5 comments about Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith.

1. Traveling Mercies ranks as one of my favorites. Though my political viewpoint is quite different from the authors, her insights that illustrate how you could work around your own bias and experience the holy in your own human failings was totally up my alley.
   
   I was sorely disappointed by the venom that whacks you upside the head shortly after opening the book. I guess loving your neighbor as yourself only applies to those folks whose politics are not too far off from your own.
   
   I had to get it returned before it tainted my love of her other books. If it were not for those other writings I would have rated this book NO stars! I pray that her next offering will be more about faith than hate.



2. Anne Lamott is back in all of her glorious humor, angst, and wisdom. If you haven't discovered Anne yet, she is shock therapy for those of us who learned how to be religious before we learned how to be human.
   
   In Traveling Mercies, Anne shared her crooked journey through alcoholism, bulimia, and broken relationships to a connection with St. Andrews Presbyterian Church and Jesus. Now, in Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith, Anne shares the new challenges to her faith: The Bush Administration, her aging mother, menopause, the losing friends to illness, teaching Sunday School, and raising her teen-aged son, Sam. While many of her crises in Plan B are stock milestones of middle age they are no less poignant when rendered by Anne's pen.
   
   Anne's power comes from her unflinching authenticity, a scarce quality in the self-serving industry of memoir writing. Anne describes her life has it happens, without bothering to airbrush away her neurotic impulses and imperfections. Her self-depreciating humor and honesty creates a picture of spirituality reminiscent of Dostoevsky; we are all simultaneously noble and depraved. As I read Plan B, I laughed with Anne at her foibles and became more honest about my own.
   
   Anne Lamott, along with Fredrick Buechner, might be the best living Christian Author that you can't find at a Christian book store. Anne elevates cursing to a literary art form. More significantly, Anne is openly pro-choice and pro-gay rights. She addresses God as a feminine being. Some readers might balk at her left-wing politics. However, I'd challenge any reader to see Anne as more than the sum of her politics and ideas. Reading anything by Anne Lamott creates the opportunity to remember that God wills and works through your bad attitudes, flawed character, and humanity. Wading through Anne's positions is worth any personal risk you might feel. Encountering her writing style is a joyous experience and you'll bump into God's grace as often as you will step in piles of human frailty.
   
   Anne is back and triumphant.



3. I adore this woman for her faith, her wit and her unbelievable ability to keep on "keepin on" but the politics in this book just about drove me over the edge. I know, I know... to love Annie is to expect her political rantings. I kept reading and I did gleam little nuggets here or there of the Annie I know & love. It was worth the read, if only I could fast forward some of the politic heavy chapters.



4. I love Anne Lamott and this book is no exception. As always, she writes with honesty and humor about her everyday experiences. She helps me see the lighter and darker side of Christianity and life in general. I can relate to her foibles and rejoice with her in her human triumphs. I'm glad for Christian writers who I can relate to-not holier than thou, never make a mistake writers. I won't mention names. This book was a blessing.



5. I like Anne Lamott's writings but she continuously bashes the President in this book. I think this is uncalled for. Seriously. She hates the President instead of praying for him (and as another reviewer noted she should "love thy neighbor") it totally turned me off in this book. Thank goodness I got this one at the library and did not waste my money on this book. Very disappointing.

5 comments about Night.

1. This is the true story of Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. A religious Jew, Wiesel was a young boy during the German invasion. He and his family were taken captive by the Nazis and put into the concentration camps where he witnessed atrocities that destroyed his family and shattered his faith.
   
   Told simply and succintly, this first person account is haunting. Wiesel speaks with a numb detachment, sensationalizing nothing. He asks for no pity. He simply describes what he saw.
   
   It is only one person's point-of-view of perhaps the most important event in modern history, but his testimony feels as big as the Holocaust itself. That this is one of millions of stories that could be told is shocking again, even if you've seen movies or read other books on the topic. You come away from this book with a better understanding of what happened, and many unanswerable questions as to why it happened.
   
   As other reviewers have suggested, this book should be required reading for all high school students.



2. Night by Elie Wiesel is an excellent first hand account into the atrocities the Jew endured at the German prisoner and slave labor camps of World War II. This volume gives students additional connections into understanding the situations. Excellent version!!!



3. From the moment we had began on this book in our classes it was truly an eye opener. Words cannot describe the misery that was felt in each and every word this book had within. The book itself had casted night over all of us, especially me as we listened intently on what could be known as the most heart striking tale. From the start of the camp to the death marchings in the snow, the story gives a full eye account of the horror that was seen in the Nazi war. No story ever has been written so amazingly nor dramaticly as this. Yes, it touched me darkly and it burned deeply but this story, this story is something everyone should read because no one should forget what happened so long ago. You cant go your whole life without reading this book, its something that you should not miss.
   
   I give it a rating of five stars and I hope you, the reader, can also find that too.



