Awesome! A perfect introduction to Einstein for those who are curious, but are not scientists. Brian Greene is a pleasure to listen to, as always! I wAwesome! A perfect introduction to Einstein for those who are curious, but are not scientists. Brian Greene is a pleasure to listen to, as always! I would recommend it to one and all:):):) ...more
This story....!!!! How can everyone not have read it???? How had I not read it until now? Why had I never heard about it before? This w*** 5+++++++***
This story....!!!! How can everyone not have read it???? How had I not read it until now? Why had I never heard about it before? This was so beautifully painful, so deeply emotional, so prosaically profound! I KNEW what the author slowly and simply unveiled in front of us. I KNEW the emptiness and horror in Lazarus's eyes! I SAW the horror of the 3 days of death. And I am one of the lucky ones who fights ceaselessly and refuses to have the life leached out of me every day, every second, every moment.... Because I KNOW, I have experienced in every fiber of my being, the contrast of darkest depravity and enlightened euphoria, ugliness and beauty, utter despair and boundless hope!!! And I have been blessed to be one of those who can still rejoice in the heat and light of the Sun, be enchanted by the simple innocence of children, and appreciate the privilege of BEING! I have been and still am one of the walking wounded. I recognize Lazarus and those who have survived the unsurvivable.
"..."Now he was grave and silent; neither he himself jested nor did he laugh at the jests of others; and the words he spoke occasionally were simple, ordinary and necessary words—words as much devoid of sense and depth as are the sounds with which an animal expresses pain and pleasure, thirst and hunger. Such words a man may speak all his life and no one would ever know the sorrows and joys that dwelt within him." ..."
I know. I see. I recognize. But most of all, I feel grateful that something in my emotional makeup has let me be deeply marred, but not decimated. I feel the joy and sun and love. I stayed human...
This review is not a review. This is my way of saying thanks to an author long gone, as well as those who keep his work still in print. A thanks for understanding that some events in our lives are not erasable. The wounds heal, sometimes there are no visible scars. But the pain is something we are faced with every single moment, every day, and for some of us, as well as those who look into our eyes and love us, it is soul-destroying. I don't know what is that thing, which helps some move on, open their hearts and senses back to life, while some only continue to exist, but I am beyond grateful that I have found IT, just as Aurelius. IT has gifted me with the ability to truly appreciate every ray of sunshine, bathe in the colors of life while always knowing the grays, as well as the fortitude to weather the tempests always finding their way on the horizon... My words are weak and I cannot express all that I want to say, but I want to express my infinite gratitude to all! And I want to thank those who crisscross their paths with mine. I thank you all who have been with me, patient and loving, on this winding, harsh, and thankless road! You are all KNOWN and tattooed on my heart.
I read this story and I cried. Lazarus has been brought back from the dead and by Jesus of all people. Hurrah for Lazarus! Now he has to survive the rest of his returned life with all the trauma of death stamped on his body, mind and soul. The Lazarus of before is no longer. The parts that have returned are not enough. And although his survival is and is seen as a miracle, what would his daily life do to all around him? If you have ever known or loved, or just wondered about those who have lived through wars, torture, or other "unsurvivable"situations, this short story is a must!!! You have to read this!!!!
Before you take my rating as just another four stars, let me explain. Some will read this and think it is the biggest bunch of bull ever writ*** 4 ***
Before you take my rating as just another four stars, let me explain. Some will read this and think it is the biggest bunch of bull ever written. And they will not be wrong. Some will read it and say, yeah, OK, I see the metaphor, I understand the gist, but it has no plot to speak of, it is too verbose, and self-indulgent, nothing to good... And they will be right. Still others will read it and feel their soul finally understood, and will call it not just a book, but a revelation. They will be completely correct as well. This is the reason I wish I could give it 0 stars and 5 stars at the same time, if there was a way to do that without messing with the author's GR rating. But I experienced all of those stages while reading this 200 page novella.
It started with the languid, indulgent manner of a bard's storytelling and I thought, OK, this is just the introduction, it will be interesting. The first 20% persisted in this manner, and even I, who love the cadence of the language as much as anyone, after the 10% mark wanted to dose off, go clean, or even do laundry!!!! The HORROR!!!! The introduction of the group of characters on a pilgrimage to the Indifferent G-d was over-long and over-clever. Being cheeky is fun, when it is in small measures and you can cherish the moments as a jewel, but in an ocean of jewels, you will most likely drown...
We have representatives of most branches of society, among which we have a group of knights, hunters, some thugs, as well as a dancer and several writers, poets, and storytellers. On their pilgrimage they have to cross the Crack'd Pot Trail, which is a desert. The knights and the hunters are after the necromancers and murderers, B&K, who have been leaving a path of carnage behind and a reward awaits those who capture them. Around the 20th day the gang have run out of food and water and decide that they have to start eating members of the party. So, they organize a contest, in which the most worthless (the way the group sees it, they are less useful than the horses) individuals, the writers, poet and storytellers, will have to beguile them with their craft every day, and whoever is the worst as judged by them, gets killed and eaten in the evening. Talk about Hunger Games:):):) This is the premise and this is the book.
