5 comments about The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red.

1. Built on a Native American burial ground in Seattle in the early 20th century, Rose Red was to be a Queen among houses. Built as a wedding gift by John Rimbauer for his wife Ellen, Rose Red claims a victim even before the foundations are laid. A foreman is shot to death; his death would only be the first, however and would be far from the last.
   
   People begin to disappear. First a maid, then another woman. Ellen knows there is something wrong within the walls of Rose Red. Sukeena, Ellen's maid, knows there is evil within the walls too. She is an African witch woman and knows the face of evil. Ellen keeps a diary to document the events surrounding Rose Red. It becomes her confidant and the stuff of nightmares.
   
   Wanting to find answers for the strange goings on in her house, Ellen hires a medium to hold a séance. John Rimbauer scorns this event, but it changes Ellen's life forever. The medium receives a message from the house, from Rose Red. She tells Ellen that as long as the house continues to be built, Ellen will never die.
   
   Preparations begin the next day for new wings to be added to Rose Red. Strange things begin to happen in Rose Red. There are noises at night time; rooms exist where no room existed before. As more people continue to disappear, Ellen can't quite get over the idea that the house seems to be building itself.
   
   Then someone is found dead. More dead bodies follow, always men. Women only disappear in Rose Red. Men are killed savagely. With each new death and disappearance, Ellen's world is plunged into turmoil. She knows she must stop the force within the house before something else happens. She is too late; Rose Red has taken her daughter.
   
   For those of you who don't already know, "The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer" was actually written by Ridley Pearson as a movie tie in for Stephen King's three part, six hour miniseries "Stephen King's Rose Red" that aired in 2002. Stephen King has this to say on his web site:
   
   Now it can be told--the actual author of The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer is suspense novelist (and Rock Bottom Remainder bass guitarist) Ridley Pearson. Ridley did a great job--I couldn't have done better myself..."
   
   If you haven't seen "Stephen King's Rose Red," I urge you to do so as it is the epitome of the modern haunted house movie. One would think a movie tie in novel would be an awful rewrite of the story with no depth behind it or anything worth reading. I held back on picking up the book for so long as I was afraid that the novel would be found lacking when compared to the movie. I was happily surprised to find that I was very wrong indeed.
   
   The novel was written as a companion to the movie. In fact, it explains more within its pages than the movie does. Several things in the movie are left without an explanation. There are explanations a plenty of the haunting at Rose Red within the diaries pages. There is even a web site that relates to the diary and the miniseries. There are pages of the diary that are only published on the web.
   
   Apart from being part of a brilliant multi-media advertising campaign, "My Life at Rose Red - The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer" is an incredible, beautiful work. It examines the power of fear and what happens when someone is pushed to far. It takes a chilling look at the human condition and the stresses of the unknown.
   
   What was surprising were the subplots of the novel. Ellen is a young woman in a terrible marriage. There is also the issue of lesbianism between Ellen and her maid Sukeena; Ellen examines her budding sexuality and tries to find herself, even while she is struggling with the evil that is going on around her.
   
   The novel is more about personal discovery than anything else. It takes a look at what scares us, what torments our dreams. It is a beautiful, darkly gorgeous novel and can be read on its own apart from "Stephen King's Rose Red." Even if you don't watch the movie, read "My Life at Rose Red-The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer."
   
   It will leave you breathless and in awe of the beauty found in the dark. Just make sure you always bring someone with you into the darkness...you may be liable to disappear.



2. I just finished this book and did find it hard to put down. No great masterpiece of course but clever. Written as a diary in first person I think made it a breeze for someone like King. It took me a little while but it became very apparent that a man not a woman wrote this diary (book). Every woman should know what I mean. And of course it is a brilliant accompaniment to the movie. Oh...and the website thrown in as a little added publicity was a cute idea. The only question is (like the egg) which came first, the book or the movie?? I'd love to know how that man's mind works. lol



3. The book was well written in the style of a diary. The authors chosen profession leads one to believe the facts are real. One can enjoy the book as authentic or imaginary based on the author's experiences. It is an intriguing mystery and a great followup after I saw the movie "Rose Red" written by Steven King. I found both very entertaining.



4. The book is much more intimate details of Ellen's personal life especially with her husband. I read the book first then watched the movie. A good choice on my part since it made watching the movie much more exciting.



5. A group of friends and I passed this book around at the beach and all enjoyed it. The book was detailed and engaging. I enjoyed thinking that it was based on real events and found out that it is in fact fiction. It's still worth reading and I'm looking forward to watching the mini-series.

4 comments about Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, Written by Himself (The Bedford Series in History and Culture).

