Indiana Books

As the subtitle of this book points out, Alexander's Bogdanov's "Red Star" was "The First Bolshevik Utopia." Bogdanov was a major prophet of the Bolshevik movement and while the red star of his title is the planet Mars, he is clearly envisioning the kind of society that could emerge on Earth after the victory of not only the scientific-technical revolution, a belief that can be traced in utopian literature back to Francis Bacon's "The New Atlantis," but also the social revolution dictated by Marxism. The future of "Red Star" is the radiant future of socialism that Bogdanov believed would eventually triumphant everyone on earth. At one point in the novel the hero, a Bolsehvik activist named Leonid, declares: "Blood is being shed for the sake of a better future. But in order to wage the struggle we must KNOW that future." Of course, Bogdanov believes that he does indeed know the future, thanks to the writings of Marx and Engels.

From a historical perspective the key thing to keep in mind is that Bogdanov is writing well over a decade before the Russian Revolution. In fact, he is writing in reaction to the 1905 revolution that compelled Tsar Nicholas II to issue a constitution and create a parliament. This came after the 1903 split of the Russian Marxists into the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. Like the hero of "Red Star," Bogdanov went with the former and Lenin, and was one of the original "twenty-two" who met in Switzerland to form a group dedicated to disciplined revolutionary action. As part of this effort, Bogdanov wrote "Red Star."

What is most interesting is that the "tectology" that Bogdanov envisions in constructing his utopia on Mars does not ignore the dangers of collectivisim and high technology (which were at the heart of many of the anti-utopian fantasies of the late tsarist period). He even has a sense of humor: the vegetation on Mars is red, and Leonid calls it "socialist vegetation." On Bogdanov's Mars you will find clothes made out of synthetic material, three-dimension movies, and a death ray, but no political state. Citizens engage in both voluntary labor as well as leisure and culture. The conflict in the story comes when someone tries to change the Martian utopia. Ultimately, you can make the claim that "Red Star" is more science fiction than propaganda, since Bogdanov creates a perfect world where the "labor question" has been made moot by the industrialization of farming. There is no peasant class on Mars for Russian readers to relate too, provided, of course, they were inclined to reading a science fiction utopian novel.

"Red Star" was extremely popular during and after the Russian Revolution and is a fascinating example of utopian literature in that it deals with the problems faced by industrial nations, whether socialist or capitalist, such as atomic energy, the environment, biomedical ethics, and shortages of food and natural resources. The illustrations for "Red Star" are taken from the 1923 Moscow edition. This volume includes Charles Rougle's translations of the complete texts of not only "Red Star," but also Bogdanov's 1913 novel "Engineer Menni" and a 1927 poem "A Martian Stranded on Earth." These latter two works appear in English for the first time in this collection. "Engineer Menni" takes the then current beliefs about the natural history of Mars and uses it to tell a story about the construction of the canals as a parable of class struggle. The heroes of the story, as the title indicates, are the engineers, who would indeed do great work in transforming the Soviet Union in the 20th century. "Red Star" is an important example of utopian literature that should be back in print.

These two novellas, Red Star (RS) and Engineer Menni (EM), capture a fascinating time and frame of mind. The time was 1908 (1913 for EM), when the Bolsheviks were gaining strength but before their 1917 revolution against the Tsarists.

RS describes a Socialist Utopia on Mars, documented by a visitor from Earth. He is chosen among all earthmen for his properly revolutionary spirit, and whisked away to Mars as their earthly envoy. This Socialist paradise presents an odd paradox of individual vs. collective. Individual achievement is nominally scorned, because of the historical inevitability of a discovery, or because honoring the great inventor would implicitly dishonor the farmer or laborer. Still, the story focuses on the magnificent achievements of exceptional scientists, silently mocking the brotherly equality supposedly being celebrated. EM is a similar tribute of hero-worhip for a fictional engineer of RS's pre-Socialist past, with similarly hollow regard for the common proletarian.

Actual descriptions of the Martian Utopia sometimes sink under the weight of revolutionary rhetoric, but I consider that to be part of this book's value. The narrator's socialist zeal, bordering on ranting, seems to capture an actual mind-set of the time, or perhaps a fictional mind-set that Bolshevik propagandists wanted people to believe in. Every fact in the story had to be intepreted in a properly socialist way, down to details of physics and children's squabbles over toys.

