien races coexisted peacefully on an artificial world composed entirely of crystal -- until the very substance of Gemworld began to multiply out of control, tearing the world apart. Now the entire planet -- and the Starship Enterprise™ as well-faces total destruction.

The only way to stop the disaster is to turn off the vast network of force fields holding Gemworld's atmosphere in place, but to do so will require the cooperation of each of the planet's half dozen alien civilizations, one of which sabotaged Gemworld in the first place. With time running out, Captain Picard and his crew, including a lovestruck Lieutenant Barclay, must embark on a hazardous trek across the dying planet to find and unite the chief engineers from many strange and exotic races -- while watching out for a mass murderer determined to destroy a world!

Download Description

The "Enterprise" crew sets out to find out who's responsible for the slow destruction of Gemworld, the crystal planet. A powerful sect that views the planet's artificial shell as holy resists Picard's tampering. But a mysterious murder occurs, suggesting that the planet itself is responsible for Gemworld's destruction.

Customer Reviews:

STNG #59 Gemworld Book 2 - A good conclusion!.......2003-05-24

As with the first book of this mini duology, John Vornholt continues to expound on the wonderful world he has created in Gemworld. In the first book he described only a few of the quite interesting and different species of Gemworld. In book two, he craftily brings the remaining species into the spotlight. As with book one of the Gemworld mini duology and with all of his previous novels, John Vornholt again proves that he can create whole new microcosms within the Star Trek universe, capitalizing on the possibilities of the twenty fourth century and what the future of space travel can entail. Of the entire myriad of outstanding Star Trek authors, John Vornholt stands out in the arena of bringing the oddest of creatures to sentience and cunningly scribing them into a well thought and compelling story or stories.

The premise:

Continuing where Star Trek # 58 Gemworld Book One left off, Captain Picard, Lieutenant Melora Pazlar and the most unlikely of heroes Lieutenant Reginald Barclay are deep in the quagmire of trying to save Melora's home world of Gemworld. Facing a dimensional rift that is seemingly encompassing the entirety of the planet, deceit and deception of those they're trying to help and no apparent means of escape, Captain Picard and crew must find a way to gather the remaining crystals from all six of the sentient species inhabiting Gemworld in order to shut down the shell protecting Gemworld. Combine all of these possibilities and it all adds up to another fairly compelling story by one of Star Trek's better authors.

I highly recommend this mini duology to those who read as many or all of the Star Trek novels and to those who are casual Trek readers. {ssintrepid}

ST-TNG: Gemworld Book #2.......2003-05-02

Star Trek-The Next Generation: Gemworld Book #2 written by John Vornholt is the conclusion to the 2 part series called Gemworld. Gemworld is a multifariousness of crystaline structures and the book is written with a vivid and colorful descrition of them.

The main characters are Lieutenant Reginald Barclay and Captain Jean-Luc Picard in this book as they embark on a hazardous trek to find the causal effect that is dooming Gemworld. As mentioned in the first book there are six sentient races of beings interwoven in the Gemworld, one humanoid the Elaysians and five non-humanoid the Alpusta, Frills, Lipuls, Yilterns, and Gendii. Picard/Barclay try to get the engineers of these races involved in the solution of the problem with Gemworld; but there is a mass murderer afoot... determined to destroy all of Gemworld.

This is a well-written book and the plot moves right along, full of action-adventure with mystery and intrigue placed within the story for spice making for a well-told, engrossing, and a desperate quest on a planet in turmoil. I gave it 5 stars for its imagination as well as a well-written story.

I wish only one thing and that would be that both of these books could have been incorporated into one longer novel making for a single purchase, but the money gods at pocket books new they could get the TREK reader to buy both. Other than that, Genworld is a good story to add to your TREK library.

Control Alt Delete.......2003-02-05

The first of this two part series deserved the benefit of the doubt as the story is by definition left incomplete. The incomplete resolution of this second book makes the pair of books a low priority for any fan who enjoys reading these installments, for book #2 would be handicapped enough if it was not such a cliché, and did not use so much material fans have seen before. The solution to the problem is almost laughably poor.

