Average customer rating:
- ONLY VALID IF WILLING TO KILL YOURSELF
- To Carlos, with gratitude
- The Entire Teachings In One Volume
- Overrated
- Read this review
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Tales of Power
Carlos Castaneda
Manufacturer: Washington Square Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Native American
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Castaneda, Carlos
| ( C )
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Journey To Ixtlan
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Separate Reality
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The Second Ring of Power
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The Eagle's Gift
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Fire from Within
ASIN: 0671732528 |
Book Description
Don Juan concludes the instruction of Castaneda with his most powerful and mysterious lesson in the sorcerer's art -- a dazzling series of visions that are at once an initiation and a deeply moving farewell.
Customer Reviews:
ONLY VALID IF WILLING TO KILL YOURSELF.......2007-07-03
There is a problem with being a Castaneda follower and that is: you don't see people flying off cliffs and graduating themselves as hombres de conocimiento, yet you need this jumpy ability to regard yourself a follower of this particular tradition...
To Carlos, with gratitude.......2007-06-22
Carlos Castaneda was one of the most controversial writers of the twentieth century. Some in academia branded him a fraud for claiming his stories were biographical rather than fiction, while lauding him as a great novelist for exposing a mass audience to otherwise inaccessible philosophical abstractions they claimed were largely plagiarized. Each of his works is a piece of a larger puzzle, which makes it impossible to critique any one book without addressing the larger context into which it fits.
His first two books, "Teachings of Don Juan" and "A Separate Reality" describe experiences induced by ingesting psychotropic hallucinogenics prepared by a Yaqui Indian shaman from Sonora, Mexico he called don Juan Matus, and accounted for his becoming a guru to a generation seeking short cuts to spiritual enlightenment, as well as his lifelong interest in the relationship between perception and reality, a theme now explored in many popular books on consciousness and quantum physics. Unfortunately, these books remain his best selling works, in spite of Castaneda refuting their importance in his later works. Readers would be best served to skip these and avoid the risk of being turned off to Castaneda and missing the more stimulating works that followed.
His third and fourth works were "Journey to Ixtlan" and "Tales of Power." In Ixtlan he admits to over-estimating the value of his drug experiences, which caused him to overlook the more profound teachings of don Juan which became the focus of future writings. What emerges is a spiritual discipline dating back to the Pre-Colombian Toltec sorcerers of Latin America, culminating with don Juan's departure from our world, effectively ending Castaneda's direct affiliation.
In his fifth and sixth works "Second Ring of Power" and "Eagles Gift" Castaneda suffers strange flashbacks of what seem to be memory fragments of events he is unable to fit into any logical time sequence. In his seventh and eighth works, "Fire From Within" and "Power of Silence," Castaneda succeeds in reconstructing his lost memories, which derive from teachings previously administered by don Juan while Castaneda was in a "heightened" state of awareness.
In books nine and ten, "Art of Dreaming" and "Active Side of Infinity," Castaneda focuses on what he describes as inorganic predators from another dimension, some having the power to imprison humanity in "ordinary reality" so they can feed on the dark emotional energies we produce when succumbing to the negative thoughts they insert into our minds.
In later years several seemingly substantiating works appeared by two of Castaneda's female apprentices, Taisha Abelar and Florinda Donner-Grau. In addition, two scathing exposés were also published by two of his ex-wives. The first, "Magical Journey with Carlos Castaneda" by first wife, Margaret Runyon, offers little corroboration, since her marriage pre-dates the time when the bulk of Castaneda's adventures were claimed to have occurred. While steadfast that Castaneda was a sorcerer, she doubts the existence of don Juan, even claiming authorship of many of the concepts Castaneda ascribed to him.
The second, and more credible work, is "Sorcerer's Apprentice," by well-known writer Amy Wallace, daughter of the late best selling novelist Irving Wallace. Here again, we find little corroboration since the time of the events she describes is well after the period when Castaneda's relationship with don Juan is alleged to occur. What the book does provide is a troubling look inside Castaneda's final years, a picture of descent into what seems sexual addiction and possibly madness, leaving one to wonder if Castaneda was just one cup of cool-aid short of a Jonestown.
Many have asked why I put any stock whatsoever in Castaneda. A story from my autobiography, "The Vortex" may shed some light. A year before Castaneda published his first book I had an experience that would remain a mystery until Castaneda published "Power of Silence" twenty years later.
