Smith Books

Great author, great writing. My guess is that Wren Journeymage will come out around June 24th (2006!)

Overall, a wonderful book, and a wonderful series. My Thoughts is that in"Wren to The Rescue" we'll see a develooping relationship between Wren and Connor. Also, my suspect is that Wren is part Iyon Dain (Hope I spelled that correctly).

While I enjoyed all three Wren books, I found this one to be a little weak in the end. The war ended somewhat abruptly. I also felt that, while it was obvious the author wanted to leave things a little open-ended for a potential sequel, there were loose ends that should have been tied up before finishing the story.

Generally I think it was a good book, but it could have been better.

Hopefully it isn't just a quartet =P

Anyway, this series is simply fantastic! A friend recommended it to me, so it bought it, all three of them. Guess what? I finished all of them on the same day. And no, I don't usually finish multiple books in one day. I absolutely love her writing style, it's not difficult to read, and extremely lively and interesting. I have no idea why hardly anyone knows of her books, they are simply fantastic! As for the books, I especially loved the ending to Wren's War ;)

ps. Does anyone know of any good Wren fanfiction out there? I can't find any, FanFiction.Net has very little. Thanks.

Hello! Got good news to tell you, Wren Journeymage is coming up in 2005 or somewhere around there. Just heard it myself! I am happy as anything.

Anyway. Wren's War was fantastic. I like it that Sherwood Smith didn't focus the whole thing with Wren as the heroine all the time. She gave Wren's friends a chance to shine as well. Yup. You HAVE to read this.

Written from a male point of view, I wasn't sure if I'd like it. However, I was so enthralled; I couldn't put it down. I laughed, gasped, cried and rejoiced with Joel in all of his struggles and triumphs.

Joel lays it out in his own words, the good, the bad and the ugly. His marriage is shattered and his life is in ruins until he learns the power of forgiveness. When tragedy strikes, he uncovers a greater truth that brings both pain and joy. A realistic, gripping novel unlike anything you've read before. An excellent book for your summer reading list.

Not only does Annette Smith nail the male protagonists voice, she grips the reader by the collar and doesn't let go until the last page.

Joel Carpenter is in love with his wife Kari, but like so many people, gets a little lost along the way and finds himself divorced and a single dad.

While this story has a few over the top tragedies, Smith pulls them off flawlessly. I tried to imagine being Kari and Joel and I'm not sure how well I'd endure.

The story is southern and well told. Smith even writes in such a way there's no doubt Joel is telling the story. Joel says, "me and him" instead of "he and I." So very real!

It takes a lot for me to finish a book these days. Time permitting, I would've read this in one sitting. Teared up at the end, closed the book and just sat, thinking, letting it soak in.

Bravo, Annette. I highly recommend A Bigger Life.

I don't know if I'm getting soft or what, but it was all I could do not to bawl like a baby. Wow, last time I read a book by a woman I hated it, but I gave it another chance and am so glad I did. I read it in the same day I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. I'm not sure what else to say besides it's fantastic, just don't read it around anyone who you're not comfortable with, because even though you may not shed tears you'll get choked up for sure!

'A Bigger Life' was delightful. It left me thinking about it weeks, months after reading it. I am now recommending it to all my friends and family to read! It will touch you on many different levels. You will laugh, cry, and want to learn more about Joel. He becomes your friend. It is my favorite book!

This book made me cry but not for the obvious reasons i.e. a sad storyline. The beauty which brought tears to my eyes was the love that was apparent within the characters....between husband and wife, friends, church members, as well as acquaintances. I especially appreciated the imperfect nature of each of the characters. Somehow that made them so much more real and therefore likable to me. Ms. Smith obviously has a gift for storytelling, for she created a memorable tale, told from a young father's point of view. There is so much to be taken from his journey towards redemption and it's a story that is sure to stay with you for a long time.

Thank you for another terrific book. The characters and story realistic. Did not want it to end. So looking forward to your next book.

Deborah Smith at her finest! As engrossing and entertaining as A Place to Call Home. The rural south is depicted as it should be. The warm, friendly and unique characters are so vivid, I think they are my neighbors. Don't miss this one.

I enjoyed the book. I have read all of Deborah Smith's books and like this one. NOt her best book (A Place Called Home) but a nice read. I recommend it.