Mr. Barclay is now completely fallen for his new love, Commander Deanna Troi has once again had her empathic powers damaged (sound familiar), and, you guessed it, a rip in space/time is the menace that once again gets recycled by authors who have no imagination for something new.

I will keep this brief as the book is not worthy of your time. The ending is one of the weakest I have read in any Trek adventure, and to make matters worse a great deal of the book is recycled from other stories you have either seen on television or possibly read before. Some have suggested that the movies could be judged by whether they were an even or odd number in the series. I think that perhaps how bad the cover art is may also be a way of judging these books. I know it goes against a long held and valued saying about how not to judge a book or anything else. But when the cover art is poor and not by a talented artist or a well-known one, perhaps the unwillingness to invest in the visual presentation should be a clue for what may lie within.

Gem World next generation.......2000-11-28

Gem World was a truly wonderfull storey, with a very interesting alian planet to save and some marvelous characters plus the added bonus of Mr. Barclay in loooove. It has plenty of twists and turns and keeps you guessing till the end. A must read for star trek fans and sci fi fans.

An Excellent Continuation and Ending!.......2000-07-14

After reading Gemworld part 1, I had to read part two to see what happens. Boy I was extremely thrilled with what happens. I was intrigued with in this book John Vornholt explained each of the non-Elaysian species that lived on Gemworld. There is one thing that I disliked about both books is that Tangre Bertoran was in my opinion a real HUGE pain in the backside. From The Moment the Away team met him in the first book I knew that he could not be trusted at all! I would recommend this book to any Star Trek Fan. If you read the first book then you would want to read this one to find out what the conclusion is.

Gemworld Book One of Two (Star Trek The Next Generation, No 58)

Average customer rating:

Good, but padded.
STNG #58 Gemworld Book 1 - An interesting tale!
ST-TNG: Gemworld Book #1
Dr. Crasher
Dr. Crasher

Gemworld Book One of Two (Star Trek The Next Generation, No 58)
John Vornholt
Manufacturer: Star Trek
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Adventure | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

Space Opera | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 067104270X

Book Description

Dazzling to behold, Gemworld is one of the wonders of the Federation: an artificial world composed entirely of crystal, its atmosphere held in place by a sophisticated network of force fields. Home to a half dozen different sentient races, this singular world is a low-gravity playpen of mammoth spires, endless fractal staircases, gemstone arcs, and dazzling prisms, oil carefully nurtured by the planet's many inhabitants -- until now.

Lieutenant Melora Pozlor, who previously served on Deep Space Nine™, is currently stationed aboard the Starship Enterprise™ where an urgent telepathic summons alerts her to the danger threatening her homeworld.

The crystals that once sheltered her people, and several other alien species, are now growing at a vastly accelerated and uncontrollable rate, wreaking havoc throughout the planet. Captain Picard orders the Enterprise on a rescue mission to Gemworld, but they arrive to find a world in chaos -- and an unexpected menace that traps the crew of the Enterprise along with the fragile civilization they hoped to save!

Download Description

While stationed aboard the U.S.S. "Enterprise, " Lt. Melora Pazlar receives a message for help from her homeworld. Picard orders the "Enterprise" to investigate. Badly damaged by a dimensional rift on the way, the starship and its crew are stranded as Gemworld itself is choked by a cancerous growth.

Customer Reviews:

Good, but padded........2006-03-24

Both of the books are interesting reads, but its clear that they're both padded to make it a two book 'set'. Not cool bilking the readers out of an extra six-fifty.

