Abbey Books

Most of us are in risk of being overwhelmed by our pursuit of "stuff." Let's just take babies as an example. It appears that strollers for toddlers must now cover almost half an acre and contain sufficient storage for any possible medical or hygienic emergency. Young married couples feel the necessity to immediately buy a huge van that is effective only at cutting off the view of the hapless motorists behind you. Houses must be larger to contain the "stuff" we buy for our children. Why? Because if we don't, it means we don't love them, I suppose.

I must not have been loved very much. My father was a poor factory worker who drove a 1949 Mercury coupé. During all my childhood, I remember only a handful of toys: a set of white plastic blocks that were similar to the Legos that came later, various toy soldiers, a small Lionel O-Gauge electric train set, a stamp collection, a cowboy cap pistol, and a Civil War hat (Union Army type). That hat I wore with a blue cub scout shirt with captain's bars sown on that made me look like the boy Dusty on the old Rin Tin Tin show that I loved to watch.

Over the years, I seem to have gone astray somewhat. My apartment has well over 6,000 books in it. However much I resolve to cut down, I always find myself intrigued by another title that I must read. If I were to sit down and read all the books I own, I would have to live for hundreds of years more.

This slim volume was one of my recent purchases. I sat down to read it almost at once and fell in love with it. JOURNEYS OF SIMPLICITY is a book of lists of stuff with which selected real and fictional people traveled through their lives.

Some of the lists, such as the personal effects of Thomas Merton when he was found dead in a Bangkok hotel room after being electrocuted by his room fan, were heart-wrenching. In almost every case, they set off a little flash bulb of enlightenment. Each list was a window into a person's life (even if that "person" were Bilbo Baggins or Dostoyevsky's Father Zossima from THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV).

If ever I became a truly enlightened person? What would be on my list. Let me guess: a box of loose black Indian tea, a pot to boil water, a few (far less than 6,000) good books, a sweater, a jacket, two or three changes of clothing including wool socks, stout walking shoes, reading glasses, a hat -- and that's about it.

Oh yes, and one other thing -- a sense of wonder.

The small book devotes two pages each to about three dozen authors, spiritual seekers and fictional characters. One page briefly describes the person and something about their life and philosophy; the second provides a supposedly complete list of the small number of items each person lived with or took on a trip. It's thought provoking as to how much - or how little - stuff we really need to live a good life. At the same time it's a VERY brief book that can be read in about 30 minutes. Because there is a bibliography listing one or more sources for or about each person this book might best be considered an introduction/reference for those wanting to study the philosophy of simplicity. It's also a good inspirational gift for someone who wants to simplify their life. Too bad publishers don't provide little books like this for a more reasonable price.

I really never grew to care for ANY of the characters in this book. Jane was seduced and taken advantage of by a nobleman -she gets pregnant and punished by her village(we meet this nobleman later in the book and find he is really not a bad man--his wife, poor misguided creature that she is hasn't been "a wife" to him (!!??) His wife is the only character I found remotely interesting but alas she only takes up about two pages. The doctors character is just as bland as Janes. And there are these secondary characters in the book that add fluff but it really isn't such that add depth to the book, just clutter. For instance, the nobleman sister (or sis-in-law) we get some of her sordid history and she drugs and seduces the Dr but it is in no way enriching the tapestry of the book. And then there is the witch (and Jane goes to her for medicine???)...Yes it is a medieval book, but one to skip in my opinion!

Love's Ransom is the first Christian medieval romance I have read, and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. The main characters are Jane Lightfoot, who is a cook at Marchemont Castle, and Patrick McBeath, who is a doctor. Both have a past that they are afraid to reveal to each other. Unlike a lot of romance books that focus on nobility, this book concentrates mostly on the lives of the servants. Just reading about all the work it took to feed and care for the nobility made me tired. Also, there was plenty of storyline other than the romance that kept me interested. There was jousting, kidnappings, villains, secrets, and on and on.

[WHAT YOU CAN READ] This collection contains five short horror stories by Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1835-1915), prolific Victorian writer famous for her "Lady Audrey's Secret." These five stories are "At Chrighton Abbey" "The Cold Embrace" "The Shadow in the Corner" "Good Lady Ducayne" and "Eveline's Vistant."

[CONTENTS] The stories are all related to the horror themes in a lurid Victorian way, and wil give you all perfect reading in a country house at midnight. The contents are (some words I quote from the backcover): 'At Crighton Abbey' is a Christmas ghost story; 'The Cold Embrace' is the story of a proud art student pursued by the ghost; "The Shadow in the Corner' is about a frightening thing seen by a girl working for a man with a scientific mind; 'Good Lady Ducayne' is a spooky tale, and great anthology favorite too, dealing with a vampire theme (published one year before "Dracula" by Bram Stoker, friend of Braddon; and 'Eveline's Vistant' is the tale of two cousins who fight to the death over a woman. All the tales are chilling enough for modern readers, but what is remarkable is that Braddon deftly hides a sexual or social themes about contemporary women under these ghost stories, as she always does.

[EDITION] The book contains only these stories (besides a too brief introduction) and nothing else. No footnotes, no illustrations, no original publication data. And you may remember that all these tales here are also included in another collection titled "The Cold Embrace" edited by Richard Dalby (published by Ash-Tree Press).

[ORIGINAL PUBLICATION] "The Cold Embrace" is from "The Welcome Guest" 29, Sep. 1860. "Eveline's vistant" from "Belgravia" Jan. 1867. "At Chrighton Abbey" from "Belgravia Annual" 1871. "The Shadow in the COrner" from "All the Year Round" 1879. And "Good Lady Ducayne" from "The Strand Magazine" 1896.