1. The honesty with which this is written is amazing. I was glued to it from page one. I felt disgusted by the human race, saddened by his traumas and guilty just for being white. I think this needs to be read more. Especially in schools. Why isn't it???



2. I read this book as part of a summer assignment entering into the 11th grade in addition to "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" by Harriet Jacobs. Both are great pieces of African-American historical literature and well worth the read. I couldn't read this book all in one sitting, due to the need to fight the urge to throw up. He detailed descriptions of physical, psycological, and emotional abuse are enough to sicken any one and make you disgusted with the human race.



3. Frederick Douglass is the complete ressurection of the saying, "Knowledge is Power." With the more information he aquired as a slave the more he lusted for freedom. He also provides an excellent example of what black people in this country could do for themselves, interms of their economical status. Looking further, Douglass loved to think and imagine the endless possiblities, while he was still in bondage physically. When he began to read and understand the "Hypocrasy" that this country was based on, using christianity as it main tool, and what every human should be allowed by right, this released his psychological enslavement. If blacks throughout this country could read and understand there were blacks that went through worse situatians and overcame them, and the current situation that destroy the black communities were created for them to fail, just like slavery, many would wake up and take on the mask of Douglass. The mask that says, "regardless of class, race, or creed, this world was created for everyone to enjoy including me."



4. In the classic slave narrative genre, Frederick Douglass' narrative of his life brings to life, in all its horrors, American slave society, and one slave's life-long protest against it.
   
   When we read Frederick Douglass in his own words, he is less the radical and more the reformer than we've been led to believe. He is also more the Christian statesmen and less the Christianity critic than we might imagine. Douglass' oft quoted comments about Christianity had much more to do with a righteous critique of distorted Christian living practiced by white masters than with any critique of Christianity or of Christ. In reality, Douglass, like so many enslaved African Americans before and after him, saw in Jesus a Savior they could identify with--a suffering Savior.
   
   Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction , Soul Physicians, and Spiritual Friends.

5 comments about The Guynd: A Scottish Journal.

1. I bought this book at my mother's request. She loved it. I'll be getting it back from her and reading it too.



2. I wanted to read this witty memoir because of my romantic childhood fantasy of living in a mansion or castle in Europe. Oh how lucky the American author was to have fallen in love with Scottish man with an ancestral home and property. I was rather envious of their son, Elliot, who was able to spend his childhood exploring and playing in the gardens, on the lake, and in the house.
   
   But life isn't a fairytale. This is a story about a deteriorated, cluttered mansion, its 400 acres and a marriage that started as a whirlwind romance and came to mirror the mansion itself.
   
   There's a lot of humor in the writing. How could you not laugh at the author's stories about how hard it was to heat the house, find proper tenants, clear out a garden untouched for decades and to try to throw junk out when married to someone who can find a use for everything.
   
   If you don't know what an Aga stove is, you soon will. I highly recommend this book, but suggest curling up in a warm house with a hot cup of tea and a blanket. You'll need it.



3. I enjoyed the book, but was shocked when I came to the passage describing how the author, while in a late stage of pregnancy, climbed a tall scaffolding to paint a wall. It seems like an amazing lack of judgment for someone who was pregnant late in life.



4. Ours was not the 'big' house, but the 'gardener's cottage' which we rented for a year, and both the marriage and the enterprise of that particular country home survive. But all the characteristics and challenges of the estate, garden, community, and home came to life again in the author's witty, canny prose. This is the best description of the many, layered facets of Scottish society and how the great homes and their residents fit into the scheme of their surroundings that I have read.



5. I really looked forward to reading this book because I have long wanted to travel in Scotland, and I enjoy the extended travelogue where people live in a new land for a long time and get to know the locals. This was a good book, but not great. I had unanswered questions when it ended. For example, why did it take her 10 years to realize she and he husband were incompatible? Why did she keep her apartment in New York during the time she was living in Scotland? I kept thinking that if this were fiction, some of it would be implausible. Still, the characters you meet are worth meeting, and I did enjoy the book.

5 comments about Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century.

1. By far simply one of his best collections. It seems the good doctor saw what was on the horizon and unforunately he was right. The world is a lesser place without him and we should all cherish every word. His insight was frightening an accurate. BUY THIS BOOK!



2. It's true, there are lots of parts of this book that can be found in other books, but this is still the best HST book I've read. It's sort of like a greatest hits. The new parts however, are the best part of this book.



3. This book (2003) and "Hey Rube" (2004) appear to be the last of HST's books. While "Hey Rube" contains lengthy discussions of gambling on professional football and basketball (including "March Madness"), this book is more far-ranging, containing everything from Thompson's reminiscences of his youth to his (highly negative) thoughts on George W. Bush. There's even a chapter from "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 1972," one of the finest political books ever written.
   
