Robertson Books

I bought this book two days ago on a whim. I've been researching Australian Cattle Dogs and am very keen to adopt one soon. So far, I've purchased a few books and am getting to know a lot about the breed. This book, however, was a huge disappointment. There were nice pictures of dogs, which I liked, and that was about it. Almost all content in this book is simply general information on dogs and dog ownership. There is very little specifically devoted to Cattle Dogs. What's most infuriating is that the book's author, Narelle Robertson, is the famed breeder and owner of the Kombinalong line of Australian Cattle Dogs, reknown for show winning champion Australian Cattle Dogs. The fact that somebody so famed and involved in the breed would authorize such a slapdash book is upsetting. Narelle Robertson's book is so general (and features so many obvious product placements), that I view it as a great disservice to AuCaDo owners. It's very clear that her priorities were in the marketing of the book, and the money from product placements. It's a shame, since she should have been focused on the dog breed that is her livelihood.

This is probably one of the worst of all books about ACDs (although some others may qualify as well). Unusable information, combined with pictures of similar quality...a complete waste of money. Instead, add a few $$ and go for John&Mary Holmes.

It explains the origins of the Australian Cattle Dog quite well,
but the rest of the book is very vague on training specifically
an ACD and also half of the book is for dog food, toy, training
tool advertisements. Really didn't get much out of it except
for the great pictures.

This book contains a lot of good info on general dog care; however, that's not the kind of book I wanted.

Maybe 30 pages out of 200+ are actually about the specific breed rather than dogs in general.

This is a good general book and gives great breed standards. I would like to see more books with the simplicity and organization of this book. It also has great genral dog care tips for all dogs.

In your opinion, what is a good translation? I've read some mixed reviews on here and am curious.

The good thing about this book is that is by and large readable. The bad part is that the translation, paraphrasing and commentary are all rolled into one and are indistinquishable to the casual reader. Even when a snipet of text is more or less trying to be faithful to the Nei jing the translation is sometimes clearly unfaithful in meaning. I wouldn't want to try and incorporate the statements of fact and theory in this book into a clinical practice without first checking them out with another translation. However, what this book can do is serve as a source of ideas and inspiration that can then be checked with other translations or texts.

One thing that bothers me is that the author is a doctor of oriental medicine and so is his father, which the author consulted, and yet there are errors in the book. These errors (mostly?) appear to be due to poor translating, which causes erosion of the subtle or secondary meaning of the text and leaves statements which unfortunately are contradictory to what I learned in acupuncture school, have read in other respected medical texts or have experienced clinically. Upon examining the passages in Chinese I can see the true meaning has only been partially captured and hence inadvertantly appears to contradict other texts and clinical experience. This is unfortunate as by and large there is a great deal of useful information in this "translation", but it is unevenly presented, unlabeled (i.e., what part comes from the Nei jing, what part is traditional commentary and what part is the author's opinion) and hence I can't feel totally confident in this book.

I don't think it is possible to translate the Nei jing without a deep understanding of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Classical Chinese. The one part of the Nei jing I have personally translated with great care required a deep understanding of the subject at hand, a consultation or two with my Classical Chinese professor, my Classical Chinese tutor, and discussions with a master Chinese doctor who in turn consulted a commentary as well as consulted with another master Chinese doctor.

Needless to say it was all very time consuming. During my first few attempts I kept discovering new errors in translation due to mistakes in my understanding of Classical Chinese grammer and the subtle meaning of the characters. It took persistent and multiple consultations by me to each of the above persons to get the errors corrected (In other words at first they either missed the errors or were not sure themselves of how to best translate a character or phrase.) and then synthesizing all that each person taught me to arrive at a balanced and correct translation. Then to make sure my translation sounded good I consulted with my brother who is a poet. To further put things in perspective I think the small portion I translated was one of the easier parts of the Nei jing.

In mainland China not that many Chinese study Classical Chinese, most only know the simplified characters as opposed to traditional characters. The meaning of identical characters in Classical Chinese can be very different from Modern Chinese and the grammer is quite different from Modern Chinese grammer. Without a good understanding of Classical Chinese grammer it is not possible to consistently translate the Nei jing correctly. From reading the author's bio there is no indication he studied in Taiwan where Classical Chinese is routinely taught or that he studied Classical Chinese formally. I would think if he had studied Classical Chinese he would have mentioned it, as after all he mentions his TCM training in quite a bit of impressive detail in his bio.