Have heard lots of "professional" musicians tell me that it is necessary to learn everything the Beatles ever did. I believe "Ballicks" (sp?) is the English turn-of-phrase I'm looking for. However, if you are really interested in getting your favorite down, or just a couple that really speak to you with their chord progression, and et al, then this will do the job nicely.

The book had some rather more creative aspects to fantasy that I've not seen for a long time. too bad the series was never finished (to my knowledge.)

In the entertaining afterword to Blood Ties, C.J. Cherryh writes about the experience of writing for the Thieves' World series:

"The honest truth is that we have very little idea what will happen. Unplanned war breaks out in the streets. It lurches and falters in settlements, just the way it does in real life, my friends, because certain people in it have to get certain things or believe there is a way out, or they go on fighting. Feuds break out between characters and resolve themselves they way they do in live-- with some change in both characters. Characters mutate and grow and turn out to have aspects that surprise even their creator."

As a reader, it is that very quality of evolving chaos and unpredictability that makes the series so much fun to read. At its best, there is a measure of barely controlled chaos that keeps the twists and turns interesting. At its worst, the different voices can mix badly and turn characters into a kind of confused mush.

This edition contains both the best and the worst of what the volumes can be. Blood Ties has a number of really impressive writers associated with the stories: Cherryh, Diana L. Paxson, Janet & Chris Morris, the two editors, Diane Duane, Robert Wayne Bailey, and Andrew & Jodie Offutt. The combined talents are less effective when they deal with the complicated alliances and tensions in Sanctuary ("Sanctuary is for Lovers", "Lovers who Slay Together") but there are also some truly inspired and even very moving sections-- the fate of Siveni Grey-Eyes in "The Tie that Binds" and the brilliant introduction of Strick in "Spellmaster."

As always, you cannot pick up volume 9 of Thieves' World without having read 1-8. Begin at the beginning, if you have not had any introduction to the characters before. If you are a veteran of Sanctuary and were wondering whether this is worth the effort (Volume 8 was a little bit disappointing, IMO) then you should rest assured that it is moving in the right direction. Blood Ties is worth the time to read, and reopens a number of interesting new directions for the poor beleaguered city.

This book is very good at describing, in deep detail, the events that have shaped the Brazilian economy into what it is today. With a bias more towards history than economics, the book reads like storytelling sometimes, with less analysis than I had hoped for. The description of today's Brazilian economy is shorter than I had hoped for, but sufficient for a basic introduction.

The book serves as reference as well for any historical fact affecting Brazil's economy, especially in the late 20th century.

Broken Dreams by Jideofor Adibe opens suspensefully during attacks that lead to civil war (which became the Biafran War in Nigeria). Sympathies lie immediately with a family who must evacuate their home and, in the process of fleeing, become separated from their child. Broken Dreams is an intriguing depiction of a society during a period of turmoil and its aftermath. The story develops through the first person narration of the father; then it alternates between family members and other characters who gradually enter the family's lives.

The novel is episodic with many intense and vivid moments. At times the tale seems disconnected but the fragmentation is deliberate, as represented by the title of the book. The plot elements inevitably intertwine and ultimately knit together quite dramatically. Irony and humor are used liberally to expose elements of hypocrisy and corruption -- in religion, government, the society, and, sadly, in individual lives.

The author, a Nigerian with international educational and employment credentials, creates masterful descriptions throughout the novel, filled with telling and metaphorical details. His use of animal imagery, in particular, is lighthearted and especially affecting. The dialogue captures the cadences of ordinary lives in contemporary urban situations, in contrast to many earlier novels by African writers set in rural villages. Finally, the success of the work is in the creation of the protagonist, Pete Ogwu. As narrator, he both discloses and and disguises his behavior -- for himself as well as for the reader. As the story filters through his consciousness, it becomes multi-layered and, by the end, invites one to strip off each accretion and search for the truth, which obviously eluded Mr. Ogwu.

I read Carisbrooke Abbey after reading Darcy's Diary by the same author. I had enjoyed the light touch of that book and the way the plot moved forward.

It was an enjoyable read - the plot was very fast-paced, the language is simple and none of the plot details are that complex. Characters are introduced but we don't delve deeply into their behaviour - everything moves along and I read the whole book in under three hours.

It was enjoyable but a little too lightweight for me. I like reading books set in the Regency period but this book is light on historical detail; that's OK but in this case the social requirements of the day would have killed the plot - Harriet wouldn't have stayed in the house without a woman's company - so this is glossed over. For a while I wondered if we were having another Jane Eyre situation (hero has mad wife) but eventually we discovered the mad girl is a sister. Phew, our hero and heroine are able to get together after all, having overcome a few problems along the way.

Although this is a fun book it almost read more like a children's book to me - the light nature of the writing and the lack of depth in the plot and characters meant that when I finished the book it hadn't really scratched an itch. Great for holiday reading though.

A man deeply troubled by job and family situations seeks to find
himself by an extended visit to an old abbey in England. He gains success after a series of conversations with the head of
the Abbey and with other visitors and staff members. Each
conversation gets into philosophical matters and demonstrates
that the author has deep insights in to controversial subjects.
After reading the book, a prominant Florida lawyer said he "always found himself looking forward to the next conversation". This thought provoking novel is three cuts above
the average novel found on shelves in airports and newstands.
A great read for a snuggy wintry night or a long plane ride. It
is a suprisingly good novel for a first time author.