Amazon.com
Bestselling author Nassim Nicholas Taleb continues his exploration of randomness in his fascinating new book, The Black Swan, in which he examines the influence of highly improbable and unpredictable events that have massive impact. Engaging and enlightening, The Black Swan is a book that may change the way you think about the world, a book that Chris Anderson calls, "a delightful romp through history, economics, and the frailties of human nature." See Anderson's entire guest review below.
Guest Reviewer: Chris Anderson
Chris Anderson is editor-in-chief of Wired magazine and the author of The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More.
Four hundred years ago, Francis Bacon warned that our minds are wired to deceive us. "Beware the fallacies into which undisciplined thinkers most easily fall--they are the real distorting prisms of human nature." Chief among them: "Assuming more order than exists in chaotic nature." Now consider the typical stock market report: "Today investors bid shares down out of concern over Iranian oil production." Sigh. We're still doing it.
Our brains are wired for narrative, not statistical uncertainty. And so we tell ourselves simple stories to explain complex thing we don't--and, most importantly, can't--know. The truth is that we have no idea why stock markets go up or down on any given day, and whatever reason we give is sure to be grossly simplified, if not flat out wrong.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb first made this argument in Fooled by Randomness, an engaging look at the history and reasons for our predilection for self-deception when it comes to statistics. Now, in The Black Swan: the Impact of the Highly Improbable, he focuses on that most dismal of sciences, predicting the future. Forecasting is not just at the heart of Wall Street, but it's something each of us does every time we make an insurance payment or strap on a seat belt.
The problem, Nassim explains, is that we place too much weight on the odds that past events will repeat (diligently trying to follow the path of the "millionaire next door," when unrepeatable chance is a better explanation). Instead, the really important events are rare and unpredictable. He calls them Black Swans, which is a reference to a 17th century philosophical thought experiment. In Europe all anyone had ever seen were white swans; indeed, "all swans are white" had long been used as the standard example of a scientific truth. So what was the chance of seeing a black one? Impossible to calculate, or at least they were until 1697, when explorers found Cygnus atratus in Australia.
Nassim argues that most of the really big events in our world are rare and unpredictable, and thus trying to extract generalizable stories to explain them may be emotionally satisfying, but it's practically useless. September 11th is one such example, and stock market crashes are another. Or, as he puts it, "History does not crawl, it jumps." Our assumptions grow out of the bell-curve predictability of what he calls "Mediocristan," while our world is really shaped by the wild powerlaw swings of "Extremistan."
In full disclosure, I'm a long admirer of Taleb's work and a few of my comments on drafts found their way into the book. I, too, look at the world through the powerlaw lens, and I too find that it reveals how many of our assumptions are wrong. But Taleb takes this to a new level with a delightful romp through history, economics, and the frailties of human nature. --Chris Anderson
Book Description
A black swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was. The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. For Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from the rise of religions to events in our own personal lives.
Why do we not acknowledge the phenomenon of black swans until after they occur? Part of the answer, according to Taleb, is that humans are hardwired to learn specifics when they should be focused on generalities. We concentrate on things we already know and time and time again fail to take into consideration what we don’t know. We are, therefore, unable to truly estimate opportunities, too vulnerable to the impulse to simplify, narrate, and categorize, and not open enough to rewarding those who can imagine the “impossible.”
For years, Taleb has studied how we fool ourselves into thinking we know more than we actually do. We restrict our thinking to the irrelevant and inconsequential, while large events continue to surprise us and shape our world. Now, in this revelatory book, Taleb explains everything we know about what we don’t know. He offers surprisingly simple tricks for dealing with black swans and benefiting from them.
Elegant, startling, and universal in its applications The Black Swan will change the way you look at the world. Taleb is a vastly entertaining writer, with wit, irreverence, and unusual stories to tell. He has a polymathic command of subjects ranging from cognitive science to business to probability theory. The Black Swan is a landmark book–itself a black swan.
Customer Reviews:
good read, interesting arguments but a bit naive.......2007-10-09
i read both books by mr. taleb (black swan and fooled by randomness) last week. i enjoyed both, although i think he made the point about the futility of inductive reasoning more persuasively in the randomness book. both argue the same point with different emphasis. in black swan, he even undertake a bit of advising, akin to list of things to do so that you don't get harmed by black swans.
often, but not for too long, i get exasperated by his desire to grind an ax: his constant put downs on economists, mba's and journalists. i can see his point that math has a lot to teach to those ignorant of subtle complexities of probability theories, but the pompous (but quite entertaining) name calling is just not necessary. having said that, he did toned down a bit in the black swan book, so if you prefer something more spicy, read the randomness book first.
mr taleb has done a good job at presenting an interesting hypothesis, i am waiting for his scholarly works to prove he is not just exercising litearary rights to fill his pocket the lazy way.
things to watch for: when he goes over how useless econmists are, he makes broad assumptions about the neo-classical econ approach. this shows that he is rather naive of this "soft" science. one point in case, there is this concept called opportunity cost, it matters when making rational decisions. he just ignored it or perhaps was not aware of its central role in how economics study the world. simlarly, we all know that models make assumptions, some are more extreme than others. they serve a purpose, benchmarking. no one expects to find a perfectly competitive market (i think there is one close to it, the commodity market), but that is NOT the point.
in sum, highly enjoyable book. taleb is at his bests explaining intuitively statistics. does a good job in criticizing inductive reasoning, but a terrible job at justifying the put downs on economics.
The Power of What We Do Not Know.......2007-10-09
Well written, informative and just a little out of the box. Taleb veers so slowly off the beaten path so as to allow the reader can adapt. In the end, the typical reader believes he/she "knew all that all along." Nice Work. Mastery.
Foggy premise presented by an arrogant author.......2007-10-08
Really can't understand all the great reviews of this book. The author THINKS he's witty, when he's really just showing off his arrogance. Trust me, he's no Larry David....as one other reviewer seemed to think.
But the real letdown of this book is his foggy writing, which is almost always a sign of foggy thinking. And to MAKE UP one of his prime examples (the author with the unpronounceable Slavic name) and then to continue to bring up other examples using "her" is simply lazy research and writing. If his premise is so true, surely he can find real life examples to share with us. He probably intimidated his editor so much that this really annoying writing style was not challenged by the publisher. A layperson can find many better books written on the subject of randomness.
Great book .......2007-10-08
Nassim Nicholas has written a very important book. The first chapters seemed a bit slow but once he got going (or maybe I got thinking) I could not stop. Anyone making any type of business, marketing, or investment decision and relies on prediction needs to read this book. My hat is off to him as a writer and a big picture thinker.
Very thoughtful and enlightening book.......2007-10-02
Taleb has a winner here. The book brings a new slant to what really drives almost every trend. Often the stock traders and predictors of political events are not just wrong, but dead wrong. The reasons for these mistakes and others are explained in entertaining fashion in this book "The Black Swan".