For a brief time, in my youth, I became a practicing Muslim, meticulously performing the complex prayer ritual five times a day. Then one night, sitting in my car, frustrated and complaining at not being able to find the address of my next sales appointment, something inside me snapped. It was as if some part of me had disconnected from my body and assumed control, lecturing me about my lack of discipline. A profound calm settled over me, rendering me simultaneously detached and engaged. For two days my sales figures soared. It was as if no one could say no to me. On the evening of the second day I decided to put my new state of being to the acid test by visiting my parents. Their behavior was so uncharacteristically supportive I hardly recognized them. It was enough to convince me that I was now living in an altered reality. But by the following morning I had returned to "normal." So distracting had this event been that I completely forgot to perform my Muslim prayers, and in fact, never did so again.
Twenty years later, in a chapter of "Power of Silence" entitled "Place of No Pity" Castaneda describes a very similar experience. In the aftermath of the event don Juan explains that humans are like televisions stuck on a channel called "self-preoccupation," lacking the energy to tune into any of the vast array of other channels available to us. To change channels, he explains, we first need to accumulate energy, by practicing rituals that are deliberate, precise and repetitious. Do this long enough and eventually our stored energy precipitates a shift to a channel where self-importance and self pity become impossible. Once this happens we connect with the force that controls the entire universe, a force don Juan called "intent," and everything can be bent to our will and even more channels can be opened, assuming we remember to keep practicing the rituals that save our energy.
This one realization alone was enough to inspire me to dedicate my autobiography "To Carlos, with gratitude."
Maxwell Austin van Lack, Author of The Vortex: A True Story of Passion and Karma
The Entire Teachings In One Volume.......2005-10-27
If you could only choose to read one of Carlos' books, this has to be the one. For those who aren't familiar with the books, this is the fourth. The first three, expected by most readers to be a "trilogy", describe the first several years of Castaneda's apprenticeship to a native nagual, or shaman in Sonora and other parts of Mexico.
In the first volume Carlos describes the weird rituals and exercises that his teacher puts him through as he trains him in the ways of his line of sorcerers. It concludes with a quasi-scholarly analysis, really nothing more than an outline of the concepts of his teacher's world-view. This book focuses on the concept of living like a warrior and the book is structured as a question and answer sequence between student and teacher.
In the second book, whose time frame has a good deal of overlap with the first book, carlos' activites center around coming to believe that the world is an artifical construction of the human ego, a fantasy that we all choose to agree on. Don Juan batters Carlos with psychotropic drugs to break down his ego and force his consciousness over to the other side of awareness, beyond normal human perception.
The trilogy concludes with Carlos pursuing "stopping the world". This offering portrays the final challenge along the path to becoming a sorcerer. The apprentice will be faced with his own imminent death, and either stop the world, disassembling and reassembling "reality" in a way that ensures his survival, or accept death and enter the eternal realm. Obviously Carlos survives, as he wrote a book about it, and in the process spawned an immense controversy. What was all this bizarre stuff? Was it real? Was there a real Don Juan? A Don Genaro? The debate went on and still goes on, in a greatly diminished form, to this day.
The fourth book continues into the time after the cliff jump in book three, but it does a lot more than that. In this book, Don Juan explains to Carlos how it all works, why he was selected for this task, and what he's supposed to do from this point on. In typical thick-headed fashion, Carlos seems to lumber on, writing it all down, and seeming to still miss the real essential points that the teacher is making. What's good about this book is that it explains all of the goings on in the first three books, as well as how the sorcerers structure their view of reality. Very powerful stuff.
The remainder of Carlos' writings are very obscure, fastastical, and just downright strange, except for "The Active Side of Infinity", written towards the end of his life.
Don't get me wrong, I love CC, I've been reading him since 1971. I've read every book, multiple times, as well as his wife's book, and books by detractors and debunkers, and a great many articles and papers on him and his work. If you like it, read them all, it's great literature if nothing else. But if I could only have one. This is it.
Overrated.......2004-12-28
This book is too complicated and not for everyone. It dables too much with drug references that are quite disturbing. Stay away from this and pick up Dr. Phil's autobiography. Thanks. :)
Read this review.......2004-03-06
Back in 1985 I read this book and was fascinated. Was it real or not?