4. As an English teacher, I have my ninth graders read this memoir every year. And every year, I am moved to tears. Not only does Mr. Wiesel tell of his devastating experience of dehumanization in the Holocaust, but he tells it with such eloquence and mastery of the English language, that one would wonder if he was always a writer. This is his first book and it reads like a story written by some of the greatest writers of the literary canon. Be forewarned that his story will change your perspective on life and will most likely you move you to tears as well. If it doesn't, than as my Pastor would say, "your wood is wet."
   
   You may be asking yourself, "why would I want to read something that will just get me upset?" My answer to that is that if we don't get upset, how can we facilitate change? Ignorance leads to bliss? No way--it leads to destruction. Furthermore, antisemitism hasn't gone away. And in the midst of the violence and hatred exploding in the middle east 63 years after Hitler was defeated, there are millions of people who once again want to annihilate the Jews and are devising plans to do just that. So this memoir must be read. Mr. Wiesels' story must be heard.



5. I received this item in a timely matter in great condition! Would do business with again!

5 comments about See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism.

1. A rambling CIA agent's tale of working in the Middle East pre Bush Administration. Baer recently appeared on television after the 2008 car bomb death of Imad Mugniyah in Syria and clearly knows about which he speaks because, in this 2002 book, he describes his investigation of the 1983 bombing of the American Embassy in Beirut and the death of William Buckley, the CIA agent. He fingers the killer. Beyond the scattered nature of his writing, the crazy dangerous life of this CIA agent is detailed including the bureaucratic handcuffs and leg irons placed on the operational side agents from home base at Langley. Baer, no friend of Anthony Lake, describes how the operations division of the Agency was hamstrung during the Clinton years. The Crown Book publishers editing is very poor; e.g., Aldrich Ames is Rick, Robert Hanssen is spelled Robert Hannsen. Sentences, often conversational in format, run on and off the page. The CIA editors were more exacting than the Crown editors who appear out to lunch at the time of final editing.



2. Excellent story that provides an inside view of life on the ground for CIA operatives.
   
   Much of the book revolves around the Middle East and Mr. Baer's search for those responsible for bombings in Lebanon. One name that comes up frequently was a terrorist by the name of Imad Moughniyah. This person was involved in the Beirut embassy and Marine barracks bombings, the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, kidnapping of Terry Anderson, hijacking of TWA flight 847, etc...By coincidence, Moughniyah was assassinated in Syria on the day that I finished reading this book. I must assume that was good news to Mr. Baer.
   
   Some of the stories he tells of bureaucratic ineptness do not engender a great deal of confidence in the CIA..."As the civil war in Afghanistan started to boil, I repeatedly asked for a speaker of Dari or Pashtun...to debrief the flood of refugees coming across the border...I was told there were no Dari or Pashtun speakers anywhere...Headquarters instead offered to send out a four-person sexual harassment briefing team."
   
   Near the end of his career, he seemed to descend into a self-destructive pattern of behavior that only got worse after he returned from the Middle East. In my opinion, he had spent so much time looking at the trees (and individual leaves) that he got lost in the forest.
   
   His closing comments, however, are right on the mark..."It all comes down to the point that we have to start listening to people again, no matter how unpleasant the message is."
   
   Overall a good book about very brave men who were willing to take significant risks for their country.



3. For those that think the goverment (not CIA) is here for you. This book should show you otherwise. For those conspiracy theorists...this should be right up your ally. Where is the justice in this country when such fine individuals can suffer through so much to keep us all safe....all in vain and all only so the richer can get richer. The government doesnt run this country, the "big oil" does. This will never change. Great book, great read.



4. Robert Baer's account illustrates how American intelligence gathering capability was decapitated by bureaocrats and politicians. The author paints a vivid picture of work in the field as humint (human intelligence)was relegated to the back bench. Our enemies could not have done better than our own political establishment in neutralising the CIA. This book tells it all.
   
   Kingmaker



5. This is probably the best memoir I have come across by a former CIA case officer. Baer is spot on when it comes to how government operates. Who could ever imagine that those in the field are often times prevented from achieving superior results by risk averse management, or that those in Washington are too concerned about politics and/or "drinking and whoring" to comprehend what's truly unfolding beyond our borders? The truth can be ugly.

5 comments about Tough Choices: A Memoir.

1. Loved the book and like who she is as a person. I would be interested in how she juggled home responsibilities with work. I say this not because she is a woman but when do people like her get their hair done, go to doctors appointments, buy clothes, workout? I would wonder the same thing about a male executive.



2. Weighing in at a scant 326 pages including an afterword, this book sucked the life out of me. I couldn't bring myself to read a few pages without the urge to fall asleep. In full disclosure, it was assigned reading and could have contained some thought-provoking concepts to reflect upon since my company is about to get absorbed into a much larger company. Unfortunately, the only thought that this book provoked in me was "when is it going to end?".
   