The Crossroads Cafe follows the lives of two strangers, Cathryn Deen and Thomas Mitternich as they first become friends and then something more. Both have been scarred by life - Cathryn is physcially scarred when she is horrifically burnt in a car accident, and Thomas is mentally scarred by guilt and depression following the death of his wife and son in the World Trade Center on September 11th.

The book alternates between Cathy and Thomas's point of view, a style which lends itself very well to the story and we get to experience the events that unfold through both of their eyes.

Following the car accident, Thomas is persuaded by Cathryn's cousin (Delta, owner of The Crossroads Cafe) to phone the hospital posing as Cathryn's husband so they can find out what's happening to her. Unbeknownst to them, Cathryn's husband has already distanced himself from her and isn't visiting her. It is the phone calls and packages from Delta that give Cathryn the strength to keep going, even when she's reached rock bottom.

Meanwhile, Thomas has problems of his own. An alcoholic, he hasn't come to terms with the death of his wife and child, holding himself responsible for their loss. When Cathryn returns to her grandmother's North Carolina home to make a new life for herself, she gradually begins a relationship with Thomas, that will eventually heal them both.

In a way the relationship between Cathy and Thomas starts before either of them have ever met. Thomas writes to her, filling her in on the things that are happening in the North Carolina community. It gives her something to hold onto, when she feels like she has nothing left.

The book deals with a difficult subject matter for both Thomas and Cathryn, but it is full of witty, wry, self-depracating dialogue that brings a smile to your face, whilst at the same time taking you into the hearts of the characters and their community.

Although the initial scenes of the accident are intense, for the most part the book has a slow pace that draws you into the world of The Crossroads Cafe. You follow the burgeoning relationship between Cathy and Thomas, their progression from friends, to lovers, to family. Towards the end I felt like the plot had lost it's way a little bit, and maybe it was slightly longer than it needed to be, but this is a book that I would come back to re-read again and again.

Deborah Smith is a wonderful author. Her characters become real. I am not from the South, but I feel like I am while I am reading her wonderful books. I wish the Crossroad's Cafe was closeby. I am hungry for biscots and gravy.

HOW TO SURVIVE A HORROR MOVIE: ALL THE SKILLS TO DODGE THE KILLS is, on the surface, a satirical look at horror movies and slasher films. But author Seth Grahame-Smith is not merely dismissing horror films as hackneyed dreck; rather, he is having a ripping good time by poking fun at the well-known cliches of a genre he obviously loves, and he's inviting other genre fans to come along for the joyride. Parodying those nuclear-holocaust, natural-disaster, and Y2K survival manuals that were ubiquitous in the 20th century, the book's format is simple: the reader is asked to put himself or herself in the position of a horror-movie victim, then the author offers "experienced" instruction on how to avoid the various perils the reader is likely to face in common horror-film scenarios. Admittedly, those who are not horror fans probably won't get all the jokes and gags, but this pseudo survival guide is a hilarious and nostalgic romp through the conventions of cinematic horror that is certain to delight and entertain hardcore fans of the genre.

Excellent parody of those military, natural disaster, camping survival guide books that by the end of it has you ready to survive when it suddenly dawns on you - hey this situation looks like I'm in a horror movie! Oh no what do I do? If you're not sure you are in fact actually in this situation a handy chapter at the front will allow you to be sure.

Various chapters that follow are Slasher Survival School, where you'll learn about the five types of slashers and how to defeat them. What to do if you did something last summer, how to survive a night babysitting and much more. Inanimate Evil - The Manmade Instruments of Death teaches readers how to survive a haunted house, an evil vehicle, killer doll and importantly how to tell if an object is indeed evil. Crypt-Ography-Ghosts, Zombies and the Reanimated basically teaches you how to survive against various undead foe. Plus this chapter makes a good point against those killing zombies not really being "big man" type heroes, pointing out how slow these things move, their minimum brain capacity meaning you could just run away instead of stupidly barricading an isolated house and so forth.

Fangs of Fury - Aliens and Beasts tackles space set movies, aliens, as well as animals back here on earth. Chapter 666 The Satanic Versus-Curses Demons and The Devil Himself teaches those rural readers amongst us what to do if your cornfield is infested with children. For everyone how to perform an exorcism, what to do if you've only got 7 days to live and the biggest task of them all, how to defeat Satan, where girls, you'll learn the male population, well if you come across Satan you'll be wishing you were a man.