I finally came to the conclusion that I didn't really care, the writing was extraordinary, magical in itself. Then last week (February 20, 2004) I woke up in the night during a dream. I soon found I was still dreaming. I woke up again, and figured I was again still dreaming. This has happened before and I go to great lengths to wake up, because it is terrifying. (You feel as if you will never 'really' wake up.)
This time I let the terror go, and went to use the bathroom, realizing I was dreaming. The bathroom door wasn't there, so I intended it to be there and it materialized. I was experiencing something I later discovered is called lucid dreaming. Why I hadn't come across this concept before is inexplicable, but I'd always considered Castaneda to be in some sort of waking state induced by Don Juan when he did his 'dreaming'. In retrospect, that oversight seems to be a defense mechanism my mind set up to protect me from the obvious fact that Carlos was asleep and doing lucid dreaming.
Now all of Castaneda's work, seen from the viewpoint of lucid dreaming, makes sense in a completely new way. Whether his entire episodes in Mexico are lucid dreams or whether he actually met a 'Don Juan' there who taught him how to enter lucid dreaming, there is no doubt in my mind that THIS is what he is talking about. His feelings of dread, his lapses of consciousness and being shaken awake by Don Juan, the feeling of being in two places at once, all fit with what I've experienced first hand in my false awakenings and my one (so far)lucid dream.
Was Castaneda a sincere communicator of his 'field' experiences or a cynical charlatan or both? I don't know. What I do know is that the reality of lucid dreaming, as I've experienced it, is congruent with his writings.
So I'm reading them all again ....
Contact me by email with your thoughts or experiences. big_bill_jeff@yahoo.com
Customer Reviews:
Great book for EVERY WOMAN!!.......2007-05-13
This is an AWESOME BOOK for every woman to read!! Easy reading and lots of insights on why we do what we do and how to stop the cycle! It is a MUST read for any woman giong through a divorce or breakup, however, I think anyone could gather wisdom from this book!
The Princess Who Believed in Fairy Tales: A Story for Modern Times.......2007-01-19
This is one of those books that you swear was written by someone who is telling your story. I was very touched and learned a lot. Some elements in the story were a little sappy/cheesy, but I didn't mind at all. I am a professional songwriter and was so inspired by this book that I wrote a song that has now received great reviews and has been used by many different venues. Now that's inspiration!
Best book to females getting themselves out of dream world!.......2005-09-26
I just love this book, and I read it before, but didn't buy it. I was going through a similiar issue, so I just went and bought the book, because this book is a must have for any princess who wants to grow up!
Support yourself or the woman in your life.......2005-03-16
A fairytale depicting women's traditional role as the `pleasing everyone' daughter, wife, woman. Her life changes dramatically as she becomes more and more independent and self supportive. For you if you choose to support yourself or the woman in your life in becoming more whole and happy.
wonderful!.......2004-02-11
This book has touched me in an amazing way. As a recovering co-dependent, I feel that this book was written with me in mind. The author has truly put into words the experiences that some of us have gone through. I could not put this book down!
Customer Reviews:
Nurse Entrepreneur: Tales from 50 nurse entrepreneurs.......2001-01-17
This book is vey inspiring! Learn how 50 different nurses brought their vision to reality! Learn some great tips on starting your own business. Nurses don't have to just work at the bedside. Read this book and you will be thinking of how you can make your dream a reality!
Book Description
Mining the rich Venetian archives, especially the unusually detailed records of Venice's own branch of the Roman Inquisition, Guido Ruggiero provides a strikingly new and provocative interpretation of the end of the Renaissance in Italy. In this boldly structured work, he develops five narrative accounts of individual encounters with the Inquisition that illustrate the double-edged metaphor of how passions were both bound by late Renaissance society and were seen in turn as binding people. In this way new perspectives are opened on magic, witchcraft, love, marriage, gender, and discipline at the level of the community and beyond. Witches, courtesans, prostitutes, women healers, nobles, Cardinals, and renegade priests and monks speak from these pages describing their lives, beliefs, hopes, fears, and lies. With an imaginative flair for storytelling and impeccable scholarship, Ruggiero exposes the rich complexity of the culture and poetics of the everyday at the end of the Renaissance and illuminates a previously unexplored chapter in Italian history.
Average customer rating:
- For Those Who Believe in Dreams
- Exploitation by this author-don't waste your money on this tripe.
- Timeless!!