As an graduate student who has worked on translating the Huangdi Neijing Suwen, I have had the opportunity to place this translation side-by side with most of the others currently in print. This is one of the best we have. The Neijing is often arcane and difficult to penetrate because of opaque language, and it is invariably read with a later commentary alongside to assist in understanding. Ni has provided the commentary and translation integrated on the same page. No, this is not a word-for-word translation, but it does capture the gist of the text and explain how it is understood in contemporary clinical settings more effectively than any other English translation currently available. Until there is a critical academic edition of the text, this is probably as good as it gets. Clinicians will probably prefer this over an academic translation anyway as it smoothes out many of the original's rough edges and internal contradictions, and applies the passages to Chinese medical theory as it is understood today.

Well translated and easy to understand the concepts for anyone not familiar with chinese medicine and thought.

First off I would like to address a point made earlier by another reviewer who called into question Mr. Ni's background in classical Chinese Medicine by stating that he is not trained in Taiwan. I am not sure where the impression is given that Taiwan is the only place where classical Chinese medicine can be learned, but it is erroneous. Mr. Ni is the product of generations of family physicians and who's father is incidently a classical taoist teacher/master of esteemed lineage, so one may rightly assume his training was very classical. Further, Mr. Ni begins his introduction by stating that he never intended a word for word translation but rather a clinically useful text that conveys the thought and intent of the original text in terms that would be more readily accesible to those who are not scholars of ancient Chinese literature. This he does exceptionally well. I have read every translation (and incidently attempted a few of my own) of this classical text and I feel this is by far the best. While not a translation it is the most clinically useful of all of the texts translated to date.

Keeping in mind the fact that one is reading a period novel, I found this to be a fine example of the genre.
The description of the Titan and its fate parallels that of the Titanic to a certain extent, and this brings into the equation, stories of Robertson's psychic abilities, as he is alleged to have had astral help in writing his novels.
For those wanting the story to be about the Titanic legend, there will be disappointments, as the ship is not the main focus of the story, but rather a background for the portrayal of one man's struggle to live an honest and fulfilling life.
John Rowland is a man who has plumbed the depths and is trying to rebuild his life on principles of honesty and hard work, but his past has caught up with him. The tale is one of triumph against the odds, and the importance of honesty, both to oneself and to others.
Altogether a most enjoyable read!

Futility is valuable by the story preceeding the event. Futility demonstrates the futile idea that time flows from the PAST to the PRESENT and then on to the FUTURE. Futility is evidence of an old concept that the PAST, PRESENT, and FUTURE influence each other.

It would be valuable to have more information on how the author became aware of the story he recorded as FUTILITY.

Futility is for the literate mind, but it is not for the literary mind.

Having had a relative on the real RMS Titanic and having had the unique opportunity of meeting the first person off the Titanic, I feel very close to the entire saga of the ill-fated White Star liner. The fact that "The Wreck of the Titan or Futility" parallel the true events of the RMS Titanic is the only reason why people now want to read this book. The fact of the matter is that "Futility" is more of a short story or novella than a real novel.

The writing doesn't begin to compare with that of Ring Lardner. Joseph Conrad, or Jack London. The dialog is stilted and none of the characters are very well fleshed out.

At best "Futility" is nothing mare than a quaint curiosity.

It seems to me that Morgan Robertson writes this novel from a deep inner conviction. Futility: The Wreck of the Titan is mentioned in the book Akashic Records; in a chapter titled Discovering Insights Into Your Future. - a book about Edgar Cayce's readings. Many of us have read Futility because of its precognitive rumblings and remains a curosity even today over 100 years later. How can we tune into the future is our burning question? I believe this can be explained using the psychology of Carl Jung who said that the work of a true artist reflects the artist as well as the collective at large (Two World Wars followed this work and that was a collective madness). In this case I suspected that Morgan Robertson wrote this book because his psyche erupted with the material he put in his book. He was compelled because the unconscious was warning him of a pending psychotic break or a bout with insanity. Symbolically a ship is the carrier of the ego and for a ship to sink into the depth of the ocean is a sure indication that such an individual is in danger of going down into the unconscious - as the sea is a symbol of the unconscious. I feel this interpertation is supported by the fact that in the other part of the book Morgan writes about My Skirmish With Madness. It is a fact that often times an inner event will line up with an outer event (1400+ souls went into the unconscious) and the psyche, which is not limited by time or space can "see" into the future and tied Morgan's struggle with sanity to that future event of the Titanic. I am sure many of us have had precognative dreams. Jung's idea was that most books and works of art come out of our eruptions from the psyche in the form of fantasy and dreams and mirror our inner psychological state of affairs. The psyche struggles to keep each individual in balance and warning about a pending imbalance is a part of the psyche's functioning.