   After several soporific chapters about her childhood and early work experiences, the next portion of the book focuses on Carly's meteoric rise. Her assessment of peers and superiors were neatly grouped into camps of good versus evil much like Star Wars characters, for easy identification, I suppose. (Guess which ones were the ones that aligned themselves with Carly? Collect two points if you said "the good guys!"). Finally, we come to her undeserved and shocking downfall and dismissal from HP (and please note the dripping sarcasm). While she attempts to pass this book off as a way to provide her adoring public with the truth, to me it came off as vanity with a side order of revenge. She claims to have done some serious soul searching to understand why so many board members and other high ranking executives suddenly and without cause decided to pull the plug - but instead she chooses to offer up evidence of a conspiracy against her. Maybe she simply wasn't all that and a bag of chips?



3. I was really looking forward to learning about this extraordinary woman's experiences and keys to success. The book was hard to get into and the content often times was extremely detailed and kind of missed the big picture. In fairness, I couldn't even finish the book, so who knows, maybe it would have been fantastic in the end.



4. It is a well-written book about a female Executive in the technology world, who climbed the ladder in technology sector with hard-work, tenacity, risk taking and high intellect (ironically, with little or no understanding of technology). Carly may have made big mistakes during her tenure at HP as a CEO, but the book is not about HP and not about her failures in HP, it is about an Executive who made it there with painstaking effort in every step of her career. The book is extremely detailed to a point where it is like a management guidebook for those who are managers or want to be a manager one day.
   
   The later parts of the book on her HP career is particularly interesting for those who are curious about the boardroom dynamics of large corporations and the challenges that a CEO face as a board member.
   
   I would have loved to see more in her book on her personal life. She omitted those humanly aspects of living a normal family life as she dived into details of her AT&T, Lucent and HP careers and left aside the rest of her life. I highly recommend this book particularly to women in the technology sector since there is so much to learn from her. I really enjoyed reading this book from the first page to the last.



5. The two most prominent features on the cover are the author's name and picture. The content is no different from the cover. Carly this...Carly that...Carly the other...Not that a memoir should be much different than that but there is scant humility and less personal responsibility.
   
   There can be no doubt that it is well written and even interesting. The events recounted in this memoir make for an interesting read--even if it is skewed. If I had it to do over again I would opt for the You-Tube version and save the money.

5 comments about Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King.

1. Of course this period of history is particularly interesting, but I always find everything more interesting when women are involved. Fascinating to trace the life of Louis through the women who were by his side - they don't usually get enough attention. Fraser's writing is at its usual high standard. I couldn't put it down.



2. Reviewed By Michele E. Davis
   
   You know how Louis XIV's life ended, but in order to understand it, you have to go back to the beginning.
   
   Antonia Fraser, a rolific historical writer, paints a gorgeous portrait of Louis XIV, the Dauphin. He was the first male child borne to Anne of Austria, and his love of women continued throughout his life. Timelines, bloodlines and everything you ever wanted to know about Louis XIV is written in an engaging, witty style, drawing from numerous texts that are highly footnoted. This is a comprehensive study of 17th Century France and the torn dichotomy of Louis's soul: he feared God, wanted to provide for the French people, yet had an astounding sexual appetite.
   
   He gave up his first true love, Marie Mancini, to marry his cousin Maria Teresa, the Spanish princess. He flirted mercilessly at Court with his sister-in-law, Henriette-Anne, who was England's Charles II's sister. But Charles and Henriette had a plan for Louis to become involved with a different woman. Falling for it, Louis found himself with Louise de La Vallière, who still preserved her maiden head. Ever restless with his respective bed partners, Louis proceeded to have sexual relations with the Marquise de Montespan but eventually gave her up to be involved with his own granddaughter-in-law, Adélaïde.
   
   While women of the day were not allowed to rule as they could in England or Spain, "Under a king, a country is really ruled by women," states Adélaïde prior to her death from measles. Reign these women did, while whispering sweet nothings of a political bent in the bedchambers of the promiscuous Louis XIV.
   
   An excellent book about Louis XIV, a must-read for anyone fascinated with history, as well as French politics.
   
   Armchair Interviews says: Well-written and fascinating with a touch of wit and well-referenced quotes.



3. this is a great book. the photos inside are great and its quality is amazing



4. Excellent thorough book. Easy read full of great
   info on the kings personal life



5. I used to be fascinatged by these portraits of historical figures, but this one left me bored and skeptical. I have read a few of Ms Fraser's other books and enjoyed them. Particularly her Marie Antoinette. But this one I found dull by the second chapter and now after chapter 7 have set it aside to move on to something else. I will go back and finish, and if my review changes, I will be back to amend this review, but I just felt there is so much interesting history to touch with Louis XIV and this book ignores a lot of it. In addition, her recreations of events as if she is there left me skeptical of their veracity. Obviously this is well researched, but does she really know that court "rushed" to someones side". I guess I shoudl have deduced form the title that this woudl really focus on Louis love life. I just was hoping for something else. There is enough television and movies telling us about the love lives of famous individuals of the present and past. I was more interested in his intellectual persuits, and his accomplishments in architecture and development of France that earned him the nickname of the Sun King.

