Clouds Books

An excellent book about the creation of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. I would highly recommend it for anyone interested in natural resources and/or recreation. It gives a good history and as a result an understanding of the hard feelings still fostered by some in the communities that were impacted.

The book definitely has a spin from the Friends of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness interest group. Looking beyond that it is still an excellent book.

This book is written with the help of three people who were active participants in the fight for the BWCA. It is well written and thoroughly documented. It is biased in that the authors wanted increased protection of the BWCA and provides inside information from the pro-protection side of the fight. Even so, they were able to remove themselves enough from the story to write an accurate account.

The fight is a very interesting story and parallels many other environmental fights throughout the country.

Anyone looking for a monograph concerning Minnesota history, legislative history, environmental history, or just a good read this is a highly recommended read.

I originally ran across these stories in a magazine called "Black Gate" and I liked them so much that I purchased the book. The book has one story that was previously unpublished. A very fun read.

I picked up a copy of "From the Golden Age", a compilation of Isacc Asimov's favorite stories from his youth, and just out of nowhere I decided to start with Tumithak. Snooty people will deride this story, but the truth is that it was written more than seventy years ago, before the moon landing, atomic bomb, and WWII. Yet it is a lot of fun! "From the Golden Age" only had the first two parts, and after reading just the first story I immediately picked up this, the complete book. It's a fun read for anybody who isn't snooty.

First: If you can get it, perhaps at the library, seek the audiotape version read by Sam Dastor to bring full life to this wonderful book. A story whose heart is Inspector Ghote's admiration of a man, that man's use of anger in the performance of his duties, and Ghote's realization that anger is perhaps not the best policy. Not for the speed-reader, Keating's descriptions of those monsoon days in India will bring out the sweat in you!

Under a Monsoon Cloud is the first novel by HRF Keating I read (actually heard on audio tape) and it won't be the last. Detective Ghote is an unforgetable character whose misadventures and efforts to save himself and his family from doom are presented in a spellbinding narrative rich with wit and local color. The ending comes as a surprise and a relief.

From cover to cover Boundaries is a complete Christian handbook for discovering why God created boundaries and how to implement them into our lives. By following this guide many dysfunctional people will find a path to freedom and regain control of their lives. Boundaries are clearly defined in this book in all areas; physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Using the steps in the book will bring new health to your relationships and lead to a walk of being the loving giving people God intended us to be. Having grown up in a dysfunctional family myself, I have to say that Boundaries is the icing on the cake of healing that God has served me and I will serve to others as well.

I am sorely disappointed!!! It was not clear to me that I was getting a book that is about 1 inch by 1 inch. I don't order books often and didn't know that I needed to confirm it was full-sized. I wish it had been made more clear. I waited nearly two weeks for it to arrive and now I'm not sure I'll even be able to read it because it is so TINY!

Applying the principles in this book literally changed my life and healed so many relationships in my life. It's Biblically sound and focuses on enabling people to live the life that God intended.

I read this book a few months ago and the advice it gave me was absolutely amazing. I had worked at a job for almost four years where I was the office doormat, but the last year that I worked at the job it was becoming really out of hand. I had always stepped up to the plate and did way more than my fair share of the work around the office, but in the last year I worked there my boss informed me that one of my co-workers was not doing her work appropriately and I needed to do her job until he "figured out what to do". Well for eight months I did my job and this other person's job, I had five minute lunches as I tried to get everything done. My co-worker would come in my office and go on and on about how this was the easiest job she had ever had in her life. She started bringing in lists of things to look up on the internet because she told me she ran out of things to look up. My boss sat in his office and read all day and when I would go in to talk to him about the situation he would continue reading and wouldn't even look up at me. One day I came in early before work and told him that I was BURNED OUT! He said okay and had the co-worker do her old job for 3 days and then that was the end of it, and he had me start doing her job again. Well I put in a month notice and I quit, and after I quit they fired the co-worker because she couldn't do the job. I was always the good Christian that kept my mouth shut and did what I was told, but guess what God doesn't want you to be a doormat. He wants you to be loving and humble, but you are not responsible for someone else. I have read so so so many Christian books about the importance of being humble and to just persevere through tough challenges, but this was the first Christian book that let me know it is okay to stand up for yourself.

