Conferences Books

As with all the books I have read from "The Classics of Western Spirituality" series, John Cassian's "Conferences" is both important and insightful. Cassian is, via the value placed on his writings by St. Benedict, a major figure in the history of western monasticism.

This volume contains nine of Cassian's twenty-four conferences. The conferences cover such topics as prayer, perfection, and purity of heart. By using the device of interviewing famous Egyptian monks and hermits, Cassian deftly distills the essence of early Egyptian monastic and eremitic teachings on these and other topics.

The scholarly introduction to this volume, written by Owen Chadwick, is indispensable for those wishing to set these teachings within the context of Cassian's life and thought. Mr. Chadwick, who has written a book on Cassian is just the man for this task and he does it well.

Colm Luibheid is both the translator of this volume and the author of its skilled and entertaining preface. Cassian's devotion and humor are brought to life in this translation.

Cassian still speaks to us today, one thousand six hundred after his death; in a world foreign to the one he was writing in. How can this be? It because the message of Cassian's writings: devotion and the quest to follow God in purity, spirit and truth, lies at the core of what we as human beings were created for. There is much here to help us (by the grace of God) along that narrow path which leads to the Father.

The Classics of Western Spirituality edition of Cassian's Conferences seemed extremely appealing, but it is inevitably disappointing to read out-takes from a work as majestic as the Conferences. Admittedly, the Conferences can be daunting: the standard critical edition runs to three volumes, and the recent English translation is a hefty tome of nearly 1000 pages. But (and I say this advisedly) there is no substitute for mulling over the work as a whole. So I would suggest that instead of waiting for this edition to be reprinted, consider buying Boniface Ramsey's translation in the Ancient Christian Writer's series. If you are interested enough to read a second review, then you are probably interested enough to take on an unexpurgated version.

This is one of the best volumes in the Classics of Western Spirituality series, combining a well-translated and shrewdly chosen essence of the 4th century writer, combined with excellent editorial apparatus.

An abbot at the end of his life, Cassian wrote of his youthful spiritual search among desert solitaries for his monks. The recollection is so fresh that it performs a neat trick; you overlook the young Cassian as a character in his own work, lost in rapture. His cooler traveling companian Germanus asks some of the best questions. An excellent writer, the conferences use the Socratic dialogue method, a rarity in Christian writing of any age. The result was a landmark that had a major impact. The pithy Saint Benedict in his rule still gives the best pitch for this writer, on the subject of what a monk ought to read: "Read the bible and read Cassian."

The stories transmitted by the desert abbas, of both humble wisdom and spiritual disaster, are unforgettable. Most important for modern readers -- and vitally so -- are the careful teachings on the so-called higher modes of contemplative prayer including the Jesus prayer. The air today is full of misleading prattle on the subject and worse from various ignoramuses at both the parish level and much higher, from the hallowed groves of Christian and Catholic academe and publishing. Too often the term "ancient Christian prayer" is now used to justify the use of mind-numbing mantras and breathing techniques in a gluttonous drive for spiritual experience. This book is the main necessary source to establish any early precedent, and it by no means justifies such techniques. A spiritual guide such as a priest or abbot is always considered necessary, unlike the "way of the pilgrim"; the Jesus prayer is for avoiding distraction and getting the fallible human senses re-focused, not for turning oneself into a self-hypnotized zombie open to any spirit, good or malign, who then chooses to fly in.

Persons seeking to deepen their prayer life need to own this book, and to keep it side by side with their bible. Take Benedict's advice and go back to the source.

Like many early Christian writers, the life of John Cassian (c. 360-c 435) remains shrouded in the mists of forgotten history. He was probably born in present day Romania (Dacia). When he was about twenty he traveled with his friend Germanus to Bethlehem where he joined a monastery. From Bethlehem Cassian and Germanus made at least two extended visits to the famous monastics down in Egypt (by some estimates they spent ten years there), and from there moved on to Constantinople. In Constantinople the bishop John Chrysostom ordained Cassian to the diaconate some time around the year 400, at which time he traveled to Rome to courier some letters and was ordained a priest by Pope Innocent I. Cassian later settled in Marseilles, where he founded two monasteries, and wrote three books. His Conferences, along with its much shorter companion volume entitled Institutes, chronicle the riches of early Egyptian monasticism based upon his considerable personal experiences and acquaintances, and in so doing transplanted that monastic influence in the West.

