Owen Books

I'm sure that it's a fairly select demographic that buys books by this guy, or has ever heard of him for that matter. He's not necessarily one of those authors that's going to win over a lot of people nowadays even if they do "rediscover" him. Oprah's not going to feature Gerard de Nerval in her little book club. He is just simply too bizarre, too occult and obscure, too "rococo" for the average reader, and I guess he always was. But for those very reasons, there are certain people who will think he's the best thing before or since sliced bread.

Evidently fond of exotic locales, customs, women, drugs, etc, it only follows that this nineteenth-century Frenchman would find himself magnetically drawn to the "Orient," to the fabled meccas of Beirut, Cairo, and of course the "font of drug-taking" itself, Constantinople, where he could liberally sample the world-renowned hashish and slave-girls without fear of reprimand from neurotic Europeans obsessed with "propriety." (Indeed his descriptions of such phenomena are just as offensive to the ultra-PC postmodernist of today as they were to his bourgeois contemporaries - and for essentially identical reasons.) He is very much the chauvinist white guy who feels entitled to indulge when among "inferiors."

The pedantic intricacy of his descriptions is surely a literary reflection of the action of the drug. "Journey to the Orient" is no ordinary travel-journal; it may be doubted whether half the events recounted ever actually transpired; but the details are consistently rendered with hallucinogenic clarity. In fact, only a few fragments of the original massive tome are included in this translation, but the entire second portion consists of a tale supposedly overheard in a Constantinopolitan coffee-and-hash house, a re-telling, with florid embellishments, of the Masonic legend of the building of Soliman's (Solomon's) Temple and the murder of the architect Adoniram (Hiram Abiff) - yet the narrative never looses the conviction of first-hand experience. I picked the following passage at random - it gives an idea of the baroque style of the book:

"Darkness suddenly falls and the sky is muffled by black specks which grow bigger as they approach; flocks of birds tumble into the temple, divide into groups, form circles, jostle together, arranging themselves finally into a sumptuous, shimmering foliage; while their wings unfold into opulent bouquets of green, scarlet, jet-black and azure."

It's easy to see why Gerard de Nerval was such an icon for Surrealists like Joseph Cornell. One can open the book to any page and find such immediately visceral passages; the context is almost unimportant. Life is a dream, a sequence of fantastic images, and the best literature can do is to embody the existential experience. If this sounds like your cup of hashish-paste, then dig in.

The reader ought be warned that this is a very small portion of the book, although I see nothing about it having been abridged. My copy in French runs to 944 pages, so any reader should know that reading this small selection will be nothing like reading the entire work.

These books were my birthday present to myself, and I can't imagine a better gift! They are GORGEOUS and huge, with full-page photos (some in color) on heavy paper, and text for each spread. The architecture is inspired, and, as always, Shulman's photographs capture the spirit, innovation, and excitement of the times. Too bad such individualism has given way to cookie-cutter McMansions and, with few exceptions, lackluster design seen everywhere in today's architecture.

The only criticism I have of these books is that, as with most mid century architectural tomes, most of the photos in the book are from locations in California by architects we've already heard of. I would like to see photos of buildings in other parts of the country by lesser known, but equally inspired, architects.

Finally, I hope that, with the abundance of photos in Shulman's archive, this Modernism Rediscovered series continues with more books in the future. I know that I will be first in line to buy future volumes if they are as well done as the original Modernism Rediscovered book and these three follow-up books.

A fittingly huge tribute to the man who captured Modernism in western America and especially in California. I thought the beauty of these three large books (check out the weight and dimensions in the Product Details section) was the way they are organized: historically using Shulman's own job reference numbers. Obviously there is not going to be a photo of every commission because a lot of his time was spent on what he calls 'bread and butter work'. So book 1 starts with #0003 in 1939 with Gregory Ain's Scheyer residence in LA and book 3 ends in 1981 with #5976 Augustin Hernandez's studio in Mexico City. Although Shulman is working again, with German photographer Juergen Nogai, the contents of the three books are based on the 250,000 negatives he presented to the Getty Research Institute upon retiring in 2004.

I get the impression looking through the pages that there maybe more interior photos than exteriors but what a visual treat these interiors are. In photo after photo, there is a sense of spaciousness so typical of most modernist houses and many of the shots show how rooms extend into other living areas.

The interiors from the Forties to the late Seventies also yield a fascinating opportunity to study the furniture and fittings the owners thought would work well in a modern home. Owing to the large page size some of these domestic interior photos are twenty-three inches wide on a spread so the detail is amazing. Another interesting point about a Shulman photo is the addition of people in his work. Apparently frowned upon at the time by architects but he took the view that it was an opportunity to reduce the purity (and possibly elitism) of Modernism in a domestic setting.

Among all the great home photos commercial work covers corporate headquarters of large companies, schools, research facilities, banks, retail units and restaurants. The same sense of space and depth comes across in these images and I think you'll come to the same conclusion as I did about Shulman's photography: that he always managed to frame his compositions to captured the spatial essence of a building.

The production of the three books is exemplary as you would expect from Taschen. The hundreds of photos are printed on quality paper with a 200dpi screen and presented in an elegant but simple layout. Each featured commission has between one and six photos with a short piece of background copy. All of this is a wonderful tribute to a remarkable architectural photographer. I know I'll be enjoying these three books for a long, long time.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

This book is very well written. It provides factual information, in a very interesting context. It is history made interesting. The book is a valuable resource tool as well as being enjoyable reading. Kudos to the authors of this worthwhile book.