   The quality of the writing on the recent pieces is not quite up to that of his best from the past, but is still infinitely better than the mindless slop produced by other contemporary "writers." The man was an artist.
   
   As always, one of the disturbing things about Thompson is his ability to assess politics correctly in real time. Reading back, you think "Why didn't people take this man seriously at the time?"
   
   "Indeed," as Doc would say.



4. Mr Thompsons autobiography is somewhat lacking compared to his other works. It seems, that he in his later years didn't have that much new to say, and this volume shows it very clearly. It deals with the legend of HST, not the man Hunter Stockton Thompson, and only plays the same tune that we've been hearing since F&L in Las Vegas, only in a strongly diluded form.
   
   A great drawback is that he recycles a lot of stuff from his earlier work, which if you're a fan/reader of his you can't help but feel a bit cheated about. The book isn't that long as it is, but when half the material already has been printed before, and therefore probably, for fans at least, is on your shelf already, it gives the feeling of the good Mr Thompson not really making an effort writing this volume.
   
   It's not all bad though. There are highlights in the book. His description of his childhood is enjoyable and very biographical. The last chapter is also very enjoyable, although not that good as biographical material, it does for a good reading.
   
   It starts out legitimate enough, but quickly turns to his rambling and at times incoherent style of writing. Worth reading if you're a completist. I would recommend the compilations of his letters "The Proud Highway" and "F&L in America" as biography instead. They are much better.



5. Make no mistake the late, lamented Hunter Thompson was always something of a muse for me going way back to the early 1970's when I first read his seminal work on outlaw bikers, The Hell's Angels. Since then I have devoured, and re-devoured virtually everything that he has written. I have reviewed many of those efforts elsewhere in this space. As I noted recently in reviewing his 2004 work Hey, Rube, a screed on the misadventures of a gambling freak (himself), not all his efforts have been equally compelling. That was the case in my panning of Hey, Rube but here we are back on much more solid `gonzo' style from the old days. Maybe it is because this work is in the form of a memoir and thus intentionally places the good Doc's actions in the center of the writing that puts this effort in the mold of his better compilations like the Great Shark Hunt and Songs of the Doomed.
   
   Thompson uses his patented stream of consciousness trope to create amusing stories starting from the then present (early 2000's) and his then current doings and splices them together, in some segments randomly, to events as far back as his childhood in Louisville, Kentucky. Along the way we find him at age nine in trouble with the FBI, and none the worst for the confrontation. Later, it is down and dirty in Rio with the crazies. Throughout, we find him incessantly testing his beloved guns and various `hot' motorcycles at various and sundry appropriate and inappropriate times.
   
   Additionally, we have some compelling and insightful stories as this radical journalist tours the news breaking global spots, taking trips to places like Vietnam just before the fall, Cuba, Grenada just after the invasion and elsewhere wherever the journalistic action might be and a story, in the Thompson style, might develop. Needless to say there is plenty of ink about sex, drugs and rock and rock including his deeply affecting and traumatic tangle with the law in Aspen the early 1990's. That, my friends, was a close call.
   
   And throughout, as usual, there are pithy political comments about the various idiots-in-chiefs, their henchman and hangers-on that he spent his life hammering. Maybe not hammering your way, definitely not my way, but his way. His fateful run for Sheriff of Aspen on the Freak Power ticket in 1970 probably accurately set the tone as a lifelong description of his politics. For those who have read other works by Thompson some of the signature language may be old hat as he meanders along in this volume. For others it is a chance to learn the lingo. Damn, especially this election year, I miss him. Read on.

5 comments about Behind Rebel Lines: The Incredible Story of Emma Edmonds, Civil War Spy.

1. Behind the Lines is an adaptation of the Emma Edmonds story for young adults. Emma Edmonds was a native of Saint John New Brunswick, Canada who left for the United States several years prior to the war. She eventually found her way to Michigan where, following the outbreak of war, she under the alias Franklin Thompson enlisted with the 2nd Michigan Infantry. She served with the unit as an orderly for about a year before she volunteered herself as a spy, and during the course of the next year went on eleven assignments. Not only were her spying activities dangerous, but she always had to remain vigilant among her comrades as well, lest her identity be discovered. This is a very interesting and entertaining bit of history, one that is sure to interest even some of those who insist that history is "bo-ring".



2. My grandma forced me to read "Behind Rebel Lines". But it turned out to be an awsome and interesting book!



3. I didn't really like this book. I didn't really like the author's writing style, it was a little hard to understand and follow. The subject wasn't very interesting to me. I think that it would have been hard to try to re-create a story about the civil war. I think that the author did good on that.
   
