Their Eyes Were Watching God Review

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(More customer reviews)"There Eyes Were Watching God," by Zora Neale Hurston, is widely acknowledged as a beloved classic of American literature. This novel is truly one of those great works that remains both entertaining and deeply moving; it is a book for classrooms, for reading groups of all types, and for individual readers.
In "There Eyes," Hurston tells the life story of Janie, an African-American woman. We accompany Janie as she experiences the very different men in her life. Hurston's great dialogue captures both the ongoing "war of the sexes," as well as the truces, joys, and tender moments of male-female relations. But equally important are Janie's relationships with other Black women. There are powerful themes of female bonding, identity, and empowerment which bring an added dimension to this book.
But what really elevates "Their Eyes" to the level of a great classic is Hurston's use of language. This is truly one of the most poetic novels in the American canon. Hurston blends the engaging vernacular speech of her African-American characters with the lovely "standard" English of her narrator, and in both modes creates lines that are just beautiful.
"Their Eyes" captures the universal experiences of pain and happiness, love and loss. And the whole story is told with both humor and compassion. If you haven't read it yet, read it; if you've already read it, read it again.

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Light in August (The Corrected Text) Review

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(More customer reviews)After reading Faulkner's four major masterpieces -- The Sound and the Fury; Absalom, Absalom!; As I Lay Dying; and Light in August -- I've come to the conclusion that Light in August is far and away the easiest to read, has the most dramatic plot, the most intriguing primary characters in Joe Christmas, Gail Hightower and Joanna Burden, and even some of his most intriguing minor characters in Uncle Doc Hines and Mr. McEachern. Overall, it is his most readable and likeable masterpiece. And it leaves you wanting so much more.
The complex and ambiguous character of Joe Christmas alone could have been the source of three or four novels detailing different times in his life. While Christmas is hardly a likeable person, he is fascinating, hypnotic, a train wreck; you can't keep your eyes off him. His actions are morally ambiguous and inconsistent and yet fully understandable within his nature. As a creation he deserves to rank with Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, Captain Ahab and Jay Gatsby in the pantheon of American literary characters.
Faulkner has a big mission here. The novel exposes the evils of racism both in the South and among white, northern abolitionists. It traffics in religious symbolism while savaging religious fanatacism. And it leaves one with a great deal of memorable violent and sexual imagery. And that's just for starters. This book is deep, and while it's storytelling is largely non-linear, it is far more palatable than the other three, which tend to be confusing and obscure. Enjoy this one. If you've never read Faulkner, it's a great starter.

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From Achilles to Christ: Why Christians Should Read the Pagan Classics Review

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(More customer reviews)An outstanding introduction to ancient Greek/Roman literary classics from a Christian perspective, Markos leads the reader through some prominent ancient Greek/Roman literary works, explaining the highlights of the "stories" and then digging deeper into their meanings and how they sort of "jive", in a faintly anticipatory way with some of the biblical themes of God, humanity, and redemption. Just as the gospel was set forth in shadowy, veiled form in the "old testament", there were glimmers of the gospel to be found in non-hebraic thought of antiquity as well. From Homer's Illiad and Odyssey, to Hesiod's Theogony, to Virgil's Aeneid, as well as the plays of Sophocles, Euripedes and Aeschylus, the author "demonstrates how the characters, themes and symbols within these myths both foreshadow and find their fulfillment in the story of Jesus Christ- the myth made fact. Along the way, he dispels misplaced fears about the dangers of reading classical literature and offers a Christian approach to the appropriation and interpretation of these great literary works." (from the book's back cover) Must, must reading for thoughful christians wanting to understand something of the popular stories and literature of the wider Greco-Roman World of which the new testament was a part.

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"The heart of Christianity is a myth which is also a fact."--C. S. LewisIn From Achilles to Christ, Louis Markos introduces readers to the great narratives of classical mythology from a Christian perspective. From the battles of Achilles and the adventures of Odysseus to the feats of Hercules and the trials of Aeneas, Markos shows how the characters, themes and symbols within these myths both foreshadow and find their fulfillment in the story of Jesus Christ--the "myth made fact." Along the way, he dispels misplaced fears about the dangers of reading classical literature, and offers a Christian approach to the interpretation and appropriation of these great literary works.This engaging and eminently readable book is an excellent resource for Christian students, teachers and readers of classical literature.

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Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals (Penguin Philosophy) Review

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(More customer reviews)Iris Murdoch was appointed to the faculty of Oxford at the age of twenty-nine. In this book, published in 1992 and based on a series of public, valedictory lectures she was invited to give, she ranges over philosophy, literature, the concept of consciousness, the relationship between religion and morality, and other topics. She "cuts loose" here, unworried about academic niceties, expressing her unvarnished opinions. She is marvelously fluent in the western philosophical tradition, addressing Plato, Kant, Schopenhauer, Wittgenstein, Sartre, and Derrida, among others. Her position, reflecting many years of development, is Platonic in the best, pagan sense: she argues against modern versions of relativism, but also insists that all perception is saturated with value. She is concerned with the future of spirituality in a "demythologized" culture, and draws on Platonism here as well: "God" as a metaphorical representation of Good, Good as the ultimate (secular) source of spiritual nourishment. The vision is very clear and consistent. A shorter, earlier exercise is The Sovereignty of Good, and the novels Under the Net and The Nice and the Good address themes discussed more directly here.

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The Pooh Book of Quotations Review

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(More customer reviews)In the classic tradition of A.A. Milne, this compilationcaptures all the enchanment of the Hundred Acre Wood. The selectedquotes are endearing and will send any reader back to their days of childhood. An excellent gift for the Pooh lover in your family.

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The definitive compendium of Things Said by Pooh, Things Said about Pooh, and Other Important Observations by Pooh's Friends. Over 300 quotations cover such topics as food, weather, journeys, and bravery. Includes index of key words, such as "Condensed Milk" and "Stiffness After Tracking (How to Remove)."

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