5 comments about Rule Number Two: Lessons I Learned in a Combat Hospital.

1. As a fellow military psychologist, I thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Kraft's account of her deployment experiences. This is not a manual for the treatment of combat stress, and is not intended to be such. It lends humanity to those of us in a helping profession working in an environment that can create some superhuman expectations. I read it easily in an afternoon and recommend that anyone who wants some insight into military psychology do the same.



2. I am in a book club called WOBL (WOMEN OF BRYANT LAKE)We were lucky enough to have our host get a conference call with the author, Dr. Heidi Squier Kraft. After reading her book I was so moved by her experiences over in Iraq, it's a book that I feel every US citizen should read. She gives the reader a chance to understand first hand what the soldiers are experiencing and how she helps them work through their losses and fears. It is such a heart felt book from a mother/lieutenant commander who has to leave her two young children to help these men and women through life and death situations on the combat field. I can not say enough about this book, I highly recommend it!



3. A very good read for military and political leaders looking for a balanced perspective on how casualties affect Soldiers and Marines.



4. Rule Number Two: Lessons I Learned in a Combat Hospital
   I am a volunteer EMT. My dad had PTSD. I read Heidi's book and listened to her interview on National Public Radio. We have many returning vets in my town. Heidi's book and her work with the US Navy Combat Stress Control Program are in the highest tradition of the Navy and Marine Corps to leave no one behind. Great book! Great woman! We EMTs need more training in how to support our returning vets. We need Psychological First Aid training in addition to trauma and medical training. Heidi and folks like her are on the cutting edge of emergency medicine. Semper Fi



5. This book offers very powerful insight to the struggle of mental health specialists in the field of combat. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in psychology and combat medicine. Even if you're not, this book is certainly worth it.

5 comments about Can I Keep My Jersey?: 11 Teams, 5 Countries, and 4 Years in My Life as a Basketball Vagabond.

1. While Paul's writing may not appeal to all readers, but he certainly appealed to me. His style is witty and honest (seems honest; heck he's from Kansas, must be honest). Loved the book; pay no head to any reviewer from Hawkeye land; they can't stand Cyclones. Paul Shirley is an Iowa State, engineering grad.



2. 
   Unfortunately, the book doesnt live up to a great title.
   
   In 50 years of reading pretty much anything that I can lay hands on, for the first time I looked for the editor's name. This is for you, Chris Schluep: you need a refresher in Editing 101. The parenthetical asides needed to go. They are distracting, unnecessary, and so not funny. We get that he doesnt like religion or tuna-no need to go on about them forever. It is also obvious that he doesnt much care for the world outside of Kansas, or the people in it. Much is made of his 'cynical, dry' sense of humor, that one needs to be of the right demographic to appreciate it. Sorry, that wont fly. Sour carping and egregious insults does not make for 'humor.'
   
   The author comes across as pretty much what he is: an immature, arrogant young man who isnt quite as smart as he thinks he is. He could be a pretty decent writer-there were flashes here and there-and if he does someday grow up, I suspect he'll look back on this book and be embarrassed by its immaturity and callowness.



3. Paul Shirley is one funny guy. He's got that dry sense of humor that I love. This book is about his first few years playing pro basketball...in the NBA and over sea. I loved the book and I would recommend it to any basketball fan.



4. I was sick and looking for something to take my mind off it when I picked up Can I keep My Jersey. It's the story of Paul Shirley, a basketball player who's really, really good. He's never gonna be a NBA star but he keeps trying and between NBA stints and his experiences with the CBA, the ABA and the European leagues this is a funny book. It has a few flaws of course, Shirley is a horrible snob and there were times when I found myself wishing that somebody when give him a good smack in the mouth but then all would be forgiven when he'd tell another story about the ridiculous aspects of life on the edge of the NBA.
   
   The chapter on his nightmare trip to Russia--horrible place--- is worth the price of the book alone. It's not the greatest sports memoir ever written but it's amusing and I found myself hoping that eventually Shirley gives up chasing the impossible dream and either starts a writing career or falls back on that engineering degree of his.