If you are a kid in grade 6 and learning about explorers in school then you should read this book. It has a lot of interesting information about lots of explorers of Canada to help you do a history project. It was pretty interesting to read and has good pictures and maps to help you see what it was like to be an explorer back then. There is a timeline at the back of the book so you can figure out when different explorers were exploring Canada and it tells you stuff that isn't even in your textbook. Tell your teacher about it. by Kevin

Even though this is called The Kindergarten Book, many primary teachers will find so many helpful suggestions for making a good classroom even better! A perfect primer for how assessment truly can drive instruction in an engaging way for teachers and their students. The vignettes from the classroom ring with authenticity and purpose.

I love how this book offers concrete and authentic ways to manage learning in Kindergarten. The examples of the assessments used during writing conferences and reading groups are clear and managable. It was easy for me to take her examples and utilize them in my own classroom to monitor and boost student achievement. Above all, the author's genuine love for children and belief that all children can have success shines through. You can see your own classroom being as fun and inviting as the author describes. Every Kindergarten teacher should read this book!

Again for anyone interested in anything that involves the use of Rope this book is great.

This book shows how to tie knots step by step and is eazy to follow the instructions a great book to own with a lot of good information on how to tie several kinds of knots

I can't believe this treasure is out of print :o( It completely changed our lives - laid it all out, what the Bible says - God wants us to give control to Him, whether He chooses to give us children or not, when to give them, and how many. Showed us that it is selfish, even sinful, to tell God to stop blessing us with more children - would we ask Him to stop blessing us with good health? Or money? Then why with children, whom the Bible calls "blessings"? I will search for a copy of this out of print gem for each of our children.

Easy to read format, very thorough. This book opened up our eyes to what the Bible says about children - that they are to be considered "blessings", and gifts from God. Brought us to the realization that it wasn't our place to tell God "when" and "how many times" to bless us. Samuel Owen, my sons, #4 and #5, thank you for writing this book - without it, they might not have been born!

This book is great for better understanding the complete, perfect and effective nature of Christ's atonement, while also helping the reader to view in context passages including universal expressions such as "all", "every", "world", "whosoever".

If reading Owen is difficult them these are the books for you. This work is a simplified version of volume 10 and the single volume 'The Death of Death'. It has been simplified reorganised and shortened. However the theme and scope of the book is still intact. For whom did Christ die? What about universal verses such as John 3:16 and many more? These answers are within the grasp now of the majority of thinking Christians. This book still requires thought and careful study but is within reach and in modern English!

I have just finished Living Next Door to the Death House and really appreciated the good writing. The book was excellent! It has been very helpful to me in my work as a Methodist pastor; during Advent I did a series of lectures on "tough issues" and thought that Homosexuality or separation of Church and State/Prayer in our schools would be the most passionate subjects, but I was amazed in that the Death Penalty was, by far, the most passionate and difficult for many. I have learned that I can talk about why I am against the Death Penalty, but I have not had a loved one murdered...... the stories I have heard from my members have humbled me and I continue to learn that this whole subject is very complex. This book takes so many of the sides and I found it to be very helpful. I will suggest it to my people here that are struggling. Again, I commend the Owenses for their excellent book.

In Living Next Door to the Death House, the Owenses have taken on a difficult and potentially painful subject with great sensitivity and compassion. After talking to everyone from victims to prosecutors, guards to abolitionists, they present a balanced portrait of a system that can not be viewed in black and white. Along the way, they challenge the reader to think about capital punishment's relationship to justice and community, and what it means for someone to be executed in your name. A fair and balanced book, I recommend it to anyone seeking a greater understanding of capital punishment in this country.

A Love That Never Dies by Penny Owen is a wonderful book that carries a hidden message. Unconditional love is to be appreciated and cherished. As we travel down life's journey, we met many people that touch our hearts. Some of these people will remain in our hearts and some will be forgotten soon after we met them. However, very few people will capture our heart and our soul. These special people change our lives just by knowing them. They help to mold us into the person that we will become. We are blessed by their guidance and should always hold them close to our hearts, no matter what path that we take in life. This book is a wonderful read that will have you in the end reminiscing about the very special people who have touched your own heart and soul.

Reviewed by Danielle E. Hiner, author of Growing with Joe (a book about raising a child with autism).
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If you enjoy short read stories, this is the love story for you. Keep a box of tissues handy. It truly is a tear jerker.

As usual Reed writes with the mad inflammation of an inspired poet. He brings the usual manic energy to his poetic/objective evaluations of Baudelaire, Hopkins, but the best is his writings on David Gascoyne, a little known surrealist poet whom Reed is largely responsible for bringing deserved attention to. Jeremy Reed is a man who knows the plight of the seemingly doomed beings we call great poets.

This is an insightful book about how some poets drove themselves to the edge of madness for their craft. I found the author's description of Gerard Manley Hopkins particularly enlightening as a study of the creative process and the role of observation in that: according to the author, when Manley Hopkins was a Jesuit priest he would roam about the countryside intensly observing things in nature to the bewilderment and amusement of passersby... for instance, he would get down on all fours in the middle of a street and stare at a puddle of water for an hour until he had internalized its "essence", enabling him to then sit down and write out in his poems exactly what he had observered. An interesting book for anyone interested in the creative process, the price of dedication to a work of passion or medium, or as a book on methods of observation.