Iowa Books

I recently taught a class on Mukherjee, and this novel was a huge hit! I love the way Mukherjee uses the idea of incarnations as a springboard for the narrator's transformation. I also love the way she ties in the story of Kali (goddess of death) into her tale. If you are rusty on your knowledge of hindu gods, you may want to look a few references up.

Mukherjee also does an excellent job of portraying the modern immigrant experience -- through a compelling tale.

I read the review titled "Sloppy Piece..." and felt cautious in my decision to continue reading this book. I am so glad I did! I loved this book! I loved Mukherjee's insight into her creation of such a beautiful, believable character, and loved the insight it provided on the topic of what it means to be a part of America. I highly recommend this book.

This was my first novel that I have read by Bharati Mukherjee and I found it difficult to read sometimes. There are parts in the beginning of the story that are hard to understand but once you read through the novel everything starts to make sense to you. Mukhejee tends to skip around throughout the novel and this causes it to become confusing.
The story deals with Jasmine trying to deal with the past in order to move on with the future. She has trouble dealing with her past because she has survived so many traumatic situations in her life. She also does not know how to do deal with the past and tends to carry it along with her.
Mukherjee had great themes throughout the story. I found that one of the themes was finding your true identity in a chaotic world. Jasmine goes through many names throughout the story including Jyoti, Jazzy, Jane, and Jase. Her life becomes very chaotic because she has to go from place to place trying to find out who she wants to be in the American world. Another theme that I found intriguing was that we are never satisfied with what we have. Throughout this story Jasmine always wants more. She wants the American lifestyle and in the end we see that. She has the right to choose Bud who she will have a laid back lifestyle and many people believe that he represents the Indian culture or she can choose Taylor who will give her an adventurous lifestyle. She has to choose whether she is happy with what she has with Bud or does she want more.
I enjoyed the story overall because she caught my attention with her vivid descriptions in her scenes. The one scene that always sticks out in my mind is when she compares the room where she murdered her rapist to a slaughter house. She used great vivid details to describe the stabbing.

Don't let the cheesy cover fool you, this book is amazing. It is brutally honest and intense, as well as impossible to put down. The story revolves around a woman with a multitude of identities, one to fit each phase of her ever changing life. "Jasmine" (aka Jyoti and Jane) is a woman who survives poverty and ignorance in a small Indian village, only to be rewarded with brutality. Her journey to America is beyond taxing, and what she must do to survive it is harrowing, if not downright shocking at times.
Jasmine is faced with much turmoil and many choices, none of which are easy. Her life is far from conventional, but it says volumes about what it must be like to forge a new life in a new place with an identity that even she is not certain of.
I found that the ending was a little abrupt, but other than this, I have no complaints. Mukherjee is a vivid and serious writer, one who will leave you with an often times visceral reaction.
Warning: I have heard some complaints about the beginning chapters being mildly confusing concerning character introductions, but I assure you, if you stick with it, what she is doing will become clear quite quickly. This author's technique of introducing characters is very unique and effective and gives the reader a real sense of time without being exactly linear.

I read this book in a literature class on the PostColonial Indian Novel. It has been a while since I read it but I will relate that this book is very special because it is as quick and fun to read as a light beach read, while at the same time dealing with very serious topics and being incredibly moving. This is RARE in a novel.
Jasmine is a novel I would recommend to anyone, it is so beautiful (some of the quotes I have memorized, even!) I didn't ever want it to end... and it unfortunately takes only a couple hours to read!
The story is of a woman who starts out in a very small village in India and eventually is married to a progressive Indian man who convinces her to think for herself and break away from the feudal ideals that make her think she must be nothing but a subservient baby maker/house keeper. Her husband is murdered early in their marriage and Jasmine, who is turning into a real fighter, makes a terrible and unforgettable trip to America to honor her husband's memory. The rest is history as Jamine finds her way and searches personal fulfillment and self-actualization... she becomes to some extent assimilated in this process, though she always carries her past along with her.

And I can attest to the fact that it is not simply a women's novel: my boyfriend and I read this together and he fell in love with the book too!

I was thoroughly disappointed by this novel.

I really liked the characters that Peter Hedges created and he touches on some serious issues; alcoholism, divorce, sexual abuse but where is the story? I kept waiting for something to happen and it never did.

Loan this one from the library if you need to read it.

Peter Hedges shows off many exciting and fine writing styles in the book An Ocean in Iowa. His detailed oriented writing style makes it a great read for all contemporary literature readers. Hedges captures the feelings and mood of the time period ever so gracefully. The setting and historical events all tie in whether he is referring to the war or going to the moon, it all helps to create a realistic scene to help the reader visualize what is taking place. The story is of a seven year old boy named Scotty. Scotty and his mother have a very close relationship, and one day his mother leaves the family due to marital problems. I enjoyed reading the book and watching Scotty age reluctantly from six to seven to eight. Hedges also does an outstanding job of telling the story from a seven year olds perspective, each emotion and inner thought is captured, a young boys feelings towards girls, school, playtime, and much more. An identifiable message that Hedges communicates would be, knowing that things can work out for the good or the bad, and that sometimes we get an outcome that is less than what we expected. Hedges does a superb job of conveying the mood and feel of each theme, event and scene. I enjoyed reading a book which talks about real life in the Midwest, how people view different issues such as divorce and relationships. I think it is an excellent book worth purchasing, I found it hard to put the book down in wonderment of finding out what will happen next.