Average customer rating:
- For all adolescent boys, and the people who love them
- An enjoyable read, but not for everyone.
- Good story, reads quickly
- Couldn't get into this book
- What is it REALLY like to be a 13-year-old boy?
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Black Swan Green: A Novel
David Mitchell
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0812974018
Release Date: 2007-02-27 |
Book Description
From award-winning writer David Mitchell comes a sinewy, meditative novel of boyhood on the cusp of adulthood and the old on the cusp of the new.
Black Swan tracks a single year in what is, for thirteen-year-old Jason Taylor, the sleepiest village in muddiest Worcestershire in a dying Cold War England, 1982. But the thirteen chapters, each a short story in its own right, create an exquisitely observed world that is anything but sleepy. A world of Kissingeresque realpolitik enacted in boys’ games on a frozen lake; of “nightcreeping” through the summer backyards of strangers; of the tabloid-fueled thrills of the Falklands War and its human toll; of the cruel, luscious Dawn Madden and her power-hungry boyfriend, Ross Wilcox; of a certain Madame Eva van Outryve de Crommelynck, an elderly bohemian emigré who is both more and less than she appears; of Jason’s search to replace his dead grandfather’s irreplaceable smashed watch before the crime is discovered; of first cigarettes, first kisses, first Duran Duran Lps, and first deaths; of Margaret Thatcher’s recession; of Gypsies camping in the woods and the hysteria they inspire; and, even closer to home, of a slow-motion divorce in four seasons.
Pointed, funny, profound, left-field, elegiac, and painted with the stuff of life, Black Swan Green is David Mitchell’s subtlest and most effective achievement to date.
From the Hardcover edition.
Download Description
David Mitchell is the author of
Ghostwritten,
Number9Dream, and
Cloud Atlas, the last 2 finalists for the Booker Prize. Granta magazine named him one of Britain’s best young novelists in 2003. He lives in County Cork with his wife and daughter.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
For all adolescent boys, and the people who love them.......2007-10-09
This book took me inside the mind of a witty, scared, and dear adolescent boy with some of the best (often internal) dialogue since George V Higgins
An enjoyable read, but not for everyone........2007-10-02
Black Swan Green: A Novel
"Black Swan Green" By David Mitchell.
"Black Swan Green" chronicles one year in the life of 13 year old Jason Taylor who lives in a small town in England named Black Swan Green in 1982. The book is broken into 13 chapters with each chapter devoted to one month in Jason's life starting in January and ending in January (January man).
This book was very good and I rate it on a par with "Catcher in the Rye" or "A Separate Peace". Be warned this book is not for everyone and is a little bit of a sleeper. Initially it was slow going, a book about the trials and tribulations of a 13 year old yada yada. Right when I thought I was getting bored with the book the hooks were in. The initial part of the book which seemed a little slow was the necessary character building stage and after that the characters were alive and I cared about them and had to find out what happened. I say it isn't for everyone and this it true. This story isn't an action packed thrill ride and it isn't filled with mystery or violence or sex. What it is full of is very life like realistic characters that you come to see could have been you or someone you knew growing up. If you enjoy character driven stories you will probably like this however if you need action etc, this may not be for you.
The Good: As stated the characters are superbly written. Not a lot to elaborate on. This is a character driven story and the characters are excellently drawn.
The Bad: A little slow at first but the patient reader will be rewarded.
Overall: I recommend this book. It was very enjoyable and worth giving a read!
Good story, reads quickly.......2007-09-19
I enjoyed this book very much. I liked how the story was constructed over one year in the boy's life, and there were several interesting plots going on, that all seemed to resolve by the end. I found myself laughing out loud from time to time. It was a fast read for me, and I thought that the 13-y/o's narrative made it even more interesting. I liked all the characters that came in and out of the novel, especially the old woman who was going to teach French. I was shocked by the depravity of some of Taylor's "friends" and their families, though I guess I shouldn't have been...that's everywhere. I wish this story didn't end!
Couldn't get into this book.......2007-09-08
This book was recommended to me because I enjoyed Middlesex, no comparison. I gave up reading "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell in the middle of chapter one. I started reading again, put it down picked it up and finally..........Yes, it was that dull. However, the New York Times has a positive review of "Black Swan Green". I could find only one negative comment in the entire review
What is it REALLY like to be a 13-year-old boy? .......2007-08-19
Black Swan Green by David Mitchell answers that very question. I choose this book to read because it was listed as a New York Times Notable book in 2006, and I'm certainly glad I did!
Black Swan Green is the name of the small village in Worcestershire where 13-year-old Jason Taylor lives. It's a sleepy little village minus the swans. The year is 1982, and Jason is trying to navigate his way through a maze of difficulties: bullies at school, trying to blend in, overcoming a stammer that could label him forever, parents at war with each other, an older sister that calls him "The Thing", a war in the Falklands, and gypsies that have taken up residence is the village. Can life really be so difficult at 13? You bet it can!
Eliot Bolivar is a poet that submits his writing to the local parish magazine. He is talented and writes eloquently. And he is actually Jason Taylor, our 13-year-old antagonist. But really, could a kid hold up his head in school if he admits to being a POET? I think not!
This book is chocked full of insight. It is exactly one year in the life of Jason Taylor. Mitchell's writing is so fantastic, you can actually see through the eyes of this boy. At first, it was a bit difficult to understand some of the British phrasing and terms, but that didn't stop any enjoyment I felt reading this book. When Jason was called on to read aloud in class, I actually could FEEL his fear in the pit of MY stomach. Trying to navigate through school without being seen, not popular enough to be part of the in-crowd, and not detested enough to be one of the lepers, Jason tries hard to fit in. And he has to fit in in a way that lets him live with himself.
One of my favorite passages in the book comes right at the end: "The world's a Headmaster who works on your faults. I don't mean in a mystical or a Jesus way. More how you'll keep tripping over a hidden step, over and over, till you finally understand: Watch out for that step! Everything that's wrong with us, if we're too selfish or too Yessir, Nosir, Three bags full sir or too anything, that's a hidden step. Either you suffer the consequences of not noticing your fault forever, or , one day, you DO notice it, and fix it. Joke is, once you get it into your brain about THAT hidden step and think, Hey, life isn't so bad after all again, then BUMP! Down you go, a whole new flight of hidden steps. There are always more."
The entire book is filled with this type of writing and insight. The characters are all well-rounded, simple yet complex. This book will make you laugh and it will make you cry. And it will make you exceedingly glad that you never have to go through that horrible time in life again. I would recommend it whole-heartedly!
Customer Reviews:
Helpful.......2007-09-18
I thought, when I first started reading this book, that it was a bit too simple a read for adults. Still, the opening situation with the girl was so familiar and even a little bit uncomfortable and I thought there must be something in here for me. There was! I think this book and it's lessons would be a comfort to most people who have been wounded in their childhoods.