   I wouldn't really recommend this book unless you are interested in things about the army. I think that it was cool though that a woman would take that kind of risk just to be in combat. Also it was cool that she was that passionate about serving her country.



4. Emma Edmonds is a young girl from Canada, living in the North during the Civil War. She's always been outgoing and bold- never able to stay in one place at a time. So when she feels a calling to join the Union army, she does what any rebellious girl would do- cuts her hair, gets the uniform, and joins up. At first she's awkward and unsure- terrified that she'll be discovered. She sees the whole thing as a big adventure-that is, until an old love interest of hers is killed in the war. She decides to really take a stand and looks at the war in a whole different way. She fights with all her power-until she gets word that a Union spy was recently killed by the Confederates. She quickly lands the job of replacement. She goes across the rebel lines, a different disguise each time, and collects useful information which helped to save many battles.
   Emma Edmonds, whom I had never heard of before reading the book, is a facinating character. How she summoned the courage to join the army I will never know. A very good book, but a little slow in places.



5. Disguised as a union soldier, Emma would risk her life for her country. Emma Edmonds was born in Saint John, Canada in 1840. When she was sixteen years old she ran away to the United States. When she was twenty one, President Lincoln made a request for seventy five thousand men to volunteer for the Army. She decided that she wanted to be a field nurse for the Union Army but those jobs were so dangerous that they were only given to men. So she cut her hair short, dressed up like a man, and enlisted under the name Franklin Thompson. Emma was assigned to the Second Regiment of Michigan Volunteers. The next day she and all the others in her Regiment were off to training camp. Upset at hearing the news that one of her friends had died in the war, Emma went to go see a woman named Mrs. Butler who lived on the camp with the soldiers. Emma started talking and she ended up telling her secret identity. After that day, Mrs. Butler became Emma's closest friend and the only one who new here secret. One day news came to the camp that a Union spy had been killed at a rebel camp. Now they needed a new spy and Emma volunteered. So she disguised herself as a black slave named Cuff. She snuck onto a rebel camp to gather any valuable information. She found out how many weapons they had, where people were hiding, anything that would help the union defeat the rebels. Once she had gathered enough information, she snuck back to the Union camp. With this information, the union began to fight. Emma became very busy in the hospital as more and more got injured. As the union reached a river, they had to stop and make a bridge across it which would take weeks. The Union army didn't have enough information to make an attack. It was time for Emma to become a spy again. This time she dressed up as a middle aged peddler woman. In this disguise she had no trouble at all getting into the camp and she was allowed to walk around freely. She found out a lot of useful information including the fact that the rebels had an ambush waiting for the union troops. She then rode away on a one of the rebel's horses. They were so impressed with Emma's work that they made her a messenger during all the fighting. For many months Emma was sent off on spy missions and was successful on all of them. Emma returned to being a nurse as the war went on. She was then struck with malaria. She couldn't go to the hospital she worked at because then they would find out she was a girl. So she decided to leave, get the help she needed and then come back. So she left and checked herself into a hospital. Once she got her malaria under control, she saw a union poster in a window. It said that Franklin Thompson was absent without leave. He was known as a deserter. Emma was upset but she continued being a nurse under her rightful name. Later on, after she was married she petitioned the war department to review her case. She had her military rights restored and received and honorable discharge. Other troops were surprised to find out that their old friend Frank Thompson was actually Emma Edmonds. Emma lived in La Porte until her death in 1898. This is a good book full of adventure and suspense.
   
   I thought it was cool how Emma was able to pull off so many disguises. Emma's biggest disguise was being a man. She was able to fool everyone, even her fellow soldiers who she became friends with, that she was a guy. She pulled it off without anyone ever asking questions. Also, there was her favorite disguise, the black slave named Cuff. She was again pretending to be a guy and she was able to come up with something to make her skin look dark. She was able to fool everyone in the rebel camp. Another disguise was as a peddler woman. Even though she was dressed up as a girl, no one ever thought that she actually looked like a real girl. She was even able to fool them then.
   
   Emma was brave and took many risks during her life. One big risk was just signing up. She could have gotten into a lot of trouble if they found out that she was lying and was a girl. And being in the middle of a war is dangerous too. Another risk was when Emma disguised herself as Mr. Mayberry. She was supposed to lead a man, who was leaking union information to the rebels, into a union ambush. If anything went wrong she could've ended up dead and no one would have known. Also, when she was dressed up as a black slave woman, she could have gotten killed. She found secret rebel documents and was going to take them back to her camp. But if she was caught with them they probably would have killed her.
   