Nearly everyone today is familiar with the fateful, April/1912, maiden voyage of the Titanic - the largest oceanliner ever built. But few are aware that 14 years earlier, Morgan Robertson had already written about the fateful, April/?, maiden voyage of the largest oceanliner ever built in his novel titled "Futility"; only it was named the "Titan". No doubt few are aware of this because "Futility" was not well written and did not sell many copies a hundred years ago.

The novel follows the trials of an ex-Naval officer, John Rowland, who battled alcoholism after being rejected by a woman he had grown infatuated with. Struggling to pick himself up, he lands a job as a common sailor on the maiden voyage of the largest oceanliner ever built - the Titan. On board, he runs into his old flame who is now married and a mother. However, she falsely believes that Rowland is out to kill her child. He is able to redeem himself in her eyes when the Titan strikes an iceberg, sinks a half a page later, and he rescues her child from sea.

Robertson's account of the sinking of the Titan was extremely short and had little bearing on the author's plot, which lacked any spark or fire to it. The only thing worthy in this prose is the author's imagination that dreamt up the Titan - he was able to imagine what the world's largest oceanliner would eventually look like with such accuracy that he nearly guessed it's name to the letter! Both the Titan and the Titanic were 70,000-ton vessels that could do 25 knots and hold 3,000 passengers. Both hit an iceberg in April (because that's the month of icebergs), both were considered "unsinkable", and both sunk with a great loss of life because both did not have enough life boats.

While this novel fails to entertain, the coincidence between the Titan and the Titanic is the reason that this mediocre novel is still being read today. And if anyone has ever attempted to write a new movie script and then checked it with online library sites of movie scripts only to find out that their idea was already thought of, then they'll know that this passing mention of the Titan was not that big a coincidence. In another words, if a classroom of students were given instructions to write a one-page description on the futuristic invention of the world's largest ship, train, plane, or building and to name it, the similarities that result from their common cultural programming would be there in those description just as Robertson's Titan was there 14 years before the Titanic.

I think this is a book for persons wanting a subject overview. It contains a lot of discussions but, in my opinion, too few practical rules.

The process of aquiring and implementing the requirements for any project can be difficult. To read a book on the subject can be worse. This title succeeds where others fail. It is full of usefull resources and practical examples.

Project management and development is more an exercise is psychology than architecture. The Robertsons are aware of this and build their methods around human interaction.

I'm glad I read it. I learned quite a bit. The other books reccomended throughout this title are a great find and the recipe for the perfect dry martini is in fact quite accurate.

Jean-Charles
www.FlashCodersNY.org

There is some great content in this book, and the writing style is fun and engaging. But at the same time the book often goes here and there with lots of extraneous information, which while interesting, is also distracting.

The book covers conventional project management in a compelling and interesting way, and offers practical experienced based insights. Based on that I would give it five stars. The centering of the management process around requirements is a great idea. And the use of lo-fi prototypes is genius. So there is great content in here. But, unfortunately the distracting content and the sub-par quality of the illustrations leads me to give it a four out of five.

Still, if you are looking for a way to break out of the mold of your current development process. And you are looking for something that could lead to a more compelling product design for your customer. You may find the answer you are looking for in this book.

The title suggests that you will understand how a project can be managed from a requirements perspective. In actual fact the book is a treatise on how to create and manage software requirements during the requirements gathering phase of a project.

The book touches on important aspects of creating and managing software requirements such as writing testable requirements, creating use cases, drawing context diagrams, etc.

Some of the statements within the book are questionable. For instance (I'm paraphrasing), a requirement is not a requirement if you can't afford to build it. I've found that prejudicing requirements sessions with early budget and technical constraints is, at best, counter-productive.