From what I've read, it doesn't seem like those with the critical reviews haven't really read the whole book. In a society that's increasingly tolerant and co-dependent, though, I can see people resisting the truth and freedom this book offers. Let me tell you. I first read "Boundaries" over 10 years ago, when I was suffering from Major Depression in college. This book provided the way out. It has played a major role in my life ever since. I have the most amazing marriage now, and my husband and other close friends have found amazing freedom from as we read & re-read this book. We are healthy, and we are happy, but keeping "Boundaries" in the world we live in can be a challenge and takes practice... but it's worth it, as scripture always is. I'm grateful the author's aren't afraid to be true to God's Word.

Robert Harris does a terrific job with this book. It's filled with suspense and fascinating historical details.

This book is fabulous. I was overcome with admiration for the author...all the research he must have put in to write this book. The historical facts and descriptions are wonderful. Only one word needs to be said: Brilliant!

Summary:
Pompeii by Robert Harris is a historical fiction novel told from the point of view of an aquaduct civil engineer (interesting premise). He is used to bind the various elements of Life in and around Pompeii leading up to and including the eruption of Mt. Vesuveus. The political corruption, engineering mastery and social decedance of life in the late stages of the Roman Empire are hinted at but not much detail. The characters are ok not very developed but effective; the prose is tight and efficient; and the pacing is done well.

Characters: The novel is fairly short so the character development seems to have been left out to a large degree. The architypal Romans are worked into the story but mostly a plot devices vs. true characters. The main character, Attilius, seems a bit too modern for the time period. He is strong anti-Gods which is not appropriate for the times -- he comes across as a agnostic modern civil engineer. Pliny the Elder is probably the most developed of the characters in the story -- nicely done.

Plot: The plot is pretty simple; Attilius is made the new engineer in charge of the aquaduct when the old engineer dissappeared two weeks earlier. Attilius gets involved when sulphur is detected in the water. The story goes from there using the aquaduct as a way to move characters around the Bay of Naples and interconnect the political players of Pompeii with the action. The plot does not have many twists but shows how easy government can get corrupted and why big government is not good.

Prose: The prose is tight and efficient -- like the engineer. The flowery prose of Pliny is a nice addition to the somewhat stark writing style. It is a quick and fun read. The information on aquaducts was very interesting to me...especially the fact the water kept running after the eruption. You have to admire the Romans as civil engineers; unparalled in the world.

Action: The action is interesting; the stages of the volcano eruption are interesting to find out about and how they would manifest in Roman society plus a bit of the reaction to the effects. You should be expecting a huge amount of action but it obviously picks up as the eruptions gets really going.

Overall: 3 stars - 3.5 stars
Characters: 2.5 stars - 3 stars
Plot: 3 stars
Prose: 3.5 stars
Action: 2 stars

Marcus Attilius, the "aquarius" or water engineer newly assigned to care for the Aqua Augusta, tackles the job eagerly. Being placed in charge of one of the Roman Empire's great aqueducts is a key advancement in the career he loves, that has been followed by the men in his family for generations; and taking on such an important job at a dangerous time, during a puzzling and increasingly severe drought, distracts him from the grief that still haunts him three years after his young wife's death in childbirth. He's challenged by the hostility of his work crew in general, and of its foreman in particular. He's puzzled by the unexplained disappearance of his predecessor, and by a lot of other things that just don't add up. When the Augusta stops flowing, leaving town after town without that great necessity of civilized life - a copious and steady supply of fresh, clean water - Attilius sets out from his station in Misenum for Pompeii, across the Bay of Naples, to find and repair the aqueduct's break. He suspect it's got something to do with earth tremors, sulfur-contaminated water that came through to Misenum just before the Augusta failed, and maybe even something to do with his vanished predecessor. It all seems to center on the mountain overlooking the prosperous coastal city of Pompeii...a mountain called Vesuvius.