Bypass this book and keep looking.......2007-06-29
I have read a library full of self-help books. This is the worst. Immediately after reading The Black Swan, I took it and threw it in the nearest trash can. The story of a little girl getting therapy from a swan may be cute but did not transpire into any lasting change. It was like listening to a friend's horrendous story of neglect, abuse and abandonment and then suggesting she "find her center." Most of what the swan offers as help, is New Age psychobabble. If you are not into New Age philosophy you will hate this book.
A good therapudic book to have on hand........2007-06-09
A wonderful parable for all kinds of loss. A good book to have on hand. Perhaps a few copies to share as you are unlikely to get it back, which is a good thing.
Black Swan.......2007-03-23
A new allegorical perspective on an age old, little identified problem. Beautifully done. A must have part of a therapist's library.
Thank you
Recommended for Everyone.......2006-08-29
Susan Anderson beautifully utilizes the power of the fable in conveying complex concepts about life, love, and loss in this easy to read story about the Black Swan. Because this book is a story and reads like one it avoids the blandness and instructional nature of other selfhelp books. By the same token the story is not abstract or meandering. The principals and recovery methods presented in the book are clearly and concisely described so that they may be easily put into practice. Furthermore, the storyline helps to make sequence of the twelve steps or lessons easy to remember. I would recommend this book to everyone.
Average customer rating:
- Amazing and couragous
- Aviation, Vertical, Horizontal and More.
- Author Needs to Dig Deeper
- The Black Swan
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The Black Swan: Memory, Midlife, and Migration
Anne Batterson
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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Women | Sociology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0743215532 |
Amazon.com's Best of 2001
It's hard to believe this thoughtful memoir is Anne Batterson's first book, so elegantly does she weave a chronicle of her five-week trip across America to observe migratory birds with recollections of the key people and moments in her life. Batterson was 56 when she took off from Connecticut on the journey she knew was quixotic, designed to stem her rising panic at her beloved second husband's talk of leaving his post as an Episcopalian minister. "Retirement, he would try out over the dinner table," she writes. "More time. Enough time... What I heard was: Hurry. Hurry. There's no time." Though she had behind her decades of adventure as a skydiver, pilot, and mountain trekker, Batterson still felt a keen need for risk-taking and solitude. With the blessings of her understanding spouse, David, she packed up her VW bus camper and took off. The present-tense narrative of her travels has a marvelous immediacy, from the lyrical (yet often slyly funny) descriptions of birdwatching, to emotional accounts of visits, to friends suffering their own midlife crises. Her past comes vibrantly to life in bravura passages capturing the thrill of skydiving (especially a terrifying jump in the middle of a lightning storm) and the pain of her failed first marriage to a flight instructor "who taught me how to loop the loop. Boy did he ever." She comes home to David and the knowledge that her wanderlust makes her who she is. The book closes with Batterson admitting, "I've always wanted to go above the Arctic Circle," as David laughs and she kisses the palm of his hand, murmuring, "God, I'm lucky." Readers will feel just as lucky to have shared the experiences related here with such tenderness and hard-won wisdom. --Wendy Smith
Book Description
Set against a spontaneous cross-country road trip following the migrating birds, this passionate, lyrical memoir is one woman's reflections on midlife, her important personal relationships, her kaleidoscopic past, and her uncertain future.
To fifty-six-year-old Anne Batterson, a woman whose life has been filled with adventure -- as a commercial pilot, an international skydiving champion, a trekking guide in Nepal -- her husband's decision to retire felt like a death sentence. Yearning for some way to reconcile herself to the future that was rapidly unfolding before her, she packed up her VW camper and hit the road with maps, bird guides, and little else except the desire to follow the fall migration and the bone-deep hunch that birds had something important to teach her.
In this beautifully written narrative of that extraordinary trip, Batterson writes movingly not only about her experiences with the birds but also about the people she loves, has lost, and connects with along the way. Events from the present trigger vivid stories from the past. In the chapter "The Journey Within the Journey," a long, lonely night in a deserted campground in Virginia conjures up the ghosts of a desperate solo road trip she made when she was twenty-one. A towering cumulus cloud in Illinois brings back a breathtaking free fall into a similar cloud in "My Time as a Bird." An encounter with a great blue heron summons a compelling account of her mother's last afternoon in the world. "Bears in the Woods" describes a run-in with two Deliverance-type men in West Virginia, which brings back the murder of a dear friend in the woods of Connecticut.
By the end of the journey, the ghosts of the past, like the author herself, have become part of a more fluid, more spiritual reality -- wild and spare and elegant and timeless -- one that is always out there, "quickening on the far side of reality."
A unique mix of memoir and nature writing, The Black Swan is a charming story of a woman's odyssey.
Download Description
For fifty-six-year-old Anne Batterson, a woman whose life has been filled with adventure -- as a pilot, a trekking guide in Nepal, an international skydiving champion, a wife and mother -- retirement was a depressing acknowledgement of advancing years. Though her life and marriage were still fulfilling, Anne yearned for some way of reconciling herself to the future. So she packed up her VW camper and hit the road with maps, bird guides, and little else in the way of a plan except to follow migrating birds. The Black Swan is a narrative of that extraordinary trip. In addition to beautifully describing bird migration across the United States, Batterson writes movingly about her children, her husband, her parents, and her own remarkable achievements. And it is through this spiritual journey, combined with the arduous but rewarding physical journey across the country, that Anne Batterson finds self-awareness and ultimately, peace. A unique mix of memoir and nature writing, The Black Swan is a lovely story of a woman's coming of age.
Customer Reviews:
Amazing and couragous.......2003-01-23
I met Anne at a CT Authors and Publishers meeting where she was the guest speaker. She kept us enthralled with her tales and adventures in her journey to be published after she had written this book. The journey never stops. I found it very inspiring to see someone have both the courage and support to take off on a cross country journey and then write about it. My ownself, I have fictionalized my experiences in "Forever Retro Blues." I am in awe of anyone who can put themselves out there like Anne did. It's a spiritual quest in addition to the physical one of finding herself in mid-life. Well done, Anne, well done.
Aviation, Vertical, Horizontal and More........2002-11-29
As an international skydiving champion, Anne Batterson was someone I admired when I began jumping in 1962. She went on to become a flight instructor and charter pilot. She understands flight and is fascinated by all who fly.
Batterson describes her following of a fall bird migration with flashbacks to her earlier adventures. I loved reading about her skydiving in the early days.
She relates the need to be alone from time to time.
A good writer with a large and varied vocabulary, she crafts a good read.
As an author, publisher and skydiver, I found this book fascinating and fun to read.
