Texas Books

Like so many of Appelfeld's novels this book is filled with characters who find their own Jewish identity problematic. His characters do not as far as I know ever have a positive Jewish religious identity. And the religious Jews from Eastern Europe are looked on often with repulsion. This is the case with one of the central characters of the work, the father of the narrator. The father is a well- known Austrian writer whose great success is undermined by those who claim he is a decadent Jew, not a real Austrian. The father is extremely conflicted about his own Jewishness and makes continual criticisms of the Jews he meets. He is a strange character whose hero is Kafka and whose career is at the end broken by anti- Semitic rejections of Austrian publishers.
The narrator of the story the adolescent Bruno tells of his own adventures in this assimilating world. He describes the way it falls apart in the first half of the work. In the second half of the work Bruno returns after the Shoah to the town of his youth. He meets many different characters including half- Jews with a positive if somewhat fantastic relation to their own Jewishness. He also meets one reprehensible convert who has stayed alive by repudiating the Jewish people. He again meets Austrian or half- Jewish women who regret that they have spent their lives with Austrians, and not made lives with kinder, more considerate)(according to them)Jewish husbands.
As is often the case in the novels of Appelfeld there is no decisive conclusive end. The hero by returning has no major revelation or insight or overall philosophical position to develop in relation to what has happened.
The strange silence of the main character, the failure of him really to meditate in depth on those lost gives a puzzling, detached character to this work.
The reader senses Appelfeld is giving us insight into the worlds of these assimilated and assimilating Jews But before the unspeakable he is silent , disturbed and disturbing.

Mr. Appelfeld writes of life before and after the Holocaust had swept through Austria. "The Age Of Wonders", is the second of his works that appeared in this country following his first, "Badenheim 1939". This work like many that have followed appear to contain elements of Mr. Appelfeld's own remarkable story of survival, when he managed to survive as an 8 year old child his deportation to the labor camp in Transnistria.

The conflict is again explored amongst Jews prior to the war as to those Jews who were, "petit bourgeoisie", non-practicing, "intellectuals", and even a close friend that takes the dramatic step of circumcision as a man well into the middle of his years. The Father of the boy who's story we read is a writer of some renown that believes his Austrian Birth, education, and books published in German separate him from the other Jews he has so much contempt for. His friend that embarks on the mentioned operation is at once both ridiculed by the Father, and then is the object of a frantic effort to prevent him from allowing this act of, "disfigurement", to his person.

The primary Family all have their own issues with their religion, or what it, "should be". The Family deals not only with friends that choose their own way, but even the boys Aunt who he lives with as a child, eventually dies within the walls of a Catholic Monastery.

As he has in his other books the actual Holocaust itself is not written of. There is a single event when they are locked in a Synagogue, are packed onto a train, and then it is 30 years later and the protagonist is now a middle-aged man. Like the Author he has immigrated to Israel but comes home for reasons of his own. This final part of the work is fascinating as the Author brings the man home and it feels as though what he sees and does is real, and also that it may not be happening at all. The last comment is too extreme, for it does happen, it is just that the Author seems to give a transparency, to place a haze between his character and those he encounters, either from his life as a boy, or strangers who have inherited old ideas.

I have read many of Mr. Appelfeld's works and have found them to be some of the best literature on both the pre and post Holocaust experience. His survival was remarkable, it is little less than astonishing that he can not only write of this terrible era in History, but he can share it with all who are interested.

A friend loaned me this book after recommending it to me. I couldn't put it down once I started reading it. I purchased two copies, for my son and for a friend's son. As an author and publisher myself, I just wish I could have published this wonderful book.

The information is so well organized and presented in a clear, concise manner. There is not a high school graduate who is considering attending Texas A&M that would not benefit from the advice this author has pulled together from his own personal experience and that of others. It is an easy read and does not repeat information. Every page presents the facts and steps necessary to achieve success that first year.

I highly recommend this book to any student at TAMU who wants to improve his or her grades. And as a parent I can attest to how helpful it is for new entering freshmen. This book really helps to set expectations as to how incredibly challenging and competitive it is at TAMU. And it certainly will give parents some peace of mind that their child has the tools to get off to a good start instead of falling behind. I hope this book is a blessing for you!

It's a treat to see the Rio Grande Valley through Jan Seale's eyes. Her descriptions fits my memories of the Valley, in some cases, to a "T" and in other stories it gives me a fresh perspective.
Here's what Texas Books in Review (Gabriel Stauf) says of it "These individualistic voices do much to give each story its own flavor, develop setting and mood, and make the characters as familiar as the reader's next door neighbor."

Over the years, I have avoided reading short stories--other people's short stories, that is. I felt like they were unfulfilling and ended too soon. But recently I was laid up for a while and was searching for something to help me stop thinking about myself. I noticed Jan Seale's book, which I had purchased at a writers' conference a number of years ago, and thought I'd give it a look.