Vividly written and well researched, this fine historical novel plunges the reader into the Roman world of A.D. 79 and makes that world both understandable and real. Although there's little time and space for in-depth character development, the people depicted behave both consistently and believably; and it's fun to glimpse both Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger as actors in this drama. All in all, this is one terrific read.

Robert Harris (1957) is a successful English novelist. He started his writing career as a journalist, continued writing some non-fiction books till he wrote his first great success: "Fatherland" (1992) an alt-his novel exploring a world where Germany won WWII.
After writing some more noteworthy novels Harris has turned his attention to the fascinating world of Ancient Rome (one of my preferred themes) starting with "Pompeii" (2003) and more recently issuing the first volume of an intended trilogy about Cicero.

In order to write "Pompeii", Harris has done a good historical research that reflects all over the novel. Details about daily life, social organization, technical & building methods and transportation amongst other items are blended seamlessly into the main argument.
Does this mean that the book is boring? By no means, Harris is able to show all these features and at the same time construct an engaging story that will trap the reader.

The story is as follows: a young hydraulic engineer (aquarius for the Romans) is urgently sent from Rome to the Bay of Naples zone to investigate what's going on with the great aqueduct that services the whole area.

Pending his investigation Attilus will become embroiled into local political affairs, corruption is old as human society and, fortunately, young incorruptible people too.

At the same time as every reader knows Mount Vesuvius is going to violently explode erasing Pompeii and Herculaneum. This event is the real focus & prima donna of the story.

"Pompeii" is a short and very commendable historical novel that will be fully enjoyed by history buffs and general public too!

Reviewed by Max Yofre.

Yes, this is the book that, some years ago, touched off a controversy at the University of North Carolina -- an unfortunate misunderstanding of the importance of this book.

If you're a non-Muslim shopping for something helpful to read about Islam -- and you want to learn about the Quran -- you should realize that this is NOT the entire Quran. Editions of that sacred text in Arabic and English are widely available at bookstores, but they're also provided to visitors at virtually all Muslim centers. And, visiting a mosque or other Muslim center also should be a step in learning about Islam. I am a non-Muslim journalist and I have been welcomed in hundreds of mosques all around the world -- so paying a visit and finding a copy of the Quran is not hard.

What is very difficult for American readers, especially, is understanding the complex poetry of this spiritual classic. Even in an English translation with footnotes, so much context is missing that one would pick up while growing up in a Muslim community and bring to the text.

This book is about understanding that essential context of the Quran and its beautiful, timeless poetry. Among other great concepts in this book is an audio CD that allows you to hear recitations from the Quran -- an absolutely essential step in grasping its power and beauty over so many centuries.

The author is an educator and the book really is ideal for classes or small groups -- whether you're Muslim or not. It's a great choice as a "first book on the Quran" for newcomers -- and a number of Muslim reviewers have pointed out over the years that it's also an eye-opener for many Muslim readers as well.

Personally, I own two copies -- because I often find myself wanting to give away a copy to an inquisitive friend.

A refreshingly different look at the Quran and the sounds of its recitation. Especially interesting was the included CD with recitation recordings from different parts of the world.

The material in the beginning of this book is excellent commentary by the author on the nuances of Quranic Arabic translation. The qirat (vocal recitation) in the accompanying CD is also quite good. I gave this book 4 stars because it does not contain actual quranic arabic text (either roman transliteration or Arabic text), making it difficult for most Muslims to recognize the excerpts of the Quran from their English translation alone.

The book is written by a non-muslim author, but it is obvious that he is trying very hard to explain that that fact isn't important (there is one hadith which says that the one who is trying to understand the Qur'an (one who is studying it) will never understand or accept it because he hasn't opened enough his heart - so people - OPEN YOUR HEARTS AND TRY NO TO BE NARROW MINDED).