The story started off well, capturing my interest by developing the characters and giving background about the family. My favorite thing about the book is that has many fun flashbacks that give us a better understanding of the characters and their past. It doesn't take long for the author to present us with the main conflict in the story. We learn that Scotty's mom leaves the family and we see throughout the book how he struggles to get her back. There comes a time in the story though that it seems like nothing happens. The plot sort of just stops right were it is and it become rather boring to read. Overall it was a decent read I would recommend it to those looking for a leisure book rather than a mandatory reading.

From the author of What's Eating Gilbert Grape, one of my favorite books, this is a story of a year in the life of a 7-year-old. Although it's 3rd person, it's told from his POV, and we understand more of what's going on than he does. A light read, it has its poignant moments. It's also a good one to read out loud to somebody, if you're so inclined. Charming overall. Most admirable is Hedges ability to tell a compelling story from a child's POV without lapsing into child-isms.

I felt cheated after I read this book. It wasn't fair to draw Scotty so precisely, yet leave the other characters (his family) so undeveloped. Did anyone ever explain to Scotty that it wasn't his fault that his mother left? Did anyone ever consider getting Scotty some therapy with a trained counselor? Did anyone attempt to help Joan before she left? Too many unanswered questions and poorly drawn characters left me thinking: "This book could have been so much better."
What's the point of breaking our hearts if there was never any real substance to begin with?

I picked this up at the library never having heard of it and not expecting much. I was surprised at how interesting it was. The first part is a very honest, beautifully written account of her love affair with an addict. The story is structured in a an unusual, sometimes hard to follow, but effective style. The second part tells of her compulsive attempts to communicate with her dead fiancee. This was very interesting and plausible though she draws conclusions that I did not agree with. She also leaves out much of the actual spirit communications which I would have loved to read. Although she is very reflective and self-critical, it is often hard to see your own problems clearly. There is enough information presented that the reader can form his own opinions about what happened to her, however.
I'd have to admit that it got long at times and I did have to skim. But, like life, you sometimes have to slog through the boring parts to really appreciate the highlights.

This for me was actually an engrossing read. The beginning I guess is what really sort of builds you up, because that is what keeps you reading on. It was interesting, but the one thing I really don't care for is the way that some books will not have chapter headings. But, overall I'd say it was worth it. I gave it 4 stars.

I would also use the word haunting to describe this book. Haunting and gut-wrenching, and in a strange way, almost familiar in parts. As I read it, totally engrossed, I kept thinking "there, but for the grace of God....". The rather innocent beginning, in a college town in the midwest, reminded me of earlier days of my own, as well as the meeting of someone who is so appealing that it creates an instant bond. And then the mysterious stangeness of addiction, and the feeling that somehow you could make it all better, but can't. And then the second part, stranger than the first, but no less plausible, just that the author slid over the edge of 'rationality'. Mary Allen is a compelling writer, and a courageous one. I'm glad I read this book (twice), although it was an intense and occasionally an uncomfortable experience.

This book so moved me that I felt compelled to write to Mary Allen, though I've never written to an author before. I found my copy in a second-hand store. It drew me to it in much the same way that Mary's life had coincidences and connections that could not be predicted.

How can I say what affected me so about it? It wasn't that, 22 years ago, a close friend took his life, as Jim Beaman did. It wasn't quite because my ex had a bad relationship with cocaine. It was really that the honest telling of Mary's love and life with Jim was so true, in all its details.

I believe, as Mary does, in life after death. And I also believe in synchronicity, those strange seeming coincidences that catch us by surprise. Dreaming of a friend, and then she calls the next day, after years of silence. Learning a new word, and then you start seeing it everywhere.

One coincidence about this particular copy of the book took me totally by surprise. The book, of course, was used, so it had its former owner's name, in feminine script, on the first page. "N. [last name]," it read. When I flipped to the Acknowledgments section at some later point (it was dog-eared), I saw Mary's last thank-you sentence: "... and John [same last name], who read the manuscript and listened to me talk about it so often he practically knows it by heart."

So this book has come to mean more to me than just the story, which is moving and sparkling enough. Although N. gave it away, I never will!

Mary Allan tells quite a story about the love of her life, Jim Beamen. They have somewhat of a whirlwind romance and Mary starts to see that Jim has an addiction to cocaine. Mary chonicles her spiral downward with Jim as his addiction becomes out of control; coupled with alcoholism and their codependecy.

When Jim commits suicide, Mary can't cope with her loss. She begins a descent into mental illness. Mary becomes 'addicted' to "automatic writing" in which she believes she is corresponding with Jim's spirit.

I think Allan is very brave to write this memoir. I can't imagine her sadness, or her irrational thoughts. They seem so strange and as I read them, I could feel her overwhelming sadness and desperation to connect with Jim...and it takes courage for her to share that sad desperation with others.

I found her writing style effective and I would recommend anyone who has suffered a tragic loss to read this book as it offers an insight into codependency, addiction and grief. Worthy of 4 stars.

This book is in mint condition! I really appreciate the quality of book that I received, it matched the description perfectly!

The book was great. It gave me what I needed to pass the exam through Excelsior College. However, the study guide that went along with it was a waste of time. The book is all anyone needs to pass the test.