   When ever Emma made a decision she stuck to it and didn't turn back. For example, when she decided to run away. She was only sixteen and was afraid of her dad. But she set her fears aside and made the decision to leave and she was happy about it. Another example is when she decided to volunteer for the Army. She was scared and worried that they wouldn't believe her disguise. But she made her decision and wasn't going to second guess herself. Also, when she wanted to become a spy. It was dangerous but she wanted to do it anyway. And even after Mrs. Butler tried and tried to convince her not to do it, Emma stuck to her decision.
   
   This is a great book that will make you not want to put it down. I would recommend it to most people who like biographies and adventure story. This book may not interest everyone but overall it was good.
   
   C. Chapman

3 comments about Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson.

1. I was a bit disappointed in this book. Having read and relished The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, I was anxious to read the native narrative of another of the Founding Fathers. Unfortunately, where as Franklin's book combines delightful personal details along with perspectives on the man's government service, Jefferson's autobiography is quite dry and seems to be more an official catalog of committee deliberations than a story about his own life. The rear cover of the books states, in addition to other things, that the book "...presents a detailed account of his young life..." and "...his life in retirement." I think that one would be hard pressed to identify more than a couple paragraphs in this 101 page book in which Jefferson describes his youth or his retirement. The book was interesting, though more from the historical and political perspectives than from any insight it offers into the inner philosophy or personal life of the man.



2. This brief "autobiography" is not a self-promotion, an expose, or a book designed for the purpose of keeping the reader turning the pages in suspense. In fact, it has very little personal information about Jefferson or his life outside of the political happenings in which he was involved concerning the American and French revolutions. Certainly, there is no mention of his black lover, Sally Hemings, and for that matter little mention of his "real" family. Nonetheless it was to me a gripping tale that kept me reading, as I felt privy to the inner workings of the Continental Congress and the French Revolution from an influential American who was on the spot (and in the midst) of the events as they occurred. Perhaps, as a direct descendant of a signer of the Declaration of Independence, of which Jefferson was the author, I had a natural interest in this book. But I think not, as it had been sitting gathering dust on my shelf as I read lots of classic American fiction that I thought would be more rewarding. Despite (because of?) its dry, blunt, intelligent but factual style, the debates and events are center stage, with Jefferson's occasional but not obtrusive opinions being much appreciated. My great experience reading Jefferson's brief book led me to pick up W.E.B. DuBois' The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade, which covers some of the same ground although from a different perspective, and is equally rewarding.



3. Few autobiographies offer such a candid and vivid view of the mind of the author. In this, Thomas Jefferson's autobiography, there is no doubt as to the authenticity of the man, the revolutionary and the statesman: the virtue, wisdom and strength that is visible as Jefferson describes both the minor and major events and moments in his public life of service where his reliance upon the essence of the early Republic's laws and the spirit of the national consciousness were blended with the author's unique insight as to how to maintain the delicate balance of Federal necessity, states rights and the influence of the foreign powers and their affairs upon the young nation.
   
   Unlike the autobiographies of other founding fathers (Adams, Franklin, Hamilton, etc.), whose own accounts are more personal and revealing about themselves as well as judgmental and temperamental about their personal experience with their peers, Jefferson has crafted an autobiography, which is true to form: the form of the man and his beliefs, which influenced national policy without every being advanced to replace it, which served a nation selfishly without requiring anything else in return except for the promise of posterity to "preserve, protect and defend" the liberties achieved and to forever more "admire, relish and respect" the eternal need to defend and uphold, at any cost, both the people and the commonwealth for future generations to behold.
   
   I think it funny that today's democratic-socialists have adopted Thomas Jefferson as their "founding father". If anything, this book redeems the reputation and spirit of Jefferson, not as a democrat or democratic-socialist, but as a Republican, dedicated and sworn to instituting a democratic-republican form of government free from the tyranny of dictators and protected from the ill-conceived attempts of men and women from within to manipulate and pervert a form of government conceived as "one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

5 comments about The Beatles Anthology.

1. The only negative is the size of the book. There should be a smaller hardcover or paperback edition. The content is superb and a great coffee table book, but it's difficult to curl up with this book in bed.



2. This is an excelent book, it is the Beatles story told by them, the book quality is amazing, clear pictures, hardcover is the way to go with this book.
   The only problem I see in this book is the size, it would be almost impossible to carry it in a bag, it is heavy and big to carry, it is a book to read confortably in your bed drinking a Margarita and imagining the adventures of the most succesful band in the history of music.



3. I am 56 and so just caught the end of the Beatles era. I enjoy their music, but would not label myself as a Beatles "fan". What I liked most about this book was discovering what happened in fact that I was only vaguely aware of at the time.
   