5. For all those people who didn't like this book because of the so-called "whining" and complaining - this book isn't really for them. I suggest they go to the self-help section of the bookstore and grab something there . . . or perhaps join the Oprah Book Club. For the people who've enjoyed Paul Shirley's blog over the years, you'd expect this book to be full of negative comments and complaints . . . as Paul himself said in the book, he writes better when the chips are down (p.54 - Jan. 12 entry) so y'all have been warned early on . . . However, as a pessimist and a cynic myself - I really didn't see his whining and complaining as such . . . it really is just an honest observation and being a basketball player that travels halfway around the globe - those observations are truly interesting and his witty remarks makes the book entertaining as well. It's well-written and would recommend the book to almost anybody (except Oprah and Dr. Phil).

5 comments about Positively False: The Real Story of How I Won the Tour de France.

1. I read this book recently, even though I knew the results of Landis's appeals to the allegations of doping. I am glad I did. I follow the Tour every year and was glad to see Landis win after serving his time as a doemstique, besides, I liked the idea of another American winning. There are several good reviews here that state the essence of the book. It is a good autobiography, presented in a way that brings out the down-to-Earth spirit of Floyd Landis and his rapid climb in the professional ranks from mountain biker to become the winner of the Tour de France. Unfortuantely the poor discrepencies in testing procedures, like mislabeled sample/lab errors, specimen contamination and unreliable testing were glossed over in the appeal process and Landis now has the dubious honor of being the first and only winner of the Tour de France to be stripped of his title. Besides the aforementioned problems with the horrible testing procedures there is the problem of the USADA and it's unchecked grip on pro cycling. Landis even presented his case to Congress, emphasizing the basic rights denied to professional atheletes in cycling. Landis may have lost his appeal and his title but after reading this book I think you will understand that more than anything, Landis is a victim of the system that exists in pro cycling; he is still a winner. Even though he lost his title I believe this book goes along way in repairing any misconceptions about his "cheating." After reading this book I do believe HE was cheated. Check it out, see for yourself, you be the judge. Regardless of your opinion, it is an interesting story worth telling. Recommended for sports or cycling enthusiasts who want to know what really happened.



2. This is a book bought as a present for my son and I was pleased with the service provided by Amazon Books that enabled me to buy this copy. The book has proved very interesting according to my son's report.
   Signed.
   William Eaton



3. I remember watching on TV the day Floyd Landis bonked famously on a Tour de France climb. I thought, "He's smart to give in to it. He'll have a great day tomorrow." We've all been there. A bad day very often precedes a great day, and vice versa. Thanks to his power meter data, it's clear that what appeared to be an inhuman turnaround the next day was actually a combination of smart team tactics, hard training (he was well within his normal hard load), physiologic recovery, and cagey use of water (dumped over his head to create a cool microclimate for himself). A sloppy French lab then created, purposely or inadvertently, a false positive, and an unfair process made it impossible (unclear if this is true yet) to rectify. It's sad how science is being used to advance causes these days, but it's nothing new. Even religion has dressed itself up as science in an attempt to advance its world view. Landis' book is refreshing. He's painfully blunt at times, and a tone of honesty permeates the storytelling, which is brisk by the way. This book reads clearly, you can hear Floyd's voice, and it is hard to put down. I enjoyed it thoroughly. After reading this and previously having read Arnie Baker's analyses and the ruling from the first arbitration panel (which captures enough lab flaws to leave you scratching your head at the fact that it still resulting in a guilty verdict), I believe that Floyd is innocent, and that he is being railroaded by a system out of control. A great cycling book.



4. "Positively False: How I won the Tour de France, by Floyd Landis w/ Loren Mooney is a well written account of the Life of Floyd Landis leading up his unconventional victory at the Tour de France (TdF) in 2006. His victory was then followed immediately by his fall from grace by the accusations of drug doping from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). There is nothing sophisticated in Floyd's writing, it is conversational in tone and flows extremely well, I finished in a single travel day. His writing competence is no doubt a strong reflection of a Mennonite education with perhaps a helping hand from Loren Mooney. I felt that Floyd was on the other end of the pen talking directly to me.
   
   His story is timeless and the antidotal evidence to support the injustices athletes may suffer at the hands of those with absolute power ring true. It was a witch-hunt for sure and there were many responsible for pushing the inquisitors forward. Unfortunately, with so many athletes actually guilty of the cheating of which they have been accused, it is almost impossible to save the few who are truly innocent. Unlike an actual witch-hunt when everybody is actually innocent. A better analogy would be capital punishment, where on the whole there is sufficient evidence to have a trial, but the outcome is so final that the judicial process has got to work correctly or an innocent person may be put to death. Although in Floyd's case the evidence was so thin there should not have been a trial to begin with and as Floyd's evidence suggests, the judicial process for athletes accused of doping is unbelievable broken. Unfortunately Floyd was practically put to death.
   
   There is no doubt Floyd Landis is innocent. Anyone who followed the TdF and understood his tactics and training, along with a wide-open field, knew that what he did was spectacular, but not so miraculous as to be humanly impossible. Floyd bonked on stage 16 and the inexperienced pelaton blew it on stage 17. Period. I waited a long time to hear Floyd's side of the story, although I instinctively knew he was innocent, very few came forward to help, so I was left with the uncertainty caused by the media hype and continuous bad information. It is a shame he has had to fight so hard to defend himself and it outrageous that he has to continue to fight to clear his name.
   
