History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Legends of Dune Trilogy [Box Set] - (The Butlerian Jihad/The Machine Crusade/The Battle of Corrin)

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In the Beginning
Read it for the back story but don't expect anything as deep or as well written as the original Dune.
Not just for Dune fans
As a Dune fan, how cold I not love it?
Dune Book Set

Legends of Dune Trilogy [Box Set] - (The Butlerian Jihad/The Machine Crusade/The Battle of Corrin)
Brian Herbert , and Kevin J. Anderson
Manufacturer: Tor Science Fiction
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0765357119

Book Description

This Mass Market Boxed Set contains the three volumes of the Legends of Dune:

Dune: The Butlerian Jihad, 0-765-34077-1

Dune: The Machine Crusade, 0-765-34078-X

Dune: The Battle of Corrin, 0-765-34079-8

Dune: The Butlerian Jihad

Frank Herbert’s Dune series is one of the great creations of imaginative literature, science fiction’s answer to The Lord of the Rings.

Decades after Herbert’s original novels, the Dune saga was continued by Frank Herbert’s son, Brian Herbert, in collaboration with Kevin J. Anderson. Working from Frank Herbert’s own notes, the acclaimed authors reveal the chapter of the Dune saga most eagerly anticipated by readers: the Butlerian Jihad.

Throughout the Dune novels, Frank Herbert frequently referred to the war in which humans wrested their freedom from “thinking machines.” In Dune: The Butlerian Jihad, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson bring to life the story of that war, a tale previously seen only in tantalizing hints and clues. Finally, we see how Serena Butler’s passionate grief ignites the struggle that will liberate humans from their machine masters; here is the amazing tale of the Zensunni Wanderers, who escape bondage to flee to the desert world where they will declare themselves the Free Men of Dune. And here is the backward, nearly forgotten planet of Arrakis, where traders have discovered the remarkable properties of the spice melange. . . .

Dune: The Machine Crusade

More than two decades have passed since the events chronicled in Dune: The Butlerian Jihad. The crusade against thinking robots has ground on for years, but the forces led by Serena Butler and Irbis Ginjo have made only slight gains; the human worlds grow weary of war, of the bloody, inconclusive swing from victory to defeat.

The fearsome cymeks, led by Agamemnon, hatch new plots to regain their lost power from Omnius--as their numbers dwindle and time begins to run out. The fighters of Ginaz, led by Jool Noret, forge themselves into an elite warrior class, a weapon against the machine-dominated worlds. Aurelius Venport and Norma Cenva are on the verge of the most important discovery in human history-a way to "fold" space and travel instantaneously to any place in the galaxy.

And on the faraway, nearly worthless planet of Arrakis, Selim Wormrider and his band of outlaws take the first steps to making themselves the feared fighters who will change the course of history: the Fremen.

Here is the unrivaled imaginative power that has put Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson on bestseller lists everywhere and earned them the high regard of readers around the globe. The fantastic saga of Dune continues in Dune: The Machine Crusade.

Dune: The Battle of Corrin

It has been fifty-six hard years since the events of Dune: The Machine Crusade. Following the death of Serena Butler, the bloodiest decades of the Jihad take place. Synchronized Worlds and Unallied Planets are liberated one by one, and at long last, after years of victory, the human worlds begin to hope that the end of the centuries-long conflict with the thinking machines is finally in sight.

Unfortunately, Omnius has one last, deadly card to play. In a last-ditch effort to destroy humankind, virulent plagues are let loose throughout the galaxy, decimating the populations of whole planets . . . and once again, the tide of the titanic struggle shifts against the warriors of the human race. At last, the war that has lasted many lifetimes will be decided in the apocalyptic Battle of Corrin.

In the greatest battle in science fiction history, human and machine face off one last time. . . . And on the desert planet of Arrakis, the legendary Fremen of Dune become the feared fighting force to be discovered by Paul Muad'Dib in Frank Herbert's classic, Dune.

Customer Reviews:

In the Beginning.......2007-08-12

If you are a Dune fan and haven't read any of the various new titles I urge you to visit the Dune novel website which gives a chronological listing of all the Dune novels, beginning with this trilogy.