   One strength of the book is the illustrations. Many of these would not be considered worthwhile to include in a biography, but they can stir interest, such as seeing portions of contracts for their performances did for me. Another strength is hearing the story directly from the band members. (John's "contributions" were taken from interviews he gave prior to his death.) They do debunk some silly rumors that have persisted about the band. I also enjoyed hearing the circumstances that prompted the writing of many of the songs they recorded.
   
   One negative is that, being an anthology, you get the various opinions on what occurred at key points in time. These can be repetitive and even contradictory among the different band members. So, you do not get the persistence and continuity of having one point of view from the author. The book follows the general sequence of the band's development, but doesn't provide an exact chronology which is sometimes an annoying omission. At times the Beatles are quite candid and at other times I feel like they are offering up answers that protect one another as I would expect from any close group of musicians.
   
   All in all I now have a much greater appreciation of the Beatles phenomenon, their contribution to popular culture and their personalities. However, I still feel that I know "the whole story" and would only consider this book to be one key reference towards understanding the group.



4. No other book tells the beatles story like this, awesome pictures and comments by the fb4 as well as people that worked with them



5. One of the best since Peter Brown's "The love you make",but has a lot of detail about the fab four as to their musical career and experiences in show business. I would read it again if i could. Good investment.

1 comments about The First Queen of England: The Myth of "Bloody Mary".

1. Mary I of England (1516-1558), the elder daughter of Henry VIII, has long been overshadowed by her younger half-sister Elizabeth. As it happens, Mary's "Bloody" reputation is a partly a construct of the following era, due largely to John Foxe and encouraged by Elizabeth herself. But many of the successes of the Elizabethan period, resulting in economic prosperity and flourishing of the arts, were actually continuations of Mary's reforms and policies. One of Elizabeth's advantages was sheer longevity, together with the country remaining Protestant. As a result, historians have traditionally had a rather foreshortened view of Mary's reign.
   
   In her new biography, Linda Porter aims to rehabilitate Mary as a good and competent monarch on balance, and as a pioneer among reigning queens. Porter sets out by explaining the woman that Mary became, examining the people and events that shaped her life--especially her increasingly complicated family and its drama. The resulting depiction of Mary, usually convincing and very well-written, is a worthy addition to historical studies of the Tudor era and queens regnant.
   
   From her mother Katherine of Aragon, Mary learned at an impressionable age that "conscience was the most important justification for behaviour that anyone could make." Katherine refused to step out of the way for Henry's dynastic concerns--she wouldn't even countenance retiring to a nunnery, though Henry, by declaring their marriage invalid from the beginning, actually foreclosed that option. Because Henry divorced Katherine in the end, Mary had to be declared illegitimate.
   
   Strangely--or naively--Henry didn't think that displacing Mary in this way would affect her negatively. But for the young lady who had yielded precedence within the kingdom only to her parents, being uprooted from her (as she saw it) God-given place was simply inconceivable. She objected to any perceived affront, and Henry in his lenience only made the matter worse by not forcing her obedience right away. "The delay raised false hopes and developed in her a pattern of opposition based on conscience and self-identity, where suffering almost became a goal in itself."
   
   Anne Boleyn's jealousy towards Mary grew as the king's divorce dragged on, and in 1531 she became so defensive ("Did she fear that Mary could still salvage her parents' marriage?") that she didn't allow Mary at court at Christmas. Even after Henry married Anne, Mary refused to recognize her as queen, and their encounters always degenerated into rudeness and reprisals. The moral victory was always Mary's:
   "A more subtle woman [than Anne] might have considered outmanoeuvring Mary by occasionally bringing her to court, treating her with kindness and consideration and letting her show the world that, if she continued to defy her father, she was just a sulky, jealous child and a disobedient daughter. The new queen, who liked to be the centre of attention, feared Mary too much to follow such a strategy."
   
   After Anne's death (which Mary may have helped bring about indirectly) and a brief euphoric period in which Mary thought she would be restored to her former position, Henry finally forced his older daughter to submit and acknowledge her reduced status. Mary endured another fifteen years of subjection, first to her father (although she got along quite well with Catherine Parr, her last stepmother) and then to her half-brother Edward VI, whose tolerance of her Catholic observance did not last.
   
   Against the background of this understanding of Mary's character, the events of the last six years of her life fall into place: She rose up with the support of the people to triumph over John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who would have ruled in the name of his daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey. She resumed the practice of the traditional religion, whose beauty and mystery most people probably missed (Northumberland even reverted to the Catholic faith, a huge propaganda victory for the new regime). She married Philip of Spain somewhat reluctantly, it seems, and made it clear that her motherly relationship to her people would take priority. She encouraged trade and reformed the currency that both her father and brother had debased. As for her sobriquet, the level of violence during her reign, although inexcusable to our sensibilities, was not that different from other early modern regimes. As for Calais and its loss, the author glosses it over as ultimately untenable and not all that valuable (an explanation that is not completely satisfying). But when Mary's poor health finally overtook her, she brought about a smooth transition to the next regime by acknowledging Elizabeth as her heir.
   