Excellent service - I needed the book shipped overnight and the vendor delivered. Great!!!! Thanks

I was truly looking forward to my Lifespan and Development class until I looked at this book. Yes, it is helpful in that it has important terms on the margins. However, many times is does not into enough detail with a lot of psych issues. There are little blurbs or paragraphs about some things, but it mainly a repetiton of theories (Biosocial, Psychoanalytic, Behaviorist, Cognitive...) from Intro to Psych. It does not get into specifics about anything. The book can also be confusing in how it presents the information. I am alarmed by how very narrow minded the author(s) of the book are about psychology in different cultures. Most of the chapters have little (if nothing at all) about cultural differences in childrearing, dicipline technniques, nutrition, aging, etc. It is all based on American ideals of how kids should be raised and what it is to be normal. Where are the other viewpoints? I am very disappointed with this book and the class in general. I was looking forward to so much more.

Not a very science-based textbook. Filled with author bias, assumptions, and outdated stereotypes. Downright infuriating read for those with a social conscious. It's lucky for the author this is required reading.

I judge a good book by its ability to hook me by the first paragraph; Harstad grabbed me by the first few lines. He writes clear, uncomplicated but descriptive prose that is a pleasure to read. The first chapter is completely riveting (and more than a little humorous), and the author's style almost had me feeling I was standing next to Houseman. Harstad seems to treat the reader as an actual observer of the scene with whom he shares asides (almost like having a 'ride-along' guest to whom he needs to explain events).

Harstad does a thorough job of illustrating the world of rural Midwest America and the people who live their often strongly individualistic lives in that environment. The isolation, poverty, paranoia and ignorance of some of these individuals are vividly brought to life, as are the cynical machinations of persons like Gabe who prey on them. His characterisations are solid and sharp; Sally the dispatcher is witty, loyal and very astute. Houseman himself is self-effacing but what he lacks in looks and fitness he makes up for in intelligence and gentle humour.

Donald Harstad is an excellent storyteller. I'm looking forward to reading The Big Thaw (described as a sequel to Known Dead) and Code Sixty-One. Highly recommended.

Harstad's stories of Deputy Houseman reminded me a lot of Canadian writer Carsten Stroud's "Deadly Force". Very plausible plots, great sense of humor and truer-than-life characters.

Deputy Houseman is no superhero, and constantly draws on his experience to solve the cases he's working. Okay, he looks a lot like Harstad himself. But then again, that what makes this mystery novel so believable.
I would just name one small "area of improvement" for Harstad : Be more precise on the details. Houseman drives an unmarked car, what is it? Hester Gorse has a new gun, what kind ? Otherwise, a great novel, very difficult to put down until you know The End. At least there are already 5 episodes of Houseman adventures. The character being particularly attaching, it's just the better.

ISBN: 0-553-58095-7
Title: Known Dead
Author: Donald Harstad
Publisher: Bantam Books
Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman is back in Harstad's latest novel "Known Dead."
An officer is dead and so is a local small-time addict, ambushed in an Iowa high-grade marijuana field. Houseman's job is to find out why they are dead and who gunned them down. Federal and state crime agency's descend on Nation County and while the case explodes the leads do not. The author's narrative takes on a new twist when an anti-government family blockade themselves in their farm buildings and attack the police. In what appears as an unrelated incident more cops draw gunfire, one more `known dead' and suspense builds. Housman must ferret out the connection between crimes. Action is non-stop in this second Harstad novel. This author's unique style puts you in the middle of the crime and takes you step by step through to its solution. Great read.
Beverly J Scott author of "Righteous Revenge" and "Ruth Fever." Reviewer for Intriguing Authors and Their Books at http://www.funeralassociates.com/authors.htm

I have read both "Eleven Days" and "Deep Thaw" by Mr. Harstad. I just about did figurative cartwheels over both of them; one for the solid debut and the other as a marvelous thriller. Warning: If you intend to read "Known Dead," read it BEFORE you read "Deep Thaw." Unfortunately, the "Known Dead" story is only Part I. Also, "Deep Thaw" contains many spoilers for "Known Dead."

"Known Dead" starts briskly with a drug stakeout gone bad. The "stakeout" is not on the mean streets, but in the forest where a patch of marijuana is being cultivated. Two cops are concealed and watching as a subject appears obviously to tend the "garden." Gunfire erupts from an unknown source and one of the officers and the subject are killed. Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman is in charge of an increasingly puzzling case. There are small time drug dealers, motorcycle gangs, right wing zealots all seemingly involved and the FBI and DEA have much more than average interest in the case. A shootout takes place at a barricaded farm where a news photographer and police officer are killed and the Nation County sheriff is badly injured. The stakes are high, the cooperation between agencies is poor and Carl seems to be almost alone in really trying to solve the crime.

"Known Dead" did not hold my interest like Mr. Harstad's other works. There were too many law enforcement agencies involved. (FBI, DEA, Iowa Crime Agency, and the county sheriff's department). All these competing groups made the story too diffuse and the plot did not hold together. We never were quite clear what the connecting links were. I'm well aware that a good bit of police and military work is "hurry up and wait." But "Known Dead" had far too much waiting for the pace of any mystery. Also, it is open ended (the conclusion is in "Deep Thaw"). I felt decidedly gypped when I read the last page. "Known Dead" was a disappointment from an author who can do so much better.
-sweetmolly-Amazon Reviewer

Former Clayton County, Iowa, Deputy Sheriff Donald Harstad has written another fine mystery novel/police procedural. You need not have read his first, 11 Days, to enjoy this one. In fact, the author does you a favor by starting this one out: "My name is Carl Houseman. I'm a deputy sheriff in Nation County, Iowa." (In 11 Days, the reader just kept hoping through 1/2 the book for someone to call the first-person narrator by his name! No " Call me Ishmael" there. ;-)

The book has the humour and self-effacing good nature of many rural mid-western law enforcement folks. It starts out rather slowly, like a languid Iowa summer heat wave. A drug enforcement agent is murdered in a marijuana patch in Houseman's home county. " `DEA said it (the cultivation of this particular type of plant) couldn't be done in this climate.' I smiled. `Iowa farm boys can grow just about anything on a slab of concrete. Kind of makes you proud.' " The plot eventually thickens to an outcrop of "Posse Comitatus" type militants.

