Dunne Books

Who would have thought that the "vast right-wing conspiracy" was true after all? This is a well written book for the non-political junkie. I read it a few years ago and it's the one book I keep reflecting on about the Clinton years and the disaster that's in the Whithouse now. If only Clinton had been allowed to focus on much more pressing matters...

Believe me when I say "must read"!

I love this book. Its approach is so different. Each hexagram is examined using the etymology of its Chinese name, e.g. #4 Meng: the piglet who is ensnared in a bramble bush. Also wonderful are the humorous quotes from Chuang Tzu and others, e.g. in the section on Meng: "It is difficult to be muddle-headed. It is difficult to be clever. But it is still more difficult to graduate from cleverness to muddle-headedness."

I had this book for about 5 years and kept dipping into every now and again; so its one of those authors 'testimonies' that lasts a lifetime, an accumulation of reflections, observances, brief sketches and poetical illustrations. There is no story-line as such, although it revolves around an the character of an old lady called Misia in a Galician village in North-West Spain. Other prominent residents of the town are animals which are the reincarnated souls of previous individuals, all monitered and watched by the 300 Crows of king Xallas. Strange events, miracles, storms and silence are all interwoven with human suffering, joy and exhaltations. The author employs many of the characteristics, symbols and myths of the Celtic Galician past and writes in an almost timeless sense of continuing existence.

The 'deadpan' Gallic humor is something wierd and difficult to get used to, but ultimately charming and addictive. The whole book spirals around and jumps and leaps from the extraordinary to the mundane but is worth the effort in perseverance; very delicately crafted style of writing which reminds me of contemporary Irish novelists such as James Joyce and Samuel Beckett.

Highly recommended for its sharp contrasts, subtle insights, visions, ancient logic and sense of mystery.

Toby Green turns raw accounts from dusty documents buried in Spanish archives into an entertaining -if not nightmarish view of life under the perverse eye of the Inquisitioner. The book is anecdote rich, showing the Inquisition to be the foreunner of any modern police state's enforcers in terms of motive, rationalization and operation. Its fall heralded political division in Spain that last to this day (Traditional v. Change, Open v. Closed).

Provocative parallels are drawn with today's world, from surveiling the people at the mall for misfits to nationalist movements advocating deporting entire segments of the populace (just replace illegal aliens with moriscos - who did most of Spain's agrarian labor). From the Old World to the New a reign of terror, fear and paranoia permeated all aspects of all classes of society. Starting with the Inquisition's racks and moving along to 20th century Gulags, to 21 century Guantanamos, they all zealously operate in secret using the thinnest of evidence (he had a book - be it a bible or Lutheran samizdat, ergo he is a heretic). Torture abounds, with holy rationalized justifications. Green offers the requisite abundance of at the stake burnings- reading in front of a crackling fireplace in the winter gave this reader an erie feel of camaraderie with both Inquisitor and victim.

The enforcement is depicted as unholy and corrupt - arrest him, I want his house and wife, or he reads French. The most professional aspect of the enforcment was often record maintainance (another lesson: don't). The daily detail is memorable; e.g. serve pork and shell fish tapas as a test. A crypto Moslem or crypto Jew would not touch them, deflating the guise of being a good Catholic. Or a modern day Gladys Kravitz who is thrilled when a heretic family moves in next door (think 60s sitcom Bewitch) giving her gossip mongering eye an Inquisitional legitimacy. And don't overlook the accounts of sex and heresy and witches and satan (who often visited repressed women in the guise of a student - think young repressed male). The censoring of books advocating thought and science compare to the American schools problems in teaching evolution - while the censor's worked they promoted an intellectual stagnation that put Spain at an international economic disadvantage.

My favorite line appears on page 271: As one inquisitor put it in the late 16th century: 'the truth is that the [doctrine of the heretics] is nowhere so much communicated and distributed as through the medium of books, which, as mute teachers, talk continuously; they teach all the time, and in all places. . . the typical adversary and enemy of the Catholic faith has always relied on this efficient and pernicious medium.'"

It's a smooth read. A series of notes that would thrill a librarian, a bibliography that demonstrates extensive research; and a fine index of content by concepts as well as by name. The book, like any history, is full of lessons to be applied . . . . taught centuries ago but still going unheard. An enjoyable and enlightening book on a group devoted to unenlightened torment.