Dan Poynter, ParaPublishing.com
Author Needs to Dig Deeper.......2002-03-14
This book chronicles Anne Batterson's solo road trip at the age of 56 to confront midlife while following the fall bird migration. Overall the book is well written but just never seems to go anywhere. There are moments of soul baring but for the most part this reader found the book superficial. With so many adventures to her credit entailing more risk than most of us dare, it is sad that this author didn't risk sharing more of herself.
The Black Swan.......2001-08-16
A beautiful, subtle, completely absorbing story that will stir the reader's own internal wild bird. It was such a privilege to share Ms. Batterson's journey. Hard to believe this is her first book and can't wait to read more from her.
Book Description
In 1989, Princeton Architectural Press published Anchoring, the first book on the work of the then up-and-coming architect Steven Holl. Since then, Holl has become one of the most famous and highly regarded architects in the world through his award-winning residential and institutional work; his teaching, writings, and drawings; and his persistent vision of an architecture that takes into consideration its place, time, and all the senses of the viewer. This philosophy helped to create some of the richest and most celebrated buildings of the past several decades. Indeed, in 2001, Time magazine called Holl "America's Best Architect for 'buildings that satisfy the spirit as well as the eye.'"
Sequels to Anchoring Intertwining and Parallax chronicled Holl's work from the period 1988 to 1995. House brings us up-to-date on Holl's most recent residences and collects his best-known projects from the past including a total of fifteen of Holl's residential works. Rather than having an unvarying style, these houses aim at the sometimes elusive ideal of the specific. Each house tackles a different design challenge, using site as the physical and metaphysical foundation upon which to build. Fusing building and situation, Holl creates a unique expression in each home. Beautiful and innovative, the houses span the globe, ranging from a secluded location in Hawaii, to the Catskill Mountains of New York, to Martha's Vineyard, to the Hague in the Netherlands. Each project is accompanied by Holl's charming watercolor building studies as well as an insightful explanation of how he was inspired by the land upon which the house sits and how the sumptuous materials utilized reflect the spirit of the location.
Customer Reviews:
interesting architect, not necessarily livable.......2007-05-07
Steven Holl's architectural work is quite interesting, although I am not as sure his ideas are the most livable. I can't comment on his writings, as I prefer to look at pictures.
Book Description
A Hollywood millionaire with a terror of death, whose personal physician happens to be working on a theory of longevity--these are the elements of Huxley's caustic and entertaining satire on man's desire to live indefinitely. A highly sensational plot that will keep astonishing you to practically the final sentence. --The New Yorker
Customer Reviews:
World-changing agenda.......2006-03-11
A lot of the reviews here make valid points: the philosophical asides are brilliant but tedious for people who don't like philosophy. The characters (the entire plot in fact) do sometimes seem like an afterthought, employed to support the 'big' ideas, but that's not to say they're two-dimensional.
However, when reading a book like this it's important not to get too focused on only one of the many interesting ideas that fly like sparks from Huxley's mind. Explorations of mortality, eroticism, class struggle, mysticism, greed, ...etc. are all presented dispassionately enough. As such, they're like colors on Huxley's palette; and it's not rewarding to complain about a particular shade of green.
The thing that struck me was that Huxley is very specific about the character types he chooses to include here. His decision to pit the grasping Stoyte against the impossibly saint-like Propter elaborates an inner-dialogue one can imagine Huxley was having to reconcile his own idealized world-view with the reality he had encountered in America. In doing this Huxley provides justification and outlines a strategy for implementing his utopian vision.
For me; it's this attempt to reconcile the world of ideas with reality that, like with much of Hesse's work, seems to be the focal point of the book. I'm looking forward to reading Huxley's later books to see how he develops this attempted reconciliation.
After Many a Summer...Huxley Natters On.......2003-07-09
I first read this book thirty years ago as an adolescent, and it made a big impression on my impressionable, snobbish mind. And it was (is) funny!
Reading it and some other Huxley material this year, I am struck by how singleminded AH is in his ideas. Every essay, every story, at least after the 1930s, is driven by his desire to show how humanity is lost in a maze of materialist illusion. He is a mystic, and if that tickles you, perhaps his extended intellectual diaglogs in this book will interest you. Otherwise, just read the deliciously satirical parts. (His detached prose describing the movements of A nearly naked young starlet's body is a tour de force of clinical eroticism).
His literary skills are enormous, his description of southern california in the 30s rang true in the 70s when I lived there and read it, and still do. His humour, arch, esoteric, but sharp, can be a joy. When he gets serious, that's when he has a problem as he lapses into portentous nonsense about the ground of being, the One, etc. Huxley was a acid head long before he started dabbling with drugs - and his mystical discussions make little sense, unless you are already of that mind. Aesthetically, they are highly repetitive and rather irritating.
Readers who want an introduction to his work would do better, I think, to begin with his best, Brave New World. In that one, he used his considerable gifts to their best advantage, and kept his endless and indulgent maundering to a minimum.
Huxley's "middle period".......2002-05-08
Lurking in the back of every thinking Christian's mind must be this fear: yes, so far Religion has successfully reconciled itself to Science's every last finding. Perhaps the Creation account isn't supposed to be taken literally; maybe the world wasn't really fashioned in six days. But supposing science were to find a way to eliminate death. After all, death appears to be a matter of biology, and should be subject to natural laws. What happens to religion then?
That isn't exactly the question that Huxley addresses in this novel, but it is similar--and his answer is one that should surprise Religion and Science both. And he delivers it with a conclusion so lurid and grotesque it will haunt you long after the rest of the book has faded away.
But getting to the conclusion is the problem. I am a great admirer of Huxley, yet I consider this to be one of his weaker books. The scientific machinery, both that which leads to the conclusion and that which explains it, is a tad clumsy--H. G. Wells _Invisible_Man_ clumsy. It's easy to pardon Huxley for this; the science is merely a plot device. But it still seems like a weakness to me.
Since Huxley was born to write novels of ideas, his characters are (as usual) more types than individuals. Here they almost seem to have been an annoyance, as if regarded by their author as a necessary evil between him and the exploration of ideas. Stoyte strides on to the scene as a caricature and never can be taken seriously thereafter as a portrait of the homme moyen sensuel. His mistress is of a physical type that Huxley clearly loathed; her peculiar residue of childhood Catholicism fails to make her complex or wholly interesting. Huxley's attempt at Steinbeck's game must not have pleased even himself: after one abortive appearance of an Okie named Bill, migrant farmworkers disappear into the generalization of their class.
Obispo is sharp, as a kind of unexpectedly suave Mephistopheles doing Stoyte's bidding in his laboratory. (Even in satire, Faust always loses.) But the only characters with any real depth are Pordage and Propter: Pordage, an urbane scholar but stunted human being; Propter, a non-denominational mystic and philosopher-saint of the orange groves. It is not presuming too much to interpret these two as competing sides of Huxley's personality. Their conversations and monologues make for the most interesting reading: this is a novel desperately trying to break into an essay. Huxley fits in many provocative ideas about God, time, language, literature, culture. It's a valuable record of where his thoughts were leading at this point in his career.