Here's another wry observation from an author who knows "who-of" he speaks: "I'd worked fraud cases before, but it had been my experience that the average Iowa farmer would read a speil like that one and spit on the shiny shoes that tried to sell it to him. Politely, of course. Maybe even apologetically. But he'd spit accurately, nonetheless. Herman must have been a little short of saliva one day."

The coffee's still on and it's another good read!

This book is just not good. I bought it because Amazon recommended it to me because I bought a Judy Budnitz book (which was a gem, like all her others) and because of the reviews it got here. But after reading about half of the stories I can tell you that this book is not worth your money. It reminds me of critiquing someone's work in a college creative writing class. I don't want to be mean and I want to tell you SOMETHING good about this collection but really...its adolescent and lacks style. You can tell that the author really tried to follow the rules. She tried to take leaps and induce a flow but the results are too workshoppy. I don't think that she had fun writing these stories. Chances are you won't have fun reading them. If you're looking for exciting female contemporaries, check out Judy Budnitz or Aimee Bender. Don't buy this book.

Being a student at The University of Iowa, where the author attended the number one writers workshop in the nation, I know her ability. This collection is so real and relatable. The stories paint beautiful pictures of what life is like. If you want to read something real with great language and presence this is it!

Very believable, original, emotionally-evocotive work. As I read these stories I feel admiration for the author's sensitivity, deep life-awareness and skillful use of language to convey her characters and their situations. They are jammed with aliveness and flavour. Very enjoyable.

Out of the Girls' Room and Into the Night has several of the most memorable short stories I've read as of late. This collection of quirky and disarming stories is thought provoking and disturbing at times. The ones that touched me the most were the ones centered on eating disorders, infidelity and death. "Grog," "The Mushroom Girl," "Flowers in the Dustbin, Poison in the Human Machine," and "Accidental Love" are my favorites. The aforementioned stories spoke to me. Are you in the bargain for a literary short story collection centered on women? I suggest you pick up this gem!

I don't know why I waited so long to read this stellar collection. I agree with the other reviewers--the very best selections might be "Flowers in the Dustbin" and "Grog" and "Poison in the Human Machine," and of course the title story, but they're all good with moments or lines that are amazing. There is geniune emotion in Nissen's stories, and geniune insight in girls growing up, which is what I look for and hope for but rarely ever find. I haven't enjoyed a book so much since Jennifer Paddock's novel, A SECRET WORD, came out in the spring. It's that good! I couldn't recommend OUT OF THE GIRLS' ROOM AND INTO THE NIGHT more highly.

Gable was not the biggest, strongest or most athletic wrestler. But he took advantage of the tools he had and maximized them to their fullest. His drive for success pushed him & his teams to unbelievable heights. A must read for any wrestling fan or sports enthusiast.

This is an excellent review of many of the details that only a coach and his wrestlers see and feel everyday. I definately think anyone who is a fan, parent, coach or participant of wrestling, and especially college wrestling should read this great book.

...but you can't help but be taken in by the story of Dan Gable. The lessons that he preaches, and embodies, go way beyond the mat--perserverance, hard work, dedication, and perhaps most importantly, leading by example.

For that reason, I enjoyed the book, and got through it pretty quickly. I would have no reservations about recommending this book based on that alone.

But, I'll admit, it gets bogged down quite a bit as it becomes a point-by-point recap of the season. Starts to feel like the same things over and over again. I'll agree with other posters who say that it may have lacked some of the intensity and emotion that it could have had. For that, I would recommend "Four days to Glory." An awesome book on high-school wrestling that seems to be to do a better job of making you feel the drama of what wrestlers go through and why they do what they do.

I'd say buy both of these books for a pretty complete picture of Iowa wrestling "from cradle to grave." The afterword in the paperback version of "A season on the mat" does a good job of bringing closure to both books (hard to explain, but you'll see what I mean).

"A Season on the Mat" is simply the best book about the greatest wrestler and coach ever to grace the the mat. You will lose yourself as you read about Gable's struggles in pursuing yet another NCAA title. Read about how Gable sucked up the pain for one final season and set an example for the 1996 Hawks. Buying this book is the best way a fan can remember DG's final year on the sidelines.

As an ex-wrestler turned journalist (and someone who has interviewed Dan Gable), Zavoral's book is a decent look into Gable and the Iowa program. However, the writer at times tries to be bigger than his subject(s) using silly similies(describing Lincoln McIlravy's wrestling style as a man probing an ear or corn) and far flung analogies. The book also lacks logic in some areas, but does a good job of explaining the nuances of amateur wrestling to the uninitiated -- which is no easy task. Typos are also pretty prevalent, but that's the editor's job to catch it.