This monomania, whether Bogdanov genuinely felt it or not, explains much of Soviet history up to the recent fall of communism in Eastern Europe. It appears in the narrator's fawning respect for a machine tool operator, one so devoted to his task that his supervisors were concerned that his zeal for work might endanger his health. It explains why the art museum has two sections, one where the inevitability of their contemporary art is traced in historical examples, the other where tools and consumer goods are displayed as the society's highest esthetic achievements.

An odd tone pervades both stories, though, an underlying melancholy that drives even the strongest of Bogdanov's characters to nervous collapse or to suicide. I don't know Russian literature very well. Perhaps that "memento mori" is part of their writing, perhaps there was thought to be something noble in ending one's own life before the weakness of age stripped one of his powers. A modern reader can only wonder why this profound sadness seemed to follow from the success of socialism.

Bogdanov's larger-than-life engineers and scientists remind me of Ayn Rand's characters in Atlas Shrugged, Anthem, and The Fountainhead. She was a Russian emigre, so she must have been exposed to the literary tradition and the kinds of heroes that Bogdanov portrayed. Her treatment of those very similar characters is very different, though. Where Bogdanov tried to diffuse their achievements across the socialist whole, Rand ennobled the individual. RS gives me a much better understanding of the trends and values that Rand answered in her own writing.

Although bland in themselves, RS and EM are informative. They show the ideals, whether heartfelt or imagined, that led to the revolution of 1917. They also show the core values that led to the revolution's eventual failure, so many years later.

//wiredweird

D.H. Lawrence's non-fiction is as good as his best fiction and these essays I would recommend for any curious and intelligent teenager (or adult if you missed them). They are about feminism, equality, democracy, art and travelling and every single one is worth reading. I read them when I was 20 and they have stayed with me ever since.

On the Title essay:
It is very fascinating to read a writer just narrating very common happenings that might happen at a ranch, like the unexpected meetings with porcupines and snakes.
Dropping the writer's role and just experiencing everything as a common man would. One work in which Lawrence is not doing, what he is famous for: theorizing every occurence, phenomena of life as a part of a huger complex thing, which can be comprehended by us ,only with him as the mediator.

An intriguing book that adopts a new slant on the development of Islam in the Sudan. Author Johnson shows us, step by step how the rise of states in this region and their relations with neighbors and the West resulted in a different form of religious expression. The Dervishes that fought the British at the end of the 19th century were imbued with a fervor, according to Johnson that reflected a long-developed process of assimilation and adaptation to both the Northern Arab, the Southern African and he West in general - the colonial experience. It is a fine addition to Francis Deng's great book, WAR OF VISIONS. I found THE ROOT CAUSES OF SUDAN'S CIVIL WARS a very enlightening read. As the author of a new book on the Sudan, JIHAD: THE MAHDI REBELLION IN THE SUDAN, I must include this volume into any meaningful understanding of historical forces in this region. TOP RATED!!!

After reading this book, you will laugh at newspaper reports that describe the conflict in Sudan as between "the Muslim north and Christian and animist south". Johnson not only has extensive academic publications in Sudanese ethnography and historiography, but also worked in the aid field in the country. He is also, in a well-sourced, calm and clearly presented manner, outraged at how thoroughly misunderstood the situation in Sudan is. The detail in this book is amazing. I consider myself fairly knowledgeable in an armchair kind of way about southern Sudan, and was consistently being presented with either facts of which I was unaware or, better yet, syntheses tying together various fields in a historical perspective. The offensives, famines, factionalism within southern groups, agricultural schemes, external mediators, forced displacement patterns, and competing aid agencies are all here, and presented so one can see the linkages. This is one of the rare books in which, for example, the connection between the timing of government offensives to seasonal rainfall is convincingly fit within framework of underdevelopment as a political strategy.

There are a couple points that made me consider moving this down to four stars. One is that Johnson is clearly partisan to the south. He is not fatally so in my opinion, describing some very unflattering characteristics and actions of Garang's faction, and making his bias clear from the beginning. By the end of the book, he also makes a strong case that "neutrality" has been misused or abused in the context of the Sudanese wars, and led me to muse that his outrage seems to spring from his knowledge, versus some writers about southern Sudan whose outrage impedes their learning. I also occasionally found the division of the book in its latter section into thematic sections confusing, especially in cases where the text would refer to later chapters for more information about a mentioned event or process. Fortunately, the appendix includes both a detailed chronology from 1972 through 2001 and a pretty good topical index for when I needed a bit of help orienting myself. The extensive annotated bibliography would be quite useful for some people. There is also the rather obvious issue that the book was written prior to the finalization of the peace agreement and death of Garang, which makes me anxious for an update.