Once we got to that premise I started getting hooked. For the purpose of brevity, I will call the artists, the writers. So, all the writers got into telling their stories, and this is where I saw the genius of Steven Erikson come to life. We could put ourselves in the position of the writers, the audience and the critics at the same time. It was so real, so true, so cruelly straight-forward, he beat us over the head with a bludgeon!!! This symbiotic but most cannibalistic relationship between the author, his critics and the public whom he works for, takes on a very macabre shape in the bulk of this book. They do not call it Grim-Dark for nothing!!!
Imagine yourself being thrown in a situation like that! For starters, you and your work have been judged as worthless, thus you can be the first to be used as food for all the "real members" of the group. Those who matter. Second, those are just random people. You have no idea what they might or might not like. Do you try to send fillers as to what could be the most approved of way to tell a story and then tailor your stile and presentation to them, or do you stay true to yourself and hope they like what they see/hear? Are you confident enough in your own ability to put your life on the line for it? Will the audience understand you, where you are coming from, what you are trying to achieve? And what if you are good enough for the audience but the critics, those who at the end decide your fate, hate everything about you? And what are their motives and values? Are they the same as yours, or the audience, or are they completely different from all else? How do you keep everyone happy and satisfied, and at the same time try to keep true to yourself and all you believe you stand for? And is borrowing or "inspiration" from others OK, and how different do you have to be? The questions are so many, and Erikson is able to present them in such an unbelievably entertaining and gritty way, that I am not sure I will ever be able to think about this thematic without thinking of this book! I thought I loved him once I read Deadhouse Gates, then I thought I am in-love with him after I read Midnight Tides, now I am not sure what to think anymore... He has entered that zone in which I put those I would hope I never meet, because he has arisen to a pedestal level, and reality usually brings those folks down... So I just would like to admire him from very, very far away:):):)!!!
This being said, I am not blind to the verbal vomit that was happening at some intervals. A GR friend of mine called it "verbal masturbation" and I think this is much more precise, because SE ravels in his self-indulgence during the whole book. Unapologeticslly so, and I admire him even more for that!!! He does not try to meet his fans's expectations, he is on his soap-box and he is going to make it count! However, since we are all being self-indulgent, I have to admit that on top of the love-hate relationship between the author, critics, and the readers, the warning tales of watching out whom you invite into your own "house", and the hilariously absurd poet who tried to sell the stories in rime, so he can reach and encourage "the children", my most favorite and cringe-worthy parts were the horrifyingly awkward and ridiculously humorous in a very dark and jarring way sex scenes!!!! The first one was tragically inadequate and the second, completely impossible:) And I cringed and laughed with abandon:):):):) Don"t judge me, I am weird:)
So, I am not sure I can recommend this book to people, because I am not sure who might like it, but if you are a writer of any kind, or are interested in sociological experiments, this might be very interesting for you, that is hoping you can get over the first 20% without giving up. I know I will never be able to erase it from my mind:):):)
P.S... I walk up the next morning and thought about how much our current government resembles that judging crowd. The first thing they tried to slash when they took office, was the funding for the arts and education, as well as almost completely defund EPA, science and diplomacy, which heavily relies on the ability to communicate with language... But the money for military and weapons went way up. We, as people are devaluing our hearts, minds and souls... It is just so sad and insidiously damaging! Let's hope by the time another Renaissance emerges, we have not sunk into this millennium's Dark Age!😞😞😞
Now I wish You All Happy Reading and may you Always find what you Need in the pages of a Good Book!...more
I owe much to this gentle great man's books. My mom and I met him early in my life and his outlook on life and G-d influenced my formative years in a I owe much to this gentle great man's books. My mom and I met him early in my life and his outlook on life and G-d influenced my formative years in a way which shaped me as a person! I am so grateful to my mom, making the reading, meditation and discussions over his books some of the best, most spiritually intimate moments with her in my memory! She has been gone 13 years now and still when I think of her in moments of profoundly missing her and other loved ones who have passed, the moments of feeling so close to all the sparks of Creation while cuddling up in bed reading and discussing Yogananda, come forth in my mind and my spirit finds peace...
His books are not only for people interested in the Eastern Religions. They are deeply spiritual and give some great ideas and advice on being in harmony with nature and mostly, yourself!...more
I have grown to expect very high quality lectures from the Teaching Company, but this one just did not quite make the cut... I am sorry to*** 2.75 ***
I have grown to expect very high quality lectures from the Teaching Company, but this one just did not quite make the cut... I am sorry to say this, since the subject is very fascinating and I really wanted to like the product as a whole... Still, not prime Teaching Company is better than no Teaching Company at all:):):) ...more
I read this about 5-6 years ago and loved it at the time! I was just thinking about it and decided to add it to the books I have read, but am thinkingI read this about 5-6 years ago and loved it at the time! I was just thinking about it and decided to add it to the books I have read, but am thinking of re-reading soon. Hope I like it anew. It crystallized many of my own observations of the world and did so in a very reader-friendly fashion with a punch. Recommend it to those who like social studies of gender and gender relationships. ...more
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