After the crash of Flight 232, survivor Jerry Schemmel struggles to understand why he lived while others around him died. His heroic tale of tragedy, rescue, endurance and faith touches the soul. Chosen to Live is an amazing and inspirational read!Crossing 13

With a title like "Chosen To Live," you would figure that this book has a religious overtone. It does. But let me ask you this: if you were one of the survivors of a airplane crash, wouldn't you be looking for answers too...anywhere...even in religion? So don't let the title scare you away if you're not religious. This is a great read and a fantastic account of the before, during and after of the fatal flight. The discussion the author had with pilot Al Haynes and the cockpit voice recorder transcript add greatly to the book. Buy it. Read it.

And to the self-proclaimed agnostic survivor, maybe you need to work out some of your own problems with your ordeal before you accuse others of being arrogant.

And you need to become an intelligent adult before you turn on your 'puter again. That person was wasn't claiming to be a survivor. And only you know what a "Self proclaimed agnostic" is since agnostics don't have a licensing procedure. Please calm your hysteria!

As a native of Denver, I am an avid fan of the teams of the Rocky Mountain Region, and I was quickly impressed when Jerry Schemmel assumed the microphone as the radio play-by-play man for the Denver Nuggets prior to the 1992-1993 season. In large part because of his talent and intelligence, he has not relinquished his post in a highly competitive industry. I was 16 years old when Jerry came to Denver, and when he arrived, I aspired to become a broadcaster with his knowledge and passion. Now, at age 25, I continue to work in pursuit of my broadcasting dreams. More importantly, however, after learning about his triumph, I seek to become the quality human being that Jerry Schemmel reveals in his book, "Chosen to Live".

A precocious 29-year old Deputy Commissioner of the Continental Basketball Association ("CBA"), Jerry was diligently preparing for the 1989 CBA Draft aboard United Flight 232. The voice of legendary broadcaster Jim McKay resonated in the background, and his tedious discussion of horse racing was quickly interrupted by Captain Al Haynes, who described imminent trouble in the DC-10's second engine. An explosion had left the DC-10, travelling at 500 MPH at 36,000 feet, bereft of a viable second engine as well as hydraulic processes. From the time of Captain Haynes' first announcement until the DC-10 slammed into a cornfield in Sioux City, Iowa, Jerry Schemmel had 45 minutes to inventory his life. The wife he adored was safe in Denver, his family safe in their respective hometowns in the midwest. Jerry was sure that he was going to die---he had left a note in his briefcase describing where investigators could find his life insurance policy. How would his loved ones handle his death? Had he experienced a full life, despite, at that time, not becoming a father? Imagine slowly crashing to the earth with such thoughts racing through your brain.

In vivid detail, Jerry describes the crash's impact, both physically in the Sioux City cornfield as well as emotionally, as Jerry was sent on a psychological roller coaster of anger, guilt, self-pity and depression until he found solace in his Faith. At the end of the book, you will undoubtedly do what I did---cry and tell your loved ones how much you love them, in the event you never see them again.

I recently read this book after seeing a story about it on the Wings Discovery Channel. This book is well written and details what has to be an experience that is etched not only in the mind of Jerry Schemmel, but everyone involved that day. My heart goes out the the families who lost loved ones and also my appreciation of all of those who survived the crash and what has to be an emotional aftermath.

In a strange coincidence that I found out just today, the author goes to my church in Littleton, CO and I had a chance to tell him this morning I just finished the book and how much I appreciated his work. I'm also a lifelong fan of the Denver Nuggets, where the author is the on-air radio voice for the team.

I was getting an adreneline rush just reading the book. What uncertainty, terror and fear that raced through that crippled passinger jet can only be understood by those who were there, and eventually those who survived. The book is very well written. The actions of the author prior, during and after the crash can only be painted in the mind by writing concisely with vivid accounts of that day.

I remember that day well being at work and hearing someone come into my office to tell me of a terrible crash in Des Moines. My co-workers and I ran to a nearby television set to see the first pictures from ground level through the fence showing the plane coming in and breaking up.

Much has been written previous to my review here. Apparently, the thought of Christians being arrogant is a bias of another reviewer. Christians are not here to question God. There is a time and reason for everything. While difficult near-death experiences happen to some people, it doesn't mean that God is not in control. I had a near-death experience and I believe having gone through that scenerio has made me stronger in my faith. Christians do not have all the answers, but I assure God does.

A very good book. Five stars, easy.

Were it not for Tennyson's The Charge of the Light Brigade, it is arguable whether the Crimean War would have much notoriety. It wasn't overly long, there were very few set-piece battles and no individual heroes of note. It was, among european wars of history, a middling confrontation. How much better, then, is Trevor Royle's treatment with the excitement he brings to it.

Sensing Ottoman dissolution, tsarist Russia makes a play to position itself for benefit. Alarmingly, this could include access to the Mediterranean through the Dardanelles. Having none of it, Britain and France combine to contest Russia's territorial ambitions. Negotiations rapidly break down and Sevastapol is invested. What follows is a story of British incompetence, French duplicity, and Russia's teetering access to military means.

Royle weaves throughout the event the high intrigue behind the scenes where unilateral diplomacy, oneupmanship, and the perfidious maneuvering of supposed allies rules the day. On the war front, he portrays the sad lot of the British soldier. In stark contrast to the French, the British military was grossly underfunded, medical care was appallingly poor, conditions were squalid, and soldiers died of disease in droves. The comparatively healthy ones simply starved.