In the introduction he is an "objective" approacher as objective he can be when talking about the word of God.

The gender explanations and other language mysteries are explained in a very understandable way. GOOD WORK!

CD might be helpful for those who had never heard the Qur'anic recitations!

Exuse me for any grammatical errors, but I'm not from USA.

On the surface, the book is an esoteric discussion of the language, poetry and mysticism of the early Suras --But I've used it in the classroom, and it is much more than that. We start with it; it's the first and only material we cover during the first week of class. It concisely, and dramatically, aids in making clear the significance of the Arabic language, the performative Qu'ran, the literary and mystical relationship with other sacred and secular texts, and, taken as far as it will go by the instructor making use of the multi-gender, multi-cultural, multi-circumstantial performances of the Qu'ran on the accompanying CD, makes the central position of the Qu'ran within a variety of Islamic societies comprehensible. This is easily taught , but not easily internalized without a book like Sells'. Much of what one covers in an Islamic Civ. course makes little sense without this level of understanding - imagine teaching Western Civ. without Homer or the Biblical tradition. Order it for your class! Your students will thank you for it.

When I start a book, I give it 100 pages to really capture me. This book failed to interest me and I closed it for good at page 100.

I am afraid I agree with the general drift of the two-star reviews here. There's fun to be had from this novel if you're at all interested in the pulps and their creators, but it could have been done so much better. The editor is to blame more than this enterprising first-time author, no doubt. The structure is poor - it's as if the author started out to write a history, or an encyclopedia, and changed his mind at a late stage. The prose could have done with a thorough revision too. There's a recurring flaw (shared by Agatha Christie, oddly enough) where the author tends clumsily to repeat words and phrases within sentences and from sentence to sentence. (Serial "hads"; and the likes of "A moment before he died he wished the moment of death would bring some clarity..."; and many, many more examples. Many.) And there are many moments of failed fine writing: "...his mother had died raving beyond the bounds of human sanity in the asylum." What other sort of sanity could it have been? Though - given that it's HP Lovecraft's mother...

Malmont manages to pull off some neat tricks with this book. Using some of the classic pulp authors as his protagonists, he creates his own pulp about them -- a delicately over-the-top yarn full of larger-than-life villains, narrow escapes, square-jawed heroes, and a skin-of-their-teeth ending. And he does this all rather thoughtfully: he stays true (or true enough) to the pulp style while giving it his own, somewhat more modern spin.

And he manages to blur his own lines of "what's real and what's pulp?" a few times as well.

Overall? Entertaining.

Here's a novel that promises to bring back the best of the Pulp Era. A book loaded with The Shadow, Doc Savage and real life authors of the era -- Louis L'Amour, H.P. Lovecraft, L. Ron Hubbard, Walter Gibson (The Shadow's scribe) and Lester Dent (Doc Savage's creator). The setting? New York City in the late 1930's with a side foray or two into early 20th Century China. This book should have sung like the electricity coursing through a live wire. Unfortunately, too often it felt as soggy and leaden as day old dim sum. Malmont had a very promising premise, but in his first novel, his execution was way off the mark. For a "Pulp Fiction," there was an appalling lack of action or forward movement in the first two-thirds of this novel. Characters that should have leapt off the page seemed arthritic and neuralgic. Heroes and settings that should have been vibrantly colorful instead ended up as washed out sepia tone. The plotting was too confused, with way too much back story in some places and not enough back story in other critical areas. Malmont pays off on some of the novel's promise in the last third of the book, but it is too much of a slog getting there. I give Malmont high marks on his premise, but a low grade on his execution. Perhaps it is a first time novelist finding his sea legs. I really wanted to like this novel, but it should have been a much more exhilarating roller-coaster ride of a read.

I just wanted to add my two cents and five stars on this book. This was a great book from start to finish. Exciting, fun,...it has really stuck with me, since I read it. A ripping yarn. I am very much looking forward to what the author comes up with next.