- waste of money
- Something differetn
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Surfers of the Zuvuya: Tales of Interdimensional Travel
José Argüelles
Manufacturer: Bear & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0939680556
Release Date: 1988-08-01 |
Book Description
Join José Argüelles and his higher self--his "dimensional double," Uncle Joe Zuvuya--on a journey from the center of the earth to the outermost reaches of the galaxy! Uncle Joe instructs Argüelles in Mayan etheric engineering, Arcturian space stations, Atlantean family histories, and much more.
Customer Reviews:
For Those Who Believe in Dreams.......2006-02-22
I don't understand why someone would buy a book explicitly claiming to be about a Jive-Talking Dimensional-Double and end up disappointed that it wasn't an academic tretise on native tradition.
Jose's ability to bring the magic of Maya to diverse audiences is unrivaled. The message of the Maya is not reserved only for those willing to digest volumes of stodgy punditry, or obscure antropological reporting. The appeal and truth of Surfers of the Zuvuya comes from the basic premise that only by attuning to our intuitive, dream-centered selves will we fully appreciate the wonder of the time we experience.
Personally, when it comes to the Maya, i love the stodgy punditry and academic tretises, but i also love the inspired artistic visions. I find it beautiful that a former Princeton Professor would publish such an unorthodox, personal book, which would without doubt marginalize him in the eyes of his peers, out of the simple conviction that other similar dream-inspired souls might draw value and solace from it.
The frustrated idea that all things Mayan must be approached with a lack of humor and imagination most assuredly has nothing to do with the authentic Mayan perspective, but rather the intellectual conditioning of an imperial culture which takes everything, especially itself, way too seriously.
THANK YOU UNCLE JOSE FOR NEVER BEING AFRAID TO STEP OUT OF LINE, FOR NEVER BEING AFRAID TO BE LAUGHED AT, AND FOR THE EXAMPLE OF FEARLESSNESS & CONVICTION YOU HAVE BEEN TO ALL US DREAMERS!!!
Exploitation by this author-don't waste your money on this tripe........2005-12-16
What a joke. Taking a serious subject like this and reducing it to cartoon charachter ridiculous dialogue and talking about it like it's lightweight comedy is just horribly disrespectful and exploitative, to say the least. In my opinion, this "author" (using the term very loosely here) just wants you to join his organization, and I would bet you sending in some money to support his cause is involved. What a con artist approach to a sacred subject. Don't waste your money. The writing isn't even respectably done. Sounds like a used car salesman having a good time listening to himself tell lies. I would give this no stars if possible.
Timeless!!.......2003-12-05
This is one of my favorite books, and also one of those books that had a very deep and spiritual influence on my life. How I came across it was very cosmic indeed. Someone who I met on a trip to Guatemala recommended it to me. This is a good starter for those who want to know what the Mayans were all about. It's written in a science FICTION(??) format so very easy to follow and really interesting to read. Whether or not you believe the Mayans came from outer space, it makes an interesting read since it's fiction(??). BTW, I recently started to integrate the Mayan calender into my life and my life is fulfilling as ever. enjoy
waste of money.......2001-02-16
I don't know where this guy gets off. But his entire rant about Paco Votan(who the freak is this guy) and his self-declared state of being a prophet is enough to make any sane person laugh himself to tears. The book has a nice cover though and his map of the universe bears a strikingly close resemblance to the Qabalah's Tree of Life. I would like to point out that it might be useful to UFO worshippers that waste all of thier free time sitting around the Nevada desert, you can cover your face while you sunbathe. The only unfunny thing about it was that I actually paid money for it.
Something differetn.......1999-12-20
This book helps the reader to learn about expaning one's sense of the Universe... you will go along with uncle Joe Zuvuya as he shows how to open your mind to the REAL possibilites of existence. Time and space collide in this fun to read novel. I loved it... it made me think, and it was a very enjoyable story. It is a must for anyone looking to embrace the collective conscousness that is quickly ushering us into a new age.