Also, the discussion of the change control over requirements (and it's impact on the design, test plans, construction deliverables) is given short shrift within this text. The suggestion is made that if requirements were well done to begin with, there wouldn't be changes. Surely better requirements provide better requirements stability, but any project would benefit by a fairly robust requirements-led change control process.

The bottom line is this is a good text on software requirements and related practices, but not a classic text. For that you may have to look elsewhere.

The authors are from Britain and often make references to British companies in the book. So I was surprised and amused to see a photo of a tablecloth they'd scribbled on with ideas. It was from the Crocodile Cafe in Pasadena, Los Angeles. A restaurant I'd also often been to. Small world?!

The book has one key chapter. On inventing. Everything else is secondary. The authors discuss how you should strive to see what makes your company unique compared to its competitors. What is its core competence? Or your own, for that matter. Does your company offer a quicker response to customer queries? A quicker delivery time? An easier ordering process? They encourage you to think up new advantages. And to do this continually. They suggest that brainstorming once a month or less is not really brainstorming. Ditto for prototyping new gadgets or features. Innovation needs constant intellectual exercising.

This chapter is clearly the most hazy and frustrating of the entire book. So intangible compared to the other chapters, which describe processes that can be straightforwardly implemented. But this chapter is also the most valuable. Your ability to innovate faster than your competitors may ultimately be the only real advantage you have.

By the way, the book refers to eBay and says "Meg Whitman [the CEO] had the very simple inspiration of putting auctions on the Internet". Not so. It was the founder, Pierre Omidyar, who conceived of this. When Whitman came on board, eBay was already conducting these auctions.

I'm a recent born again Christian, baptized in the pilgrim tradition, and the 700 Club really woke me up that 89 percent of America identifies with a specific denomination, time for Manson wannabes to wake up as well. How have times changed, Miss bartender since being stuck up about your PC and your CDs? Patrick Roberston runs the 700 Club now its main chairman to reclaim white people's Christian heritage in America. He's southern Baptist, same as President Busch. I first got out of my juivenile satanic wannabe with the terrorist attacks of 2001, which was by the government of the United States on its own people. If a sizable percentage of the wealthy working class is getting on the satan bandwagon, that spells bad news for the 700 Club, the most dangerous Christian group in America besides the pilgrims. This is his life story in own words, with my only bitterness being that this is like reading something from Jim or Tammy Fay Baker, not an Amish or Quaker elder or pilgrim priest. They don't want you to watch the 700 Club once you become a member. Once you wake up and become a member, they want it to be a life long thing. Lord have mercy. Amen.

Outside of the Lord Jesus Christ I don't know of any man that has ever walked this earth that never sinned or made a mistake. For that very reason Jesus died to be the propitiation (substitute) for our sins and mistakes. Pat Robertson is a flawed man who sins and makes mistakes everyday. The only difference between him and most of us is that he's very well known and open to criticism by the unsaved or the mentally ascended who just doesn't get it.

Having said all of that; this book thrilled and inspired me in my Christian walk. To see a man with such faith to trust God in an area that he knew nothing about is simply astonishing. Pat expresses the hardship and adversities that he had to go through in fulfilling Gods perfect will in his life. At times they seemed almost unbearable, but Pat being the mighty man of faith that he is was not moved by his circumstances, but by the will and Word of God.

If you are "truly" seeking Gods perfect will in your life; this book is a must read. You will be so blessed by this book. God Bless.

This is one of the funniest books I've read in a long, long time; unfortunately for Pat Robertson, the comedy is all unintentional. The man who once claimed that feminism is "a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft and become lesbians" now tries to paint himself as every women's best pal; the man who claimed, in "The New World Order" that Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter and George Bush were doing the secret bidding of a hideous "cabal whose goal is nothing less than a new order for the human race under the domination of Lucifer and his followers" tries once again to be psychotic and credible simultaneously. (...)

Pat Robertson's photo should be placed next to the word egotistical in the dictionary. This autobiography is very well-written, as it should be by a Yale lawyer, but the work conveniently fails to mention some of Pat's life story, including his fathering an illegitimate child, his barefaced lying about his war record, and his father being a Freemason. Pat Robertson is a very intelligent, dangerous man.