If humorous human peril survival guides against what we hope we will only ever come across in the movies, is your type of thing, also get Max Brook's The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead as well as Daniel H Wilson's How To Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion.

The Superman Handbook: The Ultimate Guide to Saving the Day and The Action Hero's Handbook: are also good tongue in cheek entertainment themed survival guides. Whilst not survival guides How to Rule the World: A Handbook for the Aspiring Dictator and Hardly Working: The Overachieving Underperformer's Guide to Doing as Little as Possible in the Office are also good and written in the same sort of tongue in cheek style.

This book is hilarious and so well-written. I picked it up in a theater gift shop while waiting for friends, and ended up buying it to give to someone who loves horror movies. But I had to read it myself before passing it on. It's great - so funny.

This Book is hilarious from the begining till the end. Basically all the questions you ask yourself while watching a horror movie is in this book.The writer covers everything like the rules in I know what you did last summer.Do not read this book in company of people they will think you are nuts for laughing constantly.

I have to hand it to the author, he certainly knows his horror movies. This book was fun to read; very entertaining and brought back a lot of memories about many of the horror movies I'd seen. If you want some light, funny, laugh out loud reading, this is a great book to read. I'm still boggled by the author's knowledge! Fun read!

WOW!!! This book was fun in more ways then 1. You have love, loyelty, and betrayal. This book was just so amazing, I can hardly begin to put it into words!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I became so engrossed in the plot and the characters that I could not put it down and felt for the characters as if they were old friends. There was no more appropriate way to conclude their stories, bittersweet as it was. I found myself in tears at the end and their stories have stayed with me. This is a talented author and I look forward to more from her. The Aspect of the Crow series is another that I can highly recommend. If you like dynamic characters and a truly engrossing and original story, read this one!

Okay this is my first review ever of a book here but after reading it I have to say buy this book. I kept seeing this book pop up under searchs looking for new authors and finally bought it as an ebook. The story of Gianna and Lucifer is great. It is a lot of dialog so if you want less of that it may not work for you but the story flows so well I read it on one day. When I had read that it made people cry I was sure it wouldn't happen to me. I even figured out about halfway through what would happen but when it does happen you still can't help but cry. I will be buying this book in hardcover or paperback just so I have a copy for my all time favorites shelf. Have I said buy this book yet? BUY THIS BOOK!

I feel like an ogre saying this, but I just couldn't get into the book like so many of the other reviewers said they had. The characters were endearing and in some cases funny, but I didn't care for the writing style. I felt as though I was reading a movie script instead of novel. The book consisted mostly of dialogue. I needing more from the writer so that I may picture the scenes and emotions. Words alone just didn't do it for me. Sorry.

this is the first book purchased for Kindle. And I'm writing this review from my Kindle, too. I loved everything about this book. It's much, much more than the paranormal romance that the synopsis made it out to be. There's a healthy dose of theology and philosophy and truly engaging characters. It's beautifully written and I find myself thinking about the book even when I'm not reading it. Completely re-readable.

Superbly written book, wonderful use of the English language.
Here is a graphic account of the stresses, dangers and life of a WW1 fighter pilot. Anyone who is interested in this period should read this and then read it again. An awe inspiring piece of work.

In doing some family history research I established that an 18 year old relative had died in a mid air collision while flying a Sopwith Camel in the same area and at the same time this story is set. I was searching for some literature that could give me some understanding of what this brave young man had experienced. I could not have found anything that could have been more compelling reading or had more of an emotional impact than this superbly written account of the machinery and the time.

A ripping yarn, a must for aviation enthusiasts, replete with explicit and graphic flight scenes. The philosophizing seems more 1930's than 1918, but that's when the author published it. The way the author/hero deals with the loss of comrades is skilled writing, evoking the banality of having to get on with the job without mourning. i'm not qualified to comment on any authenticity of the feeling expressed/felt but it stands out from others of the genre for that reason. for me, it ranks with Sagittarius Rising, and Derek Robinson's work. the author enjoys spiking the sometimes purple prose with neologisms and entertaining latinisms; a trait i enjoy but others shouldn't have much trouble ignoring.