In this exciting trio the reader is taken back to the distant past of the Dune universe. Meet the ancestors of the Atreides and Harkonnen families. The reader will also have a front row seat for the birth of such Dune Legends as the Spacing Guild, the Suk School, the first Fremen of Dune, the first Reverend Mother of the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood, discovery of the spice Melange, the first Space Guild Navigator...all played out and woven into the backdrop story of the Butlerian Jihad, humanity's epic battle for freedom from the Thinking Machines.

Kudos to Frank's son Brian and coauthor Kevin Anderson for a fantastic beginning to the growing world of Dune.

Read it for the back story but don't expect anything as deep or as well written as the original Dune........2007-07-18

Meh, so so.

Brian is clearly not nearly the writer his father was, (seems to always be the case when two writers collaborate, doubly so when one of the writers is the son.) and some of the names/concepts/plot lines are totally ridiculous. "Omnious Prime" - Seriously? (I thought he was a transformer?) But it gets better; He controls multiple planets and the way he keps all his brains synchronized is to send a ship around to each planet and have it update and be updated.

Just the one ship.

Just the one single ship that the enemy, (us humans) could maybe intercept and load with a virus? I mean I don't wanna wreck the plot but really? that's the plot? Still, it's nice to get the back story and know the whys and wherefores behind that Jihad and why there are no computers in Dune.

The major problem I had with this though is that I constantly felt as if they kept rehashing and stretching the book out. It's as if they where getting paid by the word. Perhaps if because the original books where so thick, these should be thick too, and just like the student that double spaces their essay, it doesn't really work . Instead it drones on and on. Their editor should have paired it right back and it would have made for a less painful read.

In the end I liked the closure and history these books provided - but these, and the Houses of Dune series little more than the Scifi equivalent of a beach book. Also these prequels help set up the final ending books of the original Dune saga that where never finished because of Frank Herbert's death.

My advice; buy them used or listen to the books on CD.

Not just for Dune fans.......2007-02-08

These three books are fun to read! Well written, easy to read prose style. In fact, these are easier to read than the original Dune novel. The characters are interesting, lots of things going on. Very enjoyable.
If you never were a Dune fan, these books still would be fun to read, because they stand on their own. If you have been a Dune fan, these novels provide answers, such as: Who was the first to ride a sandworm? How was space folding discovered? Where did the Fremen come from, and how were they named? Many sub-plots and interesting characters that we care about make this my favorite sci-fi/fantasy epic.

As a Dune fan, how cold I not love it?.......2007-01-10

I really loved all three books! I couldn't wait to finish the first, so I could begin the second! Same thing with the second...
It's very good being able to continue reading all about Dune universe, even without the great creator, Frank Herbert.
It's a great reading experience and in the top of the "must read" list for any scy-fi fan.

Dune Book Set.......2007-01-10

Recently purchased this trio set of Dune novels and it is GREAT. The box set is a sturdy, durable set that will last for many years. I am glad to own them as part of my collection.

The Machine Crusade (Legends of Dune, Book 2)

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The Machine Crusade (Legends of Dune, Book 2)
Brian Herbert , and Kevin J. Anderson
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 076534078X
Release Date: 2004-07-29

Book Description

The breathtaking vision and incomparable storytelling of Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson's Dune: The Butlerian Jihad, a prequel to Frank Herbert's classic Dune, propelled it to the ranks of speculative fiction's classics in its own right. Now, with all the color, scope, and fascination of the prior novel, comes Dune: The Machine Crusade.. More than two decades have passed since the events chronicled in The Butlerian Jihad. The crusade against thinking robots has ground on for years, but the forces led by Serena Butler and Irbis Ginjo have made only slight gains; the human worlds grow weary of war, of the bloody, inconclusive swing from victory to defeat. The fearsome cymeks, led by Agamemnon, hatch new plots to regain their lost power from Omnius--as their numbers dwindle and time begins to run out. The fighters of Ginaz, led by Jool Noret, forge themselves into an elite warrior class, a weapon against the machine-dominated worlds. Aurelius Venport and Norma Cenva are on the verge of the most important discovery in human history-a way to "fold" space and travel instantaneously to any place in the galaxy. And on the faraway, nearly worthless planet of Arrakis, Selim Wormrider and his band of outlaws take the first steps to making themselves the feared fighters who will change the course of history: the Fremen.Here is the unrivaled imaginative power that has put Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson on bestseller lists everywhere and earned them the high regard of readers around the globe. The fantastic saga of Dune continues in Dune: The Machine Crusade.