But had Huxley written an essay instead, there would have been no place for his brilliant rendition of a skeptical and dissolute earl's epigrammatic journal--just one example among many of Huxley's notable stylistic versatility.
I hope readers who enjoy any part of this book go on to Huxley's later fiction, like _Island_ or _The_Devils_of_Loudun_. And don't miss any of his later non-fiction, above all the summa of his spiritual investigations, _The_Perennial_Philosophy_.
After Many A Summer, Does the Swan Indeed Die?.......2001-11-04
After Many a Summer Dies the Swan is a book set in America in the thirties. Jeremy Pordage, is an English scholard who was hired by millionaire Jo Stoyte to study and decipher the Hauberk papers which Stoyte acquired in England. Jo Stoyte, with his millions, his castle on the hill, his acquisitions, and his mistress, young Virginia, may very well have been Huxley's parody of William Randolph Hearst, who was very much alive when this book was written.
Stoyte had in his employ, a Dr. Obispo who was searching for a modern medical solution to immortality, also had the job of keeping Soyte alive as long as possible perhaps to one day eventually benefit form Obispo's findings. However, it is Jeremy Pordage who uncovers in his readings of the Hauberk papers, the secret to the indefinite extension of life, and that is through the eating of triturated carp entrails, as metal rings put through the tail of some carp in a pond by the great grandfather Hauberk, could be seen by the great grandson Hauberk.
The surprise ending in this book which occurs in the last five pages is nothing short of a Rod Serling, Twilight Zone type of Tour de Force. Money may buy a bed but not comfort, money may buy a house, but not a home, money may buy food, but not an appetite, and money may buy art, and furniture, but not taste, and this book shows that maybe too much money and too much time to live may not be the best thing after all.
An amazing (and philosophical) novel.......2001-09-08
This is a suberbly-crafted novel with a gripping plot. Set in Beverly Hills in the l930s, the plot revolves around a lonely, aging millionaire, Jo Stoyte, and his obsession with putting off death. Stoyte surrounds himself with art, beauty, literature, historic works and the company of intellectuals -- all of which fail to satisfy or even interest him. He retains a British man of letters, Jeremy Pordage, to review and catalog 27 crates of papers and memoirs which Stoyte has purchased from the last of the Hauberks, a British titled family. Stoyte also keeps a cynical doctor, Sigmund Obispo, as his personal physician, provides Obispo with a laboratory and bankrolls his research into longevity.
Obispo believes that the longevity of a species of carp is due to the carp's unique intestinal bacteria. In his research, Obispo is trying to i) find a method of introducing the bacteria into the digestive tracts of research mice in such a way that the effect of the bacteria isn't neutralized and ii) determine whether successful introduction of the bacteria into mammalian digestive tracts will lengthen the life of the host mammal.
In reviewing the Hauberk papers, Jeremy discovers that a member of the Hauberk family, the 5th Earl of Gonister, was himself obsessed with retaining vitality and youth. Jeremy further discovers that the 5th Earl conducted his own research into the rejuvenating properties of carp intestines some two hundred years previous. Jeremy reveals these facts to Obispo. Obispo then heads for the Hauberk estate with Stoyte and his young mistress in tow.
Through the characters of Mr. Propter, a humanities professor who lives adjacent to the Stoyte estate, Pete Boone, Obispo's idealistic, young assistant and Jeremy Pordage, Aldous Huxley provides several chapters' worth of deep philosophical dialog. The topics of these discussions range from linguistics and ethics to the impending doom of mankind. These chapters are surprisingly fascinating and should not be skipped over.
This novel's theme is that the collective mindset (which gave rise to the industrial revolution and its ensuing technological advances) will result in the annihilation of mankind. In that sense, 'progress' is a moral regression where "men pay divine homage to ideals which are mere projections of their own personalities". Huxley blames war, pograms, persecution and famine on this collective mindset. He states that "evolution is arrested devlopment". Development run amok results in degeneration and decay. He masterfully drives home his message via the book's startling conclusion.
This is worthwhile reading!
Customer Reviews:
Black Swan.......2007-02-09
I have read the Black Swan by Day Taylor many, many times since it first came out. The book is so riviting, I could hardley put the book down. This book has everything that any reader of gothic romance books are looking for: romance, danger, pirates, evil men and the culmination of the Civil War. The sequel to the Black Swan, Moss Rose, is just as good as the Black Swan. I must have read these two books ten to twenty times and it still holds me in it grasp. There have been very few books that can hold my attention that many times. I think Day Taylor is one terrific writer, I wish she would write more books like these two. Keep up the good work, Ms. Taylor.
Wow!!.......2004-12-21
I read this book a long time ago, and it still stays in my mind as one of the best books I have ever read. What a beautiful love story.
Book Description.......2004-07-12
From the Back Cover:
A fiery yearning that defied every rule!
Adam-a legend in his own time, an outlaw in his own land, the daring captain of The Black Swan who risked his life to lead slaves to freedom...
Dulcie-the dazzling, reckless daughter of Savannah's most prosperous slave breeder...
Theirs was an impossible, rapturous love-flames of passion challenged their hearts as savagely as the fires of battle consumed their beloved homeland. Joined together by the sweet agony of their desire only to torn assunder by the brutal horrors of wwar, they lived for the one radiant moment that would united them again...
Sweping from the pride and charm of old New Orleans to forbidden Caribbean forests throbbing with voodoo drums; from the haughty elegance of New York City to the raucous, romantic bravado of Nassau's exhilarating port; here is the splendorous saga of fierce ecstasties, violent truths and wild dreams...
**************
This book has a sequal called "Moss Rose".
Black Swan - Best American Historical Romance Ever.......2003-10-08
I first read this book when I was in my teens, and it left a lasting impression as I have remained interested in this style of writing ever since. Day Taylor's writing style really makes you connect with the characters and leaves you unwilling to put the book down for even a second. Adam Tremain is a man who could make any woman swoon and his incredible story from adolescense in the pre-war south to his privateering adventures as a man to be reckoned with leave you wanting more from this writer. I regret to say that I have lost my copy of this book over the years, but consider it to be one of the best books I have ever read, and reread.
The Black Swan.......2001-09-05
I read this book for the first time in Jr. High. I knew immediately if ever blessed with a son, his name would be Adam after the hero in the book. Blessed with three sons, my oldest is indeed Adam, named after Adam Tremain in The Black Swan. I have read and re-read it ever since and am now in my thirties. I always suggest it to anyone who ever asks, "Know of any good books?" It is timeless and the best I have ever read of any genre.