The two reviews above are illustrative of the hate a good number of people in the U.S. have for the Christian faith. Willing to tolerate good little nebishes (if a Christian can be a neb) if they sit on their pews and keep their mouth shut; but woe to those who express a political or social opinion. Most wouldn't recognize the truth even after bitten. Pat does a good job in this book and I'll take his word, his intellect and his integrity over his truth-hater detractors' any day.

Ordered unseen and then attended exhibit. I was dissatisfied with color prints before exhibit and really disappointed afterwards. A graphic artist friend refused to buy the book after seing the color reproductions

SARGENT IN ITALY does what many catalogues set out to accomplish but few achieve - document a magnificent exhibition while creating an art history book of great substance. The catalogue for the travelling exhibition SARGENT AND ITALY mirrors the elegance of the painter's touch, the intense infatuation and observation of the painter's favorite places (Venice in particular), and the intellectual atmosphere in which all of these works were created. Everyone knows of John Singer Sargent's finesse with the portraits of the wealthy and with figure painting in the studio and out on location, but few have the knowledge that Sargent found just as much life and senusality in the landscape as he did in the beautifully gowned patronesses of his career. Author Robertson is careful to include the treasurable quotes from the works of Henry James and other writers which flank many of the paintings in the exhibition and in the book. James and Sargent were close friends and colleagues, and that quality of shared observation helps make this show and this book the successes they are. The only minor flaw in the book is the quality of color reproduction which tends toward the muddy, dim side - hardly what this painter of light was all about. But the paintngs here are in other volumes where they are not as graced with the written word as they are here. A fine exhibition and a very fine catalogue/book.

I am very impressed with the plates,unlike a number of other reviewers. I am an amatuer painter and have been using a magnifying glass to study Sargent's use of color and brushwork. The detail is incredible compared to many other books. OK, the color may not be as good as reality,but is it ever? Sometimes the saturation is overwrought in other books,and I find that even more disturbing.
Another book to see is "Sargent Abroad". Nice compilation. Also, please go to the best museums worldwide- You only live once,and seeing these paintings in reality is inspiring. Best: Musee D'Orsay-Paris (impressionism capital of the world), Natl Gallery-D.C., MOMA/Met/Whitney- N.Y.C., Chicago Art Inst. Enjoy!

for the content alone, this book is excellent. i lived a few blocks from the museum, so had the luxory to attend the exhibit during non peak hours maybe 7 or 8 times... wow. perhaps the most inspired I've ever been by another artist.

no, the reproductions are not perfect. but, i'd much rather have reproductions slightly on the green-side, than on the black side like most other books, where you cant *see* the content.

I just returned with a friend from the Sargent and Italy exhibit , and I had purchased this book before going and thought the repoductions lacked vibrancy and did little for me, and after seeing the exhibit my thoughts were confirmed and I was even more disappointed , and a friend of mine who is a retired graphic artist and attended the exhibit would not purchase the book based on the reproductions

Dugard surveys Mexican War history from the biographical angle - following the trajectory of the new class of professional soldiers graduated from West Point Military Academy through their early careers on frontier outposts and their first battle action as comrades in the disputed Tex-Mexican regions.

Dugard shows a deft touch in tracing the parabola forward 15 years to the Civil War when many of these great leaders, once great friends and brothers in blood, would face each other on opposite sides of the battle lines. By drawing the connections between these best-known leaders (primarily Grant and Sherman and Lee and Davis, as indicated in the subtitle) in the Mexican War, Dugard shows that he has learned the difficult principle of historical writing that sometimes the unsaid word conveys more than unneeded ones. Readers, better-educated on the leaders and battles of the Civil War, will draw the pictures of irony and poignancy in their own minds, and Dugard's book is better (and shorter) for it.

While Dugard traces some of the background and history of the Mexican War to set the stage and move the interactions between the principles forward, this is not an intended or exhaustive history of the Mexican War and its battles. It is an eminently readable account of how these men's careers were shaped and deflected by the Mexican War, and how those experiences prepared them for the epic conflict yet to come.