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The exciting sequel to the New York Times bestseller, Dune: The Butlerian Jihad.

Dune: The Machine Crusade (Legends of Dune)

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The Epic Struggle continues

Dune: The Machine Crusade (Legends of Dune)

Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Hunters of Dune

ASIN: 1413251927

Product Description

More than two decades have passed since the events chronicled in the Butlerian Jihad. The crusade against thinking robots has ground on for years, but the forces led by Serena Butler and Iblis Ginjo have made only slight gains; the human worlds grow weary of war, of the bloody, inconclusive swing from victory to defeat.

Customer Reviews:

The Epic Struggle continues.......2006-01-19

The Machine Crusade (Legends of Dune, Book 2) is the middle installment of a trilogy, a prequel of sorts ostensibly based on the notes and writings of Frank Herbert. For those of you that don't know, the trilogy takes place ten thousand years before the time of originator Frank Herbert's immensely popular book, Dune. It is a collaboration between Brian Herbert (Frank's son) and Kevin Anderson. It is the sixth book co-written by these authors that I know of, having just finished another trilogy/prequel, The House series (House Atriedes, Harkonnen and Corrin).

Unlike some other reviewers, I found this trilogy to be exceptional. I believe they may be Herbert/Anderson's most accomplished manuscripts. I finally got to experience the distant past, which was vaguely alluded to in Herbert's original Dune series. We get to meet the beautiful, compassionate Serena Butler, who's young son, the murder of which, set off the rebellion, which eventually after sixty-five years brought down the heartless thinking machines. We also meet distant relatives of Baron Harkonnen - Xavier (who is an honorable person) then Abulurd and Paul Atriedes - Vorian (the son of the wicked Titan, Agamemnon {a thousand year old human brain in a robot body})and Tio Holtzman (the revered inventor of the Holtzman Effect and other inventions). We experience the last stronghold of free humanity, with The League of Nobles, the fledgling exportation of the spice melange from Arrakis and the precursor of the Bene Gesserit, in the Sorceress's of Rossak. In the final story the pieces start to come together that were the basis for Dune some ten thousand years later as the groundwork is laid for the Harkonnen/Atriedes feud as well as the space guild and mentats.

The Machine Crusade continues twenty-four years after the events of the first book, The Butlerian Jihad, which started the slave revolt on Earth and Earth's eventual destruction. The duplicitous, conniving and verbally persuasive Iblis Ginjo, a former slave master, who escaped Earth with Serena Butler and Vorian Atredies in the aftermath of the slave rebellion, has been elevated to Grand Patriarch of The League of Nobles. Though Serena Butler is the titular head of the government, He, along with some of his henchmen weld the real power and sew mischief, and make unholy alliances to perpetuate the war, his basis of power. The rudimentary elements for folding space have been discovered by Norma Cenva, a brilliant protégé of Tio Holtzman. However it is to dangerous for widespread use, as ten percent of such voyages disappear, apparently victims of space collisions. Norma Cenva's husband and entrepreneur, Aurelius Venport has started to import melange from Arrakis, now popular as a recreational drug but it's true worth has yet to be discovered. On Arrakis, Selim Wormrider begins his own crusade, leading his followers against those who would mine the `spice.' This is but a tiny portion of the spectacle - The Machine Crusade and it is but a third of the grand spectacle known as The Legends of Dune Trilogy.

Conclusion

As with the original Dune, the authors create numerous civilizations in a Universe dwelling on millions of planets and then embellish it with devious evil characters and their requisite counterpoints. It may be ten thousand years in the past from Dune but they are every bit as advanced to us, as we are to Cro Magnon Man.

I found this book, consisting of 704 pages, to be an riveting read. True, the chapters are numerous and short but the story is ambitious so it couldn't be overly detailed, or the book would have been unwieldy. We are, after all, talking about a Universal Epic in which the authors followed about fifteen main characters on six different planets and in space. As with Dune we are treated to an excellent page turning science fiction novel with religious undertones.

This being the fifth collaboration of these two authors, the writing itself is fluid and easy to follow and well structured. The main characters, those that have been with us since book 1, are well developed but some of the newer ones could use some more. If the book has a fault, it's that the authors try to tell too much in too short a time. I remember when the movie Dune came out. Most of those who had previously read Dune and were able to follow the immensity of the story in a short time, liked it. To others, the movie was confusing. They couldn't follow it and hence didn't. That is the trouble with trying to tell a story that is huge, within the constraints of time or pages. We're talking about the whole universe here!