   Only in the last thirty years or so has Mary I has been rehabilitated and recognized for her own accomplishments, by a series of sympathetic (but not hagiographic) biographers starting with David Loades (newer version), and continuing with Carolly Erickson, J. A. Froude, and others. Porter's biography is not just the latest of these, but also one of the best, with an admirable level of detail and accuracy (especially in the characterizations of supporting figures like Catherine Parr). It is a riveting book, and I finished it with the sense that the traditional smears had been peeled back to reveal something of the pivotal ruler that Mary actually was.

5 comments about The Letters of Abelard and Heloise (Penguin Classics).

1. I have been fascinated by the story of Heloise and Abelard ever since reading the book Stealing Heaven in 1979. Reading theses Letters was heartbreaking to me. This is my take on the whole thing: obviously Peter and Heloise had a deeply passionate sexual relationship. For Heloise, this grew also into an affair of the heart. For both of them it was an affair of the mind. What could be more enticing to a man than a woman of Heloise's intellect and passion? However, it was also the Middle Ages. Heloise was from a prominant family with an uncle high in the Church heirarchy. She loved Peter, as women do, with body, mind and soul. I believe he loved her deeply, but it is different with men. And as long as he was a whole man, I believe he acted honorably. But there is no way around it: her pregnancy was a disaster. What were they to do, what could they do? It is not as if he and she could live together married happily ever after. He faced ruin when she became pregnant: everything he was was put at great risk--his life's work was at stake, his standing in society, his reputation, his position at his University. They marry in secret, she hides away in a convent waiting to be rescued and carried off by her husband to a life of what? She doesn't care--she only wants to be with the man she loves. But what about him? How does he see this future? I feel sorry for the guy. But all this is moot, because her uncle has him castrated. At that point, he changes. No one seems to be acknowledging the effect this would have on him. The most importand underpinning of his feeling for Heloise, i.e., testosterone-induced lust, is suddenly gone. Then add in the humiliation, pain, etc., etc. There you have it. His only option was the Church. Her only option was the Church. But how very differently they embarked upon that life. To him it is a welcome refuge. He can continue to live his life of the mind in that setting. He is surrounded by other celibate men. He has no sexual feelings anymore. He is a different person. Whatever feeling he had for Heloise is cut from him. Indeed, he sees the whole thing as sinful, dirty, to be repented of. She, on the other hand, is in an entirely different situation. Religious life for her is not a refuge, but a prison. She has no access to her child. She has lost her love and lover, against her will. Not only are they separated, but the man she loves no longer loves her. It would have been better for her had he died. But to read his letters to her, wherein he totally rejects and condemns and regrets what she treasures most in her life and scolds her for not doing the same is heartbreaking. The letters make perfect sense to me. She was tormented by her love for him till old age cooled her ardor. She set her considerable mind at work on managing her religious order, but it was second-best, by far, till she was older. Since she adored him all her life, she engaged with him in the only manner he would allow: letters regarding religion and the religious life. I don't know how she bore it for all those years. No doubt about it: the uncle is the villian. Both Heloise and Peter suffered greatly: she had her heart torn from her, and he had his manhood torn from him.



2. Letter 1 (Historia Calamitatum), Abelard to a friend. You think you have it bad? Let me tell you about the mess I've been through and you'll feel a lot better (p. 3). Things were going great until the other professors realized I was smarter than they were and hated me for it. And then I met Heloise, and things really went downhill from there. Her looks were okay, and I'm a handsome dude, so I thought she'd be easy (p. 10). Her uncle Fulbert was an idiot to leave me alone with her (pp. 10-11). I was her teacher and she was just a kid, but I couldn't keep my hands off her. I slapped her around a little to make it look like I was teaching her and not doing her (p. 11). We went at it like rabbits. I knocked her up, she had a kid, and Uncle Fulbert made us get hitched. It was supposed to be a secret, but Fulbert started to spill the beans, so I put Heloise in a convent. That really pissed off Fulbert, so he made a steer out of me (pp. 16-17). Then I made Heloise take the veil, and I became a monk. Now I'm stuck in a hellhole of a monastery in Brittany with a bunch of thugs.
   