Somehow my high school history class on World War II missed the Japanese balloon bombs in the later days of 1944 and early days of 1945; maybe I was distracted by the cutie a couple of rows away. Nonetheless this book (and Mr.Callanan)have rectified that fact. Mr. Callanan spins a fascinating tale of life near the close of WWII involving a Catholic-raised orphan undergoing his coming-of-age, a half Russian-half Yup'ik Eskimo woman doing whatever she needs to to survive and a severly unbalanced Army captain who makes Capt. Ahab look like Walter Cronkite. The story unfolds from the perspective of Louis Belk, the former orphan, now Catholic priest, as he stands a deathbed watch over his "competitor", a Yup'ik shaman, in a series of flashbacks/flash forwards, giving him his confession about the series of events that took place those waning days of WWII. Alaska is a much a character in this book as any of the humans from it's dense cloud of mesquitos that breed in the summer melt puddles to the crystal sharp nights of its winters. A good read, hard to put down.

I'm not finish readding yet.
I give 4 stars which I have read a half of book.

I read this novel several years ago and have been haunted by it ever since. It is a beautifully lyrical morality play, chronically the maturation and corruption of an 'innocent'. Drawing allusions from Christian, Hindu and native American myths (the balloon man as 'angel', trickster, magicians and healers, redeeming prostitute, etc.), the author has woven a magical tale. One has to look only a bit deeper than the surface story to learn and marvel at this book. Not to be missed...

This is one of the best books; I loved it. I originally purchased this as a gift for my husband because I thought he would be interested in the historical value of this fictional account. My husband had not read fiction since he was a child and upon reading this title, he was thrilled! For me, the book was one I didn't want to put down and then again, I tried to read it slowly so as to savor every word. The author has cleverly integrated another era, military life and an unusual means of warfare into characters and words.
Buy the book, read the book, love the book.

Cloud Atlast is the story of a WWII Bomb Disposal agent who is sent to Alaska in the wake of Japanese hot air balloon-bombs making their way across the Atlantic at the end of the war. While there he falls in love with a native Alaskan fortune teller and has various underming experiences with his sadistic commanding officer. The story is told in a series of flashbacks that mostly deal with his developing psuedo-feelings for the girl, and his increasingly intense experiences looking for these bombs and dealing with his seargant.

The book is a misfire because it is meant to be a character piece where the different elements, (i.e. the absurdity of war, unexpressed love, beautifull nature etc.) add up to an greater and complete whole. Unfortunately I felt the book fell flat and never reached its potential. The main character was well developed but turned out to be boring, and uninspired. His submissiveness and naitivity got old after awhile as I never felt that he really grew from his experiences. Also his narritive was uneven as his penchant for melodrama resulted in way too many "life changing" experiences which in effect just diluted the important moments towards the end of the book. In addition the atmosphere of the book didn't work for me as I never felt any emotional ties to any of the characters.

There are some scenes where the book really works and is laugh out loud funny. These are mostly Catch 22 meets Apocalypse Now types of encounters and usually involve the mail character and his insane/absurd seargent.

Bottom Line: In the end this book was a let down and frequently boring. I never emotionally connected with the characters and I really can't recommend it.

I bought this book a few years ago and finally started to dig in the other day. Crikey! This stuff is awesome! I have a bad habit of not underlining stuff in otherwise great books. But the first chapter is turnin' yella. So many gold nuggets in this thing. Pg. 25 "Don't Build It, Buy It", referring to programmers' natural inclination to mine/extract/mill the natural resources to make the wheels they often reinvent.