STNG #58 Gemworld Book 1 - An interesting tale!.......2003-05-10

One thing is for certain every time you pick up a Star Trek novel written by John Vornholt, he generally comes up with extremely well detailed descriptions for aliens and their worlds as he has done once again here with Gemworld. Capitalizing on the Star Trek Deep Space Nine second season episode of "Melora," John Vornholt has come up with a believable back story for her and her home world. There are two theories about Gemworld, one is that it is artificial and the more believable of the two is that it is an ancient world that has gone through many phases and for a millennia its inhabitants have done everything they can to keep it intact. Here is where John Vornholt's talents shine, besides the odd nature of the planet there are also six indigenous, sentient species on Gemworld, to include the Elaysians in which Melora is a member of. What makes this one even more interesting and unusual is that Lieutenant Reginald Barclay is pretty much in the spotlight. It is sometimes refreshing where the main characters aren't always the lead in a novel.

The premise:

Lieutenant Melora Pazlar is on board the Enterprise temporarily as a mission specialist and the Enterprise is on its way to Primus IV which is a low gravity planet. As the Enterprise speeds its way towards Primus IV, Melora has a very real dream which she believes to have been induced by the Lipuls which are one of the six sentient species on her home world of Gemworld. After a chance meeting between her and Lieutenant Reginald Barclay and a "Lipul" dream being forced on Counselor Troi, Captain Picard is forced to change course for Gemworld to determine what the crisis may be and hopefully help. What follows is but the first of a two book series where this, the first one is another of John Vornholt's excellent Star Trek tales.

I highly recommend this and book two of this mini trek series as I'm greatly looking forward to reading the second one myself! {ssintrepid}

ST-TNG: Gemworld Book #1.......2003-05-01

Star Trek-The Next Generation: Gemworld Book #1 written by John Vornholt is an action-adventure mystery with the main character being none other than Reginald Barclay helping a world experinecing a natural disaster.

Mostly, Lieutenants Reginald Barclay and Elaysian, Melora Pazlar help solve the problem of world destruction. Gemworld is a sparkling world to behold and is one of the wonders within the Federation: an artifical world comprized entirely of crystaline formations. While to atmosphere is held in place by a sophisticate network of force fields because of the low or no gravity within the three-dimestional snowflake, with mammoth spires of crystal, gemstone arcs and dazzling prisms, called Gemworld.

What I liked about this book is the portrayl of the Barclay/Pazlar characters. A real fleshing out is found when reading about the problems facing Gemworld. Six entirely different sentient races inhabit Gemworld making for a dazzling display as the writer explains each with the Alpusta and Frills being some of the most beautifully portrayed within the book.

Barclay is the brilliant/socially inept character that we know and love and is spot on in this story. While the description of Gemworld is vivid and very colorful. This story takes place after Star Trek: Insurrection and that makes Riker/Troi still Imzadi. The descriptions made within this book puts the reader right in the the middle of the story as endless fractal staircases float by as the characters move about in low or no gravity by floating.

Lieutenant Melora Pazlar who was introduced in the series DS-9 is telepathic and while on the Starship Enterprise alerts the crew of the impending danger that exists on her home planet Gemworld. Captain Jean-Luc Picard plans a rescue mission and when the Enterprise and her crew arrive at Gemworld they find the planet in chaos and the Starship is also in danger.

The action-adventure with mystery and intrigue is nicely paced and has its suspenseful moments and you'll have to read both books the get the whole story as Book #1 sets-up Book #2.

All in all, you'll love the very descriptive writing which makes reading them both that much easier.

Dr. Crasher.......2003-02-05

I have read both, "Gemworld Book #1 and #2", so while I will keep specific comments on the two installments separate, the overall impression comes from having read the entire two part tale. Spelling of the names of a primary character that appears not just in virtually every book, but every movie and virtually all of the television programming is a good indicator of how carelessly these two books were reviewed prior to publishing. Dr. Beverly Crusher becomes Dr. Crasher and then back to Crusher, and then Crasher again in the space of a few pages. The person responsible for verifying the most basic of facts of these books were accurate skipped the spelling portion of their job.

The planet of Gemworld is a unique place, the question of whether it is a naturally occurring organic planet or a construct is discussed throughout this first book, as are the variety of widely varying forms of life that have lived there for billions of years. You would expect that after all this time those that inhabit the planet would have evolved with some commonality yet they remain wildly different species while all being sentient and highly intelligent to varying degrees.