   My one criticism of the book would be that I would have liked a few more technical details on doping in general, why an athlete would take steroids, EPO, testosterone, or inject fresh blood, and under what circumstances. To me, Floyd's spectacular performance in stage 17 would suggest he injected fresh blood to recover. Not being an expert I am not at all certain how the test he supposedly failed could even contribute to his performance on stage 17, since overall, his testosterone level was actually lower than normal, and it was a ratio that was arguably out of whack. I think the answer is that Floyd probably doesn't know these technical details so it never occured to him to put them in his book - which further defines that he is postively innocence. Read this book and discover why Floyd Landis truly is the 2006 TdF Champion.



5. This is one of those books you can't put down at night. Floyd is a
   down to earth guy who tells it like it is about many aspects as a
   professional bike racer and everything that goes all with, both
   good and bad. You learn the inside scoop on european backward
   thinking as well as the policies of the usada-a pathetic organization
   at the taxpayers expense.
   This book just might enspire you to get out on
   your bike more.

5 comments about The Road from Coorain.

1. I related to and thoroughly enjoyed this book. Conway's descriptions of Australia are beautiful. She has written a follow-up book which I would like to read also. And on second reading, I feel more and more that perhaps her mother had some chemical imbalance, because she changed so drastically. Either that, or her repressed emotions after the deaths of her husband and her oldest son in the space of five years, led her to the bitter old woman she became.



2. The wonderful autobiography entitled, The Road From Coorain, written by Jill Ker Conway is a must-read! Her engaging and rich detail gives an enchanting description of the Australian life-style from a very unique perspective.
   Beginning in the 1930's, young Jill Ker lived with her tightly-knit family on a ranch called Coorain, Australia. Isolated in the desert and located far from Sydney, Coorain, has created an unordinary life-style for not only Jill but for her two brothers, Barry and Bob. Maintaining the remote Coorain is the family's only way to ensure stability and in the eyes of Mr. and Mrs. Ker; the significance of Coorain is considered more important than a formal education. Though, when the dreadful droughts of the arid terrain continue to spontaneously appear, life becomes awfully challenging and difficult for the Ker family. Suffering from famine because of the lack of crops and animals, Coorain becomes involved in a downward spiral. As a result, Jill as well as other family members, encounter the enormous struggle of overcoming the concept of death and sorrow. As Jill grows into a young woman, she faces unfortunate events that set her back, creating various obstacles as she journeys down the unpredictable road of life. Faced with challenges romantically, intellectually, and within the family ultimately affects her career and talents, though somehow Jill miraculously manages to succeed.
   Choosing an academic career as a historian, Jill faced the constant struggle of chauvinism living as a young woman during the 1950's. Her passion and remarkable academic achievements clearly demonstrated her natural talent as a student. Unfortunately, the unfair privileges men had in contrast to women was a constant obstacle. Jill had potential and unlike some other women, had the possibility of attaining her high hopes and dreams. Her brilliance and intellectual capability distinguished her as an individual, though she was unfortunately not recognized with equality because she was woman. "But I received a blandly courteous letter thanking me for my interest. I was dumfounded. Milton and I had ranked first in our class and were to be awarded the University Medal jointly for our academic achievements. I could scarcely believe that my refusal was because I was a woman...I knew I was no more and no less intellectually aggressive than Milton and Rob. That left my sex and my appearance." Though Jill Ker faced multiple obstacles throughout her life, she clearly proves that hard work and perseverance is a powerful way to achieve one's goals.
   This engaging autobiography is filled with compelling and descriptive prose. Beautifully written, Mrs. Conway eloquently yet succinctly expresses the many conflicts one can be presented in life. Given her natural gravitation towards the subject of history, she enlightens the reader with interesting historical backgrounds of the many places she has traveled. Her simplistic, yet thought-provoking perspectives maintain one's fascination throughout the course of the book. Every moment I spend reading it was enjoyable. Mrs. Conway's, informative yet concise style of writing kept me actively involved. Her marvelously written descriptions, gave me an excellent understanding of the rural Australian life-style: "On the western side the mountains' gentler hills sloped down to rolling countryside; valleys covered with rich black soil sheltered streams winding westward. The gentle slopes rising from each watercourse were crowned with orchards in blossom, while below the contoured patterns of spring crops burst in brilliant green from the dark earth. I liked looking at this scenery with the dew still on it, well before the heat of the day." This autobiography filled with endless drama, love, and the hardships of life, is a definite must-read!