What a marvelous surprise! I was hooked after the first story about a gentleman who--while taking chemo treatments--was building a purple martin birdhouse as a way of looking forward to a future and to make his mistake-of-a-second-wife crazy.

Although the stories in this book are only a few pages long, each one stands alone as a unique slice of life. All are done from the perspective of different characters--old, young, men, women, different ethnicities and races. And you feel you are that person.

My favorite was To Reap, To Thresh, about a farmer who was planning his tombstone with a picture of a combine chiseled on it. What a great idea--to have a monument that shows what you did in this life. It makes you think, What would I put on mine?

I highly recommend this book. You can read one story at a time and have lots to reflect on or consume the whole book like I did. Then you can go back and read them over again.

by Doris Anne Roop-Benner
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

This book is an absolute masterpiece. I rank it with the greatest short fiction of Dostoyevsky, Hamsun, Unamuno. It is the last novel of the writer whom the next century will regard as a monument of the twentieth--after all, he lived 102 years and was active all the while producing fictional and philosophical creations of unusual originality. He also kept a diary through the decades, and when he died at the beginning of 1998 one obituary called him "the chronicler of a century of horrors."

ALADDIN'S PROBLEM is a slim volume, exceptionally terse, cryptic and understated even by Jnger's standards. It begins with brief meditations on growing old and flowers almost imperceptibly into the story of a funeral assistant who, troubled by the emptiness of modern life and the power of the forces above us ("Aladdin's problem"), conceives one of the most fantastic ideas for permanence in human history. You will stop in amazement when you discover it. From this point on he moves into a mystical realm with the aid of a suddenly appearing guru.

Perhaps I've already told too much, but this book is written so precisely that you will savor every word and thrill at the author's world-conception as it builds. Jünger's art is so much his own that you quickly understand that you are dealing with a truly independent mind.

Marsilio Publishers is performing a great service for American culture by publishing English translations of Jnger's works. It is a project on the level of publishing Jorge Borges in English in the 1960's. Let us hope that they will do an edition of Jnger's astonishing anti-utopian novel,THE GLASS BEES, which has been long out of print in translation.

Ernst's Junger's "Aladdin's Problem" is a short, but brilliant, expose of the spiritual disease eating the West alive and a concise statement of the author's alleged solution.

The cultural critique takes hold beneath the guise of a short retrospective memoir written in the 1980's by an East German army officer who has defected to the West and who eventually makes a quiet career in the mortuary services industry. He does well at this, until one day inspiration strikes - he decides to revive the ancient practice of interring the dead in "cities" of their own. He searches for a site for his universal necropolis, and settles on Cappadocia (in Turkey). The project, called "Terrestria", becomes wildly successful. However, as it drags on, the narrator becomes increasingly ill, until events reach a climax with the mysterious appearence of a sage who will impart wisdom to him.

The meaning? Aladdin was a poor boy who gained great power. Or more accurately, he was a poor boy who gained a lamp with a demon in it that had great power and was bound to do his will. The underlying comparison between the Middle Eastern legend and the modern West is clear. The "Problem" alluded to in the title is that of technological nihilism. We Westerners, and by extention many other peoples around the globe, are in possession of technologies that put terrible forces at our command; Aladdin's problem - "What do I do with the demon whose might I barely control?" - is our problem. Whether Junger's solution was acceptable is more than I can right now say. But this book is as artful a diagnosis of the Western world's illness as you will find anywhere else.

Browsing through the Alamo gift store, I happened upon The Alamo Cat by Rita Kerr. I am an avid collector of children's books of all types, so I thought this would be the perfect addition to my collection. After each chapter, I would go find my cat (usually curled up asleep on my closet floor) and spend time caressing her. After the final chapter, I picked her up and held her close -- what a tearjerker! I only hope that I am one day able to talk with Rita -- I am an inspiring writer and I think talking with her would give me a much needed boost to get some things done! Now, I have to go back and buy the rest of Rita's books -- as well as check out where Ruby is buried!

This book is about a cat that gets caught in a fire and is found up in a tree. The rangers of the Alamo adopted this cat, Ruby, as their mascot. This is probably the best Rita Kerr book I've read. I used to live in San Antonio, so i met Rita Kerr. I have almost all of her books. Theyre all about Texas and many stories and legends about Texas. You should read all of Rita Kerr's books. They are great. Some other Rita Kerr books are: the Haunted House, A Wee Bit of Texas, and Tex's Tales. You should read all of them. You will love them. I recommend this book for everybody. I loved this book.

i have been a fan of the battle of the alamo since i saw walt disney's davy crockett. since then i have seen every movie about the seige. this book brought back fond memories. i even fulfilled a dream of 37 years of going to bracketville to see the movie sets of the alamo. unfortunately, i was caught in the flood, and couldn't see them. i would really enjoy writing to frank thompson, we could share very similar memories. again, thanks frank for a very enjoyable book.