Book Description
This new book tells the story of Miguel Perdomo Niera, a healer whose amazing cures during his travels through the northern Andes in the 1860s and 1870s evoked both enormous hostility and widespread adulation. A combination of narrative and analysis, the
Amazon.com
Even though it is now a cliché to say that learning a martial art is as much about learning to conquer oneself as it is about learning to conquer the enemy, most martial-arts books are still about the latter. Pascal Fauliot lends a refreshing voice to the field by excavating some of the great educative tales from the martial arts traditions of China and Japan. Not exactly moral tales, these stories exemplify the ideals of excellence in the martial arts, and are as entertaining as a feature film. Some of the scenarios you might expect: the master who is bushwhacked but comes out unscathed, or the master who sets his student to mundane tasks rather than fighting techniques. Others will surprise: the master who shatters an enormous piece of bamboo without touching it, or the bully who thrashes a little old man only to find himself bedridden the next day. Purportedly all true, these are inspirational stories about learning persistence, self-mastery, flexibility, concentration, and harnessing the invisible power of chi. They are also lighthearted, and retold with an expert touch that the master of any art would appreciate. --Brian Bruya
Book Description
A collection of parables and teaching stories from the martial arts traditions of Japan and China that emphasizes their spiritual foundation.
• The teaching stories in this book are based on the lives of martial arts masters and are meant to inspire questions and insights for the student.
• Written for martial artists and anyone interested in Eastern religions such as Buddhism, Zen, and Taoism.
True martial arts should never be confused with simple combat techniques. Rather, martial arts are a way that an individual, after a long and difficult apprenticeship, can gain a profound understanding of the true nature of reality and one's place in it. Over time the apprentice discovers the laws governing the subtle forces of life and realizes that their mastery is only possible after one has mastered oneself. "He who has mastered the Art doesn't use his sword: he compels his adversary to kill himself." This quote from renowned sword master Tajima no Kami perfectly expresses the paradoxical nature of martial arts teachings in China and Japan. These teaching stories are not moral fables; in fact they have nothing to prove. Their purpose is actually to inspire questions and insights that will aid the student to achieve self-realization.
Most of the stories in this book are based on actual events in the lives of martial arts teachers who have achieved legendary status. The almost superhuman abilities of some of the masters described here are evidence of the secret powers that can be wielded by those whose martial arts training is not simply the learning of physical techniques but involves the mastering of the subtle energies of the mind and body. Master of the Art of Archery Kenzo Awa could hit the center of a target even when shooting in total darkness. Assailants of Tai Chi master Yang Lu Chan found their blows did more damage to themselves than to their would-be victim. By reading--and comprehending--the tales in this book, we can acquire the same essential knowledge that these masters had--that extraordinary forces are within the grasp of those who have achieved inner peace and self-mastery.
Customer Reviews:
Neat book, compelling and thoughtful.......2004-10-29
This set of vignettes is not only fun to read but it really does make you think. Fast paced, clear writing in a style that is reminiscent of Dave Lowry. You don't have to be a martial artist to enjoy it though you will probably get more out of it if you are.
Lawrence Kane
Author of Surviving Armed Assaults, The Way of Kata, and Martial Arts Instruction
Tales to remember and recycle.......2003-08-16
This is just another book you should read on your Journey. Also recomended: Zen in the Martial Arts, by Joe Hyams.
Please do yourself and the world a favor and expand you mind and soul. Read books such as this, books on spirituality, religion, philosophy, science, art, Toaism, and anything that stimulates your brain!! Read Salinger, Vonnegut, Jim Harrison, Cormac McCarthy, Watch great movies like Sling Blade, Miller's Crossing, of Pulp Fiction. FLEX YOUR HEAD !!!!!!!!!!
Taste of the inner meaning of martial arts.......2000-09-24
This small book leaves me begging for more. It relates tales teaching the inner meaning of the martial arts. It is divided into the following sections. 1. The message of the stories. 2. On the threshold of the mystery. 3. Confronting the mountain. 4. The snare of appearences. 5. The great test. 6. Lessons of the Zen masters. 7. Winning without fighting. 8. The ultimate secret. For those who are interested in the martial arts as a path for self development and realisation rather than just as a 'grab em and bash em' exercise in futility, this book will be a treasure for you. The martial arts have traditionally passed on its ethos and morality through tales such as these.
Many of these tales were already familiar to me as our Sensei recounts some at each training session, more or less. The book only has one major drawback, there isnt enough of it. It left me wanting more.
Customer Reviews:
Great Book on topic.......2003-07-20
This book is one of best i have seen written their are not many book written on this topic but i do stress this is a basic guide and if ya for example want to work with unicorns spirt guides then i do reseach on them and read myth like "last unicorn" and tradtional mythology for more infomation i would say this book is for intermidate pract.The Book is worth the money
Blessed Be;
Great book.......2003-07-19
This book details more about spirts and even totems that are not the standred totems and this book talks about some of things on astral. Over all a nice book good infomation on finding and understand these other worldy creature this book is just a guide and i would do read on myth on creature and go with your gut feeling. I found the book fun to read i would recommed this one for semi advanced because most that are new are just beginning.This book was one better ones and one of few the touches this subject.