3. This beautiful book tells the story of one girl's childhood on an isolated sheep farm in Australia; that girl would eventually end up as the first woman president of Smith College, one of the finest universities in the United States (part of the Seven Sisters). Before that, she studied at the University of Sydney, moving on to Harvard University in the States. Much like the movie, "My Brilliant Career," the story follows the harsh living conditions of her youth and her meteoric rise to success.
   
   The part of the story that will speak to you most clearly, however, is that of the young girl with golden dreams who faces so much adversity and such little chance of escaping her isolating circumstances. Her father owned 30,000 arid acres in Australia and when the land succumbed to drought, he committed suicide; shortly thereafter, her brother was in an auto accident that resulted in his death. Faced with these tragedies, Conway's mother was overcome with depression and unable to help her daughter succeed. That Jill Ker Conway lets none of that prevent her from reaching a pinnacle of success that no one in her family or community in Australia could ever have imagined for her is the stuff of dreams.



4. Jill Ker was born in 1934 in the west of New South Wales, Australia.She grew up on a sheep ranch.She had her share of troubles: her father drowned, possibly it was a suicide, when she was 11. At age 14 her charismatic elder brother died in a car crash. In her 20s her mother began to lose her mental balance. Jill studied history at the University of Sydney and at 25 went to Harvard.Her childhood on a sheep station has some interest, but the details of her unremarkable academic studies are tedious.She comes across as an introverted person who found it difficult to make friends.She had little fun in life: no jolly japes, no humorous anecdotes.Her self-centeredness and lack of humor make for dull reading.



5. Not very interesting.
   
   There's not much else I can say. Everybody has a story, including author Jill Conway. Her life began in western New South Wales, Australia:
   
   "My father was elated as he surveyed the realization of his dream to own land and to raise his own flocks of sheep and cattle. For my mother, not born to the bush, my father's long-dreamed-of property was a nightmare of desolation" (p. 18).
   
   Conway describes her memories growing up on a 32,000 acre station they called Coorain. She learned from watching the land and its processes:
   
   "Why did God allow the crows to pick out the eyes of newborn lambs, I asked [my father], as we passed a bloody carcass?" (p. 82).
   
   Alas, her father drowned in a stock pond, the drought wrought hardship, and her older brother died in a car accident. But Conway's interactions with other schoolchildren at boarding school was problematic:
   
   "There was more than my appearance to worry about. My family and school friends agreed that I was 'brainy'" (p. 146).
   
   "My appearance didn't give me many opportunities to be bored by young men" (p. 145).
   
   "The causes of my shyness were complex. I didn't look right and couldn't blend with the crowd" (p. 156).
   
   As you can see, there was constant, constant reference to how she didn't fit in, and that she was considered by many to be "too intellectual." When she applied for a post with the Australian Department of External Affairs (their state department), her male friends got positions and she didn't. "It was all prejudice, blind prejudice. For the first time, I felt kinship with black people" (p. 191). Awkwardly, her interactions with the native people of Australia were obvious by their absence in her story. So life is fairly good until a socially awkward and "intellectual" person doesn't get a position with the state department, which causes the development of a kinship with the native peoples.
   
   What?
   
   This was a hard book to read. The first chapter was a long diatribe of landscape conditions in western New South Wales. Then there was a third of the book on life on a cattle station. Then there was the rest of the book, on life as an adolescent, traveling with her mother to other countries, and applying to graduate school in history in America.
   
   This really read as a book of very selective memories. Granted, they are Conway's memories, and she owns them. They are just not very... enlightening and illuminating.
   
   'Nuff said.

5 comments about The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness.

1. This book is as compelling as a novel as well as being challenging & inspiring. We used it for a study group and everyone enjoyed it & thought it well worthwhile. Everyone found it easy to read but not easy to put down!



2. The Spiral Staircase is an honest and insightful account of Karen Armstrong's spiritual journey of painful self-discovery from the age of seventeen until she was, at long last, led to her true purpose.
   
   At seventeen, Armstrong decided to devote her life to God and entered the Roman Catholic Church. She became a conscientious novitiate but over time began to question the rigid tenets of her faith. In addition, the strictness and seemingly uncaring attitude of the nuns caused her health and mental state to spiral downward. She experienced sudden, frightening panic attacks and seizures which the nuns ascribed to her overly sensitive nature and childish histrionics.
   
   After seven years in the convent, distraught and deeply wounded, she accepted defeat and left a world she had cherished for many years. Not used to the outside world, she entered academia, another cloistered existence, and worked toward her doctorate. But, after years of hard work, her thesis was rejected.
   
   Armstrong is a writer of such skill and emotional depth that in reading her story I suffered with her. It was almost as though I had known and loved her from childhood and needed to know that her health had improved, that she had finally found what she was searching for. I turned page after page with a heavy heart as I read of her continued frustrations with all that she tried... her failed doctorate, a string of televsion documentaries that also led nowhere, her terrifying seizures.
   