I really can't understand all the 5 stars this got because other than a short, brilliant chapter on flying the camel, it just goes on and on and on and...you get the idea. Plot summary: get up and fly, dodge archie, come back to base, maybe somebody dies, get drunk, do it again tomorrow. That's pretty much it folks. Don't look for any plot development or character development here. There is some philisophical rambling about the meaning of the war which should rightly be included in any war book. Never goes anywhere. it was hard to actually finish the book but i was curious to see if it actually every "took off and flew". final verdict? down in flames! Want my copy free?

Based upon the author's own experiences in the RFC in 1918 here is the complete story of the war in the air on the western front. 148 sorties, the slow inexorable death of friends and squadron mates one at a time until only a squadron of ghosts is left, dogfights with Fokkers, air superiority over the Huns, death in the air, flamers (the worst way to die!), Archie, getting tight in the mess each evening singing rousing songs and smashing furniture to relieve the tension, dropping bombs, low altitude ground strafing, slaughtering ground troops with your machine guns until it sickens you, downing two seaters, mechanical failures of your Sopwith Camel while waiting for the new Snipes to arrive from England,gliding or limping back to the lines and safety, mid-air collisions, influenza turning to TB. It is all there. Highly recommended. This is the best book on the war in the air in WW1 I have ever found. Read it, and then read it again. It is that good.

I was a bit disappointed in these books, because I love the Crown/Court Duel books so much. These are not like them at all. They seem to be for much younger girls, and there's no romance or anything.

And it was weird but I did not really like Wren. I know I was meant to, but she just seemed like too much of a typical, plucky, orphaned heroine - and she was too matter of fact and accepting of all these amazing events. It wasn't realistic, and I know it's fantasy, but shouldn't the characters still feel real?

I have only read these books once - and I re-read EVERYTHING - so that tells you that they're not that great. But they are probably okay for younger readers.

The book I am reviewing is called Wren To The Rescue by Sherwood Smith. I think this story deserves five stars. It's about a girl named Wren trying to save a friend named Tess who is a princess. The problem is a evil king named Andres kidnaps Tess. Wren attempts to save her friend with the help of a magician and prince. She may just do it. I really recommend this book to everyone. Other books are Wren's Quest and Wren's War.

Emerson, NJ Fifth Grader

After I read Crown Duel, I couldn't wait to read other books by Sherwood Smith. I picked up "Wren to the Rescue", and began reading. I couldn't put it down! After reading Crown Duel, I thought NOTHING could even compare to it--I was wrong. "Wren to the Rescue" has the same nose-glued-to-the-page quality, plenty of action and adventure, lovable characters, and of course, majic. Normally, I'm not really into the whole "evil sorcerer/sorceress-mystical power-wizard school" thing, but this is different. The type of majic that Smith portrays is almost believable, and not the traditional witchcraft that many other books these days are about. I can't wait to read the other two in the series: "Wren's Quest" and "Wren's War"! I would reccomend this book to anyone, but people ages 10 and up will probably enjoy it to its fullest. Happy reading!

Wren to the Rescue is a great read! It keeps you hooked and after you read it, you'll run to find the sequels! I just finished reading it for the second time, and it was just as good as I remembered it.

Wren, an orphan at Three Groves Orphanage, finds out that her friend Tess is really a long lost princess, hidden there because the wicked king Andreus wants to kidnap her. Wren is invited to come back to the palace in Cantirmoor with her friend. Unfortunately, the day after they arrive, Andreus strikes and Tess is spirited off to his stronghold in Senna Lirwan. Wren, being the spunky girl that she is, is not content to sit back and watch everyone else search. She uses a magic spell she saw to transport herself to the magic school, and from there decides to run off with a young magic prentice, Tyron, to rescue Tess.

They decide to find the mysterious mage Idres Rhiscarlan, to see if she will help them. When she refuses, they set out on their own to try to prevent the coming war. After a while, they are joined by Connor, Tyron's friend and a prince. After many adventures, involving warrie beasts, secret passages, bridges, armies, thieves and chraucans, they make it into Senna Lirwan.

Wren drinks from a poisoned stream and Andreus tries to take her, but Idres somehow pops back into the stream and saves her, turning Wren into a dog in the process! Poor Wren! But it doesn't seem to bother her all that much, though she is in danger of being a dog forever.

However, more problems soon come their way. Connor has a terrible secret, Wren's friends are captured, and she must find a way to rescue them alone AND get Tess out, before she becomes a dog for good! How does she do it? Read the book to find out!