These desert monks are so far removed from our own time, place, and Christian experience that we might well ask why one would read them today other than from a sense of historical curiosity. I suggest two reasons, one from Scripture and the other from experience.

In reading Cassian's firsthand accounts of early desert monasticism, one is humbled by the zeal of their renunciation as they explored what the "hard sayings" of Jesus might mean: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23). "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26). "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me" (Matthew 19:21). Nor was theirs a mere theoretical inquiry, for the monks prized practical experience and certainly spiritual experimentation above all things. Cassian's Conferences report their conclusions. The monks would never suggest that a life of solitude in the desert was for everyone, and in fact they affirmed that each person is fit for a certain "orientation" in life due to many factors, some beyond their control, and the chief of which is God's call on your life. All Christians, then, must discover a way to live these words of Jesus.

Practically speaking, I have never read any Christian literature that explained myself to myself as well as these monastics. Just what did they find when they fled to the lonely interior of the Egyptian desert? They experienced a raging battle in the geography of the heart, what John Chryssavgis calls a "spirituality of imperfection" that might be thought of as a sustained effort to discover what Paul meant in Romans 7:7-25. Germanus, for example, asks his elder: "Why is it, then, that superfluous thoughts insinuate themselves into us so subtly and hiddenly when we do not even want them, and indeed do not even know of them, that it is very difficult not only to cast them out but even to understand them and to catch hold of them?" And that's only the beginning of the battle for wholeness of the heart. Read through these pages and you discover a remarkable candor "without any obfuscating embarrassment" and that does not in the least "despise anyone in belittling fashion" for their failure and frailty. Here is a quick list of only a few maladies that I underlined--sleeplessness, vile dreams, impulsive urges, seething emotions, foolish fantasies, pious pretense that masks as virtue, clerical ambition, pernicious despair, confusion, wild mood swings, flattery, and lust. The list is almost endless, and these are only those symptoms of ill health we know: "There are many things that lie hidden in my conscience which are known and manifest to God, even though they may be unknown and obscure to me."

Paradox and humor are never far away. Why, Cassian wonders, would a monk renounce great wealth, then exhibit intense possessiveness or irascibility over a pen knife, a needle or a pen? Or consider his description of a monastic church service that includes "coughing or clearing our throat or laughing or yawning or falling asleep." These desert ascetics were brutally realistic about our human condition, and unfailingly tender because of it. Nor were they hopeless, but confident that we can make progress through vigilance and trust in God's grace, even though, paradoxically, the more mature you become the wiser you are regarding your own many failures. "We are," after all, "only human beings."

We read in Hebrews 11:37-38 of early Christians who "went about in sheepskin and in goatskin, in distress, afflicted, needy, the world unworthy of them, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and caverns of the earth." I am not called to be a monk, but I am called to wrestle with "the flighty wandering of the human mind" in order to experience purity of heart by following "the proven compass of love." Thank God for these heroes of faith, and for Cassian's labor of love in recording their blessed memory and example. This is a long book, but I was somehow sad when I came to its end, as if I had left behind trusted, tender, and very wise guides.

This book was exactly what I needed after being out of the catering sales business for a few years. It covers it all! I would definitely reccommend!!

I had to buy this book to study for a catering certification test, and I was anticipating a dull, dry rehash of things I already knew after 5 years as a caterer. But, I was pleasantly surprised. It is written in a most readable manner, and I learned so much I didn't know, which makes me so much more professional. I recommend it highly.

The book is good, however I can only print 25 pages every 10 days, so in about 6 months, I will have my printed book. I am very disappointed in the fact that I was very mislead in buying this book, it doesn't tell you that you can only print minimal pages and can only use the e-book from your home. Well, I don't work at home, I work in a hotel. I will not buy from Amazon again because they did nothing to help me with this matter.

This is a great reference book. I have been in catering for 15 years, and there is a lot of stuff in this book I never knew!