Average customer rating:
- A good retelling of Swan Lake
- Opening a New Addiction
- Interesting
- Not perfect but very moving
- Mountains above a plain fairy tale
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The Black Swan (Daw Book Collectors)
Mercedes Lackey
Manufacturer: DAW
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0886778905 |
Amazon.com
Mercedes Lackey takes readers back to the ballet with her latest fairy tale fantasy, The Black Swan, which retells the story of Swan Lake. Lackey preserves much of the ballet's action but provides a happier ending than the original German folktale had. She also gives the characters depth and motivation by providing them with histories.
Baron Eric von Rothbart, a powerful sorcerer, hunts down women who have betrayed men and transforms them into swans who can only resume their true forms by moonlight. His lonely daughter Odile, who watches the flock and studies spells, longs vainly for his approval. One day von Rothbart tells Odette, the swan princess, that she can break the spell by winning and holding a man's faithful love for one month. He's even chosen a candidate, Prince Siegfried. Unfortunately, the prince is a womanizing hedonist. Should Odette succeed nevertheless, von Rothbart secretly plans a trap for them and the prince's ambitious mother, Queen Clothilde, who schemes to rule in her own right. But he must use Odile, who has befriended Odette and is no longer her father's puppet.
Some readers may find the descriptions of dancing and costumes tedious--and Prince Siegfried a questionable hero. Odile, however, is as vivid a heroine as any Lackey's written. --Nona Vero
Book Description
The Black Swan is a retelling of the classic ballet "Swan Lake" told from the viewpoint of the wronged daughter of an evil magician. A young prince spends his youth with his nose in a book and communing with nature. On one of his walks, he spies a flock of swans, and is amazed to see them transform into maidens as the sun sets. He returns every night, eventually falling in love with one of the stricken maidens. And so begins the legendary fable of magic, shapeshifting, and the power of love beyond appearances.
Praise for The Mage Storms:
"...a fantasy classic, and these newest adventures will generate even more acclaim with this fantasy superstar." --Romantic Times
"Lackey is a spellbinding storyteller who keeps your heart in your mouth as she spins her intricate webs of magical adventure." --Rave Reviews
"A strong, suspenseful plot and well developed characters...will satisfy the most avid fantasy fan." --VOYA
Customer Reviews:
A good retelling of Swan Lake.......2007-07-17
Nicely done; Lackey's retelling of the classic tale throws some unexpected twists. I reread the summary of the ballet before reading this, which was actually not too helpful since (as you may recall) there are two different endings for the ballet depending on wether it's a tragedy or a romance.
Opening a New Addiction.......2007-04-24
I normally steer clear of the Science Fiction and Fantasy section of the bookstore, but one time, when I visited my fiance, I found myself dragged into this section. For the fun of it, I browsed the titles, and this book caught my eye. As my fiance looked for his book, I sat in the middle of the floor and began to read. I became enthralled with this book. The imagry was wonderful and it gave me a whole new insight to the daughter of Rothbart, as well as what was going through the prince's mind. It was a wonderful twist on things, and I greatly loved it.
Interesting.......2007-03-14
Well, I thought it was good overall there were just a few things that got to me. I felt, for one, that Odile just suddenly bonded with the flock for unclear reasons. I felt that epilogue type thing was slightly unnesseccary and could have been a lot more to the point, there were times when I got tired of hearing of Odile's daily chores and how she longed for her father's attention. But I also thought it was a heartwarming love story and von Rothbart's betrayal was excellently written. The scenenary was put so beautifully and just clear that it really felt like a fairy tale. In the end the conclusion of von Rothbart was really amazing. So, what I would say is that it wasn't a suspenseful read, but once you get into it, it has an excellent story to it. I have a hard time finding books I can actually sit and read but this one was something I not only read through but I enjoyed it quite a great deal.
Not perfect but very moving.......2007-02-25
My main problem was that none of the characters is likable until about half way through. I almost gave up. At the end, though, I liked them very much.
Mountains above a plain fairy tale.......2006-09-01
Black Swan was my first Mercedes Lackey book. I can safely say that it made me a fan for life while I kept on buying more of her books before I was even finished with this one. Her tale of fantasy- like Swan Lake was as a mouth watering sugar coated piece of candy. An extraordinary form of writing so magical and harmonious yet easy to read, excellent to the last detail, from the gleam of the pearl, the shine of the suede shoes magicians wore and the scent of cinnamon of the great halls, musk of the feathered capes and rosemary of the cleaning spells. All that Lackey described and wrote was pious and delightful; it's truly a gem of a book, something that I will be thankful for years I discovered.
I usually read horror and mysteries and some sci fi, yet this tale was so mesmerizing, so luscious and captivating that I wished it was a thousand pages long! I must admit the reason I got this book was because of the breathtaking cover art by Jody A. Lee and the curious synopsis on the back, it proven itself tenfold to be a great choice and a wonderful end of summer read. The main story is about a flock of swans under a powerful curse that binds them to remain a swan during the day and a maiden at night. They were all captured by an evil and cold hearted sorcerer, Baron von Rothbar. With the help of his daughter Odile, he kept them enchanted because he hated women and because they all did something to betray a man in their lives, as he forced them to repent forever. Enter a venom spirited queen Clothide who resided many miles away in her lovely kingdom with her son Siegfried, a bachelor with an appetite for women and wine and you have a wonderful mixture of fantasy and romance, of betrayal, lust, corruption and some fantastic magic. I loved how Rothbar changed into a huge owl, his trademark transformation, while Odile was the black swan, together the soared heavens with no one to fear and with constant success with their magic spells that created whatever they pleased. As Siegfried's 18th birthday approached, Queen Clothide grew restless and had some dark thoughts about her dear son due to his approaching birthday, the wedding he had to get and his coronation as the King. Prince had to court many different women as the descriptions of them and their talents made me laugh a few times, as they tried to darn hard to impress the prince while he only had eyes for one special girl.
My favorite character had to be Odile, as she was witty and tried her best to have her father love her, as she practiced spells and tricks, watched over the swans and kept his castle clean along with his invisible servants. The more she tried to have him open up the less warmth she got, as she connected that something funny was going on with her father and the swans. As she realized some things that she always believed to be true were lies, she started to change sides but all she had was the magic he has taught her for self defense. Against him she was just a girl who was studying the magic arts, and she had no choice but to obey her father therefore she started to battle inside her head for true justice and end of corruption.
This was a long story with many intricate characters, and it really made me happy not to be living in those medieval times, where women were not acceptable unless they had dowry, and with men who spend many nights talking about the fat ugly wives they would have to marry but consoled themselves while thinking about their mistresses. There were many unnerving and unfair remarks done towards women, but the ladies held on tight and displayed their courage and strength in this heroic tale.