One thing that really jumps out is how personal the bonds of loyalty and national patriotism were at this early stage of American history. The now-familiar Stars and Stripes of the American flag was newly adopted, and the Mexican Conflict was the first fought under its red, white, and blue colors. In addition, the difference in standing, objectives, and accoutrement between the very small cadre of professional soldiers and the much larger corps of short-term, poorly-trained, and independently-led volunteers is a key component of the fighting and outcome of the Mexican War. In one of the more powerful passages of the book worthy of quoting at length, Dugard tells of the triumphant return home of Jefferson Davis after leading the volunteer Mississippi Rifles through the war:

"But Davis and the First did not step off those steamships in the garish red and white uniforms that once made them so easily visible. The State of Mississippi had sent a new outfit to the unit that was more in keeping with the national spirit. The new uniforms had reached them at the mouth of the Rio Grande. When the First Mississippi walked down the gangplank and back onto Mississippi soil, they now wore blue uniforms, just like their regular army brethren. And so, on that day, after a lively barbecue that included thirteen rounds of toasting, the military career of Jefferson Davis came to an end--in blue."

The mantle of united national power and patriotism, Lincoln's great accomplished objective of the Civil War (still undiminished in light of 145 years of history), blinds our backward-looking eye to the regional loyalty and feeling that pervaded those still-early years of the Republic. The personal bonds of loyalty, blood and friendship forged in the Mexican War overcame the regional disputes, political battles, logistical problems, and numerical disparity on those distant Mexican battlefields.

Dugard does a very good job of telling those stories of blood and loyalty.

Well written, easily understood exposition on a relatively unknown chapter of American History. I particularly enjoyed this glimpse into some of the formative experiences of so many of the men who would play major roles in the Civil War.

Did you know that George Pickett would become "something of a cult figure for graduating fifty-ninth in a class of fifty-nine and then later led one of the most famous cavalry charges in the history of modern warfare"? On page six, this book imparts the astounding historical fact that Pickett's Charge was mounted. 145 years, millions of words, hundreds of book, thousands of prints and paintings but Martin Dugard found the truth. However, there is no footnote proving that Pickett's Division road to battle on July 3, 1863. Without that little detail, I will continue to think they were an infantry division and the men walked both ways.
The dust jacket says Dugard is a "bestselling author of non-fiction", while that may be true, he is not a historian. The book has multiple direct quotes and no footnotes to support them. At the end of the book is a section entitled "Selected Notes and Biographies" that is designed to make the book appear to be a serious history.
The book is readable but neither a history of the War with Mexico nor a history of the men involved. This is a series of stories, strung together about men who would be generals in another war. At best, it is a readable introduction. At worst, it is full of errors, misquotes and misstatements.

A history book that you cannot put down. Dugard impeccably details the landscape of war and the tremendous strength, loyalty, leadership and courage of young men faced with insurmountable circumstances. The writing is fluid, informative, and rich. One of the many strengths of The Training Ground is the manner in which the chaos and brutality of war is contrasted with individuals and how their lives are forever affected. I've heard the term "page anxiety" used with history books. There is none to be found here. I found this book bold, informative and told from a perspective lacking in its genre. An exellent, excellent read.

I was very disappointed with The Training Ground. It is a good read but you can't trust it. There are numerious factual errors. On page 160, Mr. Dugard states "He (Abraham Lincoln)was born in Kentucky and lived there until moving to Illinois at the age of 22." Maybe Mr. Dugard considers the 14 years that the Lincoln family spent in Indiana as just passing through? The Lincolns moved to Illinois when Abe was 21 and they had lived in Spencer County Indiana since he was 7.
When I started the book, I hoped to learn more about men that I knew mostly from the Civil War. The farther I got into it, the more I felt a need to double check Dugard's statements

Of all the patristic works on the interpretation of Scripture, the De Doctrina Christiana ranks as the preeminent work of criticism. Both practical and theoretical, the work is much to be enjoyed for the succinctness of phrase and the pellucid and perspicacious development of its central argument.

Certainly, the work is fundamentally pragmatic in nature: It is advice--originally for the priests of the diocese of Hippo--on correct biblical interpretation. However, it is much more than that. St. Augustine in many ways forms the groundwork for modern hermeneutics and semiotics in this text. In his discussion of charitable and concupiscent interpretations, he illustrates the nature and basis of a Christian interpretational praxis. In referring to the need for interpretation to be undertaken within, and submitted to, the community of the Church, he anticipates Stanley Fish's theory of interpretive communities.