It is the essential guide to modern Catholic funeral rites with big enough type to read in any situation. It is what it says it is.

it fills the need as expected; it is less thick compared to previous editions; the prayer for rituals over cremains gives proper context.

I am very happy with the book and the purchase price is what made me order it from Amazon.

I ordered the book in the first place because I needed it, but I didn't want to pay full price for it. So I was happy to get it at the right price through Amazon. I am very happy now that I have the book. The book is in perfect condition. I was surprised when I got the book and it was the updated version with everything I needed. Thank you.

Dear sir, I am just wondering does this book (ISBN #3540650695) include a CD?? If yes, I will buy this book right away, and please reply me ASAP. Thanks for your time.

This CD-ROM contains an excellent collection of academic referreed papers in the area of cryptography. The papers are highly technical -- beginners would do better with a book like Handbook of Applied Cryptography or Applied Cryptography.

For researchers and people learning the mathematics of cryptography, this collection assembled by Kevin McCurley is unquestionably the best purchase available.

I love the idea of having a good-sized library of important research on CD-ROM. However, they really needed some people who were more technically competent to produce this CD-ROM.

For example, they have not used the standard Rock Ridge CD format, so when mounted on a Unix system (and not using flags available only to root) it simply doesn't work: the filenames are treated as lower case, and all the links on the CD are in upper case. On a system like Windows, that can't distinguish between upper and lower case in filenames, this isn't a problem. But for those of us who don't use Windows it's a serious problem. I ended burning a copy of the CD with all upper-case file names, and that works -- but people who use Unix (including Linux) and don't have a CD burner are going to have some real problems.

Secondly, the scanned pages are all in the standard Springer-Verlag small page format, but for some reason the scanned images are much larger with lots of whitespace at the bottom. That means that my standard acrobat setting of "fit page" has the text about 2/3 of the size that it should, and it's hard to read. It seems like any editorial person reviewing the scanned material would have recognized and tried to fix this problem.

Finally, the book that accompanies the CD is just ridiculous -- it duplicates material on the CD, and simply adds to the production (and so retail) cost, and wastes paper.

Overall, this is a valuable resource, and I'll hold on to it. I just wish the publishers had made some more intelligent choices along the way....

The usual Appalachian Trail guide. Full of information you need and information you don't need, missing things you wished you knew. Apparently the people who publish these books have yet to figure out that, when hiking the Appalachian Trail, the amount of weight on your back is a consideration. Photocopy the important bits, cut them out and paste them together on an 11 x 17 piece of paper, photocopy again, on both sides of an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper, leave the book at home and throw a half dozen chocolate bars in your pack instead. Enjoy the hike.

I'm not a weight freak. Part of long backpacking trips is dealing with what might be a heavy pack to some. I'm a strong hiker, so I don't whine about heavy packs the way others do. I like having the trail guide along. They've saved me from many a wrong turn, as I'm not big on bushwhacking and orienteering. And I just plain like reading them when I have some extra time to kick back and relax under the trees.

I'm a novice hiker, but hike on the GA part of the AT when I do. This product was recommended to me by a friend & the packet of maps is excellent. I especially LOVE the map that includes the elevation changes of the trail. Definitely worth it for the price.

This best is by far one of the best reviews of any single creature, ever. With classic articles on the origin of flight, the arrangements of feathers, the question of arboreality in Archaeopteryx, and the false "forgery" that has been accused of Archaeopteryx (the forgery idea is certainly wrong, all of the points that "support" the forgery are actually quite normal). The book is highly reccomended. Though some of the articles may be a bit too technical for the average person, one can understand what is being stated quite clearly. I must reccomend Martin's article and Yalden's article as two of the best reads in the book (all are excellent and above-average). A must read for all interested in birds and their early evolution.

Despite what the last reviewer said about the book, this is an excellent book that deserves place on every ornithologist's and paleontologist's bookshelf. Within are classic and well-referenced reviews by Ostrom, Charig and Hecht. You simply cannnot write a paper on the origin of birds without referencing at least on the papers in this volume. The dissenters from the theropod origin of birds hypothesis write good papers with good points. The best paper in the book is probably Alick Walker's reconstruction of the London Archaeopteryx braincase. All are excellent.