   The life the author describes reminds me of my own past struggles to find myself, how I too poured my heart and soul into various jobs and relationships that did not work out, and to which I reacted with feelings of hopelessness, confusion, and a severe loss of self-confidence.
   
   But Armstrong had a problem far greater than any of mine. She was ultimately diagnosed with epilepsy. Though her symptoms were the classic symptoms of this illness, they were not taken seriously by the nuns; nor were they recognized by the psychiatrist she was seeing for many years. During a hospital stay many years later, a doctor diagnosed her illness correctly, and she received the medication that stablized her and enabled her to begin her writing career.
   
   Karen Armstrong has written numerous books on the sacred texts of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Her work has been translated into forty languages. In The Spiral Staircase, she shares how she came to the understanding that living a spiritual life is not merely about the rigors of following the tenets of any religious order but about living with an open, loving heart. Her engaging personality coupled with the wisdom she has gained places this book among the most moving, inspiring and entertaining memoirs I have had the pleasure to read.
   
   by Duffie Bart
   for Story Circle Book Reviews
   www.storycirclebookreviews.org
   Reviewing books for, by and about women



3. This is a remarkably personal and insightful journey which takes us through the loss of hope and faith and then back to a higher realm of love and understanding. Here are my personal thoughts about this book:
   
   1. By the end of the book, I felt a bond with her that is similar to something I have felt for some of my best professors and teachers who helped me understand complex things. Karen is extremely honest and open and able to describe emotions and reactions which many thoughtful people must have to orthodox religious training and dogma. She works so hard to do the right thing and yet she is unable to feel the connection to God and make the decision to accept things as they are. She is the opposite of the normal rebellious person who bolts. She is the long suffering special person who will follow the rules, sacrifice and do the right things over and over again to come up with the expected result of obedience and conformity. And yet, that brilliant and analytical mind of hers cannot allow herself to be tricked or cajoled into compliance. I feel that this is because she is brutally honest and pure.
   
   2. She lets us into her very private and sometimes sad life. We know her every fear and understand that she is shy, awkward socially, and backward, and as she heals and moves to the next level of understanding in her life, we root for her and admire the things she is trying to do. Her accomplishments are huge and she has done it virtually all alone with extreme patience and many setbacks as well as thousands of days carefully studying the history of religion, various poets and other important writers. The ultra close relationship we have with her every day struggles helps us comprehend her conclusions and remarks about spirituality, religion and life. She has taken the time to do what many of us would like to do but can't do because of other more pressing obligations and, perhaps, addiction to regular shallow life things.
   
   3. She is imprisoned by her unknown health problems, her religious obligations, fear and shyness, and yet we see her determination get her to a level of freedom experienced by very few people. She loses her faith, gains a cause to help others understand how religion at a certain level can be damaging, and as she reads and studies each of the three major religions, she gradually moves back to a spiritual understanding that gives her a new freedom and love of everyone. Along the way, she teaches us some of the basics about each of the religions and why we need to understand them before we assume that all others are incorrect and horrible. This gives us hope and makes us want to reexamine and study others and then move to that higher level that is taught by all of them. Certainly, it makes me want to study more about Judaism and the prophet Mohammed's teaching.
   
   I finished the book with a great and positive feeling that there may be hope in the world if we could take the time to truly understand each other. It's a great book. Thanks, Karen.



4. Written with much sensitivity (and courage), it induced much empathy with the author. A good read.
   
   I was less than impressed with some of her books on history of religion, but this autobiography shows where she was coming from, and helped me better appreciate what she was trying to convey in those other books.
   
   I look forward to the next installment in this autobio series. :-)



5. So Karen is dysfuntional? No, like me, she has temporal lobe epilepsy, a condition from which the world and society prefer to turn away and pretend it doesn't exist. It's exceptionally hard to describe, since it has literally hundreds of forms and does leave one doubting one's sanity at times. Then we doubt the world's mental balance. I was once dismissed from work by someone who feared I'd bite colleagues. And Karen is an apologist for Muslim extremists? Oh, for pity's sake, grow up! Read what she says, not what your prejudice tells you. Does she perhaps wear a Paisley scarf too (originally a Scottish design, by the way)? There's no trusting these people, is there, if they don't think just like you? Open the window and look outside. There's a world out there, bigger than even your prejudices and bigotry.
   And a note to Mr Benanchou: the Greeks didn't believe the world was flat. In the centuries BCE, the circumference of the world was calculated to a high degree of accuracy, with two sticks, sunlight and basic trigonometry (subtended angles - look it up.) We rely on very pricy satellites, not garden canes, which cost so much less.
   I applaud Karen Armstrong. It can still be problematical - I know well from experience - to assert one has epilepsy. Fears of evil spirits crop up, even now. And it can lead to social and career disaster. I was forced to retire, with two degrees, at only 42.