He interesting part was waiting for all the characters to meet! I knew that the evil Baron has some secret plans for his swans that involved the queen and her son, and Odile who gave great displays of her magic and a remarkable change of character. I had a wonderful time solving the clues and putting the story together in my head trying to figure out whom was plotting against who and why the Queen was consoling in Uwe, her lover/advisor who seems to be loyal to her. The ending was spectacular and it really gave me a high opinion of Lackey's skills. I almost cried at one part, I know how silly, but it touched me and I relished the story until the last page, as I would have loved it if it continued. Apparently this is the first book in the Fairy Tales series and I cannot wait for more! I really enjoyed Lackey's warm writing, with the luscious descriptions of the forest, the castle, medieval life and ethics, from the clothes to the food and etiquette, it was a real trip in time and I would love to do it again.
- Kasia S.
Average customer rating:
- Bronx Archipelago
- A singular, poignant memoir
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The Black Swan: A Memoir
Jerome Charyn
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0312208774 |
Amazon.com
Picking up where his much-praised memoir The Dark Lady from Belorusse left off, Jerome Charyn continues the story of his childhood adventures in the Bronx. The year is 1949, and 11-year-old "Baby" (the nickname survived the 1947 arrival of younger brother Marve) regularly skips school to sneak off to a local movie theater, the Luxor. He's informally adopted by the theater's three eccentric owners, Bronx natives and classmates at Harvard who dropped out to purchase the Luxor and share a nearby apartment. Two of them pine for their former high school teacher, the married (and alcoholic) Mrs. Green, while the third burns with unrequited passion for a handsome fireman. Next, Baby connects with a local gangster, who sends him out to collect protection money from the area's businesses, ostensibly as payment for cases of celery tonic. The extensive stretches of dialogue are as colorful as the characters, and if it all seems a little too picturesque to be believable, well, the "Note to the Reader" does admit that the people, places, and events depicted "are the product of imaginative recreation." Who cares? Charyn's roistering account brings to life postwar New York City with such vividness and gusto that if it isn't true, it ought to be. --Wendy Smith
Book Description
A Memoir"It was easy to invent a fable.When the letters did come from school, I'd scratch out a note in my father's hand, talk of fatigue, visits to the brain surgeon, etc.The East Bronx was like the Sahara, where a child and all his records could get lost in some infinite sand dune."What does an 11 year-old boy do when his classmates call him "Dumbo" and his parents don't seem to know that he exists?His mother, the beautiful Faigele spends her days pushing her 2 year-old son Marvin around in a stroller and barely hears Jerome's clarinet playing. The answer for Jerome Charyn is to go to the local movie house and hide out for a few hours every day.At the movies, he can escape, not be himself for a little while. One day, while watching Samson and Delilah for the seventh time that week, he is suddenly grabbed from his seat, dragged down a flight of stairs and winds up being introduced to a whole new way of life by three "cellar rats," as Jerome likes to call them.They make him a part of their group and he soon finds himself dressed in a Feuerman Marx suit collecting money for Farouk, the local gangster. Many of the men remember his mother, The Dark Lady, from her days as dealer of their local poker game.With his distinctive style, a deep and accurate feeling for time and place, and an uncanny ability to communicate the world as seen through the imagination of an unusual boy, Charyn has created another gem of a memoir, a worthy sequel to The Dark Lady from Belorusse.
Customer Reviews:
Bronx Archipelago.......2001-08-16
"The Black Swan", is the sequel to, "The Dark Lady From Belorusse". I have not read the first volume, however the sequel stands on its own as a great piece of writing. I certainly intend to go back to the first, but if the latter were the only volume at hand, I would not hesitate to recommend others begin with it as I did. The book is described as a memoir, however there is a note at the end that states that events while based on his experiences as a youth also, "are the product of imaginative recreation". The balance of the disclaimer either is meant to be amusing, or is an effort to keep the Author out of the Federal Witness Protection Program.
The setting is The Bronx a few years after World War II. Amongst the other colorful characters, this is the time of Meyer Lansky who influences more than one event in the book. There are a host of other lesser members of the crime world that deal with anything from gambling, to cornering the market on Celery Tonic.
The one venture outside the Bronx is to the Catskill Mountains home not only to the name of the book, The Black Swan, but is also the residence of The Dark Lady who deals cards to her various infamous admirers. Throughout all of this is great humor whether of the darker sort related to King Farouk and The Bataan March, or what is the cigarette of preference at a school for asthmatics in Arizona.
After the disclaimer in the rear, I don't know where the line separating fact from imaginative recreation resides. Were all of the book true it would be a remarkable story as well as hilarious, and if fiction, nothing is diminished from a reading perspective. Who knows, maybe the kid did have a probation officer he fell hard for who was Lana Turner's twin. Fact or fantasy, who cares, a great piece of writing.
A singular, poignant memoir.......2001-06-16
Charyn's prose defies category: though published as nonfiction, this memoir reads like some of his singular, post-modern detective fiction. Transports us back to the Bronx of yore, with a cast of characters that's unforgettable.
Average customer rating:
- A Great New Writer
- A MASTERFUL COMBINATION TO READ........
- Definitely a Good Read...
- New Writings from Australia
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Black Swans and Other Stories
Sunil K. Govinnage
Manufacturer: Writer's Showcase Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0595238041 |
Book Description
The stories gathered in this volume display a literary imagination of high order wedded to a probing mind that should command our attention.
A Sri Lankan¨Cborn black Australian visits Amsterdam only to be confronted by the ambivalence and complexities of his identity; a Sri Lankan family arrives in Perth, their new home, ¡Âa newly arrived immigrant father, through the experiences of his daughter, faces up to the realities of racism; a husband is caught between the power of nostalgia and the material comforts of the present; a father and son go out looking for ice-cream as they encounter the inescapable ramifications of multiculturalism in Australia.
It is through situations such as these that Sunil Govinnage has sought to focus attention ¡ and the desire to map the variable meanings of home and exile.
Customer Reviews:
A Great New Writer.......2003-03-17
Sunil Govinnage has produced a book that manages to illustrate to both new arrivals to Australia and to those who have called this country home for generations what it is like to be transported into a new culture. He manages to do this without patronising the reader or the characters. Although this is a book where each short story is able to stand alone there is a common thread of the confusion that greets both sides of the equation in experiencing a new culture. While the clash of cultures is never portrayed as being totally alien Govinnage illustrates instances that expose prejudice that may have previously gone unnoticed to my eye. The story of a child's school experience in his story "Ugly Hair" describes a situation where there is both prejudice, subtle cruelty that made this reader ashamed to be a white Australian, but most of all a hope that inspires all of us on to a better world. This story in particular made me compare this story to one of those in the English Patient, a novel by another expatriate Sri Lankan writer Michael Ondaatje
I eagerly await Govinnage's forthcoming works. I'm sure that in this book we have witnessed the beginnings of a writer that will be both more prolific and more revered.