The previous reviewer is full of bunk. This is a terribly outdated, poorly edited, and disjointed book. Nonetheless it is an important read for those interesed in the history of avian origin controversies. Just read it with a healthy degree of skepticism. Much has happened since this was published, and many of the papers are basically worthless. Wellnhofer, Gauthier and Padian, Ostrom, and Rayner present some of the few rigorous analyses; the rest are mainly escapades in fantasy and poor science. Wait for the Ostrom Symposium volume in 1999; it will be better.

I have just become the first person in ten years to read this book from cover to cover. A compatriot of mine could only handle a few chapters before he had to abort out of boredom. I however enjoyed torturing myself by reading about odd customs and traditions around the Big 10 conference circa 1988. Bob Wood also excells in using the words "crisp" and "quaint" at least twice a page. He also goes overboard with the number of exclamation marks and gets excited over simple things such as a restaurant, "that even had an entire bottle of Heinz Ketchup on the table!" Read this book if you want to laugh in a way the author didn't intend.

This book is a great read for Big Ten fans. Author details the best spots and hang outs on each campus for a game day Saturday. For Big Ten grads, it evokes fond memories of the good old days and gives good tips on the best way to enjoy all the campuses when your following your school to a road game.

This is a terrific book capturing the essence of die-hard Big Ten football. The book was published in 1989 so it is a little dated, some places mentioned, such as Papa Joe's in Columbus, don't exist anymore. Nonetheless, Bob Woods moves from week to week through one season, vividly describing the sights, sounds and atmosphere of each Big Ten (before Penn State) campus. My husband and I follow the University of Iowa through every season and both concur that the author has painted an accurate picture of football fall in the midwest.

I found "Churchill's Triumph" to be an excellent example of historical fiction. I enjoyed the books insight into not only Churchill, but also Roosevelt and Stalin. The subplot throughout the book concerning Poland and the mysterious plumber, Nowak, was chilling in it's portrayal of the treatment of Poland by the Germans as well as the Russians. I highly recommend this novel.

Michael Dobbs in his most recent historical novel, Churchill's Triumph: A Novel Of Betrayal spins another mesmerizing portrayal of one of the greatest statesman, Winston Churchill who, as we are reminded at the very beginning of the book stated: "History with its flickering lamp stumbles along the trail of the past, trying to reconstruct its scenes, to revive its echoes, and kindle with pale gleams the passions of former days."

Dobbs in his latest foray into the life and times of Churchill brings us back to Yalta in February of 1945 just before the end of World War II when a week-long series of historic meetings involving the leaders of the three largest nations of the world, Russia, England and the United States gathered. It was here where the brutal Stalin, the aging yet feisty Churchill and an ailing Roosevelt met and came with their own agendas as to how to deal and carve up Europe once Hitler was defeated.

As in his past historical novels, Dobbs acts as if he were a fly on the wall as he construes what transpired and what was said during the various conversations among the three leaders.

Roosevelt was particularly interested in the creation of the United Nations to replace the League of Nations, Stalin was steadfast in his desire to completely destroy Poland and Germany, and Churchill was concerned about protecting the frontiers of Poland as well as making sure of its freedom. However, as we read, it was not too much of each of the leaders to cheat and betray one another and in so doing leave a lasting legacy that would have dreadful ramifications not only affecting Europe but also the Far East.

As Dobbs points out, it was quite ironic that it was Molotov the Russian Foreign Minister who informed the others how the war would be finished. It was this same Molotov who thought little of executing starving peasants and children as young as twelve, and who had endorsed the massacre in the forests of Katyn. This same beast planned the destruction of the kulaks, deporting and obliterating millions of innocent people long before Hitler entered the scene. And it was the same Molotov who signed the pact with his German counterpart, von Ribbentrop that flung the world into war.

The idealist Roosevelt was so wrapped up in his desire to create the United Nations and to get Russia involved in the war on Japan that he didn't mind selling off Poland and half of Europe to Stalin. And both thought very little of betraying not only the Chinese but also the British with their wheeling and dealing.