But even more than this, the De Doctrina is a guide for living the Christian life. St. Augustine notes that symbols point us toward that which is to be enjoyed, God the Three-in-One. In this way, St. Augustine illustrates the absolute immanence of God within all Creation, a latency which, with the proper hermeneutical framework of charity and faith, will burst forth with the utter effulgence of God Incarnate.

This is a magisterial work, of interest both to Christians and non-Christians alike. This work will be especially helpful to those considering the problems of semiotics and hermeneutics or those who want better to access the densely multivalent world of medieval allegory.

And I cannot recommend more highly D.W. Robertson's translation. It is engaging without being ponderous. The introductory essay is also well done.

When I ordered this item the description said it was unabridged. After it arrived the CD case had a more in depth description. It turns out to be unabridged and edited. How can you get an unabridged reading of an edited reading? Plus the CD case further describes On Christian Doctrine to be of great assitance to the Reformation. Saint Augustine's writings are being twisted, contorted, and parceled out if that is the summation. I would have appreciated these revelations to have been in the descrition provided by Amazon so as to not have wasted my postage having to return the item.
I gave the item one star simply because it was required for posting the review.

One author has said that Augustine can be "easier to read than many modern books about him." Nowhere in his writings have I found this to be more true than "On Christian Doctrine." This little text was so compelling that I literally could not put it down (though that may reveal more about me than it). It essentially outlines Augustine's program of Hermeneutics which often contrasts strongly with standard methods of the periods before and after him, while remaining reminiscent of both eras. Some particular points of interest:

-He insists that the author's intent should be the arbiter of meaning unless the text seems to be in contrast to what is clearly taught throughout scripture, at which point allegory is to be employed
-He suggests that mistaken interpretation of a particular passage is not too grievous an error as long as the interpretation remains true to the general testimony of Scripture
-He suggests that interpretation is difficult but that the best way to progress is to read and memorize as much of it as possible until it is intimately familiar
-There is a theologically interesting chapter in which he uses the passage about the bread as Christ's body as an example of the sort of passage that cannot be taken literally

A 1700 year old text obviously isn't going to work as a contemporary manual of interpretation, but for its value in historical theology, understanding the development of Biblical interpretation and insight into the mind of one of the Christianity's greatest pastoral minds this is well worth the money and 100 or so pages.

I found this book to be a bit dated. It has some helpful advice, but it's been said much better and more understandably in other books. Much of it is a guide on how to read the Bible. However, I have many of Augustine's writings (and this is no exception) to be too metaphoircal and cryptic. That style is ok for some things, but it's no good for explaining something as practical as how to read the Bible. Also, it was (understandably) rather dry. For a better book on the same subject, I would suggest Fee & Stuart's "How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth."

As the mother of five that relied on childcare during the many years of single parenting I think we tend to concentrate too much on the elite and their need for childcare. The notion that this childcare contributes to the foreign exchange is a little off base when in reality it contributes to an underground economy because the salaries are mostly off the books and taxes are not paid in any form. Safety issues also arise when you consider that most of the illegeal aliens caring for our children have never had childhood immunizations, and refuse the TB test. This may sound unimportant and nit picking but the reality is diseases we thought were erradicated like whooping cough can be traced to the unimmunized worker. Leaving your children behind to take care of mine is something we as a nation should give more thought about.

...Nevertheless, this book gives the reader valuable insight into the impact and opinions of women migrant workers in the service trades. All of the anthologized authors write in an accessible style free of academic jargon. I was particularly interested in the articles which did not have an American viewpoint and which presented the views of the women (and occasionally men) involved. For example, in various essays we get to meet Dominican women in the sex trade hoping to form relationships with European men; a college-educated Vietnamese women entering into an arranged marriage with an immigrant man holding an unskilled job in the U.S.; Filipina household workers laughing about the rules proposed by prospective Hong Kong employers; and a Sri Lankan man taking over the traditional woman's role to assist migrant relatives working in Saudi Arabia.

There are some gaps here, such as the lack of first-person narratives and the views of Eastern European women working in Western Europe, but no anthology can be all-inclusive. This book is a good start and will be an intersting learning experience for most readers.

Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy, edited by Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild, Metropolitan Books, Holt & Co, 2002.