Though not on the par of Crown and Court Duet. This book was obviously written for a younger audience, without the same prose, (...) tension, or interesting plot twists that were present in Crown. Still, an absorbing and pleasant read. Recommended- especially for young adults.

This book explains gradually more sophisticated principles of declarer play in a clear, concise manner. I'm a recreational player trying to succeed in local ACBL club play, and this book teaches a progression of skills to understand and incorporate into my play. For me, the detail, number of examples, and chapter quizzes are about right. Understanding the principles and actually applying them in competitive play are two very different things, but this book clearly shows me the path I need to follow to raise my game.

An excellent, clearly presented over-view of conventions. Very easy to use and with clear large type face, easy to read.

I know of no book that conveys the most popular bridge-playing conventions as painlessly as Barbara Seagram and Marc Smith's remarkable TWENTY-FIVE BRIDGE CONVENTIONS YOU SHOULD KNOW. They are all there, patiently explained, with examples drawn from appropriate circumstances and topical quizzes following immediately.

Generally, the book starts with the basic conventions like Takeout Doubles and Blackwood and progresses to the more esoteric ones like Reverse Drury and Roman Key Card. We might argue about the exact order these conventions appear; Ms. Seagram is BIG on the Jacoby Transfer and its big brother, the Texas Transfer. Should people really learn those before they learn about Cue-bid Raises and Balancing? But that is a small wrinkle in such an excellent presentation; if you and your partner prefer to skip a lesson or two and come back later, this book will serve well anyway. Deserves a place on every good bridge-player's shelf.

Easy reading, with good explanations of why you should use that convention. Great examples at the end of each chapter. As a beginner I highly recommend this book.

If you are looking for a bridge book that covers the most common conventions out there in the "bridge world"...this is the book for you. This book covers all the essentials to learn and understand the most popular bridge conventions. It does it in an easy to understand and precise manner. You will feel confident after reading and studying. The one feature missing.....doesn't give you the opportunity to practice much on each convention. You will have to play to learn that. But this book is worth the price to increase your playing power.

This is a really great book, but i can't find it anywhere! If anyone here knows where i can get it, can you e-mail me at sharabear@hotmail.com? I'd appreciate it!

peace

I love the art in this book. Every time I look at the illustrations it makes my heart beat faster. Really it is a joint effort between two very talented and creative people. If you like art that is not very Thomas Kincade-ish, Keep your eyes peeled for this book. Thanks Jimmy A. Thanks Kevin.

I truly love this collection of poems and artwork. It's truly a collectable. Essentially, poetry is personal, so you'll have to judge for yourself, but here are the ones that really impressed me the most:

SECRET INTRUSION
CAPTURED
TREE CLIMBER
YOU GAVE ME AWAY
ENDEAVORING TO BE WILD
VANITY
SOME THINGS ARE BETTER LEFT UNSAID

Also, the artwork by Jimmy Abegg which illuminates the background of each poem is bold and brilliant. I only wish I owned an original piece. Enjoy.

I love Kevin Max, he's my role model and this book is totally amazing! If you love poetry, like me, then get it. The tape is good too, he has some emphasis in his voice than he does in "Alas My Love" or "There's A Treason At Sea" which is on the dc Talk CD's. Really good. I had to go to eBay and bid on it!

I heard about this inventive little poetry book after stumbling upon Kevin Max's very original and poignant musical album, "Stereotype Be." As a college English student and a lover of good literature and poetry, I was curious to see if Max's written words were as inspiring and lyrically original as his music, and I was willing to spend a little extra to obtain a copy of this rare book. Needless to say, I found myself captivated by this work, which is an intriguing exercise in untraditional but very well-written meter, rhythm, and vocabulary in contemporary poetry. In addition, Max's (writing as Kevin Max Smith, a last name I understand that he had dropped) themes are clear and his imagery is provocative, and while he doesn't attempt to be too abstract with his work here as most contemporary poets strive to be, he does present very well-written poems with simple messages and well-executed meter.

As I have stated, the most interesting aspect of Max's work is by far his exercise in vocabulary and meter. Max is very interested in maintaining traditional meter in most of his poems, bringing to mind, at least rhythmically, the best of Roethke and even Yeats. The poems in particular that demonstrate this talent are the excellent "Queen of the Nile," "Draw Nigh," and "Awake at Night." While these poems are never quite in perfect iambic pentameter, Max clearly knows his poetic devices and uses them effectively, creating his own interesting rhythms within the meter. Even in poems which are free-verse in nature, Max successfully keeps a steady rhythm throughout and displays some creative usage of assonance and particularly alliteration (a good example of both can be found in "My Reoccurring Desert Dream," "Vanity," and "Wilt Thou?"). I would say that this book must be best read aloud to appreciate Max's unique rhythm to its fullest potential (as all good poetry should be).