Churchill was quite upset about losing Poland however, justly or mistakenly he assumed he could not save her on his own. To Churchill, he had nothing to fight with, except words, and he realized that words alone wouldn't do the job. Poland was to be buried beneath a table of lies. Moreover, if Poland was lost, what else might he lose? As he stated, win the war, yet lose the peace-the timeless legacy of fools.

Dobbs informs us in his Acknowledgments that he tried to remain true to the course of events pertaining to the happenings at Yalta. He does admit to omitting huge chunks of the proceedings while at the same time taking dramatic liberties with other parts, yet for the most part what he has written about the major events actually did happen.

In order to effectively capture the flavor of events and Churchill's betrayal, Dobbs interlaces into the narrative the fictional character Marian Nowak as well as the fictional town of Piorun.

Churchill's Triumph: A Novel Of Betrayal is a fast paced novel blending known facts with fiction and to classify it as historical fiction would be to rob it of its realism and distinctiveness. Dobbs has re-imagined so vividly that cusp of time when the destiny of the world was planned out by three men who perhaps with the exception of Churchill were not too troubled about the outcome of their decisions. All that matter was to fulfill their own agendas and be damned with the aftermath.

Norm Goldman, Publisher & Editor Bookpleasures

"Old men, worn down by war, who couldn't properly finish what they had begun. It summed up the story of Yalta." - Author Michael Dobbs, in CHURCHILL'S TRIUMPH

From February 4 - 11, 1945, Churchill, Stalin and FDR met at Yalta in the Crimea to tie up the loose ends of World War II. Each had an agenda: the American President wanted the establishment of the United Nations, Russia's entry into the war against Japan, and his personal place in history; the British Prime Minister wanted a free Poland (as, unstated, a block to Soviet westward expansion); the Communist Party Secretary General wanted territory in Eastern Europe and spoils. In the end, it was the wily, rapacious Stalin that dominated the conference. FDR, exhausted and sick and with only eight weeks to live, no longer had the mental energy to perceive and resist Uncle Joe's duplicity. And Winston, though he fought like a lion, was, much like the British Empire, no longer relevant to the larger designs of the world's two new superpowers, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R.

CHURCHILL'S TRIUMPH, presumably solidly based in the factual history of the summit, is a fictional narrative of the conference as seen through the eyes of Winston, who, apparently ignored and abandoned by his friend Roosevelt, is beside himself with frustration at his inability to alter the course of diplomacy and appeasement.

Perhaps the most engaging character of the story is that of Churchill's manservant, the loyal but cheeky Frank Sawyers, a real person who, unfortunately, exited history after leaving his master's service in 1946. (Loyal readers of Michael Dobb's will remember Sawyers from a previous book in the Churchill series, Churchill's Hour. Indeed, Google "Frank Sawyers" and there's virtually no information on the man beyond his inclusion in the author's books - a pity.)

CHURCHILL'S TRIUMPH suffers, I think, from the inclusion of a fictitious subplot involving a refugee Pole, Marian Nowak, held virtual prisoner by the Russians and pressed into service by his jailers as a plumber at Churchill's borrowed Crimean residence, the Vorontsov Palace. The uneasy relation between the British PM and Nowak, which carried through to the end of the book set in 1963, allowed Winston to pronounce what he thought his nebulous triumph at Yalta to have been. But to me, this subplot seemed contrived and, at its conclusion, overly melodramatic. Another sidebar, this taking place in the fictitious Polish village of Piorun, was sufficient to illustrate the validity of Winston's ominous forebodings regarding Soviet intent in Eastern Europe.

The Yalta story, as the basis for a novel about Churchill, is powerful enough by itself and doesn't need embellishment. Particularly revelatory of the conference were the words of Octavius from Shakespeare's "Julius Ceasar" quoted by the PM as they put their signatures to paper in the concluding signing ceremony:

"Let us do so, for we are at the stake and bayed about with many enemies. And some that smile have in their hearts, I fear, millions of mischiefs."