With Sevastapol fallen, Russia was compelled to consider armistice while conniving diplomats in Paris, St. Petersburg, Vienna and London brokered an inadequate peace. Accordingly, the relatively minor Crimean conflict set the table for future hostilities and presaged the disintegration of the Ottoman empire. Indeed, it was in a corner of the splintered Ottoman empire that a single shot rang out to begin a world war. Trevor Royle does an exemplary job in bringing Crimea to us and, in so doing, prepares the inquisitive reader for the explosive century to come. 4+ stars.

I imagine it is hard not to see the Crimean War from a non-British perspective, because the other belligerents did not write their chronicles in English OR see the war as such a big deal. But what this book manages is to put the war into a wider Eropean context of great power rivalries and almost fanatical imperialism. So Russia wanted to join the imperialist club? France and Britain, hardly the best of friends, were horrified at the prospect. And as for Russia developing a strong Mediterranean presence, well, the Ottomans as well as the British and French couldn't allow that. GREAT READ.

The Crimean war shattered the peace of Europe that had been established since Napoleon and set the course for World War 1. The disintegration of the Ottoman Empire and the advances of Russia are prominent in the war. The famed charge of the light brigade occurred during this war and the trench warfare of World War 1 can be seen. This was really fought over a very small amount of land and in hellish terrain. The book is very well written and does an excellent job of discussing how the war progressed. Overall an excellent book and one that I would recommend.

This is a very interesting book about an incredibly influential war. Despite the fact that the Crimean War was quite short and almost no great swaths of territory changed hands, this short, bloody little conflict had a huge impact on the formation of modern Europe. Trevor Royle's account of the war is a wonderful read. He covers the causes of the war (interesting enough, despite all the real politik, it was about a set of keys and a silver star in a church), the war itself and the aftermath. The details are wonderful and don't override the flow of the story. The only shortcoming comes during the presentation of the battles. Since there are so few, you'd think we'd get more details, but unfortunately the battles are somewhat glossed over. This doesn't so much detract from the book as, instead, it leaves you hungry for more. I found the natural links drawn by the author of Crimea as a progression from the Napoleonic style of war to the more modern American Civil War, which lead right into the mechanistic nightmare of World War I to ring true in more ways than simply because of the dates involved. Time to dig back through old issues of Military History Quarterly to find some articles on the battles so I can enjoy a much more thorough context for the war, thanks to this book.

As a reader already observed, this book is, to begin with, very anglo centered as it happens with boring regularity with almost every anglosaxon historian, no matter the issue. French partner in this war appears, of course, how it could be otherwise, but always as if from a side, as a distant guy that by chance was there. I think the subjet is the Crimean war or should be so, not England in-war-in-Crimea.
From a sheer military point of view the book lacks too much. Battles are more or less described, but maps are a joke and the equipment of both sides scarcely mentioned and poorly defined. A reader of this kind of books want to know more: want to know details about personal weapons, artillery, technical innovations, uniforms, etc. It is the more so as the author himself recognizes this was the first modern war, an intermediate step between Waterloo and the slaughters of I World War. There is some of all of it, but prone to be poor and cursorily explained. Even more, the autor makes a serious mistake confusing the innnovation of the Minie bullet -to be used with muskets already in use- with a supposedly new "Minie rifle" that never existed.
Nevertheless, the political side of the war -french again appearing as a guest and often under a disdainful light- is well developped and informative. Same with many personalities, including, this time, french officers.
Last but not least, the quality of the paper in this paperback edition is the worst I have ever seen in this kind of binding. I doubt it will resist more than 10 years in a shell. For the same reason the discrete number of photos available -not acceptable in a book about the first photographed war in history- are a miserable account of bad quality and neglect.

One Man's Bible conveys the life and death choices the narrator had to make every day during a period of extreme social turbulence.This book excels in communicating the tension between the desire to survive and thrive in society and a personal desire (in this case to keep writing)that is forbidden by "society". The narrator is certainly not a hero and does not judge what his happening around him.

I also found the book very good in being able to paint a picture of daily life, at the collective and individual level, in the period where the book is set.

Gao Xingjian's second novel, "One Man's Bible" contains partially autobiographical life story of a Chinese writer, who tries to find his own place, peace of mind and right to writing and publishing in the Communist China.

The writer, living in permanent exile from China, goes to Hong Kong to attend a premiere of one of his theater plays. There, he meets Margarethe, one of the women who had an impact on his life. Margarethe, a German Jew, who stayed in Germant despite many doubts and reservations, is enquiring about the writer's past and this triggers and avalanche of memories. In fact, it is not a novel compositional trick, but because of Gao's dream-like style, similar to "The Soul Mountain", it seems still fresh and original here.

The chapters, which describe the Chinese past of the main character during the Cultural Revolution are separated by the ones closer to the present. The difference is stressed by the changes in narration between second and third person.

Among enemies and friends, career wolves and people desperately trying to preserve their individuality and self-respect, the young writer tries to figure out his own place, which requires a lot of time and effort, many schemes and being always a step ahead of the others. To write and publish in the capital, one must escape the Party purges, must have a job, a right to lodging in a tiny room in the communal apartment, an impeccable past and a perspective of a career within the Party.