Truly inspiring. John Dunne-Brady has plumbed the core meanings of the hexagrams, and at the same time brought the I Ching into the 21st century. I have been casting hexagrams regularly for 40 years, and never before found a version to compare with the Wilhelm-Baynes translation. Until now.

Dunne-Brady's Book of Changes is radically new in its organization. The hexagrams are put in digital order (utilizing the binary code of the lines), immediately blowing away clouds of obscurantist smoke, and revealing a clear path for the energy to rise. Dunne-Brady has also evolved a circular number system, founded on the hexagrams, which produce the mandalas illustrating this remarkable book.

The commentaries in Inspirations For Your Awakening are ecumenical in reference (each commentary begins with a related biblical quotation, for example), drawing the wisdom of all the world's religions into the context of the I Ching. Feminism and New Age insights aren't neglected either. The operative pronoun in the commentaries is more often "she" than "he," and the "superior man" of Wilhelm-Baynes, has become "the seeker." Dunne-Brady never loses the central thread of the ancient Chinese texts, however.

In the past I have used the I Ching as a vehicle for meditation, as a source of creative inspiration, and as a tool for augury. The language of the Wilhelm-Baynes translation is particularly suited for prognostication, because of its cultural unfamiliarity and its use of metaphor. This touch of mystery and symbolic imagery speaks with the voice of prophecy, and offers us wide personal interpretations. Dunne-Brady's version, on the other hand, is clear as crystal. I found this unsatisfying at first, because I was looking for a more abstract mirror to see in. What I hadn't expected was to find an illuminated path to self-awareness opening out from every commentary. Where I went seeking reflection, I found the image of self.

This book truly delivers what it promises: inspirations for your awakening. Every page offers the gift of self-awareness. I feel blessed to have encountered a copy.

I am extremely pleased with this book. Of all the math-centers books I have, I keep coming back to this one. (As well as the K-1 version, which I also highly recommend.) The centers are easy to set up and don't take any weird, hard-to-find materials. Also, they are not very complicated so my students understand how to do them after me showing them just once. The centers are also really relevant-- relating perfectly to the standards I teach. The students enjoy the hands-on math action and I see how much it helps the students get a deeper understanding. I highly recommend this book!

I found this book to be quite concise, yet explanatory and it defines the subject well.

Having studied John Dunne over the years, I appreciate his latest book, A Journey with God in Time, like no other. The third person that is so common in his other works is, here, replaced by the first person. As a result we are privy to a portrait of the author's life that is rich with the insight we can expect only from John Dunne.
If one were to imagine Dunne's previous books as chapters in a larger work, this accessible book is a superb and enjoyable concluding chapter.

I bought this book in Havana whilst on a brief visit just recently.

Having visited some of the places in the book, such as the wonderful building used as the cover shot; stayed in a hotel on The Malecon; stayed in one of the private grand old homes in Vedado; stayed for a few days in Trinidad; Cienfuegos; Valle de los Ingenios - can truly say that this book, by its wonderful photography, has captured the true essence of what is Cuba today - a beautiful island caught in a past era distinguished by its architecture, granduer of vision and the human senses of style and vibrant sense of life - all in glorious decay today but still captiviting and enthralling. It is heartening that some of the buildings are being restored to their former grandeur and will be there for following generations to see and enjoy.

The country is rendered even more attractive by its people, who everyday cope with trying to live without the basics that the rest of the world takes for granted and, still maintain a great sense of life, optimism, gentleness of spirit and pride in their beautiful country.

This is a startlingly beautiful novel, even better than the author's previous work, The Bitter Taste of Time. The present work is a love story of innocence and purity battling family and societal traditions, written with the plot structure and emotional denouement of an opera. The setting is the Latin lushness of both the Old World and the New, Seville and the Yucatan, described in living prose suffused with azafran and agave. It is a tale of aesthetes written by an aesthete. The real genius in the writing is how so many threads of art, science, and history, including opera, ornithology, cartography, revolution, and even astronomy, are woven together into such a compact but rich backdrop which serves to enhance the beauty of the central love story. The only thing wrong with this book, indicated by the title of this review, is that it's not published in the United States. I got my copy during a recent stay in Toronto. (I also tried to bring back a national health care system, with less success.) Feel fortunate to be able to get your hands on this book, especially in its handsome first edition. It's a masterpiece.