Blessed Be;
Very Informative.......2002-04-27
I reccommend this book to beginners. This is a very informative book about the creatures of the astral plane. A very handy book indeed. Well, worth knowing.
A Good Starting Point.......2001-02-01
A good book for beginners and those who are just beginning research on the various mythical beasts. She covers nearly every creature within mythology, quite a few of which I never heard of. At times it felt as though she wasn't saying enough about a creature but she did give enough to go on to further research each one.
Customer Reviews:
Tarot Readers.......2007-09-20
The is an excellent book for tarot readers. At the end of each of the Gods' and Goddesses' meditations, there are some tarot card descriptions linked to the court cards and the pantheon the author cites. This information gave my tarot card readings more dimension. If you are a tarot reader, I highly recommend both of her books of the same topic, it will enhance your tarot card knowledge.
Gods with substance.......2007-01-04
I have only delved into this book briefly; however, it is nice to have a book that does more than give a brief one-line description of many gods. This book focuses on a handful of gods from a few different pantheons, providing customs, ways to commune, etc. I recommend it to anyone who wants to explore a new or re-establish a relationship with deity.
Good as a resource........2004-08-04
The only thing I didn't like was too much of the authors intrepration of the myths. Of course she's allowed (it's her book after all), but that's not what I bought it for. I was looking for a way to connect with the God which I got a bit out of but not enough.
But I guess if I had paid more attention to the title I would have figured that out myself.
Exceptional! Magickal! Wonderful!.......2004-02-23
This book goes into extensive detail about *specific Gods* of the Greek, Hindu & Egyptian pantheons; the Paths of which the author, Kala Trobe, holds much knowledge. I have found this to be extremely beneficial in my magickal practices and cultural research. It is essential next to Kala Trobe's other book "The Witch's Guide to Life", and right alongside her other book, "Invoke the Goddess." This book goes into great detail about these particular Gods and enlightens the reader into their true energy. It is brilliant and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in these particular Pantheons. Please see her other books on Amazon.com as well. Cheers Be to Kala Trobe!
good book once again.......2003-07-16
I would recommend this book for wiccan like myself the rituals baths and meditations (with less structure) and only a gods know how they react to the person . I would not turn to it as a prime resource for male aspect however for information. However, I was inspired to check out the author's bibliography to see where she got her background information. and suggest the witches god and goddess on working with deity . Just do the reseach on gods you are draw to and this book is nice for visualizations as all book they do have a opinion.Still nice book overall
Average customer rating:
- Even Traditional Oral Histories aren't this convoluted
- Sorting through Complication
- Practically Lyrical
- An Inside Look at a Little Known Spiritualism.
- Powerful, lyrical, moving
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The Grass Dancer
Susan Power
Manufacturer: Berkley Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Contemporary
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ASIN: 0425159531 |
Book Description
Inspired by the lore of her Sioux heritage, this critically-acclaimed novel from Susan Power weaves the stories of the old and the young, of broken families, romantic rivals, men and women in love and at war. Revealing the harsh price of unfulfilled longings and the healing power of mystery and hope, The Grass Dancer takes readers on a journey through past and present-in a tale as resonant and haunting as an ancestor's memory, and as promising as a child's dream.
Customer Reviews:
Even Traditional Oral Histories aren't this convoluted.......2007-07-20
Sometimes the best intentions at innovative approaches result in something akin to torture. I suspect that Susan Power was envisioning a novel approach to the NA Novel genre. Instead, she sold herself short - and her readers along with her. It was expertly crafted short stories disconnectedly telling differing tales of the same connected story lines, some without resolution and some surprisingly with. Obvious talent such as this should not have as its supreme result a book so unworthy of representing the author. Let us pray she fixes these flaws and continues to hone her amazing story telling gift.
Sorting through Complication.......2005-05-18
Power certainly does not make this an easy read. At first glance you can read through it and be happy, then you start really reading it, and it never ends! There are so many messages in this book than I care to count, and our class disected this book till I wanted to puke. However, in defence of Power, it was well written and if I had read on my own, not only would my knowledge of Native American life been increased dramatically, I would have enjoyed it!