Peter McCafferty
Perth, Western Australia
A MASTERFUL COMBINATION TO READ...............2002-10-03
Black Swans and Other Stories of Sunil Govinnage is an enchanting collection from one of the most powerful story tellers to emanate from a unique background. Sunil Govinnage's short stories derive its charm from the immense calm out of which he writes. His strength is that his subject matter seems indefatigable. His mesmeric ability to enthral his audience is self-evident with the two characters, 'Siri' and 'Jayadeva' whom he has created in these short stories. At times, I was wondering whether I knew them before, from a distant culture. This, he achieves with a masterful combination of economy and cadence, creating haunting images and a variety of simple settings to evoke a unique paradox of actuality and folklore; 'The Black Australian', 'Arrival', 'Black Swans' 'Painted Faces', 'Ugly Hair' etc., reminds me of these qualities.
Sunil Govinnage's uncomplicated writing style brings us stories, rich in wry, subtly painted characters not only from a multi-cultural background, but also from universally known perspectives-many of whose lives are microcosms of the human experience; Daryl, Siri, Jayadeva, Malini, Mr Evans, are a few of them to name, out of the human race or human nature, seen as an epitome of this world. This reminds me of Sunil Govinnage's stories to early 'Chekhovian' motifs and moods and also, some well known contemporary writers: one is originally from China, who now writes in English - Ha Jin , and the other, Jamaica Kincaid from Antigua, both are now writing from US. They all create their work with subtle inflections and modulations in an easy transparent style without any pretentious requirement to embellish their writing and language. The author, of Black Swans and Other Stories - Sunil Govinnage has reflected, in some stages of his writing, that his ability in De-hegemonizing language standards, could contain effectiveness in order to communicate creatively and powerfully within such contexts. And, thereby he has created new metaphors and a language style, making claims extended from the narrowly linguistic entity, to the much broader field of discursive practice in general.
The author's creative 'dissection of the two countries', i.e., Sri Lanka (formerly, Ceylon) and Australia (formerly, New Holland), gives the reader a glimpse and an opportunity to intensify their intuitive thinking, over the connections between two islands, both sharing the Indian Ocean - the one with the shape of a tear drop and other, being one of the biggest continent islands. Also, the forgotten colonial link (with Holland) of Ceylon with its Dutch ruling in the past.
This collection of short stories comes to the reader with an invaluable preface eloquently written by Prof. Wimal Dissanayake and, though concise but, with a crispy forward by Prof. Stephen Muecke.
I invite any reader with a great desire, to enter this paradise and to taste this unique collection of short stories ever written from Australia.
---Sisira from Canada and Australia---
Definitely a Good Read..........2002-09-25
Black Swans and Other Stories is a fascinating exploration of what it means to be human in an ever-changing world. Not all the stories deal with migrant issues, but Govinnage draws upon his experiences as an immigrant to highlight the emotional and mental challenges people face when relocating and moving forward into an uncertain future. He addresses the relevance of attitude to assimilation and questions how much we must forget and disown in order to belong to a new world and to function in another society.
Govinnage also investigates the difficulties families face when traditional roles and strengths become weaknesses. For example, many of the male characters seem mired in rememberance whilst the females actively embrace change. This may have something to do with how roles are allocated in Sri Lankan society. The story "Ugly Hair" contrasts clearly the efficacy of the enraged father, defender of his pride, with the clinical calmness of his wife's diplomacy. Jayadeva is stripped of his avenues of influence and so hearlds the shift in power and his ensuing alienation in the Gamage household.
Readers will also be delighted by the writer's craft. The language faithfully captures the stilted speech of the non-native English speaker and the fluid, melodic drawl of the laid-back Australian. Recognisable Australian features, landscapes and characters, populate the collection, at once celebrating a great nation and holding it accountable for its darker side. My real delight, however, is in the subtlety of the author's style and in the unexpected gems of original metaphor and imagery. Sometimes the associations are so fresh and appropriate that a reader may question whether or not they live with their eyes open. The simplicity of the language belies the profundity of his thought and his contribution to Australian literature.
New Writings from Australia.......2002-08-18
Most of the stories appearing in this collection contain material from two novels, I am writing at present, describing the lives of protagonists, Jayadeva and Siri in Australia and elsewhere. I began sketching some of the stories as far back as 1988, the year we arrived in Australia. A story such as 'First Love' goes even further as it is based on notes I kept in Sinhala since 1965. Using early sketches written both in Sinhala and English as random notes in old diaries, notepads, bus tickets and shopping-dockets, the stories appearing in this collection were completed in their current form only recently. I still have over hundreds of 'unused notes' describing how the main protagonists of these stories may behave under certain circumstances and events relating to the main plots of the two novels I am writing.
The stories appearing in this collection have gone through over 18 drafts! I still feel that if these stories were written in my native language, Sinhala, I would have been able to describe things more freely and comfortably. Despite the presence of a great multicultural society in Australia, I find difficulties in publishing stories in Sinhala at 'home' now, hence I have joined the other Anglo-Celtic and the Aboriginal writers who have introduced a tradition of writing and publishing in English in our ex-penal colony.
Unfortunately, in my English stories, I could not include the metaphors and images that I have inherited from a literary tradition over 2500 years old as much have I would have liked. Most of the Sri Lankan literary forms that I am familiar with cannot be easily translated into the English language; a medium I learnt only at the age of 17. In fact, I had to devote considerable efforts to writing the narratives of Siri, the protagonist of 'Black Australian', his Sri Lankan life and journeys compared to his travels in Australia and elsewhere.
An early version of the story 'Black Australian' was completed in 1997 and was read at the 'Eighth Biennial Symposium on Literatures and Cultures of the Asia-Pacific Region' held in Perth in December 1997. The story appearing in this collection is an expanded version of a draft describing Siri's visit to Amsterdam. If I ever find time to finish the novella, 'Black Australian', those who are interested in the beginnings and the possible end of the story may be able to read Siri's incomplete journeys across Australia and elsewhere.
I hope you would enjoy reading the stories.
Happy reading!
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- The Disappearance of the Universe: Straight Talk About Illusions, Past Lives, Religion, Sex, Politics, and the Miracles of Forgiveness
- The King's Daughter Workbook: Becoming a Woman of God
- The Klingon Dictionary (Star Trek (Trade/hardcover))
- The Last Brother: A Civil War Tale (Tale of Young Americans)
- The Lost King of France: How DNA Solved the Mystery of the Murdered Son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
- The Paper Bag Princess (Classic Munsch)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Planetary Herbology
- Gilgamesh: A Verse Narrative
- Thin Films on Glass
- A Painter of Our Time
- Chanel and Her World
- Essential Cell Biology, Second Edition
- Dharma Punx
- 1001 Cartoon-Style Illustrations
- Your Mental Health: A Layman's Guide to the Psychiatrist's Bible
- 50-volume Set of 1910 Harvard Classics - Missing Vol. 2 and 30
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets
The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
Way of the Turtle: The Secret Methods that Turned Ordinary People into Legendary Traders
A Demon of Our Own Design: Markets, Hedge Funds, and the Perils of Financial Innovation