   Letter 2, Heloise to Abelard. I just saw the letter you wrote to your friend. Too bad things have been tough, but how come I haven't gotten a letter from you in over 10 years? I think about you all the time, you big stud. It makes me crazy. I'd rather be called your whore than your wife (p. 51). All the girls were jealous of me; we still sing your songs (pp. 52-53). I'd really like to get a letter from you, especially since it was your idea that I become a nun (p. 53). You were a real jerk back then when you waited to make sure I became a nun before you became a monk (p. 54). The least you can do is write.
   
   Letter 3, Abelard to Heloise. How am I supposed to know you wanted to hear from me? I figured you've had better things to do in the last few years than read my letters. Be a good sister and don't worry about me. But if I kick the bucket, bury me at the convent (p. 61).
   
   Letter 4, Heloise to Abelard. Don't talk that way! It makes me crazy to think of you dead. It seems especially unfair that Uncle Fulbert waited until after we were married to get the knives out. I loved doing the nasty with you. All I do is remember us getting it on. I can't even sleep (pp. 68-69). I really can't stand it.
   
   Letter 5, Abelard to Heloise. Black women are not as good-looking as other women, but they have nice teeth and soft skin - it's better to keep them behind closed doors, you know (pp. 73-75). Do you remember when I used to smack you around when you weren't in the mood (p. 81)? Quit your complaining. Let's write only about religious stuff from now on.
   
   Letter 6, Heloise to Abelard. Are there any loopholes in the Benedictine Rule for nuns?...



3. This book was definitely thought provoking, or at least the parts I had to read for class were. I'm not sure if I would recommend it as a fun read. However, it was interesting.



4. Arrived in very good condition as promised.



5. didnt read yet-will review later..have read a fictionalized account of their love affair-looking forward to reading their actual letters

5 comments about Good-Bye to All That: An Autobiography (Anchor Books).

1. This is the edition that Graves edited to all Jesus hell! I've seen excerpts of the unedited version and THAT is the book to aim for, though you have to find it through an antiquarian book peddler and the cheapest edition I could find cost $300. Rats. But hopefully perhaps an electronic edition of the original will somehow find its' way to the internet one day.
   
   What is left is still an excellent read. Concerning the up to that date unprecedented rate of slaughter and the technological changes of modern warfare that made it so, his way is understatement which I believe made it that much more impactful. I like this man's mind - I like him. It would have been very interesting to corner him by a fire with a bottle of good sherry and to let him expound on the Latin or WWI or poetry, or perhaps Hebrew mythology.
   
   Speaking of Hebrew mythology, he wrote a wonderful wonderful book on it, a treatise really on the book of Genesis. If you have any interest whatsover in religion, etymology or anthropology, please read this book - it is wonderful! Just google or "amazon" Graves and Hebrew myths and you will find it.
   
   I have his "White Goddess", but have not read it yet.



2. Good descriptive text of WWI in the trenches and on the way to them, but other than that, not a particularly well-written book. Graves's 'better than thou' attitude sours what could have been a masterpiece if written by somebody with a heart. A bitter story by a bitter man who should have stuck to his poetry.



3. This account by Robert Graves is one of the better personal journals I have read concerning the Great War. The very fact that Graves is in almost at the beginning of the conflict / situation of Trench warfare make this a very valuable work. Because he is an accomplished writer, it flows and reads very well. There are no sections of the book that lag. You will absolutely gain some insight to the way that the officers and men behaved and especially appreciate his commentary on French citizens caught in the middle of the conflict, individual soldiers that have some sembelance of a brain versus the moronic mass, and how much stupidity there is in military conduct based on previous experiences in war, not realizing that this was a new and different sort of conflict, yet trying to constantly apply outdated and dangerous methods in attack. One such crazy result of it is that officers had a high casualty rate. Why? Well, you could always identify them in the field of battle. They were the guys carrying a pistol and swagger stick versus a rifle. Easy pickings to say the least and you would think they would learn and make adjustments accordingly but tragically the practice continued. Anyway, a great book. Well worth your time and small investment to a window on another era by a first hand witness.



4. If you want to learn about and from Graves, then you will love this book. The Great War was a turning point for the generation of Robert Graves just as post September 11th is a turning point for the current generation: nothing can ever be exactly the same, but it takes a great poet to put those changes into context for the rest of the world. Graves was that poet for his generation.
   Misunderstood early in life, at times labeled a subversive, after ninety years, he departed this world as a wise sage. This is the story of his early life, including his experiences in the Great War. It is a must read for any ex-soldier and for anyone who wants to understand the core of Graves' thought.



5. Obviously a must read for all Graves fans and pre-world war Britain. Later chapters will be worth the wait for World War I fans. The reading is clear, fluid, and to the point; making it am excellent reference to the war. I gave it four stars since I am not a Robert Graves fan; although he seemed like a nice bloke.