In addition, Max clearly engages in a breathtaking love affair with word play which is often so clever that the reader will only catch it after several reads. Take the poem "Jordan's Kiss and Then Some," in which Max cuts the word "Mother" in half at the end of a line, so that the word reads "Moth-/er." Here, we are given a clear description of this "mother." By simply cutting the word and emphasizing "moth," the reader understands the motivations and characteristics of this particular character. There are many little details thrown into this book similar to this example, and in addition, Max's vocabulary includes words I never thought could fit into a poem as well as he utilizes them. Words like "retroaction," "placation," and "kamikaze" somehow manage to find themselves seamlessly placed into Max's poems, and they manage to maintain both meter and rhythm. Who knew? Evidently, Max did.

Thematically, "At the Foot of Heaven" is a little more under whelming, but this doesn't make them at all disappointing. Clearly, this book is an exercise in meter and form, so if the themes and images are a bit simplistic, that is only because they were intended to be. Max's poems are not particularly long, but they all serve as interesting and complete thoughts unto themselves. He conjures up some fascinating images ("Tonight I wish to touch the stars./ To swing the moon in my cradle/ To pull the sky around my neck") but none of these images cast any question as to what direction he is going with them. Occasionally, Max finds himself with lines a little too simplistic in nature (i.e. "I would count ever speck of sand/ every bit of stardust to be with you"), but for the most part, he simply concerns himself with creating simple messages of love, faith, and humanity (indeed, the book is divided into sections with these titles) using extremely well-crafted poetic lines and some provocative, if obvious, metaphors and similes.

I must also note the fascinating layout of the book, which is actually a collaborative effort which an abstract painter named Jimmy Abegg, who I haven't heard of before or since. Mr. Abegg has a truly gifted eye for color and striking images, and his work compliments Max's tremendously. If for no other reason, this book is worth owning for Abegg's wonderful paintings. In addition, Max continues to exercise creativity in form often in fonts that he uses for many of his poems. Some of the fonts are so large that single words will overlap one another fill up entire lines. The result makes particular poems literally leap off of the page, in a creative approach that I have not seen before. Neither Max or Abegg are afraid to push boundaries in this book, and the creativity pays off.

A fellow student who is not an English major but who loves this book hit the nail on the head regarding its significance better than anything I could add: Max's fascinating use of form and simple messages very effectively bridge the gab between the literary world and the everyman who is not necessarily interested in reading poetry. Whereas this individual shied away from poetry in general, finding it too intimidating, this book, in its creativity and simplicity, made him want to take a second look at the literary world of poets. As the wonderful world of poetry seems to have lost its impact in America in this modern world (and most contemporary poets are starving), and that its appeal seems limited to English classrooms, such a statement pays Max the highest compliment imaginable. Indeed, after reading "At the Foot of Heaven," I am convinced that his unique style makes him one of the most gifted and promising contemporary poets currently writing in America. Keep an eye out for this guy.

The world contains two kinds of people: those who have read Mircea Eliade, and the deprived. In one reader's insignificant opinion he is worth 3 of Lévi-Strauss and 6 of Carl Jung.

Growing up immersed in Romanian folkways and Orthodox ritual, he was living in the archaic world of myth and symbol, so it's no surprise that he writes about it so convincingly.
He went to India to study Yoga when few Europeans had even heard the word; and while there (to fill the long lonely evenings,) he learnt Sanskrit, Pali and who-knows-what-else. His scholarship has you reaching for the oxygen-mask: he seemed to have read everything worth reading in at least 15 languages.
All but canonised in his native Romania, elsewhere he has fallen between two stools: too opinionated and subjective for the scholars, too scholarly for the public. But this hasn't stopped the pervasive spread of dummed-down versions of his ideas.