Bottom line: If you want to know about the conflicts in Sudan between 1983 and 2001, then this is the book. If you've read other works on Sudan, you'll be astonished at how thoroughly Johnson annihilates the common wisdom. And whoever you are, you may come to share some of Johnson's outrage.

There is not much to add to Mr. Moon's excellent summary. This is an excellent price for a collection of this variety and many of these works are unavailable at any price unless special ordered from Europe or purchased via Out Of Print book searches. Amazon incorrectly states 752 pages whereas it is actually 822. This is obviously even more value for $ and any further works would have made for a pretty unwieldly volume. We can only hope that a future Omnibus Volume Two will collect the balance.

In the meantime, be sure to seek out the Indiana University 1998 deluxe edition of "Riddley Walker". I would pay to read the phone book as copied out by Mr. Hoban. The writer of "Riddley" deserves more exposure. Do not hesitate, Hoban will astound you with his love and use of language and his sensitivity to life and its nuances and foibles and special moments. You will smile, laugh and cry.

If you are at all in any way a fan of Russell Hoban, there is no question that you need to purchase this volume. Contained are a good helping of his adult novels (one never published in America), as well as several of the short stories that appeared in his book 'The Moment Under the Moment' (also never published domestically), a sampling of his poetry (same fate as the former), and some amazing entries from his children's work, notably The Marzipan Pig (out of print), and the incomplete 'Manny Rat' (formerly unpublished.) All in all, for $30 this is the prize you've been waiting for. With every entry in this volume either out of print or unpublished, the Hoban Omnibus is probably one of the easiest way to beef up your Hoban library while avoiding the cost of importing the books. On the other hand, omissions must be mentioned because they are rather glaring. Although Indiana University has been good enough to include Hoban's first adult novel, the exclusion of 'The Mouse and his Child' (Hoban's first novel of any kind, and no less brilliant than any of his other efforts) is perhaps the greatest fault I can attribute to this volume. Likewise, Medusa Frequency, Kleinzeit and Fremder are all absent and one tends to wonder why they were not included. Fremder most of all could use a US release, while Medusa and Kleinzeit don't seem to have done anything to have deserved the oversight. Medusa in particular is perhaps among Hoban's most brilliant pieces, and at a length of not much more than 100 pages, its inclusion would have been a simple thing. Still, who is to say why certain things made it, and others got the axe? That's Indiana University's business, still, this is one reader who hopes they'll consider a second volume.

Following is a list of contents, since Amazon has not included it: (stolen directly from the unofficial Russell Hoban page)

NOVELS:

The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz, Turtle Diary, Pilgermann, Mr Rinyo-Clacton's Offer (This, of course, marks the first U.S. publication for Mr Rinyo-Clacton!)

SHORT STORIES [these were all originally included in The Moment Under the Moment]: The Man with the Dagger, My Night with Léonie, The Raven, Dream Woman, Dark Oliver, The Ghost Horse of Genghis Khan

ESSAYS [both from The Moment Under the Moment]: 'I, that was a child, my tongue's use sleeping...', With a Choked Cry

POEMS [these were all originally included in The Last of the Wallendas]: 03:00 Abroad,

Crystal Maze, The Owl-Woman, Turtle Prince?, Fred to Samantha, Dragon into Dressing-Gown, The Hippogriff, What the Fairy Said to the Bibliophile, The Dragon underneath the Mat,

LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN (AND DISCERNING ADULTS): The Marzipan Pig, The Adventures of Manny Rat [incomplete, abandoned sequel to The Mouse and His Child]

Great book about the most historic, prettiest, friendliest state in America. Should be required reading for all arrogant folks on the coast who don't visit the midwest. (And I say this as someone raised on the coasts but who matured and realized where America's heart is!)

Scenic Driving INDIANA, by Douglas Wissing, is an informative and enjoyable guide to the back roads and less travelled byways of the Hoosier state. Each chapter details a tour (a variety of tours are offered, with all parts of the state represented) with an overview, excellent directions, points of interest along the way, and historical commentary. This well-organized book balances general information with interesting details, including easy-to-read maps and excellent photography. I keep a copy in the glove compartment of my car, for those lazy Sunday afternoons when I'm looking for a place to explore.

Hopkins asks some of the most important questions that we, as a culture, are currently facing. The social and ethical issues related to technology and gender need our attention, and this collection is the only book on this topic I have been able to find. I highly recommend it!