Jesse is very savvy on the business of software, like no one I've ever seen--or at least not as bluntly. He also understands the essence of true free enterprise which I applaud. Some of the reviews of this book actually prove one of his points. I've been amazed for years about how many technology bigots are out there. "I'll do anything as long as it's not Microsoft!" How idiotic. They've produced some good software and they've produced steaming electronic piles of crap. These days I'm quite technology agnostic--I use whatever I can to make the customer happy! I do not see that Mr. Liberty (great name, BTW) gives too much nod to MS...he even suggests his hesitation about using VSourceSafe. I concur, it's not one of the better SCC systems.

My suspicion is that most so-called developers really don't know how to build projects, start-to-finish but how many of us will admit it? I was surprised, and refreshed to know that I was basically on the right track, though Jesse congeals some things and illuminates others in a way that most people can comprehend.

Summary: if you want thick over-inflated theory, there are tons of Rational publications to jam up your synapses. If you want simple, solid principles on how to build reliable systems the red book's for you!

I bougth the book "Beginning Object-Oriented Analysis and Design" from Jesse Liberty and this book covers everything from OOP to SQL including operating systems, CORBA, Use Cases and Architecture Design. I read this book and I didn't learn anything. There isn't a pice of code that really works. And since Jesse Liberty try to cover everithing on this book the only thing that is present on all the book is text and figures. It isn't practical at all. I bougth it because the reference "While there are plenty of books on software-engineering case studies, most are big on theory and short on real-world detail". You rather try any book from the "Special Edition Using ..." series from QUE or any book from O'Reailly or SAMS they are really proffesional.

A real life case study of a real project. What is interesting about this book is that all aspects from requirement assessment up till deployment of one specific project are bundled in one book.

It is very rare that you can find a real life project completely documented in one book. This by itself makes the book valuable. The only criticism I can give is that this is a fairly small-scale project (one customer, one location). The author does reflect on this subject and does consider scalability. However, I fear that the reader gets a false impression that this project can be easily scaled up. In this respect I disagree with the impression the writer gives. Nevertheless, a brave attempt and valuable book.

By the way, some others critics have some tough criticism. To me most of them are biased. His choice of an 'all Microsoft solution' might not be yours but it is a solution! IT is not science, there is no single right way of doing things.
I am biased too, that is, I would have chosen a different architecture, design, tools, and implementation model. But that is not the point!

When I bought this book I was hoping for a detailed case study on object oriented analysis and development from a real project. I wasn't looking for code OR project management advice.

While the first third of the book lived up to my expectations, the last two thirds were heavily bogged down in the implementation details of his project. These details, while important to documenting Liberty's own project have very little value added to the case study.

I also have extreme doubts about the software development process the author advocates. Liberty claims the project was successful because he delivered something on the due date. In fact the delivered product probably had only 2/3rds the desired functionality and (by back of the envelop analysis) was 50% overrun.

The "give it to a single guy and let him hack like a crazed weasel" school of software advocated by the author leaves me cold. Software development has a strong team dynamic element. The author proposes dealing with this element by not having a team at all. Perhaps fun for the individual, but not realistic in "the real world." In the end, Liberty has to engage several other people to produce significant parts of the project that he didn't have the resources to do himself.

It is good that case studies are becoming available, but given it to do over again, I would not have spent the money on this one.

Most programmers tend to jump into projects with both feet and not spend the time to work all the kinks out of their thought processes. While this method occasionally works out well for simple, single-programmer projects, it certainly does not work when multiple programmers are involved!

This book was helpful to me personally by streamlining the design stages and helping push the timeframe to write code into the future AFTER a system has been fully fleshed in. This minimizes code rewites because of rashly-made design assumptions.

Finally, the book emphasizes a semi-strict discipline which cannot hurt any programmer. The ample discussion of experienced pitfalls serves as a good example of what not to do!

i read this after loving a yellow raft on blue water. i was unable to care about these characters- even the ones i already knew and loved from the other book. it is full of tangents, stories that start and go nowhere, characters introduced only to disappear, overly sentimental and generic dialogue. i was bored.