Eliade was one of those scholars (artists, poets) who keep returning to a stock of obsessions or key ideas, interpreting all and everything in their light. One such is the subject of this book: that distinction between the Sacred and the Profane, or holy things and ordinary things, so crucial for most ancient and religious cultures.
This is one of the best books to begin on (the other is "The Myth of the Eternal Return".) Nothing that I have ever read helps more in understanding the fabulous lost worlds of pre-modern thought, so often disparaged and misconstrued.

Yes, the sacred and the profane is discussed here. And guess what? They make sense. It's no secret, just sociology. Good sociology, too, none of your Discovery-Channel, sixth-tier, make every middle class viewer look down on those that are different from a Durkheim-style-deviance-arrogance and pray that they can forget just how screwed up they are kind of stuff. The good stuff. The meat, the bone and the marrow. Unapologetic, yet refined and in no way obscene. Great read. Well written, and, I can only assume, well-translated.

Be warned: The cover image on Amazon is not the one that comes on the book!!! The book you get from Amazon is a new-age style cover photograph of some half-photographed "natives" playing with a circle of candles. The nifty little negative portrait of the Triune God should have stayed. It was much more appropriate to the content.

I read this book with a great excitement. It tells people about essence of our religion. In my opinion, this book is quite good companion for religious comparison study.

Years ago, I was assigned this book in one of my university classes. I number it in my most memorable and personally influential works that I have ever read. At the time, I had just begun to study archaeology and had very little understanding of the concept of ethnocentricism. My personal way of thinking was very black and white. The only real experience that I had with the dichotomies of the sacred versus the profane at that point was my own experiences.

The Sacred and the Profane gave me an entirely different perspective. I began seeing how others saw religion, spirituality, ritual, and symbolism in slightly different ways. How certain experiences could be interpreted in a variety of ways to become personal and cultural beliefs. I also noticed how these beliefs permeated into everyday life. So began my interests in spirituality, symbolic dichotomies, and the varied beliefs of others.

I decided to read this book for a religion-course I'm taking, and I must say I'm happy I did! Mircea Eliade was a Rumanian historian of religions, philosopher and author, in addition to being a vaguely religious man himself. This book was written to serve as an introduction to the study of religion for new students and the interested layman, and it does so excellently. Eliade was interestingly enough a member of the Legion of the Archangel Michael, back home in Rumania, the organization of Corneliu Codreanu. In addition to this wonderful fact, he was also acquainted with Baron Julius Evola, so this is certainly one of "our own boys".

The book itself is, as the title implies, an attempt to show the difference between the archaic mans sacred conception of the cosmos, and the profane view of the world of today's "modern man". The first part of the book details the sacred space and the sacralisation of the world. What he means by this is the fact that so-to-speak all religions and the various races have traditions of themselves living near the centre of the world, axis mundi. This world pillar, known as Irminsûl to my own Germanic ancestors, was the place (mountain, tree, building, pillar etc.) where the world traditionally was highest and hence the underworld, the human world and the higher realm of heaven was connected the closest. The various races and peoples then thought that this was where Creation had begun, where the cosmos has flowed out from, and hence the most sacred space on Earth. Eliade then delves into some depth about this subject.

The second chapter is about holy time and myths. He shows how the archaic peoples thought of time as always recurring, going in cycles. The first break with this line of thought was with Judaism and later Christianity, who thought of history as a unique happening, centred on Christ and his coming. The archaic peoples did their rites and their religious cultism so that they could transform themselves back into the sacred eternal present time when the Gods performed the actions the myths mirror today.

The third chapter is about the holiness of nature and the comical view of ancient religion. He shows how ancient man conceived of their own role in the cosmos, and how their actions were supposed to mirror the actions of the creation of the cosmos. It's a very wide chapter that is difficult to summarize, but as everywhere else in the book he fills it up with example upon example from all over the world.

The final chapter is about the existence of humans and the holiness of life. He tells us how many traditions thought of the human body as its own cosmos. The opening at the top of the scull was the place where the soul would leap from at death, and hence some Indians have the tradition of crushing the scull of a recently deceased priest to ensure his soul's easy transcendence. He also mentions männerbunde and various initiations that served to give birth to man anew, after the initiation was complete, and the new sacred man arose. This chapter is also very wide and difficult to summarize, but the richness of the examples is splendid.

All in all, a book that is hard to characterize, but I've read it twice in two weeks now, so I guess that says it all. An excellent book that nearly is enough to make the most profane person catch a glimpse of the holy. Highly recommended!

(I read a different edition)