Initially, the protagonist manages quite well. He becomes a leader of young rebels in yet another uprising, labeling the former previous party officials as "The Snake Spirits" (name given to all enemies of the system). He is also a lover of one of the Party leader's wife. Thanks to her warning (apparently the proofs of his disloyalty have been found (in the form of the information that in the remote past, just after the war with Japan, his father was in the illegal possession of weapons), the writer finally realizes that he will never be able to find for himself a safe place in the communist structures, allowing him creative freedom. Only then he decides to escape, initially hiding n the far away, mountain village, under the pretenses of rehabilitation through physical labor. After a long period of creative hibernation and waiting, he manages to leave China and stay abroad permanently, getting the status of the political refugee.

This seemingly realistic plot is spiked with the descriptions of events from emigrant times, the weird dreams pestering the protagonist and the masterful portraits of people who he met in China (the whole gallery of human types, from small cheaters, through people using their professional positions to the good and bad purpose, to intellectuals broken by the system) and outside (especially interesting are the female characters - already mentioned Margarethe and Sylvie, a person whose personal experience separates her like a chasm from the protagonist; it is interesting to notice, how her character is the opposite to the writer's). Various motivations and life attitudes are shown very clearly and convincingly, so that the reader can rest assured, that in each regime everyone has their own free will and our life choices depend on our will only.

The parallels to Gao's life come to mind automatically during reading. The protagonist is not from the working class (his father, like Gao's, works in a bank), he is educated, writes and then destroys his writings, afraid that they can be discovered and used against him (Gao had burned all his manuscripts before leaving China), during his years in exile he cannot visit China... It is hard not to wonder whether "One Man's Bible" is a kind of the catharsis, as the writer is shown as a person who to reach his goal - to write and publish - does not hesitate to become an opportunist. Although he is trying to live in agreement with his conscience, he makes mistakes, which he later regrets and which affect other people's lives. If Gao writes here about himself, he definitely does not try to excuse his actions or to show himself in the best light...

The autobiographical style makes "One Man's Bible" less contemplative and looking more like a "traditional" novel than "The Soul Mountain", but here again comes back the motif of integration with the rural people and respect for the antique Chinese traditions - for example, the scene of conversation with the old doctor and description of his handbook are beautiful).

This novel is worth recommendation, especially, because the access to the Chinese writers who describe the country's reality well and at the same time their books present the high level of artistic achievement, is limited, and Gao's works are banned in China (apparently, they are available on the black market, but not published officially), therefore it is very likely that they contain accurate observations (like the Polish, Soviet or other emigrant writers, to which I can relate).

Part of why Gao Xingjian's book "One Man's Bible" has such an impact for the Western audience is that many of us who have heard of the Cultural Revolution in China still have no adequate experience that helps us understand it or its impact on the Chinese people. Xingjian's detached style may be the only way to deal with this and not go crazy. So many of the details are startling. When he relates how his father's ownership of a gun some 30 years previously is held against him so that he's threatened by the dreaded "reactionary" & "counter-revolutionary" labels is amazing to the Western mind. To hear of families split apart as educated parents are sent for 8 years of "re-education" in rural labor camps is shocking. When those in political disfavor become ill, the hospital becomes the ideal method for assassination. I believe it's because of this subject matter that the book has such an impact.

There is also another underlying theme of human isolation. Surrounded by people, the main character cannot let anyone get close to his heart and emotion. He interprets freedom as an absence of love; and this is perhaps the saddest aspect of the book. Xingjian's series of lovers from the German Marguerite to his first love Lin and the many other casual affairs reflect the satisfaction of the basic hormonal drives, but leave an emotional detachment that precludes real intimacy. On a purely human level, this clinical self-examination is put under a harsh light.

The novel's construction uses some of the techniques that made "Soul Mountain" also seem fresh & "un-Western." The alternation of time periods, flashing back and forth from past eras in China to the present detachment works to produce a tension in the novel. Use of various persons (e.g. I, he/she) including second person (you) narration adds a variety; whereas more accepted Western standards would look for consistency. People may react negatively to the book because we're used to a plot line where a story is told. Xingjian's story is told here, but it's in more of a travelogue format than the traditional structure that builds to a climax. Xingjian's tale seems to travel to anti-climax, much as life often can seem mundane or routine.

Some of the philosophical chapters near the end did not connect with me as well. The book does seem to end simply because the author put down the pen. But all in all, this is an important book. My family watched the film "Balzac & the Little Chinese Seamstress" the other night. I found myself using Xingjian's book to fill in many of the details about the re-education camps for my family. Translated works may lose some of the original nuance and impact, but Mabel Lee did a good job with the translation. I often would ponder an unusual image. This is an excellent mind-stretching book. Enjoy!

This is a fantastic autobiographical novel about the author's experiences under Mao's China and how it affected him and others. The subject matter itself is enough to reccomend this book because we rarely get insights into this closed world and must strive to understand it as it emerges as a world economic power.

The author uses an interesting techinque of detachment where the main character is also the narrator who speeks most often in the third person. Irme Kertesz in his novel "fatelessness" beautifully dscribes how people can survive even the worst suffering, such as the holocaust, by detachment of soul from body. In "Fatelessness", the protagonist survives the concentration camps by escaping outside himself and comes to not only view his suffering and surroundings in the third person but becomes so detached that the physical pain, wounds, illness and suffering of his own body are described and experienced as a thiid person. This mode of escape was subconcious and persisted after the war, leaving a permanent scar of detachment that leaves the reader wondering how the protagonist will relate in peacetime.

Gao has evidently experienced a similar form of coping mechanism that is evident in the sections of the novel that take place in the present, during his expatriat years. It becomes manifest by his casual serial sexual encounters with women who also have similar problems of forming lasting bonds and attachments because of trauma (rape etc). Gao's inability to form a lasting personal bond extends to his lack of attachment to China, his people and his new home, career and friends. Though his insights are [rofound, Gao's emotions and actions are superficial and dream-like.