As a reader it seems to be in vogue to criticize this trilogy but as a writer I can tell you that these authors did a wonderful job of juggling this very complex story, with dozens of nuances and telling the story without being confusing. (Well, it can be a little confusing) Personally I am in awe of their overall accomplishment.

I suggest that you read this epic story slowly, with an open mind and don't pre judge the books. No, it's not as good as Dune but neither were the elder Herbert's following works. The bottom line is, this is a good piece of science fiction in this day when Fantasy has taken over the genre.

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Dune: The Machine Crusade

Manufacturer: Tandem Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 1417666447

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The Green Machine and the Frog Crusade
Stephen Tchudi
Manufacturer: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Machine Crusade :Legends of Dune 2
Frank Herbert
Manufacturer: ST MARTINS MASS *
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000Q1HVKU

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Machine Crusade, The: Legends of Dune

Manufacturer: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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This is NOT The Hours
It's up to you, NY, NY!
Ultimately disappointing
Walt Whitman as Yogi Berra
Cunningham does it again!

Specimen Days
Michael Cunningham
Manufacturer: audible.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Download
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ASIN: B0009YT3UA

Amazon.com

Book Description: In each section of Michael Cunningham's bold new novel, his first since The Hours, we encounter the same group of characters: a young boy, an older man, and a young woman. "In the Machine" is a ghost story that takes place at the height of the industrial revolution, as human beings confront the alienating realities of the new machine age. "The Children's Crusade," set in the early twenty-first century, plays with the conventions of the noir thriller as it tracks the pursuit of a terrorist band that is detonating bombs, seemingly at random, around the city. The third part, "Like Beauty," evokes a New York 150 years into the future, when the city is all but overwhelmed by refugees from the first inhabited planet to be contacted by the people of Earth.

Presiding over each episode of this interrelated whole is the prophetic figure of the poet Walt Whitman, who promised his future readers, "It avails not, neither time or place ... I am with you, and know how it is." Specimen Days is a genre-bending, haunting, and transformative ode to life in our greatest city and a meditation on the direction and meaning of America's destiny. It is a work of surpassing power and beauty by one of the most original and daring writers at work today.

More from Michael Cunningham

The Hours
A Home at the End of the World
Flesh and Blood

Whitman Sampler

The Portable Walt Whitman
Specimen Days & Collect
Walt Whitman: Poetry and Prose

Whitman Sampler

Book Description

n each section of Michael Cunningham's new book, we encounter the same group of characters: a young boy, an older man, and a young woman. 'In the Machine' is a ghost story which takes place at the height of the Industrial Revolution, as human beings confront the alienated realities of the new machine age. 'The Children's Crusade,' set in the early twenty-first century, plays with the conventions of the noir thriller as it tracks the pursuit of a terrorist band which is detonating bombs seemingly at random around the city. The third part, 'Like Beauty,' evokes a New York 150 years into the future, when the city is all but overwhelmed by refugees from the first inhabited planet to be contacted by the people of Earth.

Download Description

A highly anticipated bold new novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hours--three linked, visionary narratives set in the ever-mysterious, turbulent city of New York

Customer Reviews:

This is NOT The Hours.......2007-09-23

Wow.

What a weird and disappointing book!

I LOVED The Hours- but this is on par with The Mermaid's Chair, in terms of its failure to measure up. TMChair is no "Bees" and THIS is no "THours"!

If you enjoy historical fiction AND SciFi, you will like the way Cunningham bridges the two genre; otherwise: forget it.

It's up to you, NY, NY!.......2007-09-17

Three self-contained short novels, each based in NY, one a 'ghost story' (?) in the 19th century, one a police & terror thriller (?) in the early 21st, one a sci-fi love story (no question mark) between a 'biomechanical' android and a lizardish alien from disappointing planet Nadia. Interlinked through the cast: Simon, Cathreen and Lukas, and by the words of Walt Whitman.
Whitman's poems assume a Delphian oracle quality. They are the deus ex machina that provide the thread through the centuries. And here comes my question: what does it mean?
Meaning aside, this is a highly entertaining book of mighty prose, each story does not really need support from 2 others. The best, I think, is the contemporary one.
Back to the meaning. What is MC trying to tell us, other than a threesome of very inventive multigenre stories? I have no idea. I have some suspicions, and I am not entirely happy with some of the associations that come up in my mind. Veneration of life in all forms, as somebody writes on the cover? Celebration of NY through the time? BS!
Particularly disturbing the terrorist mastermind in number two. Osama daughter of Laden bin Whitman? Is that the implication? If MC means something else, what is it? Why does he need to glorify her?
Meaning in stories like these should not be overobvious, but should it be completely open to interpretation? Should it be like the oracle?