Being a Texas History buff, I've seen most of the films made about the Alamo. So, I was pleseantly surprised when I found this book. Thompson covers just about every motion picture made about the 13 day seige. He even covers films that are not about the Alamo directly. In some cases, the crumbling adobe mission makes only a cameo appearance. There is plenty of enjoyable reading here, with facts, trivia and lore. In addition to the lively text are photos and even cartoons that deal with Alamo films. Even if the Alamo is not your cup of tea, students of film will find plenty to hold their interest. From the first movie made in 1911 to the IMAX production; PRICE OF FREEDOM.
What is really telling is how the image of the Texas Revolution, especially the Mexican perspective has changed over the years.
Compare the MARTYRS OF THE ALAMO done in 1915 to John Wayne's 1960 epic. Hopefully this new production by Disney will be a major improvement.

I love this book! It is wonderful and my definite favorite. Templeton gives an accurate description of Peaceful Mitchell, the Tennessee Volunteers, the Alamo, the battle and everything. The characters each have their own unforgetable personality, Peaceful's being very unique. This book definetly gets a 5 star rating.

This book is wonderful! It's my favorite. Peaceful Mitchell was a wonderful man; it's too bad there ain't much information on him. Alamo Soldier is where I "met" Peaceful and without a doubt he's my favorite Texan. Templeton's book tells an accurate description of Peaceful, the Tennessee Volunteers, and the Alamo.

Practically every old alchemical emblem ever peeled of the printing block is included in this wonderful collection, which is invaluable for this reason alone. The text is a rather muddy analysis along Jungian psychological lines and amounts to little. But the pictures! What a spectacular theatre of bizarre imagery! Indeed the need to interpret is ineluctable. Many volumes have been written offering equally plausable, and mutually exclusive, solutions to the cypher-babble of the alchemists. Since there is no reason to suppose that the medieval sages themselves were all on the same page, no single modern interpretation is sufficient to explain their strange symbols away. Fortunately it's not really necessary to understand these pictures in order to enjoy them - in fact it might easily be said that their very impenetrability is the key to the fascination they hold. All enthusiasts of curious antiquities, students of comparative religion and the migration of symbols, latter-day mystics interested in magic and the occult, could loose hours and hours rapt in close contemplation of this spectacular book. A must-have!

Similar in scope, containing many of the same plates and including a few others exclusively, is "The Golden Game: Alchemical Engravings of the Seventeenth Century" by Stanislas Klossowski de Rola.

A readable and thorough explanation of the alchemical arts; comes with quality pictures and, even better, commentary on the psychological symbolism of alchemy from both a Jungian and a psychoanalytic perspective.

Peter Cahn offers thought-provoking and insightful views on religious diversity and the role of local community. His descriptive verse conveys the true essence and vibrance of Tzintzuntzan and its people. I look forward to Peter Cahn's next book!

Peter Cahn's All Religions Are Good in Tzintzuntzan is a heartbreaking work of staggering genius. Peter describes a living history of the people of his study with empathy and depth. A truly majestic study, told with the highest standards of academic rigor and in beautifully crafted language. A masterpiece of the first class.

All That's Left to You is a sad reminder of all that was lost by the Palestinian people in 1948. Families were separated, yet a nation was born from their sorrow. This novella is the second in what became a trilogy of the evolution of Palestinian consciousness. It is here that their anger erupts. It is here that a nation begins to hear the plea of the author himself - salvation comes through actions, not through memories. A most interesting and important aspect of the novella is Kanafani's accurate portrayal of a woman's heart. This story must be recognized as a contribution to feminist literature. The main female character struggles within the parameters of a deeply paternalistic society under military occupation to come to terms with her sexuality and her shattered dreams. It is through her that the nation will be reborn. Kanafani utilizes excellent literary devices and the translation by Kirkpatrick is superb. The reader is advised to read Men in the Sun first if possible.

Like all other Kanafani works, this book was a tremendous pleasure to read and at the same time intensely thought-provoking. "All that's left to you" contains, in addition to the title novella, a selection of Kanafani's short stories. All the stories in this anthology share the feature for which Kanafani has no contestant: the seamless changes of voice within a story, often from paragraph to paragraph, sometimes from sentence to sentence. Thus we explore the trials and tribulations of the five main characters in "All that's left to you", not as outsiders or even as one of the characters, but as each one of the characters in turn. The reader is made to travel invisibly from the mind of one of the characters to that of another, miles away, to learn what they are both thinking at the same instant. This is as close to a drama or a movie as one can get in a short story, or perhaps even better. It is also interesting to see how certain threads unify the narrative. Time, for instance, whom Kanafani even declared at the start to be actually a character, is one such thread. The layers of symbolism in the story destine it to be very deep reading for decades to come. Yet the novella is so fascinating, it is very difficult to put the book down. The short stories in the anthology are equally fascinating, each in its own right. They don't lack from the changes in voice that is present in "All that's left to you", and they also have their share of critical plot twists right at the end of the story. Thus be prepared to completely change your perspective after reading the last sentence of each story.