The most brilliant technique is his use of the word "you." The detached narrator (Gao)uses this word to refer to the subject (Gao)as if he is writing for and talking to himself. I have only seen this technique used in Gao's other novel translated into English "Soul Moutain." Later in the novel, when describing the past he uses "him" to describe the subject "Gao" living in Mao's China. The Narrator uses "you" to refer to the Gao in the present, expatriat state.

The use of "you" and "him" has a multilevel effect on the text and the reader. "Him" Gao of the past becomes "You" Gao of the present - a different level of detachment. "Him" Gao is the Gao of the present describing the Gao of the past as if from a distance, as if that person no longer exists and is dead or lost. The "You" Gao is more familiar, closer, intimate yet detached, a different, mature Gao of the present who is having these relationships, having his plays performed and struggling with the present novel and his past. If a man is the sum of his experiences we are left still wondering who the real Gao is and if he knows himself. It is as much a discovery of Mao's oppressive China as an effort of self descovery -- both painful.

The other effect of the use of "You" used by the narrator to describe Gao in the present is the author subtly drawing in the reader, to place him or herself in Gao's place, to become Gao. "You" also refers to the reader. We are invited to become Gao in our imagination as we read the text. The simplicity of one word creating so many layers of meaning and effect on the text and reader is on par with Jose Saramago's penchant for a lack of puntuation in many of his works.

This book is indeed something special, ingenious, and genuine. You may walk away haunted and disoriented, angry, frustrated, helpless and questioning your security. But as Gao makes clear at the begining, the experience of a Chinese mind under Mao can only be compared to the Holocaust under Hitler. Here East and West share a commonality of humanity at its best and worst, a common suffering and experience and a place to begin a dialog of understanding. Evil takes on many forms but it's effects on the human soul are universal.

To this day, the bizarre, cult-like events of the Cultural Revolution remain a prime focal point for Chinese novelists and, especially, memoirists. Writers from Adeline Yen-Mah, Jung Chang, Jan Wong, and Anchee Min to Yu Hua, Mo Yan, Dai Sijie, and Yan Geling have plumbed the depths of political capriciousness, human debasement, and the sheer will to survive in their own lives or in those of their fictional characters. Yet few if any Chinese writers have dared examine the effects of the Cultural Revolution on their later, post-Tiananmen Square massacre (1989) lives. Gao Xingjian's semi-autobiographical novel, ONE MAN'S BIBLE, is the first I have encountered, and the results are hauntingly devastating.

The story opens in a Hong Kong hotel in 1996 with the unnamed Chinese narrator (an internationally successful playwright) and his temporary paramour, a white Jewish woman of German descent named Margarethe. Theirs is an affair of mutual convenience and simple animal lust, but it is also a continuation of two largely hopeless searches for human closeness and warmth even as both characters deny that they seek such a thing. Margarethe works insistently to draw out the narrator's past, asking him to tell his life's story and suggesting that he turn it into a book. The narrator for his part insists that such a thing is not possible, that "things in China can not be explained by language alone," yet the book of his life unfolds before us in chapters that alternate (for the first half of the book) between his present-day encounter with Margarethe and his autobiography.

What emerges from this approach is a haunting tale of a rational, intelligent man trying desperately to cope with the utter irrationality of the Cultural Revolution. At first a nonpolitical citizen of Beijing, the narrator decides that he can best survive by becoming a faction leader. Having established his revolutionary bona fides, he then lays low and chooses his moves carefully, ultimately realizing that his next move is to the countryside, to keep his head down as a peasant farmer and teacher for perhaps the rest of his life. To maintain his sanity, he secretly writes about his feelings and experiences, keeping his papers well-hidden from nosy neighbors. Over time, he discovers that survival under Mao requires repeated acts of selfishness and disregard for the feelings of others, particularly the women who pass through his life, offering sexual temptation coupled with the threat of personal ruin. Ultimately, Margarethe returns to Europe and disappears from the alternating scenes, leaving Gao to examine ever more intensely his own past, his failings and regrets and lost relationships. He never shares with us the manner in which he "escapes" from China, partly because it doesn't really matter and partly because, in a psychological sense, he will never escape.

By using the alternating chapters, the author establishes a clear divide between history and the present while simultaneously illustrating how that history impinges on the narrator's current life. Gao takes this structure even further by bifurcating the narrator himself, referring to his present-day self in the second person (you) and to his pre-escape self in the third person (he). Yet they are clearly just variations of the same person; the narrator's past is an inescapable part of his present. He is scarred for life by the Cultural Revolution, and the lonely, distant, untrusting person he has become is a direct reflection of the persona he was forced to adopt in order to survive those times. He has learned to be a soulless user of others, and little else.

This is a dark and haunting examination of life and survival during the unimaginable events of the Cultural Revolution and its aftermath. Timed and placed in 1996 Hong Kong just before the British turnover over that island to the Communist government in Beijing, it is also a fascinating metaphorical contemplation of modern China, a nation of soulless users lusting after money the same way his narrator lusts after women. Gao Xingjian emerged from relative obscurity (at least outside of China) to become his country's surprise first Nobel Prize winner for Literature. In ONE MAN'S BIBLE, Western readers can get a sense of why he was chosen. Deservedly so, it would seem.