Sex/Machine is by far the best single source concerning gender and technology. This book collects the most stimulating and important essays in this area, and unlike many edited volumes, contains an introductory essay which is by itself worth the price of the book because of the insights it brings to these issues. Elegantly crossing multiple academic disciplines--from philosophy of technology, to medical ethics, to womens studies, gender theory and cultural studies, to law (among others), Patrick Hopkins has assembled a collection of the most provocative writing concerning the interactions between technologies and genders. The essays in this edited volume explore the history of technologies and gender, and how technology can shore up traditional and problematic gender roles (e.g., pectoral implants to make men appear more "macho", and technologies that make it possible for parents to know, and potentially select, the sex of their children before they are born). More interesting to me, though, are the selections that explore ways technologies undermine traditional ideas of gender. The sections I found most thought-provoking were the essays in Part IV on the issues (among others) concerning transsexuals and medical technology, in Part V on computers and cyberspace/cybersex, and in Part IV on cyborgs--bodies such as that of the Borg on Star Trek that are such interminglings of so-called "hardware" (machine) and "wetware" (biology) that gender no longer has any meaning. I'm going to use this book in a course in gay and lesbian history and philosophy, but I could see it being used in courses in medical ethics, philosophy of technology, womens studies, and gender and cultural studies. Perhaps the best feature of this book is that it is extremely readable--in addition to classrooms, it will make great reading for a book club, or for anyone interested in sex, gender, and technology.

This is a great book on Black folklore and stories that we have all heard down through the years. I would recommend every African American read it if they haven't already. This is a great book!

Devotees of the study of dirty jokes and poems as literature may be familiar with my other reviews of texts by Gershon Legman, Roger Abrahams, Vance Randolph and the performances of the legendary Rudy Ray Moore in Amazon's resources. This book is one of the limited number of other fine resources in the area. Dance not only lists a large number of jokes, stories and songs, but also recites different variants of the same general themes, demonstrating the mutational effects of time and distance. Like Randolph's Pissing in the Snow, this one seems to be written with the expense-conscious general market in mind and is very fairly priced for the excellent material collected. I recommend it unqualifiedly. It would be a fine Kwanza gift.

If you do any kind of early music singing, this is a must-have book. It even comes with a CD to help navigate all of the pronunciations.

This book, along with its companion audio CD, provides detailed pronunciation guidance and sample texts for speaking and singing English, 16th c. Scotts, Anglo-Latin, Old French, French Latin, Occitan, Catalan, Castilian, Spanish Latin, Galician-Portuguese, Portuguese Latin, Italian, Italian Latin, Middle High German, Late Medieval and Early High New German, German Latin, Flemish/Dutch, and Netherlands Latin. As soon as I read its extensive explanation of the great vowel shift in England, I was hooked...

Andrews brings together the spiritual autobiographies of three African American Christian women ministers: Jarena Lee, Zilpha Elaw, and Julia Foote. His historical introductions provide a solid foundation for the original texts. The original texts, united as they are in one place, demonstrate a remarkable convergence of themes, predominant among them the theme of identity in Christ overcoming shame and suffering in the world.

While not everyone will perhaps agree with the decisions made by any of these three women ministers, everyone will be stretched by their lives and by their message.

Reviewer: Dr. Robert W. Kellemen is the author of "Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction," "Soul Physicians," and "Spiritual Friends."

Everyone (especially a Woman of God) should read this book! These (3) women were wonderously made to do The Lord's work against all odds!
Their adventures (although obviously enhanced in grammar)and the history alone is enough. The power just leaps off the pages and you can feel the spirit. I actually had to lay the book down sometime because of the power of the written words that I was receiving into my spirit.
I read the book sometime ago.. and so moved that I'm reading it again!! and maybe even more times in the future. You should "Give" any special sisters you have in your life a copy It's definitely one of those books that you can read more than once and still find JOY!! I rate Higher 5 Stars PLUS PLUS PLUS!!

I purchased this book after having met Mr. Jacobs briefly on a couple of occasions. Listening to this man speak, I walked away awestruck by his charm, charisma, and integrity. I had to find out what experiences throughout Jacobs' life molded him into the politician he was. This book does not disappoint. Through his anecdotes, one gets a sense of why this Congressman was respected by not only Democrats, but Republicans as well.

Andy Jacobs, the congressman that did not take Pac monies and was an independent voice in congress,pens a book about national and Indiana politics. I voted for the guy for three decades and wish there were more like him. An independent voice.