I have also met Power, very nice woman, and she can most certainly tell a story.
Practically Lyrical.......2005-01-27
The editorial and other customer reviews do a good job of covering the characters and basic plot, so I won't go into that.
This has to be the best book I've read in months. It's practically lyrical, the sentences are so pretty. The dust jacket is more than a little off on the plot, so don't read that. It's a collection of self contained stories about a messed up family living on a reservation in North Dakota.
Each story is narrated by a different person and takes place a random number of years before the last one. The effect is that each new chapter gives you a different understanding of the events in the previous chapters, until you get back to the "present" time from the first chapter, where you have a completely new take on everyone involved.
It's unusual to find a short story collection this good from such a new author. I highly recommend it.
An Inside Look at a Little Known Spiritualism. .......2005-01-19
This is an interesting book that gives us a series of stories about Sioux spirituality. The stories are loosely interconnected with each other and tell of people who maintain an ability to employ a sort of black magic. With this "gift" they communicate with past generations, conjure up love potions, compel others to self destruction, and other bizarre phenomena. Within these stories is a generally clear view of life in a modern day Indian reservation. The author, an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation who grew up in Chicago, gives an inside view of a live fairly removed from mainstream America. I got the feeling that there was a fair amount of autobiographical material included in these stories.
I was prepared to give this book a "3 Star" rating until I noticed how well the author pulled things together towards the end. I had made the mistake of reading the book one story at a time spaced in between my other reading. I finished the last third of the book in a day's time and was able to catch the inter-relationships of the stories. Still, I was not as drawn into the spiritual magic as others may be. I don't discredit this phenomena but I suspect there are others who will get more out of the book than I did. I did enjoy a lot of the local flavor. I don't ever recall seeing any other novel that mentioned my wife's hometown of Mandaree, North Dakota. I have come to appreciate that there is a real element of spiritual magic through her Hidatsa/Mandan roots. Of the many stories and incidents that she has shared with me, I do vividly recall the night after her mother's funeral. My wife expressed her aprehension about going to bed that night because she was sure her mother's spirit would come to visit. That night, about 2AM, our house dog started barking. He never barks indoors at night and, when I got up to look around, nothing explained his outburst. I was puzzled, my wife wasn't. Susan Powers shares a lot of this in "The Grass Dancer" but on a much larger scale.
Powerful, lyrical, moving.......2004-04-19
Susan Power's THE GRASS DANCER, although billed as a novel, is a series of tightly bound stories centered around the thematic core of a Sioux myth. Separately, these stories, many of which have been previously published in high-quality magazines such as The Atlantic and The Paris Review, are excellent, but read as a whole, one after the other, they form a powerful whole - a novel, if you will. The world Ms. Power creates it at once current and ancient, with legends and tales of ancestors so entwined with the present day that the Native American characters seem less like individuals and more like highlighted segments on a multi-branched and infinitely continuing time line. But that is not to say that Ms. Power creates simple characters. Her people are complex and often troubled, struggling with the magic that swirls around them.
The individual stories tell the larger one of Native Americans, in particular the Sioux, and their battles, both physical and metaphysical, with the white men who invaded their land. This is not a historical novel, however, but rather a lyrically psychological one, where myth becomes fact. The pivotal legend that embraces all the characters in The Grass Dancer is the one of Red Dress, a Sioux woman with breath the scent of plums and a spirit that guides a long line of women to their destinies, both tragic and exhilarating. Charlene, a direct descendent from Red Dress, is in love with Harley, a descendent of Red Dress's husband Ghost Horse. But Harley keeps in his heart the spirit of another woman. Charlene's grandmother, Mercury, uses Red Dress's magic to control men and to wrest Charlene from her mother. Lydia, who is mute by choice, survives her husband and son, dead because of her anger with the magic of Red Dress. The magic in this novel has such force that when Red Dress finally tells her own story, we cannot wait to see what kind of mortal she was that gave rise to such spiritual power. Sadly, the Red Dress story is the weakest of the book. Her motivation to lure white men to their deaths, ultimately bringing on her own, seems flimsy. However, Red Dress as a spirit has become so poignant through the other stories that her final appearance in the novel is perhaps one of the most moving passages.
Susan Power is an extraordinarily gifted writer with a taste for language that makes a reader want to linger over her words. Her imagination is so precise that it is difficult to accept that her characters do not exist beyond the pages.
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- The God Delusion
- The God Delusion
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