The most interesting part of book one is not the usual planet in distress storyline, but the appearance of Reginald Barclay the famous, hyper-nervous, always a bit of a bumbler that was the focus of many great episodes of the later seasons of The Next Generation. Mr. Barclay this time out not only develops an intense crush on the book's main character and inhabitant of the distressed planet; he also becomes one of the keys to resolving the planet's destruction that even baffles Data. As he has in the past Mr. Barclay finds himself the center of attention, and in this case authority, by being in what he would consider the wrong place at the wrong time.

This first book is the better of the two, and while not a 4 star read it exceeds a 3 star rating.

Dr. Crasher.......2003-02-05

This first book is the better of the two, and while not a 4 star read it exceeds a 3 star rating.

Average customer rating:
Gemworld Books One and Two (Star Trek The Next Generation)

Manufacturer: Pocket Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Star Trek | Media | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000GXBE9M

Product Description

Set of two books Book One of Two and Book Two of Two in the Star Trek The Next Generation Gemworld books. "Dazzling to behold, Gemworld is one of the wonders of the Federation: an artificial world composed entirely of crystal, it's atmosphere held in place by a sophisticated network of force fields..."

Book Description

In Christian Science on Trial, historian Rennie B. Schoepflin shows how Christian Science healing became a viable alternative to medicine at the end of the nineteenth century. Christian Scientists did not simply evangelize for their religious beliefs; they engaged in a healing business that offered a therapeutic alternative to many patients for whom medicine had proven unsatisfactory. Tracing the evolution of Christian Science during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Christian Science on Trial illuminates the movement's struggle for existence against the efforts of organized American medicine to curtail its activities.

Physicians exhibited an anxiety and tenacity to trivialize and control Christian Scientists which indicates a lack of confidence among the turn-of-the-century medical profession about who controlled American health care. The limited authority of the medical community becomes even clearer through Schoepflin's examination of the pitched battles fought by physicians and Christian Scientists in America's courtrooms and legislative halls over the legality of Christian Science healing. While the issues of medical licensing, the meaning of medical practice, and the supposed right of Americans to therapeutic choice dominated early debates, later confrontations saw the legal issues shift to matters of contagious disease, public safety, and children's rights. Throughout, Christian Scientists revealed their ambiguous status as medical practitioners and religious healers.

The 1920s witnessed an unsteady truce between American medicine and Christian Science. The ambivalence of many Americans about the practice of religious healing persisted, however. In Christian Science on Trial we gain a helpful historical context for understanding late--twentieth-century public debates over children's rights, parental responsibility, and the authority of modern medicine.

Customer Reviews:

The Reality of Christian Science in the Real World.......2002-12-23

I have been class taught in Christian Science and left the cult to practice true Christianity. I read many, many books on the history and teachings of Christian Science. This is the first book that clearly explains the history of medicine and how the time was ripe for Eddy to be successful. The book deals with some doctrines and history of Eddy. I think it is important to read for example "God's Perfect Child" by Caroline Frazer first to get a solid background of Eddy, her teachings and the history of Christian Science.

I have wondered for a long time why Eddy florished and what the early conflicts between medicine and Christian Science (faith healing, New Thought)were. Rennie Schoepflin includes a lot of fresh material and clearly explains the so called "healing" practices of Christian Science Practitioners.

To my knowledge this is the only book available that deals with this subject. Christian Science on Trial is well written, and not another biography of Eddy and Christian Science. The author documents court cases that I have not read elsewhere.

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Church History, published by American Society of Church History on September 1, 2004. The length of the article is 1010 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: Christian Science on Trial: Religious Healing in America.(Book Review)
Author: Pamela E. Klassen
Publication: Church History (Refereed)
Date: September 1, 2004
Publisher: American Society of Church History
Volume: 73 Issue: 3 Page: 701(2)

Article Type: Book Review

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