Ultimately disappointing.......2007-07-31

The three stars are for the first two novellas of this three-part novel. The first story is set in Industrial-Age New York and it is, by far, the best of the three, with its eerie settings and interesting insights into 19th-century urban life. The second story takes place in post-9/11 New York and moves along at the crackling pace of a crime novel. So far, so good. In the third section -- a sci-fi "thriller" set in the distant future -- the wheels fly off entirely and it becomes painfully clear that Cunningham is just not comfortable writing in this genre. For me, this ludicrous bit of nonsense, which could have been based on an episode of "Lost in Space," almost ruined the power of everything that came before. If you can bring yourself to do it, read the first two sections and then close the book once and for all.

Walt Whitman as Yogi Berra.......2007-05-26

Specimen Days is not only the title of Cunningham's book, it is also the title of a work by Walt Whitman, the poet whose observations were apparently the inspiration for Cunningham's latest tome.

Less a novel, and more a series of three thematically connected novellas that relates each tale via different literary genres (19th century ghost story, late 20th century crime thriller, and 22nd century sci-fi love story). New York City is the backdrop for each chronicle and similarly named characters make their appearance in each.

The choreography for the presentation is provided through the observations of Whitman and each of Cunningham's stories seems to be a commentary of sorts on past and present political, cultural and social conditions.

The ambiguity at the end of each story presents the reader with various choices. It's up to you to choose optimism, pessimism, or perhaps a little ambivalence.

This book seems to reinforce Yogi Berra's famous quote: "It's deja vu all over again!!

Cunningham does it again!.......2007-05-15

Just as he did in his masterpiece novel,The Hours, he does again in this novel Specimen Days. It is brilliant. In The Hours, Virginia Woolf was the literary muse; in Specimen Days, it is Walt Whitman that ties three stories together. Each of the stories is set in a different time period with the 3 main characters named the same and most of the action occurs in New York. There are other recurring pieces as well but I don't want to give too much away.

In the Machine is the first of the three stories and it is set in 19th century New York. Lucas is a young deformed boy and the main narrator of this story. As the story opens Lucas's older brother Simon has just been killed in an accident at work. To complicate matters further, Lucas finds himself with a desperate crush on Simon's girlfriend Catherine. Simon is something of a ghost here as he reappears to each of the characters in different ways. The Whitman connection in this one is that Lucas spouts poetry from Leaves of Grass when he is under duress. Lucas will even get to quote Whitman to Walt Whitman ~ one of my favorite scenes.

The Children's Crusade is the second of the stories and it is set in present day New York as something of a mystery or detective story. Cat is the main narrator here and she works for the police answering telephone calls from potential killers, bombers, terrorists, etc.. She has a wealthy boyfriend named Simon who gets turned on by the police work she does. As the story unfolds, we learn she once had a child named Luke who died. Cat starts receiving telephone calls from young children saying they are part of "the family" and that they intend to randomly blow people up. The one thing all the children have in common is that they quote Whitman. This story has an unusual and rather surprising ending.

Like Beauty is the final story of the book and it is set in a post-nuclear future. This time Simon is the main narrator and although he looks human, he is really a robot which is evolving and he is programmed to recite Whitman's poetry when he begins to have human-like emotions. Catareen a 4 ½ foot lizard (imported from another planet to work as servants for humans) becomes his traveling partner as they escape the law and head towards Denver where Simon's creator is. On the way a young boy named Luke helps them escape and travels with them.

Cunningham's writing is so beautiful it reads at times like poetry instead of prose. I personally loved his use of Whitman and found myself digging out my old worn copy of Leaves of Grass. Although it is similar to his novel The Hours they are very different also. This book is fun and intense. If you have liked any of Cunningham's other novels, you will love this too!

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