Eileen Malone knows what she's talking about, not only as a writer but as a teacher. Ms. Malone walks her talk by creating an atmosphere, in classes and in writing, of the importance of a friendly supportive writing group to move you forward as a writer. Her style is straight forward information with good resources (yes, outdated) that one can seek out. As she said, Amy Tan herself realized the importance of such a group. I have been to several like groups but never did I feel the intense dedication as in Eileen's classes to support the uniqueness of a writer. Read her "how to's" and you feel inspired to continue with your writing. I must say that because of her I ventured to write my first fictional novel, The Skye in June, due out soon. Thank you, Mz. Teacher.

I used this book like a bible and searched around for a good writers group for me but nothing measured up and I know that because I used the book to help me evaluate my needs and what each group was providing. Consequently, I started up my own group, again using the book as a guide and now we all use the book to settle differences and improve ourselves as we grow. It is an excellent guide and one that keeps on giving. The only thing we would like is to have the list of resources in the back of the book updated to include websites and e-mail addresses, otherwise, it is just about perfect.

Half the book, granted, is outdated lists (of the constantly changing contact info and deadlines for all of the conferences and workshops, which are easily accessible via the internet now, anyway).

But the other half of the book alone is still worth the purchase price. I wish someone would do an updated version of it.

I read this book several years ago when I started SOC (Screenwriters On-Line Cooperative) and it was instrumental in helping me define our culture, goals, and structure (i.e.: what to look for in a writers' group, what to expect, how to form one, how to GROW one, etc.).

I still recommend that all new members read it, so we're all on the same page as to how to benefit from - and contribute to - a good writers' group.

I also use it as a reference in my screenwriting classes to help students offer constructive criticism to one another - and how to best incorporate the myriad suggestions and insights they receive themselves.

I have loaned it out several times - and now must buy yet another copy!

Every serious New Jersey hiker must have the most current version of this guidebook. This 1988 edition marks the split of the New York and New Jersey volumes in two; previous editions included both states.

The current edition is New Jersey Walk Book: A Companion to the New York Walk Book; it was published in 2004.

The "Walk Book" was originally published in 1923 by the National Geographic Society; the next four editions were published by Doubleday; and the sixth and later editions have been published by the NYNJTC. The first five editions included trails in both New York and New Jersey. In 1988, the "Walk Book" was published by the NYNJTC and split in two, the New York version was called the 6th edition, and the New Jersey version, the 1st edition.

"The New York Times" published an interesting article on May 19, 1998 by Glenn Collins on the history of the Trail Conference and the "Walk Book". It extracted several passages from the 1923 "Walk Book" (which now sells for around $200 if you can find a copy):

"For protection against rain, pure rubber clothing is about the only reliable material; but in warm weather or after exertion it is uncomfortably hot. . . ."

"Boots or stout leggings will save many a bruised shin or ankle or torn stocking and trouser leg. Breeches for women, long worn in the Western outing clubs, are becoming more in vogue in the East and sensibly so. There are combinations of breeches with detachable skirts which are convenient for travel to and from the country or where city or country yokels may stare. . . ."

"A pack on the back is bound to cause heavy perspiration and wetting between the shoulder blades. Reed frames have been devised to hold the pack off the back and give circulation or air. . . ."

"Paper is as effective a protection against wind as leather, and many trampers regard a paper waistcoat, costing 50 cents, as indispensable for blustery weather. . . ."

"If you are ever out with Malcomson he will introduce his big Bermuda onion. You will crave a thick slice and you will never go tramping again without one. It adds horse power to one's legs after luncheon. . . ."

Things have changed a bit since 1923, but the trails are still a major benefit of living in this area. Collect this 1988 volume for its historical interest; purchase the revised 2004 edition and use it to hike some great New Jersey trails.

Robert C. Ross 2008

This book is a great. I've used it a number of times, and consider it one of my favorite outdoor guides to NJ. It tells you everything you need to know about a variety of trails: who uses the trail (mountain bikes, horses, hiking-only, etc.), directions to get to the trail, and where you can park (if that isn't obvious). If you are just starting-out exploring "Outdoor New Jersey" you cannot be without this book.

A real gem of a book - one of those that everyone with even a remote interest in its subject matter should own. I'd give it five stars if there were more maps.