He definitley has a style of story telling that leaves a bit of the "yea right's" behind. Some of the plot is a bit unrealistic and interrupts the flow of the story. also, some of the characters go into these long tangents of thought and it really leaves the reader gasping for relief. Now that said, the writing in terms of wording has a bit of Erdrich's great style, fantastic imagery, colors and characters you seem to envy at one point or another. I loved that dorris wrote an epic novella here. we need more of them in general. be forewarned however, a lot of the plot is revealed in clouds for the yellow raft and vice versa. you really need to read them together, preferably beginning with this one. (I had to struggle to remember who aunt pauline was. still don't know. This book gets my four stars because simply, I couldn't put it down. I took about 90 pages to grab my interest. I really had to stick with it, and from then on the plot got better. feeling like the last two chapters should have been an epilogue though, an aside if you will bc they don't really involved the story. It almost makes it seem like there was a need to insert rayona into the clouds book like promised on the back cover. not a bad read...

First read Yellow Raft in Blue Water before reading Cloud Chamber.
Do not expect it to be the same. The writing style is excellent, and also very different. Stick with it and the last chapters will make it all worthwhile.

This book is truly incredible. Dorris was a brilliant writer and I am only disappointed that I didn't find my way to this book sooner.
In many ways this book reminds me of Ann Marie MacDonald's "Fall On Your Knees" in that it is a family saga that spans over generations. In this case however, the family is a hodgepodge of different origins. Dorris makes the mismatched pieces fit like a glove.
In my opinion, this novel is a very realistic display of family and he in turns displays the tragic ugly side of humanity along with its utter hilariousness.
I've heard that this book serves as both a prequel and sequel to "Blue Raft on Yellow Water." Though I have not had the pleasure of reading that book yet, I can assuredly say that "Cloud Chamber" stands strongly on its own and it is a true joy to experience. I laughed out loud a countless number of times, and was fuming mad an equal number of times. I had much trouble putting it down. The book simply begs to be finished.
Clearly, the point is that we don't get to choose our family, and therefore must simply make the best of it in whatever ways we can. As Dorris shows, sometimes it takes a vivid imagination.
I challenge anyone to read this and not find familiar quirks within their own family structure. As paraphrased by a character in the novel, "Thank God we are not all normal!"

`Cloud Chamber' is the follow-up novel to his earlier `A Yellow Raft on Blue Water'. To say follow-up, however, is somewhat misleading. It is actually both a prequel and a sequel to that novel. Whereas in YRBW we are presented with the history of three generations of women in a backwards progression, in `Cloud Chamber' we begin several generations prior, leading one to speculate (even unto the last quarter of the book) why exactly is one reading this, and what relationship it truly has to YRBW?

The patient will be rewarded in her or his reading. We begin in Ireland, with a tale of passion and betrayal (as only the Irish under English-domination could seem to muster). This account, almost unrelated to the rest of the story save as the seed of the action, actually provides an undertow of passion and betrayal felt by the family's succeeding generations.

When the young, best-prized son becomes a priest, and then dies tragically in a rather stupid accident, both the mother and the woman-in-love (who marries his brother, ironically, to stay close to him) get angry with the entire world, to no good end.

Men, when they figure in the story at all, are usually distant characters, not fully developed, and the full implication is that the literary character is not very developed because the human character is likewise undeveloped. That being said, this is not feminist-philosophy here; as happened so often, women often had a very different psychological and personality development, given cultural mores, and perhaps the view of the men could never be complete given this societal-enforced distance.

We come up on Rayona's lineage from the other side this time, through her father, but in this, it is very much the matriarchal line. We learn that, even given strong women of intelligence and passion, the wisps of reality still can make for a struggle for survival. Chronic disease runs through the family; great need (most often unacknowledged) contrasts and conflicts with great strength.

The story ends in hope, and renews the hope at the end of YRBW. Rayona has a history and prehistory of tension and passion and difficulty, but also one of love and hopefulness, and this is the conclusion.

This is a truly intriguing way of introducing an entire new cultural element into the storyline, and an innovative way of following up a great novel.