Most of us are well aware of the patterns of illegal immigration which bring numerous undocumented workers to the US and other developed countries from less developed countries. Those who work in agriculture, lawn care, and low paying jobs like janitors are well known. This book takes a detailed look at female migrant workers. These include maids, nannies, nurses, those who care for the young and elderly and extends to those kidnaped or sold into the sex slave trade and those who seek marriageable partners in developed countries to obtain visas. A single mother can earn enough in a developed country as a nurse, a nanny or as a prostitute to leave her children behind in the care of a relative and pay for their education and daycare. This process gives her children access to a better education that can lift them out of poverty.

This book is a collection of essays authored with assistance of researchers from numerous third world countries. The sociological aspect is consistent with Ehrenreich's usual works--always rich with social commentary. This time she functions as editor and provides one chapter from her earlier experience at Merry Maids as told in Nickeled and Dimed. Hochschild is professor of sociology at Berkeley.

The major migratory pathways for women are described generally as from south to north. In the US, African American women accounted for 60% of domestics in the 1940s. They have now been replaced by Latinas mostly from Mexico and Central America. In Europe migrants come from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. In the oil rich Mideast, many come from Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Phillippines, and Sri Lanka. In France, they now come from Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria; in Italy, from Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Cape Verde. Generally, migrants have replaced those who once came from poor rural areas of their own countries.

Several chapters on nannies and their problems are especially informative. The hours are long, overtime is seldom paid, time off it minimal, workers are sometimes farmed out to other families, or required to travel with the family on "holiday." The children often become attached to the nanny as part of the family, but this can result in jealousy on the part of birth mothers. Many nannies leave abruptly after an argument.

Various aspects of the sex trade are explored. In the Dominican Republic, married women may voluntarily go to the larger town of Sosua to work as prostitutes in the sex tourist industry. This good money is used to pay the family bills, but husbands sometimes spend the funds on alcoholism and gambling when the wife is away. Some prostitutes hope for a marriage proposal from German tourists. In Thailand, in the less prosperous mountain districts, daughters once were sold into sex slavery when the economic survival of the family required it. Now, rapid industrialization and rising standard of living have created major growth in sex tourism. Industrial workers have more money to spend on prostitutes. Mountain Thais now are more willing to sell their daughters to fund the purchase of electronics and other consumer goods.

In Viet Nam, the war killed many males and a disproportionate number of males were able to migrate to the US after the war. This has resulted in an over abundance of females. Educated females become un-marriageable. Arranged marriages with US citizens is one solution to this problem.

This book provides perspective on another aspect of the woman's rights movement in developing countries. Apparently several previous books have issued, but this subject has received little attention in the overall scheme of immigration policy. I saw no discussion of how these problems should be addressed. Presumably better laws are needed as well as a willingness to enforce existing laws in the case of the sex slavery and sex tourism. Different solutions seem appropriate in the case of licensed nurses who are aided in getting visas to fill a real shortage. The presence of undocumented migrants working as nannies and domestics is yet another problem. Perhaps different solutions are needed for each group. Mixing all of them in a single volume confuses the issues. The book lacks the impact it could have had.

This book is nicely done and thought provoking, but the absence of proposed solutions is a major omission. A collection of charts provide details of the female migrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index.

In brief essays, the authors present generally unbiased academic discussions of the globalization of female workers. Though hardly a new phenomenon, it has dramatically increased in the last 50 years and is a topic that is deserving of this type of examination. The topics are clearly delineated between domestic workers, cheap labor and the sex trade - however, there are unfortunates whose experiences range from one to the other out of necessity, desperation or coercion. This harsh reality of the vulnerability of these women is discussed with jargon-free, scholarly precision. Excellent for libraries, research and the well-read individual.

This is the biggist load of crud I have eva read in my life, 3 kids in my class commited suicide when reading this book.

Really this is a great book i have newver before seen something that can so easily empty my stomach and I am just amazed that such a gory description of death and murder can be written in english beats a trip to the morgue anyday

Really this is a great book i have newver before seen something that can so easily empty my stomach and I am just amazed that such a gory description of death and murder can be written in english beats a trip to the morgue anyday

Harp in the South givs the readers an over view of what happened in the early 1940's in the city of sydney and the suburb of surry hills. the darcey family tell a story of what happened during there days at plymonth street and it shows us the experience they had during their lives in sydney. Harp in the South experiences alot of pain, hardship and the joys and saddness that people of the lower middle class experience........